I saw lots of hints that green power issues are on the minds of the industry's early adopters when I attended the Embedded Systems Conference where former Vice President Al Gore challenged the engineers attending his keynote with developing the tools to build a greener future. Mr Gore's inspirational talk -- and flashy demos, like the teardown of a Toyota Prius on the show floor -- are great ways to raise the average engineer's awareness about their potential role in designing more energy-efficient products; but it won't amount to anything without some solid follow-up.
That's why I'd like to challenge my colleagues David, Rich, Patrick, and the rest of the ESC team to move beyond the sizzle and start to give engineers some of the tools they'll need to build the energy-efficient technologies that will power tomorrow's green products.
The East Coast Embedded Systems Conference, being held this fall (2007) in Boston, would be a great place to start. Given the abundance of interesting and market-appropriate topics available, it would be easy to put together a one-day track that covered the practical aspects of energy efficient design practices, energy management technologies, and the nuts-and-bolts of renewable energy systems.
Here's a partial list of topics I'd hope to see at the Fall ESC green power track:
- Meeting and exceeding EnergyStar compliance in your next design
- Designing or selecting ultra-high-efficiency power supplies for consumer and industrial applications
- Using DSP-based motor controllers in ultra-high-efficiency white goods and industrial equipment
- Designing standards-based home and industrial equipment that works with energy management protocols
- Exploring the role of ZigBee and other wireless protocols in energy management systems
- Designing cost-effective area lighting systems using HBLEDs, high-efficiency smart fluorescent ballasts and other emerging technologies
- An introduction to fuel cells and their use in portable equipment
- Integrating photovoltaic technology into your next embedded application
I don't know about you, but I'd certainly find the time to attend at least half of these sessions if somebody was smart enough to offer them. But if running a green power track doesn't interest the folks at ESC, I'm sure some other forward-looking conference will be more than happy to let you sit on the fence while they take the lead in this important, and potentially very lucrative, part of the market.
Until recently, the bulk of the tech community has been sitting on the fence, waiting to see if all this green-tech stuff is just a passing fad or the next big thing. This changed last year when the European RoHS and WEEE legislation came into effect and there were a whole bunch of companies scrambling to get their products into compliance before their customers went away. I'm seeing a similar situation as the electronics industry grapples with the growing acceptance of the connection between global climate change and the energy we consume.
In both cases our industry is following same adoption curve that defines the rise and fall of the products we make and, as is usually the case, the real winners will be the early adopters. Their commitment will get them out in front of the growing market for energy-efficient products, and renewable energy technologies and enable them to reap its rewards. Hopefully shows like ESC will help accelerate the adoption curve so we can all get down to the business of building a more sustainable, and more hopeful tomorrow.
Comments? Questions? Need help organizing a green power conference session?
Write me at: lhg at en-genius.net
