Custom Carbon Intensity Data

Carbon Intensity (CI) data represents the carbon emissions associated with electricity consumption. SustainDC includes CI data files for various locations to simulate the carbon footprint of the DC’s energy usage.

Data Source

The default carbon intensity data files are extracted from:

  • U.S. Energy Information Administration API (LINK)

Expected File Format

Carbon intensity files should be in .csv format, with columns representing different energy sources and the average carbon intensity. The columns typically include:

  • timestamp: The time of the data entry

  • WND: Wind energy

  • SUN: Solar energy

  • WAT: Water (hydropower) energy

  • OIL: Oil energy

  • NG: Natural gas energy

  • COL: Coal energy

  • NUC: Nuclear energy

  • OTH: Other energy sources

  • avg_CI: The average carbon intensity

Example Carbon Intensity File

timestamp,WND,SUN,WAT,OIL,NG,COL,NUC,OTH,avg_CI
2022-01-01 00:00:00+00:00,1251,0,3209,0,15117,2365,4992,337,367.450
2022-01-01 01:00:00+00:00,1270,0,3022,0,15035,2013,4993,311,363.434
2022-01-01 02:00:00+00:00,1315,0,2636,0,14304,2129,4990,312,367.225
2022-01-01 03:00:00+00:00,1349,0,2325,0,13840,2334,4986,320,373.228
...

Integration Steps

  • Add the new carbon intensity data files to the data/CarbonIntensity folder

  • Update the cintensity_file entry in DEFAULT_CONFIG dictionary in sustaindc_env.py with the path to the new carbon intensity file