Published on May 8, 2012

A Word to the Wise: Know Your Power

Power-related issues are a growing predicament on a global scale. The global population and industrial development are growing more rapidly than existing power infrastructure can handle, having a detrimental effect on efficiencies worldwide. The ever increasing global power issues all stem from an international power grid that is, in a word, archaic. Back in the 19th century electricity was turned from a scientific curiosity into an essential tool for modern life. During that period, names like Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell were leading the way in electrical engineering. And worldwide population continued to grow exponentially, accelerating the use of electricity at a rate no one anticipated. Then, in the 1950s–1970s the first uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and surge protectors were created. But aging infrastructure in tandem with a rise in electricity consumption has resulted in a grid that has not evolved to properly support the population and global infrastructure. Until very recently there was a large gap between the growth of electricity use worldwide and power protection technology.

The global statistics are in, and the findings are eye opening. Over the next two decades, demand for electricity is forecasted to grow by 40 percent in the U.S. Alone.

To read further, please visit the Data Center Journal website:
http://www.datacenterjournal.com/it/a-word-to-the-wise-know-your-power/