The future of energy, cleantech and sustainability
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Semiconductors are the brains of modern devices, from EVs to smartphones, robots and beyond, and they may hold the key to solving the sustainability crisis through tailored innovation and adaptive edge intelligence.
For over two decades, scientists and climatologists have been warning of the effects of global warming and the link to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but now attention has turned to action and how we as a global society can address both the root causes and effects of climate change.
The availability of energy has underpinned social and economic growth since the dawn of the industrial revolution. While this has enabled great economic growth, this growth has come at a steep cost.
Since 1820, GHG emissions have grown 686×, leading to ~1.1°C of average global warming and a slew of significant ecological, economic, and societal consequences. These effects range from 166 million people requiring food aid due to climate crises in 2015–2019 to $3 trillion in disaster-related economic losses from 2000–2019.
If current trends hold, by 2050, the world will need twice the energy it consumes today to power the projected global developmental trajectory.
According to experts, without changes to our sources of energy and overall energy efficiency strategies, and the resulting temperature increase – the consequences could also result in the displacement of 33% of the global population, an 11% to 18% reduction in global GDP, and up to $23 trillion in annual climate-related disaster losses.
Electrification and energy efficiency
Energy growth and rapid decarbonisation require a broad replacement of fossil fuels with renewables (that is, 9× demand growth from today to 2050) and a dramatic improvement in global energy efficiency (that is, 2× increase from today to 2050).
“There is an unprecedented opportunity to cultivate the clean energy transition by eliminating greenhouse gas-generating technology through renewable-powered electrification of end applications.” said Greg Henderson, Senior Vice President of Automotive and Energy, Communications and Aerospace Group.
“As more products are designed to be powered from electricity, the broader ecosystem of power generation, distribution and storage systems comes into play. Globally, we need a flexible, resilient, efficient and secure energy system.”
“At the same time the energy grid is redesigned for renewable energy sources, there must be a focus on driving energy efficiency in all applications. In the context of total emissions, roughly 50% of global energy is consumed by industrials. Through the deployment of digital connected factory technologies, we can improve control of industrial operations within existing brownfield factories and in doing so, drive productivity which brings benefits across the full value chain and enables competitive differentiation,” said Martin Cotter, Senior Vice President of Industrial and Multimarkets Group.
“Investing in sustainability goals and driving profitability are not mutually exclusive: by investing in industrial efficiency, we have the potential to reduce energy usage but also drive competitiveness.”
Enabling electrification and efficiency at scale
Our assessment resulted in two primary categories of end solutions – those that either displace traditional, GHG-generating end technology or those that make the technology more energy efficient.
Examples of displacing technologies include electric vehicles, the energy transition and renewable energy-powered electrolysers. Examples of end products that are more energy efficient include industrial motors, 5G wireless communications and connected HVAC systems.
We recognise that ADI’s technologies are not the end products themselves. In many cases, however, the end application would not be viable without them. An example is EVs, which rely on batteries and would not be viable without battery management technology constantly assessing the health of each cell, balancing the cells within the battery pack, and ensuring that the battery is never under or overcharged. Battery management – a technology in which ADI is the market leader – is thus an enabling technology for EVs.
Another example of how ADI solutions are potentially helping to reduce CO2 emissions is with the deployment of variable frequency drives utilising ADI’s precision control technology. ADI technology enables precise adjustment of motor speed and torque to match the load under management. This saves energy by matching the capacity of the motor to the task at hand. Pairing all motors with drives could potentially save 10% of global emissions.
If end applications (like EVs or variable frequency drives) enabled in part by ADI’s technology were to be fully scaled and adopted, society could realise ~26Gt fewer GHG emissions.
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About Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. is a global semiconductor leader that bridges the physical and digital worlds to enable breakthroughs at the Intelligent Edge. ADI combines analog, digital and software technologies into solutions that help drive advancements in digitised factories, mobility and digital healthcare, combat climate change and reliably connect humans and the world.
