The modern world is fueled by energy, without which, our society would crumble. Even now, nations rise and fall based on their energy creation and consumption. The pursuit of economic growth and a better quality of life is driving global power and energy demands to record highs.

But mankind's dependence on fossil fuels will force us to face many long-term energy challenges; tackling climate change, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and the development of renewable energy. And while it doesn't immediately seem as important, another large challenge will be to secure our power transmissions, especially for information acquisition/management, which can significantly help us improve the efficiency of energy use.

The following diagram shows that for next two decades wind and solar energies will play increasingly major roles in power generation.

From the DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2008 energy outlook report, renewable energy will experience 23% faster growth between now and 2030 than previously anticipated. There is a key trend of faster projected growth in the use of non-hydroelectric renewable energy, resulting from a revised representation of the state Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) provision. The trend chard shown below outlines the growing installed capacity for wind and solar (PV) energies and the energy management/saving efforts of ESCO.

Leading the way are the EU countries, who are worldwide pioneers of renewable energy and CO2 reduction. Their annual solar energy installed capacity is more than 2,000 MW/per year and their wind power installed capacity is more than 9,500 MW/per year.

Aside from the EU, China is enacting more aggressive energy policies than other country, whose expected utility investment from 2005 to 2030 constitutes 23% of the global total.

Economic opportunities aside, energy saving platforms and products can help us begin curbing our dependence on power. For over 20 years Advantech has been developing robust and trusted automation platforms for the Power & Energy market, and currently has serviced at more than 10,000 MW of wind power generation, while also playing major roles in power substation & power transmission applications. Moving forward, Advantech will be leading the charge in the industrial sector, researching, developing, and implementing energy-saving products, and products to help us develop more efficient renewable energy platforms.