My new post: A new group called @RewiringAmerica is singing my song: Electrify Everything! It has a detailed plan to substantially decarbonize the US economy by 2035, using only mature electrification technologies like heat pumps. I dive in deep. vox.com/energy-and-env…
There was so much to write about here 👆 -- as usual I ended up in that sweet spot of "not quite comprehensive" but "more than anyone will read." Lots more to unpack as RA puts out more reports based on this work. Excited to be firmly back on the Electrify Everything train.⚡️⚡️⚡️
OK, lemme emphasize one point that's implicit in today's post, but worth highlighting, and then I'll move on with my life.
In recent years, the climate convo has turned, to a peculiar degree, to CO2 capture, hydrogen, even geoengineering. Why?
In recent years, the climate convo has turned, to a peculiar degree, to CO2 capture, hydrogen, even geoengineering. Why?
The logic seems to be, "the familiar solutions -- ie, electrifying through renewables, batteries, smart grids, etc. -- can't get us all the way there. Therefore we need to start thinking about more exotic options that can handle the rest." Which, fine, I get.
But it sometimes seems to me that the discussion has shifted too far. Everyone is talking about innovation & new technologies & speculative shit. But let's remember, doing what we can do with electrification through 2035 or so is *no small undertaking*.
There's still a ton of work to be done driving up production of electrification tech, driving down costs, getting policy aligned, getting utilities & regulators aligned, getting long-distance transmission built, figuring out retrofitting options, etc. etc. etc.
It seems to me that rapid large-scale electrification is the task in front of us. And it's a big job! We should be focusing the overwhelming bulk of our policy, financing, regulation, & tech discussions on it. It is the main course!
Now, maybe when 2035 comes & we've electrified the shit out of everything we can electrify, we will discover a remainder of emissions that can't be electrified & we'll need hydrogen or biofuels or CCS. But it seems to me equally likely ...
... that 10-15 years of intensive electrification will slash the cost of the technology & teach us an enormous amount & we'll find that, actually, electrification can get closer to 95% decarb or higher. In other words, the "non-electrification remainder" we now anticipate ...
... might shrink & disappear! We don't know. My point is, whatever you think will handle that remainder, the MAIN job, the thing the country needs to mobilize around, is electrification! That's what everyone should be talking about, pushing the GOP on, explaining to voters ...
... advocating for in policy settings, etc. Electrification should be the headline, the simple, easy-to-explain focus of near-term decarbonization. It's the part that most speaks to ordinary people, most intersects with their lives. It's the most optimistic/cool climate story!
So it's fine if nerds & wonks want to puzzle over peripheral decarb solutions like hydrogen & CCS. But the climate movement, its rhetoric/framing/imagery, should be focused like a laser on electrification. It's going to both save our asses & make our lives cooler!⚡️⚡️⚡️</fin>
