Climate & Energy Tech terms

33 Climate & Energy Tech terms explained in plain English.

AgrivoltaicsAgrivoltaics is the practice of using the same land for both solar power and agriculture: grazing sheep among panels, growing shade-tolerant crops beneath raised arrays, or keeping pollinator habitat under solar farms.
Building energy management system (BEMS)A building energy management system (BEMS) is software and hardware that monitors and controls a building's heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, and other equipment.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS)Carbon capture and storage (CCS) catches carbon dioxide from smokestacks at power plants, cement kilns, refineries, or other industrial sites, compresses it, and pumps it deep underground into rock formations for permanent storage.
Carbon Footprint of ComputingThe carbon footprint of computing refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with the technology sector: from the energy used to run devices and data centres to the emissions embedded in manufacturing hardware.
Carbon OffsetA carbon offset is a credit representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent greenhouse gas) removed from the atmosphere or prevented from being emitted, purchased by an organization or individual to compensate for their own emissions.
Carbon-Aware SchedulingCarbon-aware scheduling is the practice of timing or locating computing workloads to coincide with periods or places where the electricity grid has the lowest carbon intensity: when more of the grid's electricity is coming from renewable sources like wind and solar.
Circular Economy ElectronicsThe circular economy for electronics is a model that aims to keep devices, components, and materials in productive use for as long as possible: through product design for longevity and repairability, manufacturer take-back and refurbishment programmes, secondary markets for used devices, component reuse, and responsible material recovery.
Data-Centre Energy UseData centres are the physical facilities housing the servers, networking equipment, and cooling systems that power cloud computing, internet services, AI workloads, and digital communications.
Demand responseDemand response is any program that encourages electricity customers to reduce or shift their usage when the grid is under strain, usually in exchange for payments or lower prices.
Direct air capture (DAC)Direct air capture (DAC) uses large fans and chemical filters to pull carbon dioxide directly out of ordinary air, so it can be stored permanently underground or used in products.
E-WasteE-waste (electronic waste) refers to discarded electrical and electronic equipment: everything from old smartphones, laptops, and tablets to televisions, printers, and home appliances.
Energy StarEnergy Star is a voluntary energy efficiency certification programme created by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and run with the Department of Energy (DOE), which took over primary management in 2026.
Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS)Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) generate electricity from hot rock deep underground by drilling wells, creating fractures, and circulating water through them to bring heat to the surface.
EV ChargingEV charging encompasses the equipment, infrastructure, and processes used to replenish the battery of an electric vehicle (EV).
Green CloudGreen cloud (sustainable cloud) refers to cloud computing infrastructure and services that are operated with a focus on minimizing environmental impact: through high energy efficiency (low PUE), renewable energy sourcing, reduced water consumption, hardware longevity, and e-waste management.
Green hydrogenGreen hydrogen is hydrogen gas produced by using renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, a process called electrolysis.
Grid-forming inverterA grid-forming inverter is power electronics that lets batteries, solar, and wind actively set the grid's voltage and frequency, instead of simply following signals from big spinning generators.
Grid-scale battery storageGrid-scale battery storage means large battery installations, often the size of a warehouse or a field of shipping containers, connected to the power grid.
Heat pumpA heat pump is a device that heats and cools buildings by moving heat from one place to another, rather than creating it by burning fuel.
Interconnection queueAn interconnection queue is the line of proposed power plants and battery projects waiting for permission to connect to the electricity grid.
MicrogridA microgrid is a small, local electricity system, serving a campus, hospital, military base, neighbourhood, or remote community, with its own power sources such as solar, batteries, or generators.
NACS (North American Charging Standard)NACS, the North American Charging Standard, is the electric vehicle charging connector originally designed by Tesla and now standardized as SAE J3400.
Net meteringNet metering is a billing arrangement that credits homes and businesses with solar panels for the extra electricity they send to the grid, usually at the same rate they pay to buy power.
Perovskite solar cellA perovskite solar cell uses a class of crystal materials called perovskites to turn sunlight into electricity.
Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) is the standard metric for data centre energy efficiency.
Renewable-Powered Data CentresRenewable-powered data centres are facilities that source their electricity primarily from renewable energy (wind, solar, hydropower, or geothermal) rather than fossil fuels.
Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissionsScope 1, 2, and 3 are categories used to measure a company's greenhouse gas emissions.
Small modular reactor (SMR)A small modular reactor (SMR) is a nuclear reactor that produces up to about 300 megawatts of electricity, roughly a third of a typical large reactor or less, and is designed to be built from standardized, factory-made components.
Smart meterA smart meter is a digital meter that records how much electricity, gas, or water you use in short intervals, often every hour or 15 minutes, and sends the readings to your utility automatically.
Sodium-ion batteryA sodium-ion battery works much like a lithium-ion battery but moves sodium ions, the same element found in table salt, instead of lithium.
Solid-state batteryA solid-state battery uses a solid material, such as a ceramic or sulfide compound, instead of the liquid electrolyte found in today's lithium-ion batteries.
Vehicle-to-grid (V2G)Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology lets an electric vehicle not only charge from the grid but also send electricity back to it, or to a home, when needed.
Virtual power plant (VPP)A virtual power plant (VPP) is a network of many small energy devices, such as home batteries, smart thermostats, EV chargers, and rooftop solar, coordinated by software to act like a single power plant.