The Answer is Not Blowing in the Wind

The interview went well this morning. But preparing for it and spending two hours taking notes furiously kind of wore me out. I’m still not sure what angle to take in the article, which will determine whom I approach to try to get it published. I think it’s going to have to be how the regulatory system--always in thrall to the interests of the legacy players--has missed a trick when it comes to harnessing technology to reduce emissions. The professor invited me to a very interesting conference next month where the two keynote speakers will be American women at the forefront of the energy revolution. I’m pretty excited about this. Maybe a measure of how boring my life is?

The most interesting thing about the discussion is the role of wind power generation in N.I. Let’s say 35% of our power comes from renewables, and 85% of that is from wind. Facing a requirement to have 40% of our power from renewables by 2020, regulators took the easiest path, focussing on the electricity sector rather than the other two targets--heating and transportation.

The good news is N.I. has excelled in developing technology to make the grid amenable to accepting and deploying wind energy. Apparently we are global innovators in this regard. The professor implied, however, that we’ve put our eggs in one basket. The next frontier is using the “Internet of Energy” to manage demand and match supply to demand, requiring much lower levels of generation.
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