It started with Uber five years ago. All of a sudden, car services were ordered and paid for with a simple button in your phone. Transactions that used to involve wallets, exchanges of cash and frequent headaches never left the phone screen. Five years later, nearly every purchase is available through an app, and services like Venmo and Apple Wallet are rapidly confirming that the wallet will soon join the nostalgic ranks of the type-writer, analogue camera and newspaper.
In-app transaction capabilities have evolved so rapidly into the new standard of commerce, however, other aspects of smartphone technology haven’t kept pace with their omnipotence in our lives, frequently leaving users in increasingly high-stakes binds. As critical as smartphones and other consumer electronics have become, their impact has been limited by one glaring weakness: battery life. Each year, we watch as smartphones and other devices become more advanced – they get smaller, thinner, and sleeker – but the fact remains that battery capacity and efficiency is not able to keep up with the fast-changing technology industry.
The prospect of being without one’s mobile device temporarily might seem to some a mere inconvenience but, for many, it translates to a loss of productivity, a decreased sense of security, and the possibility of being disconnected at an inopportune time. Mobile devices have the capability to democratize information, commerce and media in a way that rivals the impact of the printing press – but they’re of less value if they can’t be counted on to hold a charge sufficiently.
In little over a decade, the number of mobile device subscriptions worldwide has grown from under one billion to more than six billion, and 75 percent of the world’s population has regular access to a mobile phone. This access holds with it the promise of immense new opportunities for both social and economic development. Ubiquitous access to vast information databases, collaborative communications tools and relatively inexpensive computing power have led to the rise of new technologies, the growth of new business opportunities, and new ways to access information and stay informed. And yet, the inability to meet the most basic communication need—namely, keeping devices charged—is jeopardizing the impact these new tools are having on the growth and development of societies around the globe.
In order to build upon the progress and opportunities created by the mobile revolution, we need to look at creative ways to address these energy concerns. Clearly expanding energy infrastructure must be a top priority – building a more expansive, smarter, more efficient power grid is key to building a competitive 21st century society. But technological growth and infrastructure development are goals for the long-term and are unable to immediately address what are very immediate concerns.
For this reason, finding efficient solutions to immediate consumer energy concerns will require looking for new and novel ways to meet energy needs. Mobile devices are relatively affordable, small, light, and are not tied to an existing ecosystem. One promising way to reduce the energy usage of smartphones and similar devices is to change the way they interact with the network when not in use. Researchers at the University of Michigan are hard at work on a new technology known as Energy Minimizing Idle Listening which significantly reduces the processing power of the device when it’s not in use, extending battery life by as much as 54 percent.
In addition to grid expansions and micro solutions, industries should offer consumers the ability to generate their own electricity through renewable, sustainable energy sources like wind, solar and hydrogen. Hydrogen fuel cells, for example, convert chemical energy in hydrogen to electricity, with water and heat as the only by-products. Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are pollution-free and can power many common portable devices that require batteries, such as smartphones, tablets and cameras. By taking advantage of these technologies, we can add small-scale, site-specific energy generation to the global energy landscape.
At the end of the day, the apps, services and features of a smartphone or other consumer electronic device are worthless if you have a dead piece of technology. Until battery capacity and efficiency evolve and meet the demands of today’s fast-changing technology industry, mobile devices, as well as many other consumer electronic devices, will continue to fall short in the hands of consumers.
About the Author: Dr. Henri Winand, Ph.D. has been the Chief Executive Officer of Intelligent Energy Holdings Plc and Intelligent Energy Limited since September 1, 2006. Prior to Intelligent Energy, Dr. Winand was Vice President of Corporate Venturing at Rolls-Royce plc. Dr. Winand is a Governing Board member of the European Union’s Fuel Cell Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) and Treasurer of the NEW Industrial Grouping. Dr. Winand serves as an Executive Director of Intelligent Energy Limited. He has been an Executive Director of Intelligent Energy Holdings Plc since September 1, 2006. He is a member of the UK Government’s Green Economy Council, advising the Secretaries of State for DECC, DEFRA and BIS and a member of the University of Cambridge’s Alumni Advisory Board. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, an MBA from Warwick University and a BEng degree from Imperial College, London.
Edited by
Dominick Sorrentino
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