CAS-Climate: CAREER: A Unified Zero-Carbon-Driven Design Framework for Accelerating Power Grid Deep Decarbonization (ZERO-ACCELERATOR)

This NSF CAREER project aims to establish a transformative and convergent zero-carbon-driven framework to add the urgently needed carbon perspective into the design, operation, and control of electric power systems. The project will bring transformative changes to electric power systems, which are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and carbon-intensive processes. This will be achieved by developing and integrating new carbon-driven mechanisms, methodologies, and algorithms into the existing power grid operation paradigm to accelerate its decarbonization. The intellectual merits of the project include: 1) A mathematical framework to model carbon allowance allocation and forward emission trading, 2) the hypothesis of a carbon balance market as a spot market mechanism for maintaining continuous grid cleanliness, 3) load profile-based carbon accounting and forecasting methods, paired with an integrated electricity-carbon digital twin, 4) a game theoretic carbon response program to maximize demand-side carbon reduction. The broader impacts of the project include: 1) Providing an integrative blueprint for policymakers, electricity producers, grid operators, and consumers regarding their respective roles in expediting the decarbonization of the electric power sector, 2) addressing the current knowledge gap and raising awareness of energy transition within the U.S. workforce and classrooms, and 3) strengthening Houston's leadership in the global energy transition. Outdated assets, well-established regulatory structures, and rigid operational requirements make power system decarbonization challenging. This project aims to establish an urgently needed carbon-driven framework to align with the U.S. government’s commitment to fully decarbonize the power sector by 2035, while maintaining its desired operational characteristics and societal responsibilities. The project will answer the following key research questions: 1) How to design an effective carbon allowance assignment strategy to incentivize emission reduction actions without imposing excessive costs on ratepayers? 2) How can new emission trading mechanisms be integrated into the existing electricity market to facilitate efficient carbon exchange? 3) How can the carbon impacts of consumers' electricity consumption activities be accurately measured and forecasted, and how to design demand-side mechanisms for demand-driven carbon reduction? The project will also train the next-generation energy workforce, and prepare them to understand, engage in, and ultimately, lead the energy transition. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.