In Conversation: Communities and Infrastructure in a 100% Renewable World

By Daniel Lerch, originally published by Post Carbon Institute

August 2, 2016

Society
NOTE: Images in this archived article have been removed.

Image Removed

Transportation accounts for over 40% of U.S. energy end use, and over 95% of that transportation runs on oil. Lighting, heating and cooling buildings also consumes an enormous amount of energy, much (but not all) of it powered by electricity. But we can’t simply replace all our cars with electric models, convert all our furnaces and air conditioners to electric heat pumps, and power it all with massive amounts of new renewable energy. Instead, the renewable future will require deep rethinking of how we design our communities and build the infrastructure that serves them.

The transition to 100% renewable energy raises profound questions for the future of our communities and infrastructure, including:

  • Can we produce enough renewable energy to power all the cars and trucks we have today? If not, how should our transportation system change? And what does that mean for land use patterns?
  • What infrastructure—from highways to power lines—do we need for a 100% renewable future? What infrastructure can be retrofitted, and what needs to be built new?
  • We know how to build net-positive-energy buildings; but what will it take make the entire building stock net-positive? Is it possible to construct building using only renewable energy?
  • Are the architecture, construction, engineering, and planning industries getting ready for a 100% renewable future? Is local government?

Live Discussion: Communities and Infrastructure in a 100% Renewable World

On July 27, 2016, Post Carbon Institute Publications Director Daniel Lerch was joined by Alicia Daniels Uhlig (International Living Future Institute) and Post Carbon Fellows Hillary Brown (City College of New York), and Warren Karlenzig (Common Current) for an engaging, expansive conversation about what the future of communities and infrastructure might look like in a 100% renewable energy future. The recording can be viewed below.


Click here to view the chat transcript.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be hosting discussions with experts in various sectors to explore what the post fossil-fuel future. You can sign up for upcoming discussions by visiting OurRenewableFuture.org.

SIGN UP FOR FUTURE DISCUSSIONS

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Photo credit: amenic181/Shutterstock.com.

Daniel Lerch

As Publications Director of Post Carbon Institute, Daniel is the lead editor and manager of the Institute’s major print publications, including: The ENERGY Reader (2012), the four-book Community Resilience Guide series (2012-13), a report series on shale gas production (2011, 2013), and The Post Carbon Reader (2010), a sixteen-author compilation on our interconnected sustainability crises. He is also the author of Post Carbon Cities (2007), the first major local government guidebook on the end of cheap oil.

Daniel has presented to professional, government, and public audiences across the United States, as well as in Canada and Europe. He has been interviewed in numerous radio, video, and print outlets, and has been quoted in major publications including The New York Times and Business Week. He has a Master of Urban Studies from Portland State University in Oregon, and has worked with urban sustainability and planning issues for over fifteen years in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Tags: building resilient communities, Our Renewable Future, renewable energy transition

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