The Energy Grid http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/ Exploring the future of energy en Copyright 2009 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:55:58 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.261 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss "Deserve's got nothing to do with it" It would be a major achievement if, a decade from now, Copenhagen has replaced Kyoto as the city most associated with efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change. Mention of the name of the Japanese city that hosted the first international effort to set greenhouse-gas reduction targets in 1997 now brings mockery from those who deny the reality of anthropogenic global warming and disappointment from leaders of the science-based environmental movement. Only if world leaders can manage to negotiate a more meaningful schedule this December, can the Danish capital escape Kyoto's fate.

Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...]]> http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/08/deserves_got_nothing_to_do_wit.php http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/08/deserves_got_nothing_to_do_wit.php Politics or technology? Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:55:58 -0500 The UN Climate Conference: a major stepping stone toward a low-carbon energy future? The international community is currently negotiating a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol to be agreed in Copenhagen at the end of this year. The new treaty could create an international policy framework that encourages investment in a sustainable energy infrastructure in both the developed and the developing world. Yet, to date many questions remain open as to what negotiating parties are willing to agree on. Controversial issues include the level of emission reduction commitments and the sources of funding for low-carbon energy investments in the developing world. What does the UN Climate Conference have to produce to encourage more sustainable energy production and consumption?

Read the comments on this post...]]> http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/the_un_climate_conference_a_ma.php http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/the_un_climate_conference_a_ma.php Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:00:10 -0500 Following the money Whether or not nuclear power should be a part of the future energy mix, two things seems almost inescapable. First, nuclear power will part of the near-term energy mix because there are plenty of existing plants that have more than a decade left in their lifespan. Shutting them down doesn't make any economic sense nor would that do anything measurable to mitigate climate changes. Second, nuclear power won't be a part of the long-term energy mix unless some way can be found to split atoms a lot more cheaply.

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Read the comments on this post...]]> http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/combating_climate_change_with.php http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/combating_climate_change_with.php Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:36:43 -0500 Video coverage from The Energy Grid panel In May, the bloggers from the Energy Grid gathered in Boston for an evening of discussion about the energy crisis and how technology, design, communication, and art can assist the transition to sustainable energy. James Hrynyshyn, Grant Kristofek, Deb Todd Wheeler and Richard A. Sears—a Shell researcher and visiting MIT scientist—participated in a panel moderated by Seed Magazine editor TJ Kelleher, and the conversation ranged from the importance of reducing energy consumption to the concept of "energy time". Now, you can watch highlights from the event below.

Read the comments on this post...]]> http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/video_coverage_fromthe_energy.php http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/video_coverage_fromthe_energy.php Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:07:58 -0500 Gentlemen: Stop your engines The rebound effect, in which efficiency gains are nullified by increased usage, is almost certainly to blame for rising transportation-sector emissions in much of the world, but not in the United States, it seems. The 1908 Model T, to use one widely cited example, got 25 miles per gallon, which is about the same or even better than the average family sedan coming off the assembly lines today.

The reasons are two-fold.

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The pace of change will have to be far faster than anything nudging can bring about. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't embrace anything that does move us in the right direction. Nudging and shoving are not mutually exclusive.

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gummy_bear_trap.jpg
Gummy Bear Caught in a Gummy Bear Trap (cc license image)

I believe a clean energy future, for developed and developing nations alike, will rely not on fossil-fueled growth, but instead on a global web of communication and information sharing between nations (admittedly, afforded at present by the "progress trap" of fossil-fueled development).  The information sharing will occur in virtual spaces, but local networks of real people, via organizations like One Earth Designs, will be instrumental in the design, deployment, and implementation of physical technology in real communities.

Knowledge sharing tools that are emerging rapidly in the Web 2.0 environment are already allowing people on opposite ends of the globe to share ideas, thoughts, concepts, successes, failures, praise, criticism, problems, and solutions at an unprecedented pace and with a transportation footprint that is just a tiny fraction of what physical presence would cost.  One affordance of such technology may be a global leap in consciousness of what makes good business sense, and therefore what commands economic value.  Hopefully not too long from now, we will laugh at the absurdity of burning our ancestors in order to get to the store for a pack of hot dogs.

As Joost pointed out in his comment on this week's question, developing nations will only leapfrog the economic status of developing countries if they innovate themselves out of poverty with solutions that address scalable energy consumption as well as clean energy production via solar, wind, nuclear, or cleaner carbon.

A number of localized, strategic measures could employ entire communities to develop and operate ecologically integrated cities with green roofs, big garden commons, high density, reliable infrastructure, pedestrian friendly pathways, human- and electricity-powered forms of transportation, and energy-efficient buildings tuned to local conditions.  By combining reductions in resource consumption with advances in clean energy production, we stand the best chance of eliminating the need for fossil fuel consumption which drives so much global instability.  Also, it's worth pointing out that many of these socially beneficial arrangements are process-driven and therefore labor intensive.  Innovative solutions should be enacted in a way that considers the effectiveness of human beings as living creatures, first and foremost, participating as active members of living eco-systems.  We probably can't afford to "utilize" people (or any natural systems, for that matter) as "resources" for much longer before populations rebel or Nature buckles. 

In designing our future, we are perhaps best off following principles of organizations like ZERI (Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives) who view waste as resource and seek solutions using nature's design principles as inspiration.  Read the comments on this post...]]> http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/escaping_the_progress_trap.php http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/07/escaping_the_progress_trap.php Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:16:49 -0500 It all comes down to a price for carbon At risk of sounding like a broken record, one full of mixed metaphors, the answer to the leapfrogging challenge is the same old same old: If it costs enough to emit carbon, then skipping fossil fuels in favor of clean renewables will be a rational choice for even the least developed country. And of course, it's not the least developed nations we're really worried about. Those folks have such a low per capita carbon footprint that it really doesn't matter what technology they choose. It's China and India that matter.

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Read the comments on this post...]]> http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/06/leapfrogging_to_a_cleaner_ener.php http://scienceblogs.com/energygrid/2009/06/leapfrogging_to_a_cleaner_ener.php Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:54:07 -0500 CCS is in the same league as fusion power Should carbon capture and storage be part of a sustainable energy system? Maybe. Will it be in the foreseeable future? No. It's not a stretch to use the well-worn description applied to fusion power: it's 40 years away and always will be.

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Against this backdrop, much brain power is directed towards ideas how to make fossil fuel-based energy production sustainable. The notion to capture carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels has been increasingly gaining currency. The captured carbon dioxide would be stored under ground in reservoirs to avoid further carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. While some point to the great potential of the technology, others stress the risks involved with it. Should carbon capture and storage be part of a sustainable energy system?

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