Realizing More from Less: Co-evolution of Supply and Demand in the Technologically Transformative Era
This article explores the dynamic interplay between technological evolution and human ingenuity, envisioning a future where AI, blockchain, mobility and energy systems converge to create unprecedented efficiency and sustainability, as a latest one of series articles on energy transition in Electra contributed by the author (e.g. [1]). It presents a unique blend of technical analysis and philosophical speculation on the future of energy systems and human existence. While rooted in the concrete realities of electrical engineering and energy transition, it also ventures into more abstract realms of thought, including cosmology and quantum theory.
I acknowledge that some readers may find the philosophical and cosmological considerations in the last part of this article challenging or unconventional for a technical journal. However, I believe that confronting these broader questions is crucial as we navigate the profound changes brought about by technological advancement.
My intent is not to provide definitive answers, but to stimulate thought and discussion about the deeper implications of our work in the energy sector. I invite you to approach these speculative sections with an open mind, viewing them as an opportunity to expand our collective understanding of technology's role in shaping our future. Whether you find these ideas provocative, inspiring, or contentious, I hope they will contribute to a richer, more holistic dialogue about the future of energy and our place in the universe. Please note that the article is my personal speculative theory as food for thought and not the view of the organizations to which I belong.
The future: Suggestion by "La Fée Électricité (The Fairy Electricity)"
In between CIGRE 2024 Paris Session, I went to see Raoul Dufy's "La Fée Électricité" mural, as I always do. Painted in vivid colors as an ode to more than 100 great people, from Thales and Aristotle to Faraday, Maxwell, and Edison, who created the wonderful technology of electricity, this huge mural, which decorated the 1937 Paris International Exposition, continues to teach viewers about the light of electricity as a technology and the greatness of the accumulation of human knowledge. The work symbolizes the fusion of scientific and technological progress with human creativity, expressing the optimism and promise of science and technology in the 20th century. At the same time, it embodies the ideal of harmony between art and science.
I too am optimistic about the future of science, technology, and humanity. The following sections are written as a tribute to our great predecessors who pioneered the future of electrical technology, particularly Thomas Edison. While celebrating Edison's scientific achievements, I also touch upon his later endeavors, such as the 'spirit phone,' which were and remain scientifically unverifiable. This is to emphasize the importance of bold ideas and imagination that transcend the limitations of current science and technology.
Figure 1 - La Fée Électricité (photo taken by the author)
Coevolution: Creation of new technologies and their use
The Industrial Revolution and the energy transition have had a history of "co-evolution". In the first Industrial Revolution, the "steam engine" using "coal" as primary energy extended human and horsepower. This is the birth of "muscle" in society.
In the Second Industrial Revolution more than 140 years ago, the "electric power system" invented by Thomas Edison was implemented in society by Nicola Tesla and Samuel Insull and combined with the successful mass production of cars by Henry Ford, society gained the civilization of electricity and automobiles. When we focus on the technology of electricity, we can say that Tesla and Insull achieved innovation on the supply side by producing, transmitting, and distributing electricity, and that Ford’s innovation on the demand side co-evolved by using multiple small electric motors as distributed power sources in factories and achieving significant productivity gains through the electrification of factories. It can be said that innovation has co-evolved. I see the power network running outside and inside the factory as a "blood vessel" that is extended to society [1].
Furthermore, if we focus on the extremely convenient primary energy source called "petroleum," we have found an effective way to extract it, and we have also discovered ways to use it to produce electricity and to run automobiles. In this way, technological evolution always involves the co-evolution of "producing" and "using" technologies.
I define the Third Industrial Revolution, or the Internet Revolution, as "the democratization of computing", which was made possible by the virtualization of hardware with the advent of UNIX, which enabled coding by users who were not experts in that field, no matter how advanced the hardware became, and the creation of decentralized platforms for the utilization and emergence of collective intelligence, realized through a combination of communication networks with end-user control. Here again, we see the "co-evolution" of innovation on both sides of technology creation and utilization. There is no doubt that this Internet is the "nerve" of our society.
