Across the world, myriad efforts are underway to make energy systems cleaner, smarter, and more efficient. But it’s hard to get a sense of the total size of those efforts, as they are spread across so many different industries and regions. One organization that has given this quite a bit of thought is Advanced Energy Economy(AEE), a national trade association of businesses working on cleaner and smarter energy.
What exactly is “advanced energy”? AEE includes the following seven sectors:
- Building efficiency (HVAC, lighting, district energy, etc.)
- Electricity delivery and management (transmission, distribution, storage, etc.)
- Advanced transportation (vehicle design, freight logistics, etc.)
- Fuel production (ethanol, biodiesel, etc.)
- Advanced industry (combined heat and power, manufacturing processes, etc.)
- Fuel delivery (fuel transportation infrastructure, stations, etc.)
- Electricity generation (wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, etc.)
Various people might quibble over various businesses included here — there is, for example, endless debate on the environmental benefits of ethanol and biodiesel — but one way or another, these businesses are working to change the wasteful, fossil-fueled energy status quo. So, all that said, just how big is the advanced energy industry?
Read more at Clean energy is now as big as pharmaceutical manufacturing in the US – Vox
