Role of Emerging Technologies in Energy Transformation and Development of Clean and Green Energy Solutions

Abstract

Energy is basic need of humans since time immemorial but in the past, there were several phases of paradigm shift in its source and utilization. In the twenty-first-century post-COVID world, we foresee another wave of paradigm shift where world moves to clean and green energy. Although for some time, traditional fossil fuels will remain major source of energy, other renewable energy sources like biofuels, solar, hydrogen, wind and geothermal are future energy sources. Unconventional energy sources like natural gas, coal bed methane have seen significant growth in past decade, and we foresee their growth in near future as well. Natural gas hydrates are also promising fuel of the future. The digital technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, machine vision, data analytics, cloud computing and internet of things will be key enablers in development of technologies towards harnessing the renewable energy sources. They will also help optimize the exploration and production of conventional and unconventional fossil fuels. The demand of energy will continue to grow in future, which can lead to increase in gap between its demand and supply. The role of digital technologies is crucial to decrease this gap by helping develop technologies that harness clean and green energy sources.