I-Corps: Developing a National Market Platform for Trading Renewable Energy Certificates

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是消除可再生能源证书(REC)交易的障碍，并进一步强调绿色能源生产的环境和可持续价值。可再生能源国家市场(NaMaREC)的一个广泛的社会效益是，通过社区太阳能和风电场等项目，更多地采用可再生能源技术，从而减少碳足迹。当更多的可再生能源满足了人口增长对能源的日益增长的需求时，这一好处就会更大。可再生公用事业公司将受益于NaMaREC，因为它将允许它们扩大消费者基础，并接触到可能愿意为证书支付更高价格的消费者。不可再生的公用事业公司可以使用NaMaREC从成本较低的地区采购REC，从而降低它们的合规成本。最终，NaMaREC将提供一种途径，通过对潜在客户的广泛采访，向公众传达采用可再生能源的经济性。该项目将形成包括学术界、产业界和初创企业在内的合作伙伴关系，以启动NaMaREC。这个i-Corps项目寻求开发一个名为NaMaREC(国家可再生能源证书市场)的在线市场，用于出售和购买可再生能源证书。在美国，REC是一种无形的、可交易的能源商品，它代表着1兆瓦时(MWh)的电力来自可再生能源的证据。目前，美国各地都有孤立的REC卖家或聚合者，他们的交易既不协调也不整合。NaMaREC的商业主题是利用规模经济将REC聚集在一个国家市场上。REC的潜在激励价值是，美国29个州和3个地区有一项政策授权，要求公用事业公司在目标日期前从太阳能光伏或风能技术等可再生资源中产生一定比例的产出。这些公司可以通过建设必要的可再生能源能力或购买可再生能源以满足可再生能源组合标准(RPS)的要求来满足这一任务，即可再生组合标准(RPS)。地方经济实体的孤立交易限制了它们的市场生存能力和公司满足其国家级RPS的可及性。NaMaREC将在一种目前尚不存在的综合服务中改变REC的交易。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to eliminate the barriers to the trading of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and to further accentuate the environmental and sustainability value of green energy production. A broad societal benefit of a national market for RECS (NaMaREC) is the increased adoption of renewable energy technology through projects such as community solar and wind farms leading to reduction in carbon footprints. This benefit is higher when the increasing need for energy due to growing populations is satisfied with more renewable energy. Renewable utilities will benefit from NaMaREC since it will allow them to expand their consumer base and reach consumers that may be willing to pay more for the certificate. Nonrenewable utilities can use NaMaREC to source RECs from cheaper regions, thus reducing their cost of compliance. Ultimately, NaMaREC will provide an avenue to communicate the economics of renewable energy adoption to the public through extensive interviews of potential customers. This project will form partnerships that includes the academia, industry, and start-up ventures to launch NaMaREC. This I-Corps project seeks to develop an online marketplace named NaMaREC (National Market for Renewable Energy Certificates) for the selling and buying of RECs. A REC is a non-tangible, tradable energy commodity in the U.S. that represents proof that 1 megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity was generated from a renewable energy resource. Currently, there are isolated sellers or aggregators of RECs across the U.S. with trades that are neither harmonized nor integrated. The business thesis of NaMaREC is to harness the economics of scale in the aggregation of RECs in a national market. The underlying motivating value for RECs is that 29 states and three territories of the U.S. have a policy mandate that requires utilities to generate a certain percentage of their outputs from a renewable resource such as solar photovoltaic or wind technology by a target date. This mandate, Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), may be satisfied by these companies either by building the requisite renewable energy capacity or buying RECs to satisfy the RPS requirements. Isolated transactions of RECs have limited their market viability and accessibility by firms to meet their state-level RPS. NaMaREC will transform the trading of RECs in an integrated service that does not currently exist.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.