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Sustainability Glossary

Welcome to our glossary -- our regularly updated dictionary and encyclopedia of various sustainability terms and definitions. If you submit a term for our glossary, we will typically review the submission and decide whether to publish it within five businesses. Thank you for your readership.

There are currently 3 sustainability terms in this directory beginning with the letter D.
D

DERMS (Distributed Energy Resources Management System)
A distributed energy resources management system (DERMS) is a platform which helps mostly distribution system operators (DSO) manage their grids that are mainly based on distributed energy resources (DER). By lack of a common definition, a DERMS thus – depending on your point of view – is something similar or even identical with a Virtual Power Plant (VPP).






On some key aspects, people seem to agree: DERMS is a software platform that is used to organize the operation of the aggregated DER within a power grid. The usual DERMS application is found at the distribution grid level. DERMS typically require a more full-fledged integration of various other systems such as a distribution management system (DSM) for integrating it with a utility. Furthermore, an outage management system (OMS) or a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system is usually needed to provide all DERMS functionality.


Source: Next Kraftwerke








Direct Air Capture (DAC)


Direct air capture (DAC) is a technology that uses chemical reactions to pull carbon dioxide out of air. When air moves over these chemicals, they selectively react with and trap CO2, allowing the other components of air to pass through. Source: World Resources Institute



Downstream Solutions
Downstream solutions are responses to a problem after it has occurred. They focus on treating effects rather than causes. Examples of downstream solutions are recycling, waste management, and reuse of materials. In stark contrast, upstream solutions are preventative strategies to avoid a problem. For planners, this might include eliminating plastics and managing food supply to avoid the need for extensive waste management at an event. Upstream solutions require strategic thinking and operational changes but can relieve the cost and time burdens of addressing downstream consequences. Source: Natalie Lowe, CMM, CRL, a sustainable meeting professional with 30 years of experience.


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