What will the future of energy look like?

pollution

Mark Jacobson: Lobbyists stand between us and a clean energy future

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Mark Z. Jacobson

Director of Stanford University

Atmosphere and Energy Program

Mark Jacobson of Stanford University addresses the supposed need for a “bridge” from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and how we can be implementing wind and solar energy today.

6 Comments Posted February 09, 2012

Dan Arvizu on the State of Energy in the US

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Dan Arvizu, the Director the National Renewable Energy Lab, explains the current state of the energy system in the US, and why it’s “not sustainable.”

He warns that our dependency on fossil fuels needs to change, but this type of change does not typically come about easily or quickly. Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of time to solve this issue, and his solution is a challenge to each and every one of us: public opinion is the “#1 ingredient” to this change. The problem is now on our doorstep and we must insist that a change is made.

He goes on to explain the mission of the NREL, and its role in a shifting energy landscape.

4 Comments Posted November 10, 2011

Jeff Goodell on The Future of Electricity

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Jeff Goodell, environmental author ('Big Coal', 'How to Cool the Planet') and contributing editor at Rolling Stone, shares his views on the future of electricity.

According to Jeff, in order to meet our growing energy needs we're going to need to stop thinking about generating 'clean' power vs. 'dirty', but instead start thinking in terms of how to develop 'smart' power vs. 'dumb'.

Goodell goes on to speculate that the current shift in how we think about the way we make and use electricity represents more than a technological transition—it's a cultural transition as well.

7 Comments Posted July 14, 2011

'ENERGY Learn. Act. Save.' A WNIN Special Presentation PART 1

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Here's another expert follow up discussion to BTLS—this video comes to us from PBS affiliate and BTLS Outreach Grant partner, WNIN. Based in Evansville, Illinois, WNIN covers a tri-state area that also serves parts of Kentucky and Indiana. WNIN put together their locally-focused panel to examine the issues related to the economics and environmental impacts of our energy use.

10 Comments Posted July 08, 2011

'ENERGY Learn. Act. Save.' A WNIN Special Presentation PART 2

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Here's PART 2 of 'ENERGY Learn. Act. Save.'  Host Mizell Stewart is joined by the these experts:

Dr. Zane Mitchell, US Green Building Council
Dick Kuhn, Efficient Energy Technologies, LLC
Dan Sander, Energy Systems Group
Deron Hawkins, Energy Systems Group
Ron Steinhart, Hafer Associates
Robbie Sears, Director of Conservation for VECTREN

Watch the video here and then be sure to check out the special's Facebook page to let them know what you think. Click here to visit WNIN's website and to find more information on re-broadcasts of ENERGY: Learn. Act. Save.

WNIN aired the one hour special call-in program on Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 7pm CDT.

57 Comments Posted July 08, 2011

Seattle's 'KCTS 9 Connects' Presents: Transition of Power

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Here's another regionally focused follow-up discussion to the Beyond the Light Switch documentary—this one coming to us from Seattle's PBS station, KCTS 9. For their BTLS Grant panel discussion, an episode of weekly news and information show KCTS 9 Connects was devoted to the topic of energy use. KCTS 9 Connects is hosted by Enrique Cerna, an award-winning producer/reporter and Executive Director of Production for KCTS.

The video explores an important energy issue for the Pacific Northwest and for the nation as a whole—raising the question "what does it really take to move away from coal-fired power plants?" The discussion was sparked because an agreement has finally been reached to move Washington state off of coal-fired power generation...

1 Comments Posted June 27, 2011

Lester Lave, RIP

Submitted by btls on Mon, 06/27/2011 - 12:15pm

Today we would like to remember and pay tribute to a BTLS Expert who has recently passed away. Professor Lester Lave of Carnegie Mellon University was a renowned economist and humanitarian. One of his most important legacies remains his research—the critically important research which first established a direct link between air pollution and its health impacts on humans. Lester's findings would eventually become the basis for early federal and state regulations to improve air quality in the U.S.

Lester earned his doctorate in economics from Harvard University and served eight years as head of CMU's Department of Economics. Lester was also Director of the Carnegie Mellon Green Design Institute and Co-Director of the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center. Lester first caught the attention of BTLS producers because of his integral role in energy and efficiency related research—but it was his outspoken nature and unwavering dedication to the truth that really make his presence in the documentary a standout. Interviewing Lester was truly an honor.

