The California Institute of Technology has identified the control limit and target date for world emissions. They note that we used 13 Trillion watts of electricity in 2000 and that usage will double to 26 Trillion watts by 2050! We will be doubling our use of our dumb grid but we can NOT afford to allow the doubling of the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. We badly need a Smart Grid! We can help by turning our Dumb commute into a Smart commute. Get smart by studying the miles per charge, speed, comfort, and utilitarian design of a modern Electric Moped! See the link below. Grid energy today is one sixth what gasoline would cost. That is Smart!
The problem is how to avoid the doubling of CO2 while allowing India, China and others to develop while during the same time interval, we must globally reduce the worlds CO2 emissions by 80 %, before 2050! Our record is not good. We managed to triple emissions between 2000 and 2006. Friedman states that we would have to build 13000 new nuclear plants, about one daily, before 2050, just to maintain our current rate of economic growth. Nuclear is not the answer.
The current Dumb energy grid in the US is a collection of monopolies, locally sized, and regulated state by state. There is little integration regionally, pricing systems are prehistoric, and there is NO communication between an individual, his home, or his transportation with that grid. That is just the way our currently Dumb grid happened to evolve. In similar fashion, you evolved in your transportation needs. As you grew up, you were conditioned to think that the noise, smoke, acceleration and speed of a car was fun, slick and necessary. Our own ‘dumbness' supports the Dumb grid system. Think again! Watch the Chevy Volt Unveiling video listed in the related links below!
Al Gore has pointed out that the current low cost or our dumb grid energy does not reflect the true global cost. Our electrons have come from coal, gas, and oil generators whose pollutants have caused asthma, acid rain, smog, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, petro-dictatorships who sponsor terrorism, and global warming.
We need and want clean energy, cheap and reliable, from NON- CO2 sources!! 40% of US emissions come from the production of electricity used in buildings. 30% of US emissions are from transportation. Electrification via cleanly produced electrons for transportation and buildings would be a 70% step in the right direction.
You can take your share of that 70% responsibility by learning about SMART Electric Moped Mopooling. The reduction of our carbon footprint requires changing our focus from pollution and consumption to conservation and energy efficiency. We need a SMART energy grid. Smart national coordination of load demands, smart black boxes in our buildings, and smartly designed transportation systems and vehicles. Watch the video about the ” Production Chevy Volt in Motion “!
