As energy crisis deepens, 'citizen scientists' come to the rescue

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This was published 5 years ago

As energy crisis deepens, 'citizen scientists' come to the rescue

By Cole Latimer

The CSIRO has launched a new app aimed at ‘citizen scientists’, designed to understand how Australians use power at home to potentially prevent blackouts.

CSIRO project leader Adam Berry said the Energise app will collect data during and after major energy events such as blackouts or during peak demand times and use it to forecast when they may happen again based on power usage patterns and weather conditions.

The app is designed to help predict when a blackout or load shedding could occur based on typical energy usage and weather pattern data.

The app is designed to help predict when a blackout or load shedding could occur based on typical energy usage and weather pattern data.Credit: AP

“One of the key objectives of this app is to reduce the likelihood of load shedding events, because if we have a better understanding of how people are using their appliances, air conditioning or heaters during very hot or cold weather then we can prepare for peaking events,” Dr Berry told Fairfax Media.

“With this app we can ask important questions at critical points in time.

“We want to understand the drivers of peak demand. Getting this information quickly and from a broad sample of households means that we can quickly spot issues and then start working on a solution.”

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App users are asked questions about the make-up of their household, power costs, energy-use patterns and whether they have renewable power such as solar panels and batteries.

The data will be used to find out how much the average energy the Australian home uses, what they pay for it, what is driving these costs, and potentially predict load shedding events such as blackouts or a reduction of electricity.

CSIRO energy director Tim Finnigan said the app will help to understand how fast Australia’s energy transition is occurring and the consumer behaviours driving it.

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“CSIRO Energise will help fill missing pieces of the puzzle with robust, objective data in areas where our knowledge is lacking. This will ensure that CSIRO can continue to drive the innovation that guides an affordable, sustainable and reliable energy system,” Dr Finnigan said.

The app will also provide specific information to users on how they can cut power bills. Users are provided tips on energy efficiency, about new research around energy usage, and short videos from scientists on how to be more energy aware.

The CSIRO's Energise app crowd sources information to understand how Australians use energy at home.

The CSIRO's Energise app crowd sources information to understand how Australians use energy at home.Credit: CSIRO

CSIRO is aiming to have between 10,000 and 20,000 downloads of the project initially, although Dr Berry says it would prefer to have as many people as possible sign up.

It is part of CSIRO’s wider Energy Use Data Model project, which is trying to bring together all the information streams of the energy sector into a single centralised and more easily understood model “that will unlock the mysteries of our energy behaviour,” CSIRO said.

It said without this data the government will have more difficulty forecasting energy infrastructure requirements and investments and in building effective energy policies.

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