When we look back, it's amazing how many common threads there are among our incredible guests. From Aston co-founder Ed McKenzie to Mark Jacobson of Stanford University, we are learning about the evolution of technology in various forms and how that impacts our energy future. It's Electric!
Some themes discussed in this episode:
- Consensus around the critical impact of climate change on utilities
- The impact of fossil fuel emissions from power generation and transportation
- The historical context of utility companies and the evolving energy grid
- Shifts towards local energy systems
- Challenges of achieving reliable renewable energy, potential solutions
- Parallels between decentralization in computing and power generation
Episode Outline:
🎙️ Introduction and Answering "What's the Problem?" (00:00 - 09:32)
- Greg Robinson introduces the World Changing podcast, Flo introduces her recap episode
- Gary Rackliffe (Hitachi Energy, ABB) discusses climate change impact on utilities
- Power generation and transportation account for ~60% of carbon emissions
- Mark Z. Jacobson (Standford U., The Solutions Project) emphasizes urgency of solving climate change problem
- Wind, water, solar solution proposed to replace fossil fuels
🏭 Utility Companies and Grid Evolution (09:32 - 18:54)
- Greg explains history of utility companies as sanctioned monopolies
- Bill Nussey (Freeing Energy) discusses how energy systems required massive infrastructure and government intervention
- Shift towards small, local energy systems is more profound than realized
- Utilities are essential part of energy transition despite need for faster progress
- Energy Internet concept: connecting distributed energy production centers for efficiency and reliability
⚡ Renewable Energy and Grid Reliability (18:55 - 30:36)
- Gary Rackliffe explains challenges of 100% uptime with renewable energy
- Microgrids and redundancy discussed as solutions for reliability
- Matt Loszak of Aalo Atomics presents small-scale reactors as potential solution
- Claudio Spadacini (Energy Dome) introduces Energy Dome's CO2 battery for clean, efficient energy storage
🔬 Power Grid Evolution and Future Trends (30:36 - 41:18)
- Greg and Ed Mckenzie (Google, Microsoft) discuss evolution of power grid (Power 1.0, 2.0, 3.0)
- Parallels drawn between power grid and web evolution
- Power 3.0: Decentralized power with smarts living at the edge
- Challenge of maintaining central grid as people transition to decentralized solutions
- Importance of backup power in decentralized systems
