Commentary

As plant owners accelerate the Industry 4.0 digital transformation, attention is increasingly being focused on the evolution of Distributed Control Systems (DCS) to enable them to become more flexible and adaptable. There are many key initiatives that are helping to set the standard for systems offering new levels of openness, security and interoperability. COMMENTARY Originally […]

Demand for horses peaked in the United States in 1905; more than a hundred years later, we still use “horsepower” as a measuring stick for our engines and motors. James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, first coined the term following a calculation that deduced a single horse could push up to 33,000 pounds […]

As fuel and power price volatility continues across the U.S., the push to transition away from fossil fuels to lower-cost renewable, clean energy intensifies. But in order to reach President Biden’s goal of 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, utilities, developers, and regulators need to align and work together to improve the interconnection process. COMMENTARY Though […]

While homeowners are increasingly eager to both save money and conserve energy, when it comes to allowing outside entities to enter their lives and help them manage energy decisions in order to accomplish these goals, the picture is more complicated. Trends, including the electrification of everything and an increasing need to manage energy consumption at […]

From the Apollo space missions to the Zeppelin airships, human ingenuity has long dreamed up ways to make the power of hydrogen fly. Now, as the world powers up to reach climate goals in the midst of an energy crisis, the universe’s most abundant element is once again taking up airtime as debate continues over […]

So far, utilities have announced plans to retire some 93,000 MW (nameplate) of coal—almost half the existing coal fleet—by the end of this decade. Coal retirements combined with increasing penetration of

Battery power has never been in greater demand, and a wide range of new applications that require such power are emerging daily. That increased demand is accompanied by the need for more production, which in turn requires the highest degrees of contemporary quality control. Accurate measurement is the key to enabling these new production facilities […]

As the world looks toward innovative technology to help reduce the carbon footprint, scarcity of resources has become a significant challenge. With no single technology being enough to accommodate the green transition, we’re seeing massive investments in both fuel cell- and battery-related technologies. Some large-scale investments include new battery technologies for electric vehicles (EVs), wind […]

Countries’ timelines to becoming energy secure and reaching net-zero targets have shortened. Major contributing factors include COVID-19’s impact on supply chains and the war in Ukraine. Alongside this are external influences such as COP27, or the landmark U.S. Climate Bill, which will direct almost $370 billion toward rapidly scaling renewable energy production and reducing emissions. Already, intergovernmental […]

Are today’s Distributed Control Systems ready for what tomorrow could bring? Johan Björklund of leading global technology company ABB believes they are. Here he looks at how the DCS is adapting to meet the changing demands of users. Distributed Control Systems (DCS) have been around for nearly half a century. Of course, both industrial processes […]