Lester is survived by his wife of 46 years, Judith, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh and their two children; Jonathan M. Lave of Washington, D.C., and Tamara R. Lave of Miami; and two grandsons. His family has asked that memorial contributions be made to charity.

Click here to read the New York Times’ tribute to Mr. Lave, or hit 'Read more' below to read a thoughtful account of Lester’s professional history, written for the Environmental Science and Technology journal by a few of Lester’s friends and fellow Carnegie Mellon professors; Jay Apt, Chris T. Hendrickson and M. Granger Morgan.......

Teaching Sustainability In An Unsustainable World

Submitted by btls on Mon, 05/23/2011 - 2:26pm

It's a professorial paradox to be sure. Naturally, there's a lot of ground to cover. To be "sustainable" is to possess the capacity to endure. Sort of broad-sounding, no? For clarity, if we look to the secondary definition of the term, Wiktionary lists the meaning as "able to be sustained for an indefinite period without damaging the environment, or without depleting a resource; renewable."

This modern definition of the term certainly narrows things down for us, yet 'sustainability' remains a dense subject matter. And a sticky one. When talking about issues related to the topics of energy, environment and economy, there are many differing viewpoints out there. For the topic of energy in particular, unraveling the knot of policy roadblocks, technological limitations, and environmental issues only complicates things further. In today's hyper-polarized media climate, sorting out the issues– and deciding where you stand– is a challenge for most people.

And if sustainability is hard to learn about, just imagine what it's like to teach people– young people, at that– how to better understand and develop a sustainable economic infrastructure in world with so many highly unsustainable systems in place. How do you tell them what they need to know when so much of the information that contextualizes each issue is either inaccessibly technical or under-informed and biased?

One man is offering solutions, and Beyond the Light Switch is helping to animate his commendable efforts in public education. Professor Greg Möller, Ph.D.  teaches a course called Principals of Sustainability at the University of Idaho, and he's using footage from Beyond the Light Switch to help disseminate information on sustainable energy use. Dr. Möller's using what he calls "an experimental pedagogy" and incorporating new technologies in order to teach his students about what it's going to take in order to turn our current energy economy into something that's sustainable on a global scale.

To that end, Dr. Möller has created a 10-chapter, multi-part series of 'doculectures' on all things related to sustainability– everything from waste management to electric generation. Anything that can and should be made sustainable, really. The series is still a work in progress, with the doculecture chapters falling under the umbrella of Dr. Möller's online course. Each doculecture is available for viewing on Vimeo now. 

For Chapter 6 in his series, titled Energy Sustainability, Dr. Möller  drew upon footage from BTLS to help put our current use of fossil fuels, alternative energies, and the power grid into perspective for his students. BTLS and the Braintrust are incredibly pleased to be part of a growing curriculum committed to energy education. Here are some additional doculectures from the series that Dr. Möller  picked out as especially interesting to fans and followers of Beyond the Light Switch: 

A Florida Matters Special: Beyond the Light Switch

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Check out the second of our Beyond the Light Switch expert panel follow-up discussions to the documentary. Featured here is the Florida Matters special edition of BTLS. Many thanks to our grant partners at WUSF TV, the PBS affiliate serving Southern Florida.

In the video, Florida energy experts discuss the future of energy from a Floridian's perspective, answering questions like: What are the pros and cons of nuclear energy, coal, natural gas or solar power? And what happens if we simply do nothing to plan for our energy future?

2 Comments Posted May 19, 2011

BTLS Expert Panel Debate - Detroit (1/5)

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Check out the first round of Beyond the Light Switch's expert panelist follow-up series: This discussion, moderated by host David Biello, is the first in a series of round-tables currently being produced by specially-selected PBS stations throughout the U.S. These debates will bring together regional energy experts and key industry players in order to examine the pressing issues currently surrounding our energy economy. The purpose of each panel is to further explore the themes introduced in Beyond the Light Switch—the way we generate and use electricity—from a state-specific perspective.
 

 

25 Comments Posted April 07, 2011
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