Energy is what makes change happen and can be transferred form one object to another –power is the rate at which energy is transferred.
Energy is essential to life and all living organisms.
How we use energy, generate it and distribute it impacts our quality of life, comfort and our relationship with the environment.
With the advances in renewable energies, it’s clear that power and energy has entered into a new era, one which traditional power and energy organizations are transforming to in order to survive.
Renewable energy comes from sunlight, wind, geothermal, moving water, biomass and biofuels. Environmentalists tout the importance of renewable energy sources because they represent clean energy with a lower impact on nature.
Clean energy sources also cost less: The power source is free, and it costs less to install a wind turbine or a solar array than it does to drill for oil. Wind and sun don’t disappear with use, as they continually regenerate. Hydroelectric plants on dams and rivers can generate a significant amount of electricity and will continue to do so as long as water continues to flow.
Other sources include fuels like ethanol. It comes from plants and the energy of heat generated by wood burning. Inventors and scientists have also found ways to generate power from the force of the waves in the ocean.
How energy is distributed is also undergoing massive changes duo to new technologies in the fields of machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) expanded connectivity.
In 2021, a new administration ushered in an acceleration in the energy industry’s transition and convergence. President Joe Biden’s campaign platform called for national net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a $2 trillion investment to help equitably achieve this target.
The power and utilities industry is expected to lead this transition, as the new plan envisions the industry achieving an even more ambitious target of zero emissions by 2035.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers more than two dozen courses in Power and Energy – everything from power grid and microgrid training to NERC CIP, offshore wind farms, smart grids, synchronous machines and much more.
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