The Energy Future We Could CreateThe Sun is Amazing Workshop

June, 2012

What is the goal?

• Environmental stability?• Enough to meet needs?• Fairness in life chances?• Less about stuff, more about community, family?

Five Elements:

1. Efficiency: low power, high performance appliances

2. Low Power high efficiency buildings3. Green Energy4. Smart Use: Matching consumption with power

production (e.g. electric cars with night wind)5. Sparing use of fossil fuels at transitional fuel and…

Innovation

Let’s consider examples of what we know works

Starting point: The Art of the Possible

Example: Arthur Rosenfeld

• The Principle: Conserving Energy is simpler and cheaper than building more power plants.

• Efficiency measures save Californians $30B/ year.

• Air pollution Avoided: 100 million cars equivalent

“Rosenfeld Effect”

20 power plants

not built

Alliance to Save Energy

• Energy Efficiency Movement saves Americans $700 Billion per year in energy bills [ck]

Low hanging Fruit:Cool Roofs: reflective colors

• Chicago to Sydney latitudes equivalent to taking ½ the worlds cars off the road; a 20 year reprieve on global warming

– Art Rosenfeld.

Conservation and Efficiency: McKinsey Report (2009)

$520 B investment-1.2 Trillion saving (100% ROI)

23% reduction in U.S. Energy Consumption

McKinsey analysis

Political Will

When government sets standards and means it, engineers figure out how to

do it

2008: Governor Schwarzenegger issues Executive Order S-14-08 requiring 33% renewables by 2020.

2011: Senate Bill X1-2, signed by Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr., codifies 33% by 2020 RPS.

California Leads Renewable Portfolio Standard:

33% by 2020ISO and Utilities have to figure it out

ISO demonstrates effect of political mandates: Mandatechallenges solutions.

Not bad: 1% or less margin

When California leads….

When California forces manufacturers to build more

efficient appliance….

e.g. refrigerator, it changes nation because manufacturers don’t want to

build two different products

And US Solar market grew 109% last year (2011)

And industry incentivized to improve Technology

E.G. market for battery technologyPrototypes with 10x greater energy

density

Global element of improving energy future:

Help Developing World Leap Frog Fossil Fuel Step

E.g. wireless communications and electricity

Renewable Resource is Huge

Solar Resource10,000 x more energy then humans use

(Art Sussman)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. (2009)

Wind Power Resource:

16 X Current Consumption

Wind Resource in the United States(as percentage of in-state generation)

Dakotas and Nebraska are the “Saudi Arabia” of Wind Power

People need jobs: let’s get it done

Depression Era Project