Figure 2 - Co-evolution of Industrial Revolution and Energy Transition
Technological singularity: The co-evolution of AI/blockchain, mobility, and energy
As we enter the 21st century, we have come to see the decarbonization of society as a response to climate change. While the energy transition is critical, we must not forget the ultimate goal of why and what we will use decarbonized energy for. My focus is on the potential for the combination of AI, blockchain, and other digital technologies with the electrification of all society to deliver discontinuous productivity gains. In other words, our goal should be a productivity revolution through AI and electrification. We will use decarbonized energy to achieve this goal.
Andrew McAfee's book "More from Less" reveals the startling fact that digital technology is increasing the value our society creates while decreasing the use of resources[2]. "More from less" should be the guiding principle for our future society. We should be creating more value from less fossil fuels, natural resources, CO2 emissions, and workforce.
The decarbonization of society is pushing us to minimize CO2 emissions across the entire supply chain. If the entire supply chain process is streamlined and innovated, the productivity will be increased, and CO2 emissions will be reduced as a result. Furthermore, this process will be automated by AI and smart contracted supported by blockchain technology.
Especially in Japan, where the population is aging and the working-age population is rapidly declining, we must rise to the challenge of increasing GDP even as the population declines, following the principle of "doing more with less.
The only way to dramatically increase productivity is to electrify all processes with miniaturized, energy-efficient, and precisely controlled motors, and to automate all processes in the cyber-physical space with AI/blockchain. Large, inefficient boilers in factories and internal combustion engines in mobilities will all be replaced by electrified, small, decentralized sources of power and heat that will operate automatically with AI/blockchain.
Our MESH concept uses both AI in cyberspace and buffers in physical space as storage for renewable energy[1]. For example, by enhancing AI learning in times and places with large electricity surpluses and conversely weakening it in times and places with small surpluses, AI as electricity demand becomes a virtual battery capable of global-scale and long-term storage.
As decarbonization progresses, we will only have baseload power sources like nuclear and hydro, and variable power sources like solar and wind, but these flexible electrification demands can automatically use up decarbonized energy through AI-autonomous electricity consumption behavior change.
The word "storage" exists in all domains, but we can take advantage of all the storage in cyber-physical space to accommodate more renewable energy. We could increase the production of goods during periods of surplus electricity and stock them in warehouses. The ancient Japanese icehouse is an ideal cold storage that spans the seasons. In other words, if we electrify society and make it self-sufficient through AI, these will also be the demands of using base load power sources and variable power sources. Thus, holistic consideration of society becomes increasingly important.
Let's better define the process of co-evolution of AI/blockchain, mobility, and electric energy. The roles of each are as follows.
- AI and Blockchain (nervous system):
- Accelerating the Development of Next-Generation Energy Devices with AI Physics
- Automation of energy transactions such as economic DR (Demand Response)
- AI and hash operations become flexible demand and expand economic DR
- Electromobility system (physical system):
- Realization of automated driving technology
- Provides distributed computing when not in motion
- Emergency power supply and storage battery sharing when not in motion
- Automation of infrastructure inspection, security, etc.
- Electrical energy system (vascular system):
- Development and implementation of next-generation storage batteries
- Energy supply with price signal and CO2 signal
- Flexible energy management with AI and blockchain
Figure 3 - Path to Technical Singularity: Coevolution of three domains
These areas will influence each other and evolve together, like the flow of electricity depicted in the Dufy mural. The author is convinced that what will result from the co-evolution shown in Figure 3 is a technological singularity. Ensuring users' data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and privacy must be the biggest challenges.
