Awareness of climate change is higher than ever, with growing global consensus over the importance of renewable energy. Mitigating climate change is a crucial challenge of our times and energy is at the forefront. Today’s energy crisis is delivering a shock of unprecedented breadth and complexity which is having far‐reaching implications for many households, businesses and the entire economy. We now face a perfect storm of impending declines in the availability of affordable, recoverable oil and ever increasing global competition for energy. The significance of this challenge becomes more evident each day as political unrest in the Middle East sends shock waves throughout the recovering economic world, as have recent events in the Ukraine and the Far East. The disruption in oil production translates into uncertain or often surging fuel prices and creates a major roadblock to economic recovery.

The timing could not be worse as our economy struggles to recover as our thirst for energy grows. According to a paper released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), drilling efficiencies in the United States have led to increased domestic oil supply. However, increased energy consumption, especially in emerging economies such as China, demand that we improve energy efficiency throughout industries and other systems worldwide. There is no panacea for energy efficiency but we need to start building approaches if we are to have a more resilient future.

What History Tells Us

The twenty-first century is not the first to face economic challenges coupled with environmental decline. To understand our current environmental / energy dilemma, it helps to look back to previous societies and the effects that they had on their environments. The difference was that early societies were better able to change their ways in time to avoid long-term impacts. Energy sources were abundant, and demand was extremely low when compared with today’s complex needs, population growth, and rate and scale of global industrialization.

Moreover, there were fewer countries playing in the expanding global marketplace. Products, processes, and delivery systems were all of modest complexity. Industries in the past were not as affected by energy, water, or lack of materials, nor were there a large number of third-world countries rising into positions of industrial power. The shocks in the 1970s was about oil, and the task facing policy makers was relatively simple to implement -reduce dependence on oil, especially oil imports from OPEC. By contrast, the energy crisis today has multiple dimensions: natural gas, oil, coal, nuclear, and the growing impact of climate change. Therefore, the solutions must be all encompassing. What is now required is not just to move away from a single energy commodity, but to change the entire nature of the energy system itself, and to do so while maintaining the affordable, secure provision of energy services and security that keeps our industries and our homes running.

However, we now live in a time when countries, industries, and people are competing for the same energy to generate wealth, produce products, and heat one’s home. These exceptional times demand the utmost attention of us all. Earth’s capacity to supply the growing demand for natural resources is dwindling. In our modern, high-tech society, it is easy to forget that our economic growth and our very existence depends on innovation and a supply of natural resources. This mounting stress will overwhelm more and more industries and governments, ultimately leading to their collapse and affecting our civilization in major ways.

The Point of No Return: Old Approaches Will Not Work

No longer will the approaches of the past meet the needs of the future, nor will they have the ability to alter and change the environmental effects our current society faces. We are about to reach the point of no return. In other words, we can no longer simply perform some “beneficial acts,” such as running recycling programs, without fully understanding and accounting for the amount of energy and water it takes to produce and reproduce products, just as we can no longer believe that simply complying with environmental regulations is good enough, or believe that we can “think globally and act locally.” We are at a point where we must act globally.

The warning bells have been ringing for years, but many political leaders, business executives and the private sector have turned a deaf ear to the oncoming problem. Most have failed to understand the long term implications and have instead continued, entranced with illusions of an endless supply.

Energy Movers Driving the Transition

Google and Microsoft changed the landscape for how we search for information. It reduced the amount of energy we expend researching. If we were starting out today looking for the same kind of opportunity to make as big an impact in the world as Google and Microsoft did, artificial intelligence systems could be that system for the near future.

Both organizations are making a heavy investment in AI technology. AI technology will reshape the landscape in industry in every direction and will have a positive impact on energy efficiency.

We are only beginning to visualize the power of artificial intelligence in energy efficiency in making energy clean, reliable and affordable which will be essential for fighting climate change for generation to come. Even as we aggressively investigate new technologies, we need to keep innovating to unlock the next generation of clean energy technologies. For those looking to make a difference in shaping the future, the interface between AI and energy is a great place to start. The synergy may change the world like we never knew it, and will be primer for innovative thinkers and organizations to make a major a mark in our future.

(“The convergence of strong AI and the energy sector will have dramatic and sweeping impacts for global consumers.” - Bill Gates)

In today’s fast-paced world, reducing energy consumption and improving efficiency has become a pressing concern for many organizations. Energy costs, environmental concerns, and sustainability goals are driving businesses to seek innovative ways to optimize their energy usage.

Quality Management and Energy Efficiency

The quality department is well positioned to address energy efficiency within an organization. Efficient processes are a cornerstone of quality management. Well-designed processes are optimized to minimize waste and inefficiencies, which directly impact energy consumption. Quality departments can plays a crucial role in energy reduction, as it encompasses various aspects that can positively impact energy consumption in different sectors. From efficient processes to energy-efficient products, reduced waste to improved user behavior, quality can significantly contribute to reducing energy usage. Quality departments have an array of tools in that basket that can help drive energy efficient from suppliers to consumers. The one area that organizations have not fully explored is AI and how it can revolutionize the way quality can eliminate waste.

