I think business leaders should turn their focus to innovating in the area of green technologies and connected platforms. Smart cities of the future will likely be interconnected through wireless sensors, IoT devices and artificial intelligence, so we should start preparing now.
Some cities, like Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, already have giant solar panel farms. Denmark just announced that it is planning to build an island in the North Sea to gather wind energy. To start, the energy hub will produce enough electricity to power 3 million households.
Invest In Renewable Energy
Using more renewable energy can lower the demand for oil, natural gas and coal by increasing competition and diversifying energy supplies. McKinsey predicts that within the next decade, renewables will be cheaper than today’s fossil fuel plants, and by 2035, renewables will account for 50% of all power generation. Right now, the fastest-growing energy sources are solar, wind, hydropower and bioenergy. Other alternative energy sources of the future could be space-based solar, tidal, algae and magma power.
According to the Geothermal Energy Association, less than 10% of the world’s geothermal power potential is currently being utilized. However, geothermal energy production is expected to more than double by 2030.
Don’t Be Afraid To Innovate
Future innovations will likely be about connectivity, data monitoring and searching for new sources of renewable energy. Some companies that stand out in this field to me now are ReNew Power, a clean energy company in India, and Windbreak, an Israeli startup focused on developing weather-based AI to predict renewable energy generation. Electric vehicle producer Tesla is now worth over $800 billion. Apple is reportedly working on a deal with Hyundai-Kia to manufacture an autonomous electric car.
A Call To Business Leaders
The global energy industry is facing a rapid transformation. During the BloombergNEF Future of Energy Global Summit in New York in 2016, former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “No matter which country you’re in, the cost of clean energy now is cheaper than the cost of climate change later.”
Those words clearly resonate now more than ever before. This is a clear call to all young entrepreneurs, business leaders and startup founders to think about how we can make our future on this planet more sustainable. Now is the time for new futuristic business ideas that can support making cities more green and connected while growing renewable energy sources.