How can Data Science help in Energy Efficiency Optimization for Environmental Sustainability

Saving energy and being environmentally responsible has become a major goal and concern for everyone especially with the lessons learnt in the Covid era.
In addition to higher awareness for saving environment through use of energy efficient machines, sensors as well as appliances, there is also a greater focus on managing and optimizing consumption both for environmental as well as economic reasons.
As they say-you cannot manage what you cannot measure
Hence this has led to newer techniques for collecting large amounts of consumption data in several metrics and dimensions using variety of tools ,sensors and devices.
This in turn has naturally resulted an increased demand for sophisticated and advanced big data analytics techniques for Energy Efficiency measurements as well as optimization.
The question is -Do the Energy Efficiency Professionals have the required knowledge and state of the art know-how in Data Science , Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for carrying out sophisticated big data Analytics and predictive modeling for optimizing consumption.
Today data has become the most important asset for almost all businesses, and is used tremendously for making better business decisions, predicting customer behaviours , predicting maintenance, and many similar and newer business decisions.
More data means better insights and using relevant data science, machine learning and AI techniques, significant growth can be achieved in the area of Energy Efficiency and Energy Management.
Using Data Science and Data Analytics , analysts can understand the energy consumption patterns and then look for gaps and area where optimization can be done to reduce energy consumptions and obtain energy savings potential.
Similarly, analysis can also be done based on the payments for energy . Indeed, large Energy bills are usually trigger for organizations as well as households to start studying their energy usage. This process starts with collecting the data and then analyzing the same. More complex the data -with different dimensions and variables, more is the need for optimization using Machine Learning algorithms, environment sustainability and collective business of a company to start implementing energy efficiency projects.
Some of the other ways Data science can be used in the field of Energy Efficiency are:

Utility companies can use data analytics to identify energy consumption patterns and use it for planning power outages, peak usage times as well as set dynamic pricing.
Oil & Gas firms can use data science in managing various processes in the refinery and distribution as well as predictive maintenance and optimization of pumping systems.
Clean energy companies can use data and Machine learning algorithms for regulating and managing smart grids maximizing efficiency of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power based on weather predictions.

One of the most used application of Data Science in most Industries is Predictive Maintenance .Data Science and AI algorithms can be used to predict the maintenance requirements for all equipment and tools which results in reduced downtime , better productivity and reduces accidents and mishaps while reducing costs as well.

Hence Most organizations and Industries are already on the path of digital transformation which will result in massive amount of data in all their functionalities including Energy management . Hence the need for understanding Data Data science, Machine Learning and artificial intelligence will only grow and will become an important skills for those working or desiring to work in the field of Energy Efficiency