As our Energy Central Community thrives and grows with each passing year, it's clear to us that we have something special here. This community of power industry professionals who so eagerly and openly share their insights, their lessons learned, and their questions to allow for constant collaboration is unparalleled anywhere else in our sector.
The most critical part of this successful undertaking, though, is of course the people behind it all. The voices in our Community who are driving those conversations and keeping readers and peers coming back again and again. To once again celebrate the importance of our community members in making Energy Central the powerhouse that it is, we're ending the year by honoring the members on Energy Central who went above and beyond—frequently sharing news and content, reliably starting conversations across the site, and providing some of the most genuinely high-value contributions throughout 2022.
All week, we’ll be publishing articles highlighting the Top Voice of 2022 for each of our 6 Networks. As part of this tradition, some of those community members recognized were kind enough to answer a few questions to highlight what they found valuable in the sector in 2022, their predictions for 2023, and some personal insights to get to know the men and women behind it all.
So, with that, thank you and congratulations to the following Top Voices in the Energy Management Network in 2022!
See the Top Voices in Our Other Communities:
- Top Voices in EnergyBiz Network
- Top Voices in Generation Network
- Top Voices in the Intelligent Utility Network
- Top Voices in the Grid Network
- Top Voices in the Energy & Sustainability Network
Benoit Marcoux - Executive Advisor, Private Practice
Recommended submission from Benoit: The Business Case for Utilities Supporting Public EV Charging
What stories have stood out to you as the most interesting, surprising, or important of 2022?
The discourse on the energy transition has changed. Suddenly, people realize it is happening. “A sudden energy transition, twenty years in the making.”
What topics do you have on your radar that you expect to come into focus in 2023?
The consequences of the war in Ukraine on the energy market and as an accelerator of energy transition.
What value do you get by being an engaged member of the Energy Central Community?
Visibility, expertise development, meeting experienced individuals.
Paul Meier - Consultant, Clean Energy Consultant
Recommended submission from Paul: The Versatility of Hydrogen
What stories have stood out to you as the most interesting, surprising, or important of 2022?
In the electric sector, generation from coal has continued to decrease, being replaced by natural gas, wind, and solar photovoltaic (PV). In the last 10 years, coal has dropped from 42% to just 22% of the total US generation while natural gas has increased from 25% to 38%. Over the same period, wind has gone from about 2% to 9% while solar PV has increased from essentially zero to about 3%. In 2021, sixteen US states generated more than 10% of their electricity from wind and four generated more than 30% (IA, 57.3%, KS, 43.9%, SD, 39.2%, OK, 35.7%).
In the transportation market, the EU struck a deal in Brussels in October that will ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2035. Some countries, such as the Netherlands, are more aggressive and will start this ban in 2030. Similarly, China plans to have a gradual elimination of gasoline cars, targeting 75% to be hybrids or EVs by 2030. The Hainan Province has proposed a complete ban by 2030.
Do you have any surprising or unexpected hobbies, talents, or interests that might make you stand out?
In addition to writing my first technical book, "The Changing Energy Mix," I have also written two children's books. Other hobbies include tennis, windsurfing, Chinese and French language study, piano, backpacking, SCUBA diving, and making stained glass windows.
What goals do you have for next year, personal or professional, that you'd like to put into the universe?
My main technical goal for 2023 is to spend much more time studying electrical energy storage and better understand the different approaches currently being studied.
Emily Newton - Editor-in-Chief, Revolutionized Magazine
Recommended submission from Emily: Get Power From a Hybrid Solar Panel When the Power Is Out
What topics do you have on your radar that you expect to come into focus in 2023?
Cybersecurity for the grid will be a big area of focus for the new year. Following the NC power grid attack I think more states will make security a priority moving forward. Finding ways to educate key decision makers will help make the country’s power supplies more secure. Plus, as more industries adopt IoT technologies, those devices still have their own security risks, so I think there’s a lot of topics to explore and research regarding technologies’ role in the energy industry and mitigating risks. Energy storage solutions are also on my radar for 2023 since they are crucial to renewable energy adoption at scale. The more long-duration storage technologies we create that are functional and economical to make will increase our ability to rely on renewables for powering our homes, businesses, and vehicles. Lastly, fusion power is another topic that I’ve seen in the news recently. Since this is the process our sun uses to make energy, I’m curious to learn more about scientists’ tests and experiments for power applications here on Earth.
How do you hope to see your participation on the Energy Central platform evolve or grow in the coming year?
My new year’s resolution for 2023 is to participate more on Energy Central by responding to comments on my articles, sharing other articles by my fellow experts and engaging in more discussions on the site. Please help hold me accountable! The more we all engage on Energy Central, the more we can all share our knowledge and expertise & inspire more individuals to pursue these fields.
Do you have any surprising or unexpected hobbies, talents, or interests that might make you stand out?
I enjoy building Lego sets in my free time. It’s fun to see how their design team has come up with different building techniques over the years. I recently got a few sets with some unique architectural components, and it was fun to see how different build techniques came together to create the roof on the house of my Christmas set and how Hogwarts took shape.
Congratulations once again to our Top Voices in the Energy Management Network, and thanks to all Energy Central Community Members for enabling the community and platform to thrive this year! And keep an eye out for the next Top Voices Articles to come as this week unfolds.