10 Global Scenarios Elevating the Significance of Alternative Fuels and Electrifying Growth in EVs

Dear Friends and Students,

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, has suggested that recent tensions arising from the conflict in Gaza could expedite the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and electric vehicles, similar to the oil price shocks of the 1970s that prompted efforts to conserve fuel. He emphasized the potential for this crisis in the Middle East to impact oil markets and underscore the urgency of shifting to renewables.

Let's analyze the various conflicts in the last two decades:

Iraq (2003): Iraq has faced significant conflict and instability, ultimately disrupting oil production and exports.

Syria (2011): The Syrian civil war has disrupted the country's oil infrastructure and production.

Libya (2011): Conflict and political instability in Libya have disrupted oil production and exports.

Yemen (2014): The conflict in Yemen has had implications for the country's oil industry and has led to periodic supply disruptions.

Nigeria (Ongoing): Nigeria has experienced conflicts and attacks on its oil infrastructure, primarily in the Niger Delta region, which have affected oil production.

Sudan and South Sudan (2011): These two countries have faced internal conflicts, border disputes, and issues related to oil revenue sharing.

Venezuela (Ongoing): Political and economic instability in Venezuela has affected its oil production and export capabilities.

Ukraine (2014 onwards): The conflict in Eastern Ukraine has had implications for oil and gas transit routes, affecting energy supplies to Europe.

South China Sea (Ongoing): Disputes in the South China Sea have raised concerns about potential disruptions to oil and natural gas shipping routes.

Gaza (2023): It may impact crude oil supply.

What does this mean for other countries and students of Energy Sources? Here are four key opportunities in the field of alternative energy sources:

·       Renewable Energy Production (solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal power, including manufacturing and installation).

·       Energy Storage and Grid Integration.

·       Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Practices (positions involving energy auditing, green building design, and the development of energy-efficient technologies to reduce energy consumption).

·       Electric Vehicles and Sustainable Transportation: Opportunities in electric vehicle manufacturing, charging infrastructure, and the development of sustainable transportation solutions to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

This is the best time for India to invest in Alternative Energy-driven human resources in this segment and grab the first-mover advantage.

Engineering colleges should no longer teach about Vacuum Tubes, Analog Television Technology, Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs), Dial-Up Modems, Legacy Computer Interfaces, and Obsolete Coding Languages. I've mentioned only a representative sample of obsolete topics, but India needs an overhaul of all subjects.

Are we still teaching IC engines in the classroom? It's time to upgrade!

Ravi Saripalle

 

Are we heading towards LEMs (Large Engineering Models) similar to LLMs (Large Language Models like ChatGPT)? How does the World of Engineering Automation Impact?

Dear Friends and Students,

According to an Accenture report, "40% of working hours across industries can be impacted by Large Language Models (LLMs)" (Accenture.com).

In the early 90s, I used a typewriter and prepared for a typewriting test called "Lower." My friends suggested that learning Typewriter was a prerequisite for Computers! Now looks funny right!! We used to stand in long queues and book slots to learn. When I share these memories with my children, they are amused because today each has their own personal laptop, tablet, and mobile device. If you had certificates in Typing (Higher and Lower) and Stenography, your job was almost guaranteed. This was the scenario in the 90s. Today, typewriting and stenographer jobs have become extinct.

GPT-4 (OpenAI's large multimodal language model that generates text from textual and visual input) can generate automated responses to customer queries, which eases the workload of customer support teams. It can even code a website from an image of an outline and achieve a high degree of accuracy in academic tests.

However, it doesn't stop there. It is gradually making its way into the engineering world. For instance, IBM Smart Edge for Welding on AWS can analyze the quality of welds. Visual inspection is tedious, highly error-prone, and often misses welding defects, but computer vision systems can detect anomalies and welding errors with a high degree of accuracy. This is just the beginning.

A day is not far when your laptop will be connected to a household 3-D printer, and you can make a request (Prompt, that is the future of Prompt Engineering) to "change the color of your sandals to match a party outfit for the rainy season." This prompt/request will be sent to a cloud-based LEM (Large Engineering Model, e.g., AWS server), which will modify the old sandals by changing their texture and color and then print the new ones. This LEM will know material science, weather data, locational data, personal preferences of various parties, ergonomics (covering anatomical arch support, shock absorption, resistance to mold, fungus, bacteria, and odor), and more.

Similar LEMs will be connected to other LEMs in electrical and heavy engineering, and possibly in every engineering, medical, or industrial process, accessible as API calls. That is the future of LEMs!

CNBC reports that Google and the Department of Defense are building an AI-powered microscope to help doctors spot cancer. On a positive note, expert oncologists are supported by AI, but on the negative side, mediocre oncology jobs may be replaced by AI.

AI is like an elephant! You can become a Mahout and tame the elephant, or you can play with a mad elephant and get crushed. Decide and prepare accordingly!

Ravi Saripalle