prolog

Recommendation

Chapter 1 General
ㆍHumans and Energy
ㆍWhy is it difficult to get away from oil?
The Twin Wings of Energy Security and Climate Crisis Response: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Air conditioning, the "benefit of civilization," and the climate crisis
ㆍRevisiting invisible resources and energy efficiency.
ㆍRegret over electricity bills
ㆍRead as ‘power factor’ and understand as ‘physical constitution.’
Current War

Chapter 2 Green
Apple, TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and Renewable Energy Risks
Even RE100 is challenging, but Google is taking on the challenge of carbon-free electricity.
Offshore wind power, a breath of fresh air in the energy market
Our Challenges as Seen Through the History of Danish Offshore Wind Power
The Power of Narratives as Seen Through Taiwan's Formosa Offshore Wind Farm
ㆍFor the solar power industry to see the light of day
Water Conservation is Energy: Sustainable Strategies from California
ㆍTo achieve national carbon neutrality, environmental and ecological education is provided through school facilities.
Thermal Energy: The Key to Sustainable Heating and Cooling
The future of the renewable energy industry, driven by artificial intelligence (AI).

Chapter 3 Grid
ㆍIf there is any electricity left, it goes into the ground!?
ㆍExpansion of renewable energy and stability of power supply
ㆍPower Island, South Korea
ㆍElectricity is abundant, but the power lines are blocked.
ㆍA warning from the Spanish blackout: We could be next.
Implications for Building the U.S. Power Grid for Future Industries
ㆍEstablishment of a distributed energy system for local production and consumption of energy.
AI emerges as a solution to the increasingly difficult power grid operation.
Beyond Traditional Power Plants: The Potential and Challenges of VPPs
ㆍElectrification becomes the central axis of energy transition.
ESS to enhance power grid flexibility: regional and time-specific solutions
ㆍFinding answers in thermal energy and distributed energy.
Sector Coupling: The Beginning of an Integrated Energy Grid

Chapter 4 Growth
K-Renewable Energy's Growing Presence in Overseas Markets
ㆍSecuring energy is also key to the hydrogen economy.
ㆍDecarbonization of the steel industry
ㆍDifficult but urgent carbon reduction in the cement industry
ㆍThe era of electric vehicles with Sinabro
ㆍWe must foster floating offshore wind power as a next-generation industry.
The energy industry requires female leadership.
ㆍTesla's dream becomes reality.
But it's not over yet.
ㆍThe technology is ready.
Now it is the market's turn to respond.

Chapter 5 Geopolitical
ㆍWe still live in the fossil fuel age.
The irony of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change led by oil-producing countries
The impact of Trump's election on responding to the climate crisis
Expectations for international greenhouse gas reduction projects
The solution to carbon neutrality in aircraft, ships, and military equipment is artificial oil.
ㆍSpecial Act on Resource Security and Renewable Energy
The Era of Local Energy: A New Path Opened by Distributed Energy Specialized Regions
Elon Musk's Mars Project and the Future of Korea's Space Energy Technology
ㆍTo space in search of future energy

Epilogue

The questions we pose in this book may not necessarily contain the right answers, but we sincerely hope they will become seeds of action, however small, in each individual's own space, and that these seeds will take root in local communities, industrial sites, institutions, and policies.

Energy is ultimately a human story.
And this book is the story of those people.
The true energy of this book lies in the warmth experienced in the field beyond technology, the trial and error experienced in overcoming the barriers of institutionalization, and the insights and thoughts that blossomed from them.

Going forward, we will continue to think and act together, and walk toward the future of energy.
I hope this book will be a small milestone along that path.


prolog
The road we've walked together

We first met in our mid-20s, after graduating from college, at a training session for new employees at the Korea Energy Agency.
Nearly 30 years have passed in the blink of an eye, and we have each walked our separate paths.
Some people worked in central organizations, implementing and refining policies and systems, drawing the big picture, while others worked on the ground, listening to the voices of businesses and citizens.
We have faced the challenge of our time, the "energy transition," by sometimes colliding and sometimes connecting between policy and practice, research and technology, and systems and people.

Although our roles and positions were different, our direction was the same.
How can we design and realize a "sustainable energy system"? How can we comprehensively address the complex challenges of climate crisis, energy security, regional balance, and industrial transformation? Sharing these concerns, we have spent a long time together.

I have expressed my concerns and thoughts in writing, focusing on the columns I have written in the Energy Economy Newspaper and the Electricity Newspaper.
I collected the writings I had been writing from time to time, added new stories that I had not been able to tell, and compiled them into a book.
The writing contains a keen eye for the field, the limitations encountered in the process of working, and practical language that reflects on the system.
Above all, the two people who have been thinking together about the future of the energy system share a common perspective.
This book is a record of that time.
The book is organized into five topics.
ㆍGeneral: Humans and Energy, Philosophy and Transformation of Perception
ㆍGreen: A sustainable future, the path to green energy
ㆍGrid: Design of flexible power grids and distributed energy systems
ㆍGrowth: Evolution of the energy industry and technology
Geopolitical: The energy world intertwined with resources, power, and strategy.

Each column goes beyond simple information dissemination; it offers insights gleaned from the field, the limitations encountered in the practical and institutional processes, and suggestions for future possibilities.
This book contains the realities and questions we face at the crossroads of the complex and multi-layered energy transition, as well as the pieces of answers we find within them.

I hope this book will serve as a compass not only for those working in the energy sector, but also for everyone concerned about a sustainable future.
And I sincerely hope that one day I can become a 'companion' walking in the same direction as the readers of this book.
Park Sung-woo and Kim Hyung-jung