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Unboxing the technology behind smart consumer electronics systems.

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Transformative Role of Power Electronics: In solving climate emergency

June 20, 2022 by Rajendra Singh; Prahaladh Paniyil; Zheyu Zhang

©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/9COMEBACK

Long term shifts in weather patterns and temperature are referred to as climate change. Hotter temperatures, more severe storms, increased droughts, food and water insecurity, and economic disruption, etc. are all due to climate change. According to NASA, “Human activities (primarily the burning of fossil fuels) have fundamentally increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere, warming the planet” [1]. One of the most difficult challenges faced by humanity is to solve the climate emergency [2]. In addition to the climate emergency, the drive to transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy has taken on a new urgency as a result of Russia’s assault on Ukraine [3]. The recent Glasgow summit left a huge hole in addressing the challenges of climate change [4]. In order to avoid more than 1.5°C of eventual warming, the 2030 goal of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be further reduced by approximately 17–20 bn tones [4]. Daring and transformative economic transformations are required to save humanity. There are fundamental differences between green and clean energy sources. Free fuel and renewable green energy sources such as solar and wind have negligible negative impact on the environment and require minimum use of water in electric power generation. On the other hand, clean energy source such as nuclear energy does not produce GHG emission during electric power generation, but mining, extraction, and long-term radioactive waste storage are threats to the environment, and Uranium is a nonrenewable resource. In addition, nuclear energy requires massive amount of water in electric power generation. Thus, renewable, and free fuel-based solar and wind power that have minimal negative impact on the environment are considered as green sustainable power. From safety (death rate from accidents and pollution) [5], minimum GHG emissions [5], negligible use of water in electric power generation [6], photovoltaics (PV) and wind power provide lowest cost [5] of electric power generation. In 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that solar power is now the cheapest form of energy [7]. The cost of electric power generation by photovoltaics has reached as low as $0.0104/kWh [8]. The use of these green sustainable energy sources in place of fossil fuels is the only economical solution to address climate emergency. The objective of this article is to show that power electronics has the potential to achieve the goal of electrifying almost everything by green sustainable energy sources and providing a solution to our shared climate emergency.

For more about this article see link below. 

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9800861

Filed Under: Features

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About the Magazine

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine publishes peer-reviewed articles related to power electronics and its applications which encompass the effective use of electronic components, application of control theory and circuit design techniques, and the development of analytical tools used in efficient and effective energy conversion, control, utilization, and conditioning of electric power. The IEEE Power Electronics  Magazine is limited to the field of interest of the IEEE Power Electronics Society. Topics also include publication of new trend technologies that are being pursued by industry, design practices and case studies, significant amount of state of the art surveys tutorials, and non-technical contributions: news about society activities, interviews, and historical articles.

Reader Feedback

15 April 2022
Prof. Sidharth Sabyasachi, International Research Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Yeungnam University, South Korea wrote to “White Hot” column author Robert V. White, “Good afternoon, today I read your article “Getting the Most From Your IEEE Membership” published in the March 2022 issue of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine. It is a very informative and encouraging article and I am feeling proud of being an IEEE and PELS member. Thanks a lot again and I hope one day I will meet in person.”

We like to hear you. Please send us your views/comments on our feature articles, columns, society news and other related content to bindra1@verizon.net and we will post it in the “Reader Feedback” section of the website with some edits. Feel free to suggest ways to further enhance the magazine content.

POPULAR ARTICLE

APEC Organizers, Vendors
Take Virtual Route to Reveal Latest Trends in Power Technologies and Products

A cancelled conference taps alternate methods to disseminate cutting-edge information

With the growing concerns of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the IEEE Power Electronics Society/Industrial Applications Society (PELS/IAS) and Power Supply Manufacturers Association-sponsored 2020 Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC 2020) in New Orleans, Louisiana, was cancelled for the safety of the attendees. While it was a difficult decision, the health, safety, and welfare of the community was paramount for the organizers and sponsors of the 15–19 March 2020 conference. Although this was the first such cancellation in APEC’s 35-year history, the organizers were quick to offer a virtual conference to those registered. In addition, peer-reviewed papers accepted by the conference committee were submitted to IEEE Xplore and are available to all.

Despite the challenges and adversities of COVID-19, the organizers worked diligently to virtually bring the conference and its presentations to the registered community via the APEC 2020 app and the eventScribe web portal. As a result, I was given a password (access key) to access the site and view a variety of the sessions. Before I go through the conference papers and sessions, I would like to take the opportunity to mention the vendors who promptly called IEEE Power Electronics Magazine and presented the latest trends in technologies and products online. The unbelievable situation created by the COVID-19 outbreak did not deter the vendors and emerging companies from taking their latest advances and developments to editors and reporters via phone and virtual meetings and booths. As a result, I was lucky to talk to a variety of power semiconductor companies, passive component suppliers, and power electronics experts, including marketing analysts, and gather the latest advances in power electronics technology.

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To educate, inform, and entertain our community of
IEEE Power Electronics Society members
on technology, events, industry news, and
general topics relating to consumer electronics
and to further serve and support our Members in professional career development through tutorials and raising awareness of engineering tools and technologies.

The magazine is archived in IEEE Xplore, and articles from all issues are available for download.

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