Page 14 - European Energy Innovation - summer 2018 publication
P. 14
14 Summer 2018 European Energy Innovation
ENERGY EFICIENCY & INNOVATION
Energy Efficiency
and Innovation
By Patrizia Toia, MEP
Energy efficiency means the control and automation of
investing in innovation. lighting, heating ventilation, air
By now, most people conditioning, and security and home
understand that the appliances. Today, you can have
industrial sector is radically changing lights that save energy by switching
the way we produce - and hence how off automatically when nobody is in
we work and live: this is the fourth a room; or you can programme your
industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0. washing machine to wash during
But what may not be completely the night, when energy prices are
apparent is that the energy sector is lower. Many already know this as the
also going through a revolution, one concept of the Smart Home.
that is based on digitalization.
Elsewhere, hybrid cars, are becoming
Energy has been a key factor in more and more common on our
all previous industrial revolutions: roads. Their batteries can recover the
steam powered the mechanisation of kinetic energy that would otherwise
manufacturing that triggered the first be lost during braking, in order to
industrial revolution in 1784. A century reuse it later through an electric
later, electrification drove the second motor. A computer uses software
industrial revolution by allowing the to manage these flows of energy,
development of the production line, deciding between recovery and reuse.
based on the division of labour. The This is energy 4.0: systems composed
third industrial revolution, around of physical entities and controlled
1970, was based on the use of or monitored by computer-based
electronics and IT to control energy algorithms. And it is at the same time
through the microchip. Today, the both the cause and the consequence
fourth industrial revolution is based of a revolution in energy production.
on the digitalization of production, Nuclear plants and fossil fuels are
products and consumption: being phased out, giving way to
innovations such as the Internet intermittent renewables, making
of Things, 3D printing and modular energy efficiency more and more
production are crossing and blurring fundamental.
the borders between manufacturing
and services, between hardware and According to the International
software and between producers and Energy Agency (IEA), if EU countries
consumers. were to exploit fully the potential of
energy efficiency, overall GDP would
How is this is going to affect the grow by up to 1.1% per year. The
energy sector? Before looking at the European Commission has estimated
big picture let's consider a couple of additional GDP growth of up to
everyday examples that show how 4.45% by 2030 if 40% energy savings
the fourth energy revolution is already could be achieved. Construction, for
happening. Home automation, or example, is a strong engine of the
domotics, is the residential extension European economy, contributing
of building automation and involves nearly 10% to EU GDP and accounting
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu
