Five areas where electricity will change our habits – and one where we shouldn’t actually use electricity.
Society changes at a rapid rate. We are constantly connected, digitalization is already here and soon we will be driving around in self-driving cars. And one thing we can be sure of: More and more things will be powered by electricity. It’s just the idea that puts a stop to what we can electrify.
We are already living in an electrified age, and electricity use will only increase. Here are five areas where electricity will change our habits – and one where we shouldn’t actually use electricity.
1. The transport sector
The electric cars are already here and the changeover is fast. Electric trucks and electric buses are in progress and there are also trials with electric aircraft and electric boats.
If you have more than you need in the electric car’s battery, you will be able to send the electricity back online and sell it. In this way, electric car owners can also become small-scale electricity suppliers.
2. Artificial intelligence
Imagine big parking in ten years, when everyone has an electric car. Then Artificial Intelligence can sense exactly how much electricity you need to charge your car to get home, thereby streamlining electricity usage and distributing electricity better among all cars. There are great opportunities to use AI for smarter electrification and electricity use.
3. The cloud
Digitization and the internet devour huge amounts of energy, so much of the electricity of the future will go here. We are constantly connected and save music, pictures and the like in the so-called cloud. And if cryptocurrencies seriously break through, a lot of electricity will be spent on that production.
4. Smarter collaborations
Fortum has bought the German company PlugSurfing, Europe’s leading independent service for charging electric vehicles and whose smart app – where you can find charging stations and pay for charging – simplifies the life of many electric car owners. PlugSurfing is like a kind of Spotify for charging, the goal is to find all charging sites, regardless of owner and standard, in one place.
5. Smarter home
As more and more of the electricity production becomes weather dependent, the need to be able to move a bit on electricity use increases. It can happen in different ways.
For example, if you want to wash, you can either turn it on and specify when the machine should be ready to finish – then the washing machine adapts to the available power.
Or, an app might ask you to wait a while to turn on the washing machine until the balance between available electricity and demand is restored. There will be many new features that allow you to better control your electricity usage. In addition, our household appliances are becoming more and more energy efficient.
But… there are areas where electricity is unnecessarily used:
Electricity is the finest and most refined form of energy, so if you live where there is district heating, it is more energy-efficient to use it. If it is not with you, then use rock or air heating instead of direct-acting electricity.
But one thing is certain, in the future it will require even more electricity – and it is our job to produce it as environmentally friendly and smart as possible
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