Industry 4.0—the trend towards greater use of
automation and data exchange—will have a
significant impact on energy demand. As shown
in Fig. 5, the adoption of 3D printing in US
commercial aircraft manufacturing can reduce
energy use in production and in flight, thanks to
the use of more lightweight components.
1.4 Main Characteristics of the New
Global Energy Transition
The global energy system is undergoing a major
transition, after a period of relative stability.
Before 1985, the energy systems of the G7
countries experienced significant changes as a
Fig. 4 The cost of many clean energy technologies is
declining rapidly. Note Cost does not include subsidies.
*The calculated cost of solar energy is based on
utility-scale monocrystalline silicon solar panels. Source
The cost data of wind and solar energy are from Lazard
(2016), while the **cost data of batteries are from
Bloomberg New Energy Finance (2017)
Fig. 5 Industry 4.0 will have a significant impact on energy demand. Note The data above are based solely on the
adoption of 3D printing in US commercial aircraft manufacturing. Source Huang et al. (2016)
Overview: High-Quality Energy for High-Quality Growth …
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