Breakthrough: More Electricity than you ever Dreamed of...

Google.org's Larry Brilliant said something at Davos '08 that proves he deserves his surname:

"Find a way to make electricity - not to cut back on it but to have more of it than you ever dreamed of."

Yes. Google's panel with Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Brilliant was all about what we can do and not about what we shouldn't do. That's the inspiring mantra behind Google's renewable-power-cheaper-than-coal initiative, through which they are investing in solar-thermal, deep geothermal, and high-altitude wind.

But Google can't "fix the world," Page said, and he called for the next president to fund research on transmission to get clean energy on the same playing ground as dirty energy - because even when the technology is there, lots of regulation adds costs to its deployment.

Google should be applauded for its take on the issue, which deviates from the standard environmentalist drone to consume less. As Michael and Ted argue in "Break Through," what will solve global warming is not - as Al Gore argued at the preceding panel - simply putting a price on carbon. Rather, we need a substantial government investment in building a new energy infrastructure: more akin to building the railroads or the Internet than fixing the ozone hole or fighting acid rain.

But the enviros and "Father Al" (as Bono referred to him during their panel) are still pushing a rhetoric of smallness that is anti-growth and all about limits. Google, on the other hand, has a positive message about the potential for change through technology. And their eyes are on the prize; when Jeff Jarvis asked how they planned to get their message out, Page responded that success is the best message - three-cent power will get the message out for them.

Careful.

More clean electricity than we ever dreamed of sounds wonderful but is not a reality yet. Until that time, energy efficiency is essential and should not be considered "the standard environmentalist drone to consume less." We need regulation, like building and CAFE standards and a price on greenhouse gas emissions, to require and incentivize energy efficiency. This is not a sacrifice or eco-asceticism because efficiency lowers our energy costs and creates more pleasant buildings and more livable cities.

Requiring and rewarding efficiency is a first step towards climate change mitigation. While this step is taken, we need public investment in innovative technologies which can make efficiency less essential in the future because electricity is cheap and clean.

Posted by: Peter Weisberg at January 31, 2008 6:17 AM

This may indeed become a big issue for presidential politics. John McCain's comments seem to indicate that he would cut government spending across the board without any thought in infrastructure investment to solve environmental problems.

Even though we are facing unprecedented challenges to our oil-based transportation system, McCain has repeatedly expressed an interest in eliminating long distance rail service provided by Amtrak.

Posted by: Mike at January 31, 2008 3:45 PM

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