IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE GREEN The electrical engineering sector is our best hope to reach Net Zero Carbon, but only if the industry learns the right skills. Luke Osborne, ECA Energy and Emerging Technologies Solutions Advisor, discusses what you as industry students need to know to go green and get ahead of the game.
> LOW TO NO CARBON: Installers should learn to design and roll out ‘active’ technologies that provide ‘low to no carbon’ energy solutions (these are different from ‘passive’ energy solutions like insulation). They include: ▸ Solar panels ▸ Wind energy
> THE DRIVE TO LOW CARBON Renewable energy, heat pumps, electric vehicle charging, smart systems and energy storage all require specialist design and installation skills, but employers say that, right now, there is ‘insufficient training’ for installers to deliver all these low carbon technologies. With the right skills, many more electrical businesses can pivot into these technologies, as is already happening in the growing arena of EV charging. Other low carbon technologies, such as heat pumps, are also being lined up.
▸ Heat pumps ▸ EV charging points ▸ Energy storage ▸ Smart monitoring and wireless systems
Despite all the many challenges facing electrical and other engineering services, business and society in general, there has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the electrotechnical industry.
“… there has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the electrotechnical industry” Visit www.eca.co.uk/getzerocarbondone for more on ECA’s Net Zero policy position, and a series of video shorts outlining why the electrotechnical and engineering services sector needs to build the right skills for the future.
N E T Z E RO CA RB ON I S U M M E R 2021 I SPA RKS
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