Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s Talk at Distinctive Voices at the Beckman

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz’s Talk at Distinctive Voices at the Beckman

”Accelerating the Clean Energy Transformation”

Prof. Ernest Moniz was President Obama’s Secretary of Energy from 2013 to Jan. 2017.  He worked with Secretary of State Kerry to negotiate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty with Iran.  He founded the MIT Energy Initiative, and the Energy Future Initiative.

To summarize his talk, he believes that we are only going to solve the global warming problem by decarbonizing.  That is only going to be accomplished by innovative research.  Fortunately, the Congress has even passed increased budgets for the Energy Department the last two years, despite the cuts proposed by the administration.

The IPCC report on the difference between the 2.0 degree C goal of the Paris Agreement and the preferred goal of the 1.5 degree C rise since pre-industrial times, showed that it was essential to accelerate our climate action.  He cited The NY Times editorial that we must take a firm grip on emissions and wrench them down.

He described the DOE as Weapons and Windmills, Quarks and Quagmires.  The quagmire was the mess of dealing with the weapons.  There are two national labs that deal with nuclear weapons and climate change.  

We signed an early treaty to deal with climate goals.  We now deal with a morass of science denial.  We need a clean energy transformation.

Business as usual will lead to a 4 degree C total temperature rise by 2100.  Even the commitments at Paris are only going to get us to 3 degrees C.  We need better commitments to stop at 2 degrees C.  We need a 25%-30% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030.  To halt at 1.5 degrees C, we need a 50% reduction by 2030, and a 100% reduction by 2050.

He thinks even stopping at 2 degrees C will be tough.

He pointed out that Hurricane Michael, at almost category 5, and the 4th worst storm to hit the US, was increased by water which is 1/2 degree C warmer by global warming, which is a 10-15% amplifier.  

Between 2005 and 2016, the US cut emissions 14%, which cut our emissions from 6 billion tons of CO2 it 5 billion tons a year.  We dropped 25% relative to GDP which increased during this period.

By improving consumer device efficiencies we saved 3 billion tons of CO2, and saved consumers $6 trillion.

The cost of solar dropped 70%, the cost of wind dropped 60%, and the cost of large battery power dropped by 60%.

The natural gas fracking revolution has allowed us to make deep cuts in coal.  We will still need gas as part of our energy mix.

Nuclear technology will also play a role.

He backed all types of energy research.  Small modular reactors are being pursued by 50 companies.  

Locally, we have TAE, which used to be Tri-Alpha-Energy.

There is Commonwealth Solutions from MIT.

The Paris Agreement had a mission in innovation, which was to double R&D in clean energy in 5 years, and 20 countries had signed onto that at the start.  Innovation is at the heart of the climate solution.  Congress increased the clean energy budgets for two years.  Materials studies are moving forward.

Industry needs high heat, and it can use natural gas plus steam to produce  hydrogen plus CO2, which can be captured.

Battery vehicle cost will reach a tipping point in a decade for 300 mile vehicles.

We can fix CO2 in trees that grow with lots of roots.

There is a Schultz-Baker plan for a carbon tax at $40 to $50 a ton, which for 5 billion tons a year gives a lot of money to use ($250 billion).  You divide that up and send it back as a progressive tax.

Bill Gates has a breakthrough energy fund.

Electricity is the best bet for progress, yet it is only 30% of our emissions in the US.  Transportation is larger.  There is also industry generation.  Heating buildings is harder to decarbonize.  More energy will be needed for cooling as in the tropics.

Hydroflourocarbons in air conditioning can cause 1/2 degrees C rise by 2100.  

Making efficient new buildings is easier, but old ones will be around for a long time.

We have to look at advanced batteries, a hydrogen economy, and biomass.

But right now we are eliminating regulations, and clean energy subsidies.

We need to label products with carbon pricing included.

The steps we need are:

  1. Mitigation and adaptation;
  2. Natural gas will be a long time contribution;
  3. Innovation; and a
  4. Carbon industry tax and equal dividends.

We need to act on CO2 now because it has a 100 year residence time.

The carbon change will happen quickly – once industry realizes that it is going to happen, they will rush to negotiate and capture the best deal.

His talk was the public presentation associated with an energy solution conference at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering.

(There are undoubtedly errors in my taking notes and in transcribing them.)

About Dennis SILVERMAN

I am a retired Professor of Physics and Astronomy at U C Irvine. For two decades I have been active in learning about energy and the environment, and in reporting on those topics for a decade. For the last four years I have added science policy. Lately, I have been reporting on the Covid-19 pandemic of our times.
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