Our nation recently faced challenging winter weather conditions. Many people were impacted by energy and water shortages. It definitely made everyone aware of how vitally important our energy industry is to our nation. 

What will the workforce look like post COVID-19? A workforce will be needed to build, adapt, provide technology and innovation in the energy sector, involving power generation, transportation, and other uses.

In mid-February of this year, unusual weather made an impact on Texas and other regional states. The Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was challenged in its preparation for energy reliability. Texas’ infrastructure was under a multi-energy-sector’s failure. For four days or more, Texans did not have access to their energy needs, and problems mounted.

In a 2012 film documentary entitled The Grand Energy Transition (GET) on which I served as a producer, the transition, which included oil and gas renewables, led to the future of a hydrogen economy. Since then, hydrogen has become even more of a 21st century energy option.

The year 2020 was truly a time of uncertainty and challenges, to say the least. The future of regulations, executive orders, tax issues, fiscal and monetary policies, international trade issues, COVID-19 vaccination outcomes, supply and demand of energy, and private/public education challenges are some of the numerous issues before us.