Originally published on yahoo.com
Startup Fortune, El Segundo, CA: Founder of Ferrari Energy, Adam Ferrari, shares some of the fascinating ways technology will help the energy sector adapt for future generations.
Technology has transformed the way many businesses operate. The energy sector is no exception, with various new technologies making their mark on the industry.
One of the benefits of emerging technology is that it can help facilitate more efficient business practices. As a result, many companies in the energy sector are shifting their business models to integrate digital technology.
As more people become interested in adopting alternative energy sources such as solar and wind, energy companies are now being challenged to identify ways to predict trends for future energy production. This is already happening across many companies, with an increasing interest in improving technology that can predict weather patterns and catalog analytics to better understand energy usage requirements across various regions in the United States. Using this advanced technology will allow these companies to find more efficient and cost-effective ways to distribute green energy across their networks.
Research is also emerging around the creation and use of smart grids. These grids can operate on a small neighborhood network or within a larger city. This technology aims to build an electricity supply network that detects and automatically adjusts to fluctuations in power usage. As a result, companies will be able to better handle power surges during peak usage times.
“Another critical component to the overall development of more sustainable tech in the energy industry is related to maintenance and improvements to existing infrastructure,” stated Adam Ferrari, the founder, and CEO of mineral acquisitions company Ferrari Energy.
Historically, in the oil and gas industry, pipelines have required manual labor to perform routine maintenance to check for any cracks or signs of corrosion. It can not only be expensive and time-consuming to deploy a team of people to dig up and check pipelines, but it can also disturb the surrounding habitat and waterways.
Installing digital sensors or implementing artificial intelligence (AI) can help energy companies identify and resolve any potential maintenance issues in real-time – well before becoming a critical failure in a system. In short, this technology eliminates unnecessary deployment of resources and allows areas in which pipelines have been built to be undisturbed unless intervention is necessary.
Technology has also played a part in developing sonar software to help oil and gas companies detect locations underground that may provide profitable amounts of oil or gas to mine. This will prevent fruitless drilling and protect more land. Nano-engineered materials have been a byproduct of new technology, too, as the materials needed to drill and install pipelines have continued to become more efficient and durable.
About Adam FerrariFerrari Energy CEO Adam Ferrari was educated as a chemical engineer, graduating magna cum laude. He worked in several companies, where he gained experience in both energy and finance before he eventually decided to establish his own mineral acquisition company, Ferrari Energy, in Denver, CO. In efforts to give back to the community, he supports organizations including St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Freedom Service Dogs, Denver Rescue Mission, Coats for Colorado, and Next Steps of Chicago.