The way electric power is generated and distributed will change substantially over the next two decades. Power will be democratized, as small-scale production at the individual and community level moves from niche to normal. The resulting “electron-democracy” will still have centralized power plants, but power grid activity will increasingly be dominated by innumerable incremental energy flows between small producers and consumers.
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Aggressive support of energy science and technology, coupled with incentives to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative solutions, can transform energy demand and supply.
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Our aim should not be total independence from foreign sources of petroleum. That is neither practical nor necessary in a world of interdependent economies. Instead, the objective should be developing a sufficient degree of resilience against disruptions in imports.
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In our seminar, we discuss strategy in terms of the “consequential” actions that enable an entity to control its destiny. This requires a certain degree of “paranoia” on the part of that entity about its dependency on forces that affect its destiny.
GM is aiming to remove the automobile from the energy and environmental debate. Doing so will go a long way toward reducing our dependence on oil. This is a goal that we can accomplish much faster and sooner than many think.
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A conversation between William McDonough and Stephan Dolezalek.
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“If the electric-car guys can compete with the biofuels guys and they both compete for inexpensive low carbon, that sort of competition is a good thing.”
Depletion is a simple concept to grasp: as every beer drinker knows, the glass starts full and ends up empty, and the quicker you drink, the sooner your beer is gone. The same principles apply to oil.
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The end of oil and the notion of energy independence command a great deal of rhetorical attention globally. Yet in all likelihood, oil will remain the largest component of the global energy equation for the next 50 years or more.
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14 Apr 2010 · 05:40:40 AM GMT
Communitization of the Power Houses is a nice idea and definitely looks like the Go-to way. And if We go a step further democracy lane then electron democracy can be at the individual home basis as well. I always had an idea of a energy self suff...—Chandrika Rathee
In response to Electron-democracy
06 Jan 2010 · 06:21:10 PM GMT
I think that there is a big issue of more and more renewable sources producing irregular power transmission. The power generated by renewable sources is not controllable, and at best vaguely predictable. A system that has renewable energy at its hear...—Naresh Ranvah
In response to Electron-democracy
12 Dec 2009 · 04:24:18 AM GMT
I can’t wait until half the desert is covered in parabolic trough solar thermal fields.—Eric Kline
In response to Electron-democracy
03 Dec 2009 · 07:58:43 PM GMT
Since fossil fuel prices are going to be staggering high, especially after peak-oil, there would be a good reason to use those profits to invest in other durable energy sources. Either we have to nationalize the oil companies, or seriously taxate th...—Rob Heusdens
In response to The end of the oil age
14 Jul 2009 · 01:57:03 AM GMT
The idea of a more democratized grid to be able to respond more quickly to the variations in demand for energy sounds like a viable option, but I belief that to be feasible only under the conditions of a more centralized control over the grid. In ...—Henk Perdok
In response to Electron-democracy
20 May 2009 · 04:04:02 PM GMT
I really appreciate the thinking beyond oil. In Italy, where I live, the nostalgic desire of nucelar power stations has reached the irresponsible political level. But I’m asking: Does it make any sense to invest 10 billions Euros and 10 years t...—Alex Colombo