Renewable Energy – What Education Is Required?
The producers of a television show called “Going Green” interviewed me yesterday to determine if they would like to feature me on an upcoming program. As part of the conversation, the associate producer asked me what areas of education in “going green” are most required to get people up to speed in this area.
“It depends on what ‘people’ you mean,” I explained. “There are several diffferent constituencies that have markedly different needs with respect to knowledge.”
In discussing renewables, I’m amazed how people conflate the many different groups (consumers, corporations, utilities, government agencies, etc.) that, in fact, have completely dissimilar needs for information. I gave the interviewer a few good examples off the top of my head, but after I hung up the phone, I realized that it might be a good idea to list the various segments and the topics which, in an ideal world, each would understand. Here’s the list I put together:
Consumers
- “Electric vehicle 101.” Pure EVs vs. plug-in hybrids. Trade-offs between EVs and internal combustion engines, for a each family’s unique driving habits. Considering NEVs (neighborhood EV), given the local driving conditions and traffic laws. State and federal incentives.
- Recycling
- Energy-efficient lighting, HVAC, and appliances
Corporate America
- Intelligent building management. Light harvesting, integrated energy management.
- Demand response, i.e., managing consumption of electricity in response to supply conditions, e.g., reducing consumption at critical times or in response to market prices
- Incentives for carpooling and mass transit
- E-commuting
- High-efficiency vehicles (preferably electric transportation) on campus and in corporate fleets
Government Policy Makers
- MSEV (medium-speed EVs) laws that foster use
- Encouraging mass transit, bicycling, etc.
- Eco-friendly community planning
- Making use of the research performed by NGOs (e.g., World Resources Institute, Wilderness Society, etc.)
- Incentives to consumers and businesses to reduce carbon footprint
- Creating corridors for power transmission, using eminent domain law as necessary
- Allocating stimulus money to organizations with demonstrable capability to deliver transformative change in energy generation and consumption
- Stipulations to power utilities to increase purchase of energy from renewable sources
- CAFE standards that drive increases in overall fuel efficiency
- Intelligent placement of charging stations
- Alternative fuelled vehicles in the government fleets
- Laws mandating sustainable agricultural practices
- “Internalizing the externalities,” i.e., forcing everyone to pay the complete costs of generating and consuming energy
- Changing subsidies to create a level playing field for renewable energy
Power Utilities
- Smart grid, i.e., delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way digital technology
- Time of use metering, encouraging off-peak consumption (e.g., charging EVs at night)
- Building out the grid in sync with increased demand for electric transportation
- Efficient, long-distance power transmission using HVDC (high-voltage direct current)
- Vehicle-to-grid (V2G), using energy stored in EV batteries to enhance delivery of electric power
Renewable Energy and Electric Transportation Companies
- Making use of market research to gauge demand, establish the most appeal product/service features, set maximum set price points, develop effective positioning and branding, etc.
- Writing clear and compelling business plans
- Raising investment capital
- Protecting intellectual property
- Using public relations to generate large volumes of positive publicity
It sure will be a great day on Planet Earth when the majority of folks at all of these levels get their wits wrapped around each of the major issues.
