THE PILLARS OF ENERGY SECURITY

KEYS TO KEEPING POWER ACCESSIBLE AND AVAILABLE NO MATTER WHAT'S GOING ON

- DAMIEN MARTIN

We live in an interconnected world, where valuable resources crisscross international borders frequently. Among the most important of those are energy resources, and we’ve seen from the Russian invasion of Ukraine how quickly geopolitics can shift and how conflict in one country can affect many other countries not directly involved. The ramifications are widespread, a big reason why nations focus on energy security as a matter of national security. Places that can produce their own fuel sources and infrastructure and provide uninterrupted availability at an affordable price to their citizens are less likely to be entangled in geopolitical quagmires and less likely to see the negative effects of those going on around them. These are the pillars of energy security they strive for.

EFFICIENCY

With resources limited, making the most of them is crucial to energy security. Using energy efficiently also keeps costs down, which is why moves like retrofitting buildings with energy-efficient lighting such as LED and motion-activated lights and smart heating and cooling systems are so popular.

“These are investments,” Robert Ragozine, then of FSG, told BOSS. “Typically, they’re really good investments. When we look at a facility for a lighting retrofit, it’s very rare that we see paybacks that go above four or five years. It’s usually two or three years. These are 20, 30, 40% return on investment.”