ESO data gets the Green Light

Data from our Carbon Intensity website is being used to power a new initiative which sees smart light bulbs turning green when electricity is supplied by clean or green sources.

National Grid are one of the principal partners of COP26, the world’s most significant summit on climate change. As part of the National Grid Group the ESO are supporting this partnership through highlighting our work enabling a zero carbon grid and sharing real time electricity data from our Carbon Intensity website and app.

As part of the COP partnership National Grid are launching the Green Light Signal, a light bulb that turns green based on the carbon intensity of the electricity grid. The signal is powered by carbonintensity.org.uk, a carbon intensity forecasting tool built by National Grid ESO, The Environmental Defense Fund Europe, The University of Oxford and WWF. When the electricity in your area is being supplied mainly from low-carbon sources, such as wind, solar or nuclear, that’s when the signal activates.

Find out more about the green light bulbs

Engaging with electricity data

Understanding where electricity comes from and thinking about how and when we use it will be crucial as we move towards a zero-carbon grid and our shared net zero targets. 

On 7 April, Sky News launched its Daily Climate Show, investigating how global warming is changing our landscape. The programme features time electricity generation data from the ESO, showing the split of renewable, fossil fuel and nuclear power.

The bulbs have also found their way to the ESO's Electricity National Control Centre, where the ESO's engineers balance supply and demand for electricity in Great Britain second by second.

With COP26 later this year these new uses of electricity data couldn't come at a better time. We look forward to sharing our learnings at COP26 and continuing to help system operators across the world to move towards zero carbon grids.

Download our free Carbon Intensity app here