EXPERT'S NOTE

Fostering global collaboration for a sustainable future

What a year 2020 has been! The COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives of more people than perhaps any other natural or manmade disaster since the World War II. I hope all our ETN readers and their families and friends are staying safe and healthy. Some of us are lucky to have option to work remotely while there are many care givers and professionals who have been working at the forefront, not just in the medical field but in many of the essential services from electric utilities, factories to farmers and logistic supply chains. I would like to express my gratitude to each of these individuals. On the other hand, the current pandemic has also opened our eyes to new possibilities, which seemed almost unimaginable just a year ago. Many of us have started experiencing significant improvements in air and water quality. We wish that we could continue to experience the same, but without the economic consequences that has led to the current situation. This is very much possible, if we can accelerate adoption of renewable energy sources and electric transportation. I would like to urge all the readers of ETN to join us to pledge their support for this transition towards ‘Greener Grid and Cleaner Air’. There is no better time than the World Energy Storage Day (WESD), to be celebrated on September 22. Advanced energy storage technologies are expected to play the role of key enabler for achieving the dream of sustainable environment without drastic The current pandemic lifestyle changes. We are celebrating this has also opened our year’s WESD by organizing eyes to new possibilities, first of its kind marathon WESD Global Virtual Conference which seemed almost and Expo, bringing together over 75 thought leaders from unimaginable just 20+ countries to share their a year ago. experiences and outlook on energy storage and electric mobility. We are honored and excited to have the support of over 30 national and international organizations for WESD, and we hope we are able to bridge the distance through a virtual platform and enable us to collaborate for accelerating adoption of energy storage and e-mobility by learning from each other’s experiences and best practices. You can learn more about this event at: www.energystorageday.org

Dr Rahul Walawalkar

President – IESA Managing Director – CES India