The coevolution of AI, blockchain, mobility, and electric energy systems will manifest differently across various global contexts. In developed economies, it may focus on optimizing existing infrastructure and increasing efficiency. In emerging economies, it could leapfrog traditional development stages, enabling rapid deployment of advanced, decentralized energy systems. For instance, in Africa, mobile payment systems have already revolutionized financial inclusion; similarly, AI-driven microgrids could transform energy access. In Asia, dense urban centers might leverage these technologies for smart city initiatives, while in South America, they could support the integration of vast renewable resources. This global diversity in application underscores the need for flexible, adaptable approaches in energy transition strategies worldwide.
Largescale sparse dynamic networks: Convergence between power system engineering and computer science
We can consider a more concrete example. Currently, AI is implemented on GPUs, which excel at parallel processing of dense matrices. This is because neural networks used in mainstream LLMs and other applications are tightly coupled. On the other hand, the neuron-synapse configuration of the human brain is inherently loosely coupled.
For a long time, large electric power system analysis has used sparse matrix operations while preserving the sparsity of large graphs to save memory and speed up the process. This method was first proposed by William Tinney, who made significant contributions to the field of power system analysis as a power engineer at BPA. By analogy with his work, AI should preserve the sparsity of the brain's neuron-synapse structure and use sparsely coupled networks with an increased number of nodes.
Sparse neural networks created in this way have the potential to provide significant speedup and energy savings when processed by a non-Neumannian data flow architecture processor rather than a Neumannian processor. The implementation of sparse neural networks in edge devices has the potential to contribute to the evolution of automated driving technology in the mobility field and to the efficiency of smart grids in the electric energy field. In addition, the recently developed Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) [3] has possibility to leverage to perform AI inference in automated mobility when in motion and Hash computations for Proof of Work (PoW) type blockchain authentication when not in motion, and smart contract. This will increase the uptime of the RDU. Of course, it is also possible to share the batteries of non-running mobility vehicles with society.
This concept is illustrated in Figure 4. Although there are many challenges to realize, this example is another example of the co-evolution of AI, blockchain, mobility, and electric energy.
Figure 4 - Future Mobility Ecosystem
The key to successfully integrating new technologies into the "more from less" paradigm lies in systems thinking and holistic optimization. The entire system must be optimized, considering the entire life cycle from production to end use. This may include locating production facilities near renewable energy sources and key users and designing technologies that serve multiple purposes. Also here, ensuring users' data sovereignty, cybersecurity, and privacy must be the biggest challenges.
The legacy of computational methods in power system engineering extends further with individuals like previously mentioned William Tinney. Complementing this, electric power engineer Charles Concordia. The integration of AI, blockchain, and electrification reflects the co-evolution of power systems and computational technologies, a theme deeply rooted in the early efforts of pioneers like Charles Concordia. Concordia, an esteemed electrical power system engineer known for his theory on synchronous machine and power system dynamics, chaired the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) subcommittee on large-scale computing devices in the 1940s. His leadership helped lay the foundation for what would eventually become the IEEE Computer Society. Concordia's work exemplifies the fusion of power engineering and computational innovation, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary thinking in advancing modern energy systems.
Concordia made significant contributions not only to computational and power system engineering but also to the advancement of international collaboration through CIGRE. In recognition of his efforts, he received the prestigious Philip Sporn Award in 1989 from CIGRE US National Committee, honoring his groundbreaking work in power system dynamics and planning. His active participation in CIGRE study committees and technical councils exemplifies his role as a bridge between academia, industry, and international energy policy.
Concordia’s dual influence within IEEE and CIGRE highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in shaping modern energy systems. His legacy demonstrates how the coevolution of computational methods, such as sparse matrix techniques, and power grid management has laid the foundation for innovations like smart grids and energy-efficient technologies. His work reflects a vision where technological convergence fosters both operational excellence and global cooperation in the energy sector.
This deep relationship between computing and power systems had been seen also in Japan. My mentor, Professor Emeritus Yasuji Sekine of the University of Tokyo, who served as Treasurer of CIGRE and President of the Power Systems Computation Conference (PSCC), exemplifies this connection. Interestingly, according to Professor Sekine, it was Professor Hideo Yamashita (1899-1993), who originally specialized in electro-mechanics, who played a key role in the early development of computer science in Japan. Professor Yamashita's career symbolizes the remarkable shift from electrical engineering to information processing, and he had a great influence on both fields.
