The path ahead for the energy industry as seen in Jurassic Park

Seongho Son, Head of Future Strategy Department, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute

Thanks to my eldest child, who loved dinosaurs from a young age, I was able to access a variety of domestic and foreign video content featuring dinosaurs, whether live action or animation, over the past 10 years. The most memorable of these is the series overseen by Steven Spielberg, a master of the film industry. He is also famous as the director of other famous science fiction (SF) films.

The series, which is connected to the story of the original film produced in the 1990s by introducing computer graphics and robot technology in earnest, seems to have used advanced filming techniques and technologies to make viewers more immersed in the world of dinosaurs.

There is a particularly impressive scene in the series. The existing main characters, who reappeared after 20 years, meet and unite with the main characters of the series, which can be considered the next generation. The process of overcoming a crisis through cooperation between new and old generations brings unique emotions and pleasure. I think it was a part that both the older generation, who cheered the existing protagonists, and the future generation, who are familiar with the new protagonists, could enjoy together.

The union and harmony between the older and future generations has significant implications in the current energy industry environment. The energy industry, which has long supported the development of productivity based on fossil energy such as coal, oil, and gas, has recently faced a new environment in the supply of renewable energy such as hydropower, wind power, and solar power. We are going through a period of transition where types of power sources are becoming more diverse.

Although energy sources have become more diverse, there still seems to be no single energy source that satisfies the ‘trilemma index’, which consists of three factors such as security, equity, and environmental sustainability, at the highest level. The task of the energy industry, which must consider not only economics and efficiency but also safety and eco-friendliness, is a high-order equation that is still difficult to solve and can only be achieved through a combination of various energy sources.

The relationship between these energy sources can be said to have a ‘substitution’ meaning in terms of responding to demand, but it is also a ‘complementary’ relationship from the perspective of energy soundness. In short, while there is a role for new energy sources, there is also a clear role for existing energy sources. This is something to pay attention to in the current environment where energy consumption is expected to continue to increase along with economic growth.

Recently, new technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence (AI) are being incorporated and applied throughout the energy industry, and research and development (R&D) is underway to provide better functions and convenience than before. As electrical, electronic, mechanical, and control-related technologies, which have been at the center of the energy industry for a long time, encounter these new technologies, the foundation for innovation toward decarbonization, digitalization, and decentralization is being laid.

I think the beauty of series films is the fun of watching the relationships between various characters and their growth process. It would be good to look forward to what kind of changes and innovations the harmony between new and old power sources and technologies will bring about in the future energy industry.