With the world recently reaching a population of 8 billion, which many of us still find incomprehensive, and the shadow of undeniable climate change looming over us, the need for sustainable energy sources and efficient energy management methods has never been higher.
Together, these long-needed changes can help diminish the massive negative ecological impact of our current energy production methods. It can also help create a world that can effortlessly sustain the human population without hurting the planet, even leaving some legroom for its expected growth.
As pursuing a greener tomorrow has never been more vital, today’s article will delve deeper into the top four methods for reaching sustainability and increasing energy efficiency across all industries.
Automation Systems – Optimizing Existing Energy Generation Processes
Despite our energy generation methods’ ecological impact on the planet, ceasing all these processes isn’t viable. However, they can be improved and made more efficient than they currently are.
Here, automation plays a pivotal role, helping energy production systems in countless industries improve and decrease their impact. Often fueled by state-of-the-art AI algorithms, automation systems have massive benefits as they reduce the number of human errors and help various types of machinery increase their outputs.
For example, Turbine Controls by CCCGlobal.com can significantly decrease the number of manual inputs needed for a steam turbine’s operation. This implementation can help avoid speed fluctuations and increase the life of steam turbines through completely automated start and stop sequences.
Of course, reaching complete automation is still impossible, as human input is still needed for occasional maintenance and repair, but we’ve certainly come a long way. Perhaps in the future, manual labor will ultimately be removed from this equation, letting intelligent machines and automated systems take care of everything for us.
Renewable Energy Sources – Decreasing our Carbon Footprint
While fossil fuels are not going away anytime soon, the world is undoubtedly shifting its attention toward renewable energy sources. As their name suggests, these ecologically conscious energy sources can be used repeatedly, making them indispensable to our efficient energy management needs.
Characterized by massively increased sustainability and abundant sources, including solar, wind, and hydro energy, renewable and eco-friendly sources leave a much lower carbon footprint on our already wounded planet. Slowly but surely, they’re diminishing the massive impact that conventional sources had on our lives.
Although they can’t completely replace traditional energy-creation processes and won’t be able to do so anytime soon, their adoption has recently skyrocketed as governments continuously try to decrease the costs of implementing these renewable energy sources.
As a result, these transformative methods of creating energy are gaining traction and becoming a beacon of hope for a greener future.
Efficient Energy Storage – Meeting the Constantly Changing Demands
Adaptable energy infrastructure is pivotal in helping us reach ultimate sustainability and higher energy efficiency levels. After all, our energy needs are in constant flux, so what good is clean energy when we can’t store it or must change our outputs every time the demand changes?
Batteries have long been a critical factor in energy storage. They’ve been through countless technological improvements, often impacting the materials we use and these batteries’ charging and discharging capabilities. Today, they’re also in electric vehicles, which are also worthy of mention when it comes to improved sustainability.
While these still need improvement, scientists are also focused on innovative capacitors, energy-conserving flywheels, highly effective thermal storage, and various electrochemical solutions, so we can expect to see massive improvements in these areas soon.
Smart Grids – Distributing Energy the Right Way
Did you know that supplying a household with power, or any other building, is usually a one-way street? In such a system, electricity flows from the power grid into a house without communication between the two. However, this can lead to a lot of wasted energy.
Intelligent grids emerge as the top solution here, providing advanced communication and control between the supplier and the supplied, ensuring an optimal energy flow and significantly decreasing losses. It also creates a more efficient system that can be monitored and further improved.
For example, particular solar panel systems with innovative grid technology allow users to track their energy costs and return any unnecessary power to the grid. This implementation can also significantly reduce your electricity bills during the summer when your solar panels create more energy than you need.
Conclusion
With the rapidly growing world population and the imminent threat of global warming, going green and achieving energy efficiency has never been more necessary. Fortunately, a few solutions have emerged as the top methods for reaching a sustainable future.
Our inefficient energy generation systems can be significantly improved through AI-fueled automation systems or swapped for something green like renewable energy sources, which are becoming far less of a financial strain than they were just a decade ago.
Innovations in storing energy to meet changing demands and distributing it through smart grids also pave the way to such a future. While we’re not there yet, these changes can diminish the many negative consequences of fossil fuel energy systems.