Energy consumption can represent a significant portion of an organization’s operating costs. By monitoring and managing energy use, quality managers can identify areas of energy inefficiencies and implement strategies to optimize energy consumption, which can result in cost savings. This can include measures such as identifying and addressing energy waste, optimizing equipment performance, intrinsic materials energies, and implementing energy-saving technologies and practices. Quality managers should pay attention to energy use in their organizations to achieve cost savings, promote environmental sustainability, comply with regulations, manage risks, and meet stakeholder expectations. Effective energy management can contribute to improved operational efficiency, environmental performance, risk mitigation, and stakeholder satisfaction, ultimately benefiting the organization’s overall quality management efforts.

Quality managers need to view energy use in their organizations to achieve cost savings, promote environmental sustainability, comply with regulations, manage risks, and meet stakeholder expectations. Effective energy management can contribute to improved operational efficiency, environmental performance, risk mitigation, and stakeholder satisfaction, ultimately benefiting the organization’s overall quality management efforts.

The need to address energy systematically

Today, despite all of the signs and historical knowledge available to us, we still fail to focus on the critical path to the future or on the critical role that achieving greater energy efficiency and increasing energy performance can play to ensure that our way of living will continue to operate. We often speak of “systems thinking,” but we seldom engage in instituting a “systems approach.” Systems thinking expands the range of choices available for solving a problem by broadening our thinking and helping us articulate problems in new and different ways. At the same time the principles of thinking systematically expands our approaches and will give one a better understanding of potential impacts. Seldom are there perfect solutions but by taking a systems approach it will broaden our understanding to the issues concerning energy that we are facing.

Quality managers can play a pivotal role in bring all departments together to address energy efficiency.

The quality department of an organization can undoubtedly play a pivotal role in addressing energy efficiency and sustainability systemically. As organizations strive to reduce their environmental impact and achieve sustainability goals, the quality department can provide valuable expertise and support in managing energy resources effectively.

A key ways in which the quality department can contribute to addressing energy systemically is by establishing and implementing an energy management system (EMS) based on international standards such as ISO 50001. EMS provides a structured framework for organizations to effectively manage their energy performance, set energy objectives, and implement measures to optimize energy usage. The quality department can lead the development and implementation of EMS, ensuring that energy-related processes are integrated into the organization’s quality management system (QMS) and aligned with overall business objectives.

Setting energy performance indicators (EnPIs) is another important aspect that the quality department can contribute to. EnPIs are measurable parameters that organizations use to track their energy performance and progress towards energy objectives. The quality department can work with other departments to establish EnPIs that are relevant, measurable, and aligned with the organization’s energy goals. These EnPIs can be monitored regularly, and the quality department can provide reports and analysis to senior management, driving accountability and ensuring that energy-related issues are addressed systematically.

Collaboration with cross-functional teams is another area where the quality department can make a significant impact. The quality department can work closely with other departments, such as operations, engineering, and facilities, to identify and implement energy-saving initiatives. This can involve conducting joint projects to optimize processes, upgrade equipment for better energy efficiency, and implement energy-saving technologies. By leveraging the collective expertise and resources of different departments, the quality department can drive systemic changes that result in improved energy performance across the organization.

Organizational stakeholders’ decisions often do not align with what needs to take place, as they often prioritize their individual short-term gains over the long-term welfare. This is because each actor within a system has different “bounded rationalities” based on their own organizational self-interests, or the practical constraints to their decision-making caused by their limited awareness of the wider system as a whole.

However, it is important to note that energy efficiency should not be addressed in isolation when it comes to energy reduction initiatives. Collaboration with other departments, such as facilities management or engineering, is critical to ensure that the broader organizational goals related to energy management are aligned and integrated. Coordination with external stakeholders, such as suppliers or energy providers, may also be necessary to implement energy-saving measures effectively. A holistic approach that encompasses Lean principles along with other energy management strategies, such as energy audits, renewable energy sources, or energy-efficient technologies, can yield maximum results in reducing energy consumption.

The need for an energy policy

The approach in the past when we encountered energy problems is to put more oil on the market by tapping into our oil reserves and pushing the fossil fuel industry to produce more oil and gas or turning to the Saudi government to produce more oil. The time has come that we come together and set a new pathway forward to address one of this century’s most critical issues ENERGY security. Policy makers need to prioritize policies that encourage greater energy efficiency and accelerate the transition towards low-carbon energy sources. We have the technical capabilities to explore new approaches for energy efficiency.

The impacts of climate change are far-reaching. To mitigate its impacts, it is essential that we take action to reduce greenhouse emissions and slow the rate of global warming. This will require coordinated efforts by government, business and individuals to transition to cleaner, more sustainable forms of energy and reduce our impact on the environment.

We can keep consuming energy and Earth’s natural resources, polluting with no regard to the planet and ignoring our impacts on Earth and its climate, that way we can force the next generation to pay the price or we can do something and create a pathway to a cleaner future for all. We have the science and a process, thanks to the coronavirus and how it brought together all organizations, cities, states and countries all coming together to put together a process to fight and protect our civilization and stop the impact of the virus. The question is are we ready to address climate change / energy in the same systematic way”?