Introducing Software and the Energy Transition

I am worried about the climate crisis. The billions and billions of tonnes of carbon that have polluted our environment due to burning fossil fuels will cause huge suffering. And the longer it takes us to wean ourselves off fossil fuels the worse it’s going to get.

As a software engineer I’ve wondered how I can use my skills and knowledge to tackle this challenge. Climate tech is often of the harder variety than the soft. The biggest source of carbon emissions is burning fossil fuels for energy. We need solar, wind, hydro, nuclear and cutting-edge tech like geothermal power to displace fossil fuels.

But software has an important role to play in the energy transition. As we “electrify everything” the grid will come under increasing load and we need software to orchestrate the grid in smarter ways. The growth in smart home appliances is increasing and software can make the grid more reliable by controlling these devices to reduce demand or provide electricity. Software is important for forecasting renewable energy capacity and modelling tools can help grid operators manage the grid more effectively.

This newsletter will go in-depth on these topics and detail the types of software systems used to assist the energy transition. My software engineering background is in cloud technologies so expect a lot of discussion around cloud system design and application protocols.

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