The issues of energy costs, availability, markets trade, etc. have been discussed for months and clear solutions or agreements are not yet consolidated. We are approaching (maybe mild) winter and electricity supply for heating our houses and related bills are certainly a priority.
Paradoxically, soon after many countries decided to ban the circulation of vehicles with traditional powertrains as recognised culpable of too many dreadful emissions – which caused car manufacturers rushing to announce which year they will stop producing these kind of vehicles – well, now, having a fully electric vehicle may turn to be a disadvantage. As a matter of fact, the topic has recently changed: we are talking less about the autonomy of EVs, and more about how much we have to pay to charge them.
Transport is not the only variable of this difficult equation. As a matter of fact, our entire life is based on electricity: from computers to smartphones/tablets/e-readers to charge, fridges, washing machines, mobile telephony, data transfer, emails, search engines, etc… The Internet: if we didn’t have electricity, it wouldn’t exist. This is not limited to our computers that need to be plugged in to work, but includes the array of computers/mainframes that allow us to surf websites and exchange any kind of data.
Video-surveillance wouldn’t work, Alexa wouldn’t work, smart homes wouldn’t exist.
In these days we could say that electricity helps the Internet exist and, conversely, the Internet helps the power supply stations be interconnected ensuring that we have electricity in our houses and work places. Here is the major doubt: what is more important for our lives? what is crucial? Difficult to answer, but being at least responsible for the use of electricity we individually do, it would certainly improve the situation.
This applies also when we stay at hotels: despite the daily rate includes also the energy consumption in our room, it would be good idea to switch off unnecessary bulbs when not used such as, for instance, those ones in the bathroom while we are in bed watching TV.
As one famous UK supermarkets chain states in its advertisement: every little helps.
Stefano Mainero
EPN Consulting and EPN Consulting Research & Innovation Founder & CEO