Electricity + Control April 2019

COMMENT

ON THE COVER

Energy + information – the two commodities of modern industry

W e need to think clearly about the future and how we get this econo- my out of the dumps, don’t we? And I by no means want to be negative here – it is not in my nature. But at some point we do need to recognise that leadership, espe- cially at state level, is not just about being popular; it is also about making decisive calls and recognising that not everyone will either agree with or even understand them – but they speak to structural correc- tions to ensure that we craft the future the country both needs and deserves. In this light, I vividly recall visiting a state official in Mozambique in 1996, with dull flickering lights in his office, but he was speaking with true vision of the fu- ture of their network, their grid and their energy system. Then, a few years ago, I was visiting a state official in Lusaka, in a darkened office, with eight hours per day of load shedding on the go at the time. That led me to think back to the crisis that hit South Africa when we first went through extended periods of load shed- ding – and I reflected on the fact that it was a predictable situation. In fact, I recall giving a talk which I had entitled ‘No light years ahead’ just before the crisis hit – simply because it was clear for all to see, and had been for some years. The bottom line is that we have econ- omies that are heavily reliant on energy, and mucking about with the security of that system is really not on. What this does, of course, is bring into stark relief the role of energy as a key commodity of modern industry. You know, as a reader of Electricity + Control , that this magazine focuses on the two commodities of modern industry – energy and information. It seems so ob- vious, doesn’t it, that these two commod-

ities ride well above the technologies that give meaning to them – while we note also that these technologies continue to evolve and transform. But what brings a smile to me is when I think back to the early 1990s, when it was actually quite difficult to get folk to see the critical nexus of these two things. Information had everyone convinced; but energy was just a thing that was there … or so it felt to so many people. Nowadays energy is viewed as the most important component of any pro- cess. It must be measured, managed and indeed nurtured. Back in the day, we also ran a com- prehensive series called ‘New Electricity News’ for some years, which invited our readers to reflect on energy – and the fact that it is not a sustainable resource. That it is key to the plant and that managing it was the new game that needed to be played. It is now quite evident that energy and information need to be treated with the re- spect that they deserve. For many of us, in- formation seems the easier one now. Pro- viding you can obtain plant data, you can turn that into the appropriate information. But, unlike in the past, energy is now that commodity that has most plants most concerned. Suddenly it seems that we have little real control over our energy sup- ply – bringing starkly to the fore the need to reflect on how we can secure the energy future of our plant – and our economy. Interesting times indeed.

FEATURES: · Control systems+ automation+ systems engineering · Electrical protection+ safety · Flowmeasurement+ instrumentation · Lighting · Transformers+ substations

energy + information in industry

ECApril 2019 cover.indd 1

3/28/2019 10:09:51AM

VEGAPULS 64 is the first radar level sensor for liquids that measures at a frequency of 80 GHz. (Read more on page 21).

Magazine Team

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Karen Grant Wilhelm du Plessis Adél JvR Bothma Helen Couvaras

Heidi Jandrell Karen Smith Ian Jandrell

Circulation: Editorial Technical Director:

Circulation

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Publisher of the year 2018 (Trade Publications)

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