Climate Change Part 2: Regional Energy

Regardless of what climate change naysayers want to say (I guess they say “nay”), the scientific community is in agreement that the global climate is warming at an unprecedented rate (IPPC, Summary for Policy Makers, 2007); and that CO2 emissions are one of the primary drivers (ibid).

Transportation and electricity generation are two of the major sources of CO2 emissions. There are some practical, individual decisions that can curb transportation emissions: carpooling, changing vehicles, making an intentional decision to live closer to work. That’s what last week’s assignment tackled. This week we’re going to scale up to regional CO2 emissions, and focus on energy (or electricity) generation.

Electricity generation is all about net energy (net energy is the amount of high-quality usable energy available from a resource after subtracting the energy needed to make it available for use (Miller, 2005). Clearly coal, natural gas and oil have high net energy (and it is worth noting that as technology improves, the net energy may increase); however, the CO2 emissions from combusting the fossil fuels may be the limiting factor on their usefulness. As the US, and the rest of the world, move into the 21st Century we need to diversify our energy resources and tap into renewable energy resources like wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, and even biofuels.

Taking my cue from Mr. Beitleman’s “Axis of Evil” module, I want us to be informed and intelligent about our potential energy sources. We will also use my Regional Water Summit model as we approach today’s energy challenges. By the end of the module we will accomplish the following three objectives:

1) Get the basic information on the availability, technology, economics/politics, and environmental issues surrounding non-renewable and renewable energy.
2) Draft a regional energy policy prospectus that takes climate and resource availability into account.
3) Design an advertisement or presentation and pitch a “green energy” or renewable energy company in the region you’ve been assigned.

Our first order of business is to get the basic information on energy resources. Use the matrices provided in class to guide your research. Although you will work in your “regional team”, you should take a national/global approach to energy resources. As your work progesses, I want you will focus on regional energy resources. My hope is that you all will draft smart, sustainable energy policies. Okay, that is a ridiculous goal, but at least we can get a feel for the issues.