Conversation with Jake Stewart – Commitment to Renewable Energy

I just spoke with a fantastic young man by the name of Jake Stewart. Not to devaluate anyone’s commitment and importance in the movement, but no credentials are required to be an advocate of renewable energy. By contrast, Jake brings a level of sophistication that really makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Stewart currently directs the ground-breaking Austin Climate Protection Program at Austin Energy, where he is active in integrated distributed generation innovation, smart grid deployment and carbon reduction strategy development. He has been involved with the renewable energy and renewable fuels industries for almost a decade and was formerly an international renewable energy consultant and Executive Vice President at Organic Fuels International, Inc. He has received international recognition for his contributions to the broader renewable energy industry. Stewart is widely known for his development of world’s first renewably powered biofuel production facility—the first time a municipality had embarked on such an effort to produce its own fuel from waste and has garnered international attention as a decentralized renewable energy model.

With his dizzying array of patents, awards, degrees and his advanced background in R.E. technologies including bioenergy, distributed solar, biogas, 2nd generation biofuels, fuel cells, micro-wind, algae oil development and renewable hydrogen production, Stewart is a real joy to talk with.

Perhaps Stewart’s area of deepest passion at this point is the PR that entrenched interests are bringing to bear to create doubt about the reality of global warming. Here’s an except from the conversation:

Craig Shields: I know you’re aware of my position on renewable energy, i.e., that the gating factors are more political than they are technologicial. Do you agree?

Jake Stewart: 100%. I particularly liked your recent post on ‘RE versus its powerful competitors.’ Do you know, they say sunshine is the best disinfectant and fossilized carbon interests are putting out a very steady flow of shady but effective propaganda. The junk must be constantly illuminated. Kudos for you for opening such a streamlined and informed forum for that.

CS: Thanks for the kind words. But please tell me specifically where and how you see this so-called ‘junk.’

JS: We are dealing with a lot of this in the climate change arena where the ‘climate skeptic’ campaign has managed to garner a remarkable (and sad) amount of public penetration — predominately on AM radio and the likes, of course. In any case, I’m hopeful that science and truth will ultimately come out on top thanks to efforts like yours focused on getting accurate and palatable information out through the smoke.

CS: To be sure. And I’ll try to make sure this blog is a never-ending source of truth in this space. But can you recommend other good sources?

JS: Some of your readers may not have come across something that came out a couple years ago; the CBC did a fantastic piece on the inner-workings of this effort. It’s very worth watching. It’s a brilliant piece that pulls back the curtain on the makings of the ‘counter climate’ campaign, which, of course, was funded by our friends in the oil and coal industries, a sample of which includes:

‘ExxonMobil has manufactured uncertainty about the human causes of global warming just as tobacco companies denied their product caused lung cancer,” said Alden Meyer, the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Director of Strategy & Policy. “A modest but effective investment has allowed the oil giant to fuel doubt about global warming to delay government action just as Big Tobacco did for over 40 years.’

CS: Yes, good point. Coinicidentally, I’ve mentioned that exact piece in a recent article I’m publishing on cold fusion as part of me “Three Brass Tacks of Renewable Energy” series.

JS: Great. On the topic of simplifying the complexity of climate change and bringing it to the masses, another piece that your readers will want to watch is one that ABC did a couple months ago called ‘Earth 2100.’ They interviewed the world’s top climate/energy minds and generated an artist’s rendition of what it might be like for a child born today based on the latest modeling. They follow the fictional character through her life in dealing with the effects that are now underway. It’s in two parts — and fairly heavy at times — but it’s based in the latest projections/trajectory and leaves the viewer with a sense of empowerment to make a better future. I was impressed by what they produced; your readers might also find it interesting.

CS: Thanks so much, Jake. You’re one of the good guys.

JS: I was glad to.

PS: Here’s an infographic that depicts the history of renewable energy at a glance.