DeepSummary
The episode features a discussion with Saul Griffith, the founder and chief scientist of Rewiring America, about his ambitious plan to decarbonize most of the economy by electrifying everything from cars and appliances to industrial processes, and deploying large amounts of renewable energy like solar on rooftops. Griffith argues that rather than pursuing efficiency or carbon taxes, the focus should be on widespread electrification as it can drastically reduce emissions while minimizing lifestyle changes.
Griffith outlines the specific machinery and infrastructure that needs to be replaced, such as 250 million vehicles, 70 million gas furnaces, and 100 million rooftop solar installations in the US alone. He emphasizes the need for a wartime-level mobilization and grand bargain with industry, similar to the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II, to ramp up production of critical "munitions" like wind turbines, solar cells, batteries, and heat pumps.
The discussion also covers policy frameworks, financing mechanisms, equity considerations, and the economic benefits of such a transformation, including potential job creation and cost savings for households. Griffith argues that with the right vision, political leadership, and coordinated effort across the economy, America can achieve 50% carbon reductions by 2030 while saving half a trillion dollars annually.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Electrifying vehicles, appliances, and industrial processes while deploying large amounts of renewable energy could decarbonize most of the economy.
- A World War II-style mobilization and policy framework is needed to rapidly ramp up production of "critical munitions" like wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, and heat pumps.
- Transitioning to an electrified economy minimizes required lifestyle changes compared to efficiency approaches.
- Treating residential energy infrastructure as critical offers a big opportunity for emissions reductions.
- Widespread electrification could lead to major household cost savings in addition to environmental benefits.
- Equity and access for lower-income communities needs to be embedded into electrification plans and policies.
- A grassroots political movement advocating for electrification policies is crucial for driving the necessary changes.
- While daunting, electrification offers an achievable and "happy" decarbonization pathway compared to other proposed solutions.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Nominally 60 odd million Americans really care about climate change. We want to sign them up and make a political force that's bigger than the AARP and bigger than the NRA.“ by Saul Griffith
- “The history of environmentalism, which translates a little bit to the history of people who are concerned about climate change, is that, you know, stainless steel water bottles and reusable cups and a whole bunch of behavior changes day to day will help us succeed but that's really not the case on climate change.“ by Saul Griffith
- “We have the opportunity to have a huge impact in that household. When you save them 2000 of that 61,000, if you look at the median, it's more like 40 something thousand dollars for the total household expenditures. So there's a giant carrot here, which is if we do this right, coordinated across the economy, we can save every household a lot.“ by Saul Griffith
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Episode Information
The Energy Gang
Wood Mackenzie
5/23/21
What if someone told you that we have everything we need to decarbonize most of the economy?
We would just need to start electrifying every new car, furnace, water heater, drier, and cookstove, and industrial process starting right now. And yeah, and put solar on every roof that can handle it.
This week: a wartime plan for winning the climate fight with clean electricity. What’ll it take? How possible is it?
Saul Griffith is our guest co-host. He’s the founder and chief scientist of Rewiring America. He’s also the author of the upcoming book “Electrify,” from MIT Press.
If we are on a wartime footing for decarbonizing the economy, Saul could be considered a 5-star general of the “electrify everything” movement.
He founded or co-founded around a dozen companies and organizations. And he has a PhD from MIT in materials science and information theory.
Saul is now trying to marshal the world around his “a defensible and believable” pathway for decarbonizing America with clean electricity.
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