By PLM Green Global Alliance contributor and green energy moderator Mark Reisig, Executive Consultant and Sustainability Practice Director from CIMdata.

Decarbonization, the use of renewable energy, electric mobility, heating solutions, and the energy transition will only occur if a smart, secure, distributed grid is completed in time. A simple analogy would be building a house without a foundation. Now, let’s project out to 2030. Suppose you recharge your electric vehicle (EV) with electricity from the existing grid. In that case, the energy could still originate from fossil fuels because an intended renewable energy project was not completed or could not connect to the existing grid. In this scenario, the EV helps our decarbonization efforts, but the energy used to make the electricity doesn’t. Ideally, we would recharge EVs with electricity over a smart grid from renewable sources with zero emissions.

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