Energy Internet: A Peak at the Future

Hot,Flat and Crowded author Thomas Friedman, writing Wednesday in his New York Times column provides a preview of what part of the Energy Internet will look like in the not too distant future.

Friedman writes of new business called Better Place, which is setting up vehicle electricity charging stations in Australia, Denmark, and Israel as well as Hawaii and the San Francisco Bay.

The Better Place electric car charging system involves generating electrons from as much renewable energy—such as wind and solar—as possible and then feeding those clean electrons into a national electric car charging infrastructure. This consists of electricity charging spots with plug-in outlets — the first pilots were opened in Israel this week — plus battery-exchange stations all over the respective country. The whole system is then coordinated by a service control center that integrates and does the billing.

Think of the IT jobs needed to help create and maintain this system.

Friedman analogizes the future of the auto industry with what Apple CEO Steve Jobs did in the music business, replacing a 20th century industrial platform for one designed for the 21st century.

What did Apple understand first? One, that today’s technology platform would allow anyone with a computer to record music. Two, that the Internet and MP3 players would allow anyone to transfer music in digital form to anyone else. You wouldn’t need CDs or record companies anymore. Apple simply took all those innovations and integrated them into a single music-generating, purchasing and listening system that completely disrupted the music business.

Friedman sees Better Place founder Shai Agassi doing the same in the automotive industry.

What Agassi ... is saying is that there is a new way to generate mobility, not just music, using the same platform. It just takes the right kind of auto battery—the iPod in this story—and the right kind of national plug-in network—the iTunes store—to make the business model work for electric cars at six cents a mile. The average American is paying today around 12 cents a mile for gasoline transportation, which also adds to global warming and strengthens petro-dictators.

Trade Group Advises Obama on Advancing the Smart Grid

The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition issued on Tuesday policy recommendations to President-elect Barack Obama and the incoming Congress that the association contends will stimulate the economy, enhance infrastructure and create green jobs.

One of the goals of the trade association of smart-grid technology providers, if realized, could create green jobs for IT professionals.

Provide electricity customers with new information, technologies and tools to control their electricity bills and increase their energy efficiency practices With electricity prices rising and consumer budgets being stretched, it is essential to provide customers with new energy saving tools, including new pricing structures and rates, as well as better information and feedback about how they use electricity. This will give them new ability to lower their electricity bills.

What's needed is not just more information and tools to let consumers make smart decisions on energy use, but technology to automate the entire process, without regular human intervention, as outlined in Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded: an energy Internet.

Global Warming and IT Jobs: A Lose-Win Proposition

Though the deteriorating climate spells bad news for earth, and for all of us, global warming could benefit IT professionals looking for work in the not-too-distant future. That's because government and business will greatly step up the pace of creating systems and networks to more efficiently manage the distribution and use of energy.

It's what New York Times columnist Tom Friedman describes as the energy Internet in his current bestseller Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution And How it Can Renew America. And, it will be built. Mother Nature won't give us any choice but to act.

“‘Mother Nature is just chemistry, biology and physics. That’s all she is.’” Friedman quotes EcoTech International CEO Rob Watson. “And because of that, says Rob, you cannot spin Mother Nature. You cannot bribe Mother Nature. You cannot sweet talk her and you cannot ignore her. She’s going to do with the climate whatever chemistry, biology and physics dictate. And Mother Nature always bats last, and she always bats a thousand.”

With such a batting average, IT pros are set to join Team Mother Nature. But they can't rely just on their tech skills. They must become domain experts. And that domain is the environment.

“The professionals who can effectively understand two or three—or sometimes 10—different core technologies and put them together in an integrated view are going to be the winners in this new marketplace,” Michael Valocchi, global leader for energy and utilities at IBM Global Business Services, recently told me.

It's happening already. A Minnesota company just posted the following job: Senior Developer/Architect to create a new suite of smart grid applications on a Web 2.0 platform. Just check the job boards, and you'll see similar postings.