Professor Yamashita's contributions extended beyond hardware development. He led the University of Tokyo's electronic computer research team from 1951 and was involved in the installation of TAC (Tokyo Automatic Computer), one of Japan's first large-scale computers. His international involvement included serving on the board of the International Computation Centre and participating in the establishment of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).
In recognition of his pioneering work, Yamashita became the first president of the Information Processing Society of Japan in 1960. His career trajectory from electrical engineering to computer science laid the foundation for Japan's future advancements in information technology.
Professor Yamashita's legacy continues to inspire generations of engineers and computer scientists in Japan and beyond, bridging the gap between traditional electrical engineering and modern information processing.
The seamless integration of computing into power system engineering, as demonstrated by these examples from both Western and Eastern contexts, underscores the global nature of this convergence. It also emphasizes the foresight of academic institutions and organizations like CIGRE in recognizing and fostering this interdisciplinary approach. As we move forward in the age of AI and blockchain, this historical perspective reminds us of the long-standing synergy between computational advancements and power system innovations.
Hypotheses: Edison's spirit phone bridging two singularities
In the previous section, I discussed how the coevolution of AI/blockchain, mobility, and electric energy could lead to a technological singularity. As I push the boundaries of technology, I can't help but think of visionaries like Thomas Edison. His attempt at a "spirit phone" reflects a bold blend of scientific curiosity and metaphysical inquiry. The attempt represents a profound quest to connect the visible and invisible worlds, a theme that resonates deeply as we approach what we call the technological singularity.
Based on the principle of "more from less," this new era will harness the integrated capabilities of these systems to lead humanity to greater efficiency and sustainability. Within this framework, technology is not a substitute for human endeavor, but functions as an extension of human physiological and intellectual functions.
Among thinkers of the past, Thomas Edison stands out not only for his inventions, but also for his exploratory research into the spiritual aspects of technology. Edison's attempt to invent a "spirit phone" to communicate with the afterlife demonstrates a bold blend of scientific curiosity and metaphysical inquiry. This attempt represents a profound quest to bridge the visible and invisible worlds, a theme that will resonate with us as we approach the technological singularity.
In interpreting these changes, the convergence of science, philosophy, and religion provides a holistic approach to understanding how technological advances can be reconciled with broader human and environmental goals. Science provides empirical underpinnings, philosophy provides ethical guidance, and religion brings a deeper existential perspective. Taken together, they form a solid framework for understanding technological progress in the evolutionary process of the universe.
Perhaps, Edison's sprit phone bridges the technological singularity and the cosmological singularity. My hypothesis is that the sprit phone is a device that connects "the next world," which has no space-time and is filled only with light energy, and "this world," which has space-time and is an ephemeral realm in which we live. It should be noted that this hypothesis cannot be verified by modern science, but it cannot be scientifically denied at this point.
When I was a graduate student in 1990, I attended a lecture by Dr. Stephen Hawking in the Yasuda auditorium of the University of Tokyo. He explained that the Big Bang that gave birth to the universe was a singularity in terms of cosmology, but that it would no longer be a singularity if we introduced an imaginary part of time. Of course, I had no idea what he meant by time evolving along an imaginary axis, but as someone who studied electrical engineering, the imaginary part reminded me of the theory of alternating current. I wondered if the universe rotated in a circle like an alternating current. Later, Hawking's collaborator, Dr. Roger Penrose, presented the hypothesis that the beginning and end of the universe are actually the same in conformal cyclic cosmology (CCC) [4].
Dr. Penrose asked, "If entropy continues to increase with time, does this mean that the entropy at the beginning of the universe created in the big bang was small?" He explains the "paradox of entropy" by claiming surprisingly that the beginning and the end of the universe are the same, a world of light-like massless particles flying around at the speed of light, a world where space-time does not exist.
