A new dawn: Automation sees hope for stability in energy, environment, security

摘要

Looking hopefully forward, not casting a worried glance backward, is crucial to making positive business decisions in today's economy, especially as automation seeks to emerge from past challenges and into a new dawn of opportunities. Keynoters at ISA EXPO 2009 understood the importance of building that future--from calls for affordable energy to sharing methods of securing manufacturing processes. John Hofmeister presented a problem for ISA EXPO attendees to think about--not as automation professionals, but as citizens and voters--by 2018-2020 the U.S. will enter a period of energy instability of liquid fuels. "The problem we all face in this country is 300 million people will be short on electricity and liquid fuel at the rate we're going. It will take another decade to work our way out of what we've spent a decade working toward," he said. And that is energy independence.