Here’s the webinar we did the other day, in which I interviewed Ocean Thermal Energy Corporation’s chief strategist Jim Greenberg on OTEC. I thought he did a fantastic job is explaining the potentials that this rapidly evolving technology holds to provide large amounts of clean baseload energy to over 4 billion people living in the tropics.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DotOL6hWJ8&w=500&h=369]
I hope Amory Lovins doesn’t think I’m stalking him. He certainly could get that impression, as I’ve approached him twice in the past three days — Wednesday after his incredible talk at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and today at the Wall Street Journal’s “eco-nomics” conference just a few miles away. Technically, today, it was my friend Jeff Brothers, solar developer extraordinaire, who, when the session was over, suggested that we make a trade: a signed copy of Is Renewable Really Doable? for a signed copy of Lovins’ Reinventing Fire.
Again, the fact that most people don’t even know who Lovins is speaks volumes about the state we’re in as a planet, and what a poor job the media is doing in its coverage of environmental issues.
I started my day with a predawn call to Edison, New Jersey and Mumbia, trying to connect my people at Eos Energy Storage with strategic partners in India. The breakthrough in battery chemistry/design will result in product for sale in 2013 at $165/kWh. This, of course, will change the game completely, both for electric vehicles and for utility-scale grid storage — and India will be an enormous market. What’s the loss on an hour or two of sleep in the scheme of things?
After Amory Lovins’ lecture yesterday, he took questions, including one from me, which I prefaced by saying, “I think I speak for almost everyone in this packed auditorium when I say that I wish there were a way of making you king of the world.” I got a chuckle, and an instant rejection from Lovins. “I’m not interested,” he smiled.
But I’ve come to understand that most people don’t even know who he is. I spoke this morning with two different close friends, both well-educated people, neither of whom had ever heard of him. And that, in turn, is a function of the fact that our media covers issues of global warming and environmentalism more generally in a very cursory and erratic fashion.
To be sure, this is a big part of the problem. Here we have the most important event in the history of humankind, and, though we hear about it occasionally, most people really know very little about it, because the media largely ignores it.
Here’s another in our series of short introductory videos, in which I discuss renewable energy generally, including its strengths and weaknesses. We ALL want clean, abundant, inexpensive energy — and renewables hold the potential to take us there. But as much as we like this concept generally, there are issues; there are costs that need to be understood. It’s fine to be an advocate, but it’s even better to wrap your wits around as many of the issues as possible: technological, economical, and political.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh4Jslrl-SM&w=500&h=284]
At an ever-growing rate, I get calls and emails from people all over the world hoping that I can hook them up with clean energy jobs in the U.S. I wish I could help, but I can’t — at least, not at this point.
I’m hoping that this changes soon, but the U.S. is not embracing renewables to the degree I’d like to see. Did you know that there are more jobs in solar in Germany than there are jobs in steel in the U.S? I’m not proud of that, but it’s a fact. I believe that renewable energy will eventually win the day, but it doesn’t appear that the U.S. will be a leader in making this happen.
Thursday afternoon I had the pleasure of listening to Amory Lovins present his latest thinking on the world energy picture at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which he sums up in his book Reinventing Fire. I’m so glad I didn’t miss this brilliant and compelling talk; you have to experience this first-hand to know what it’s like to be in the presence of a great mind whose life’s work has been figuring out Earth’s energy puzzle. (more…)
I’m headed down to the University of California at Santa Barbara this afternoon to listen to Amory Lovins deliver a talk. It’s hard to think of anyone who has had a greater impact on our concern for environmental issues and the result of our energy policy on the natural world. I’m hoping for the opportunity to introduce myself and tell him how grateful I am, on behalf of the people of the world, for his work.
Here’s a discussion on global climate change featuring California-based venture capitalist Dan Miller, who apparently has some connections local to me. Dan spoke last week at The Midland School, a wonderful private school at which both my kids, Jake and Valerie, attended a summer “Writers’ Camp” a few years ago. I had to bribe them both in the extreme, offering them both their first cell phones to attend, but I’m glad I made the compromise. The camp was wonderful. And Dan’s talk is fantastic.
Here’s the follow-up to my discussion with friends who claim to have observed a violation of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Of course, I get claims like this at the rate of at least once a week, and I pay very little attention to them. What makes this interesting is that one of them is a professional mechanical engineer, and they’re both well-educated people.
Friend #1: Craig, please read “Unobservable Universe.” It’ll give you a different perspective on physics and your laws of thermodynamics. (more…)