According to his hypothesis, this world will eventually become nothing but particles flying around at the speed of light without mass as entropy increases, and that moment will lead to the next world. This is the eternal cycle of reincarnation as taught in Eastern mysticism. A world without time and space would be exactly like the "the next world". This hypothesis tells us the importance of energy and its greatness, that "in the beginning there was light and its energy". Every matter and creatures in existence arose from energy. This idea is consistent with Einstein's theory of relativity, which states that E=mc2.
Another theory that Roger Penrose has is the Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory [5], which states that human consciousness arises quantum-theoretically in the microtubules of the brain. The microtubules of the brain may connect "the next world" and "this world" in a quantum theoretical way. This is consistent with the teachings of the Japanese philosopher Nakamura Tempu influenced by Zen, Yoga and modern science, who taught that the human being is a being whose mind and body are inhabited by a soul, an offshoot of the cosmic spirit, and that he was born for the evolution and betterment of the universe.
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory states that "all things in the world (nature) become real only when they are observed by humans, and that their very reality depends on the consciousness of the observer, the human being". In other words, "human consciousness itself creates reality as an entity."[6] According to this interpretation, the universe and human beings are connected.
Therefore, if a technological singularity creates Edison's spirit phone, it will confirm the existence of "the next world," which would also mean a cosmological singularity, a man-made connection between the "the next world" and "this world". If we know that there really is an Absolute, we will naturally be humbled.
It should be emphasized repeatedly that the hypotheses I have described here are not testable at this time, but I would like to point out the need to continue to consider the role of human beings in the advancement of science and technology, and to continue to question the meaning of our own existence.
Conclusions: Technological progress and the role of humans
As I have mentioned, the story of the Industrial Revolution, viewed from the perspective of "more from less," is a story of continuous and holistic evolution. It is a journey toward a more integrated, wise, and sustainable existence that leads to a deeper understanding of our true role in the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty in the universe and, along with all innovation, to productivity and harmony.
As Edison's successors, we are the custodians of this legacy and continue to explore the limits of what technology can accomplish, in harmony with the cosmic and spiritual realms. Without constant examination of the meaning of our existence and our lives, the unrestricted advancement of technology can lead to our own destruction.
As technology advances, it is imperative that we deepen our philosophical inquiry and spiritual understanding so that technology becomes a tool for the evolution and progress of the universe rather than its destruction.
In this context, CIGRE's role as a global community of experts in end-to-end energy systems becomes increasingly important. By fostering international collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches, CIGRE is uniquely positioned to lead the energy transition and ensure that the co-evolution of AI, blockchain, mobility and energy systems serves the greater good of society and our planet. It is our collective responsibility to harness these technological advances in a way that promotes sustainability, efficiency and equitable access to energy worldwide.
I would like to conclude this article with a quote from Albert Einstein, which I learned from Michael Heyeck, Vice President of CIGRE.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge has its limits. Imagination encircles the world.”
References
[1] Okamoto, H. (2024). Watts & Bits: How Power Grids and Cloud Computing Are Working Together to Implement “Utility 3.0” Through Electro-Cyber Integration. Electra, 335.
[2] McAfee, A. (2019). More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources?and What Happens Next. Scribner.
[3] Prabhakar, R., Zhang, Y., Koeplinger, D., Feldman, M., Zhao, T., Hadjis, S., Pedram, A., Kozyrakis, C., & Olukotun, K. (2023). "SambaNova SN40L: Scaling the AI Memory Wall with Dataflow and Composition of Experts." arXiv.
[4] Penrose, R. (2010). Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe. The Bodley Head.
[5] Penrose, R. (1994). Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness. Oxford University Press.
[6] Kishine, T. (2017). The “invisible world of the mind” as studied through quantum theory: Exploring the nature of the civilization of the mind [Original work in Japanese]. PHP Institute.