Electrical Engineering in a Green Economy
Specific Purpose:
To inform my audience about the three major opportunities for
electrical engineers in a green economy.
Central Idea:
The three major opportunities for Electrical Engineers in the green
economy are renewable technologies, energy distribution, and
energy efficiency.
Introduction
I. By a show of hands, how many of you have ever heard of the green economy?
II. Today, I want to explain the three main opportunities for electrical engineers in a green
economy.
A. A green economy is a economic system that promotes renewable technologies and
energy efficiency to achieve environmental sustainability..
III. As a student in Electrical engineering who is concerned with environmental sustainability,
I have spent the last year researching opportunities for electrical engineers in a green
economy.
IV. The three major opportunities for electrical engineers in the green economy are renewable
technology development, renewable energy generation and distribution, and energy
efficiency.
(Internal Preview: The first opportunity for electrical engineers in a green economy is
microelectronics used in renewable technologies.)
Body
I.
Electronic engineers help develop renewable technologies.
A.
B.
C.
D.
The renewable energy market continues to expand in the United States.
1.
An 2007 article published in the Boston Globe forecasts that solarindustry growth will continue at more than 30 percent a year for the next
five years.
2.
Solar panels, also known as photovoltaic cells, capture sunlight and
convert that light into electricity.
Solar panels have been expensive to manufacture and inefficient, yet the costs
are dropping and the efficiency is increasing thanks, in part, to electronic
engineers
Electronic engineers have played a key role in developing solar panels.
1.
In an August 2008 Drs. Axelrod and Shenkman proposed a new diodecapacitor network using a DC voltage multiplier coupled with a highfrequency switch to increase the voltage of photovoltaic cells.
2.
In the presentation, the researchers identified photovoltaic solar panels
as and ideal application of their circuit.
An article in USA Today notes that both solar and wind technologies expanded
45% in the United States in 2007.
1.
2.
The increasing research and development of renewable technologies
illustrate job opportunities for electrical engineers specializing in
electronics.
This led Amy Gillentine of the Colorado Springs Business Journal to
conclude that “green jobs,” like renewable technology engineering, will
not suffer in times of economic downturn.
(Transition: Now that you know how electronic engineers help develop renewable
technologies, we’ll now discuss how power engineers help renewable energy production and
distribution.)
II. Power engineers help renewable energy production and distribution.
A.
B.
C.
According to Pansini and Smalling, in their 2002 book Guide to Electric
Power Generation, power engineering concerns the generation,
transmission, and distribution of electricity.
Responsibilities for power engineers in large generation projects range from
individual site selection for power plants to the design and maintenance of
electro-magnetic generators driven by some power source.
1.
Hydroelectric power generation, for example, uses the movement of
water to turn large electro-magnetic generators to produce electricity.
2.
Wind turbines use wind power to turn electro-magnetic generators to
produce electricity.
Power engineers are also designing smaller scale production and distribution
systems called micro-grids.
1.
A micro-grid uses energy sources like fuel cells, gas turbines, and wind
farms. These renewable technologies work together to control the
output and distribution of energy.
2.
In 2006, a team of experts from the Shibaura Institute of Technology in
Tokyo Japan presented research concluding that micro-grid
interconnection, that connects multiple micro-grids together, is the best
method for grid stability and efficiency.
3.
As this suggests, there is a role for electrical engineers specializing in
power engineering in a green economy.
(Transition: Now that you know how engineers help develop renewable technologies and
produce renewable energy, we’ll turn to a final opportunity for electrical engineers: control and
instrumentation for energy efficiency.)
III. Control and instrumentation engineers help promote energy efficiency.
A.
According to Roadstrum and Wolaver, in their 1994 book Electrical
Engineering for All Engineers, instrumentation systems use analog systems to
measure physical parameters.
B.
Electronic measurement systems originally displayed readings on an instrument
panel. Today the readings are often stored in computer memory or displayed on
a computer screen.
C.
A November 2008 article published in The New York Times describes how
energy efficiency upgrades to existing buildings and performance modeling of
new construction is reducing energy costs to consumers.
1.
Controls and instrumentation such as motion-detectors and softwaredriven timers monitor and manage lighting as well as heating and
cooling systems to optimize performance.
2.
Research on state-of-the-art efficiency controls by instrumentation
engineers is ongoing. With increasing demand on these efficiency
controls, the price of these systems continues to drop.
3.
The New York Times article describes how the typical efficiency control
system today takes, on average, two years to recoup initial investments.
Conclusion
I.
In summary, I hope you now have a better understanding of the major opportunities
for electrical engineers in the green economy, which are renewable technology
development, renewable power generation and distribution, and energy efficiency.
II. Perhaps this information will be helpful as you peruse a specialized avenue of
electrical engineering as you continue your degree.
Thank you.
Resources
Axelod, B., & Shenkman, A. (2008, August). A novel diode-capacitor voltage multiplier
for increasing the voltage of photovoltaic cells. 11th Workshop on Control and
Modeling for Power Electronics. COMPEL.
Belson, K. (2008, November 2). A more efficient city tones down its glitter. The New
York Times, 37A.
Davidson, P. (2008, September 8). 4 creative solutions to energy problems. USA Today,
4B.
Gehrman, E. (2007). Hot Jobs in a green economy: Consumer interest in eco-friendly
products and services from renewable energy to high-tech fuel cells means
satisfying new work opportunities. Boston Globe, 60.
Gillentine, A. (2008, October 17). “Green” jobs won’t suffer during economic downturn.
Colorado Springs Business Journal.
Roadstrum, W. H., & Wolaver, D. H. (1994). Electrical engineering for all engineers.
New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Uno, Y., Fujita, G., Yokoyama, R., Matubara, M., Toyoshima, T., Tsukui, T. (2006,
November). Evaluation of micro-grid supply and demand stability for different
interconnections. International Power and Energy Conference, Putrajaya,
Malaysia.