IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2019 - 34

an order of magnitude higher. Future
The integrated circuit revolutionbattery electronics needs a better
ized computer systems, not only
Cell imbalance can
packaging and assembly technology.
because transistors could be progresprematurely end
sively miniaturized, following Moore's
law. The ability to make extremely
About the Author
the usable life of
consistent interconnects between
Braham Ferreira (j.a.ferreira@
a battery.
thousands of transistors in compliutwente.nl) received his Ph.D. degree
cated digital devices meant that reliin electrical engineering from Rand
ability could be taken for granted. ComAfrikaans University, Johannesburg,
puter chips did not become less reliable
South Africa, in 1988. He is a professor
when the number of transistors and circuits increased.
at the University of Twente, The Netherlands, and was the
We need an electronics assembly technology for batpresident of the IEEE Power Electronics Society in 2015-
tery electronics that can take reliability to a level that is
2016. He is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Global Climate Change
A Norwegian perspective
by Ashok Bindra

owhere in the world is the impact of global
warming more visible than in the polar
regions. It is well known that the ice in these
regions is melting at an accelerated pace each
year. As a result, some animals are unable to
survive. There are many indicators showing that carbon
dioxide (CO 2) emissions from the use of fossil fuels is the
main culprit contributing to this global warming. With
recent advances in technology and renewable sources, it
has been demonstrated that power electronics can play an
important role in efficiently substituting fossil-fuel-based
electrical power production and electrification of transport,
thereby substantially cutting CO 2 emissions. Consequently,
to fully grasp the meaning of climate change, the 10th IEEE
Future of Electronic Power Processing and Conversion
(FEPPCON X) workshop was held in Tromsø, Norway,
close to the polar region. Here, at the Scandic Ishavshotel
in Tromsø, a group of international experts, led by the IEEE
Power Electronics Society (PELS) Technical Committee
(TC) chairs gathered to discuss future directions in power
electronics and energy transition for reducing CO 2 emissions, thus forecasting the advances needed across differ-

FIG 1 The melting of ice in the Arctic is more than natural; it is
caused by human activities. (Source: Kim Holmén; used with
permission.)

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2019.2947985
Date of current version: 17 December 2019

IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE

ent areas of electronic power processing and conversion
technologies to achieve this goal.
To better understand the impact of climate change in
the polar regions, the PELS TC invited Kim Holmén, the
international director of the Norwegian Polar Institute,
to give a keynote talk on this subject. His presentation,

z December 2019

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2019

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