Event Name: Beyond Fossil Fuels: The Bumpy Transition to Clean Energy with Dr. Sara Via
Event Time and Place: Tuesday, September 19, 2024 from 7:00 pm to 8:00pm
In her presentation, Dr. Via essentially was focusing on clean renewable energy and how important it is to shift it over to fossil fuels like oil and coal. From mentioning in great detail the advantages of renewable energy such as the much greater efficiency of solar power over coal. She also mentioned how much the earth has benefitted from electric vehicles as well and how we as a society should turn towards them as well. In terms of renewable energy, she stated that between 2009 and 2022, nearly 915 million tons of CO2 were avoided due to solar power and geothermal power. Dr Via also took time to address how change is not easy and how converting to renewable energy takes time but she also backed up her stance by mentioning how it gets easier to switch to renewable as time goes on. With solar power in particular, the prices of the panels getting cheaper has made it much easier to switch than say twenty years ago. Additionally, she also mentioned rules and regulations and how many bills and laws have come to fruition that are now making it easier to convert to renewable energy and even promoting it. Finally, she also mentioned how lives are being potentially saved from our conversion to renewable energy. Not to mention foreign dictators losing their grip on power as the world’s reliance on fossil fuels is decreasing.
Yes, I found Dr. Via’s key points are very convincing. Dr. Via gave a very comprehensive report on the need to switch over to fossil fuels but also taking the time to acknowledge the time it takes to do so but how necessary and beneficial it really is. She mentioned how 915 million tons of CO2 were averted due to solar and geothermal energy alone between 2009 and 2022. She also mentioned how so many lives are being saved as well. In particular for young children who can be affected by natural gas from kitchen appliances. I never had even considered this threat but after thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense that young children in particular could get asthma from natural gas leaks from kitchen appliances. Another thing that was brought up was that an increase in the clean power act under the IRA is predicted to save 200,000 lives over 10 years. I personally am a little skeptical about this number, but then again I don’t have the most background knowledge on this particular topic. Dr. Via also mentioned the increased effectiveness of solar power and how it’s 20% more efficient than what it was twenty years ago. I particularly found this claim to be pretty believable as Dr.Via expressed herself that she had installed solar panels almost 15 years ago and now is just waiting to replace her panels with better ones. Another big topic she covered was politics indirectly, especially in terms of fossil fuels and it benefiting oligarchs. From my previous background knowledge I know that oil is very good political leverage for many and seeing Dr. Via touch base on it for a little bit made her presentation very convincing. As she addressed how essentially all nations can utilize renewable energy and how some nations just need to invest in simple infrastructure like wind turbines to get started. Dr. Via then continued on talking about making the switch to renewable energy and outlined a three step process for all this: 1, Grid Scale Clean Energy Deployment, 2, Grid infrastructure Enhancement and expansion, 3, energy efficiency and demand side flexibility. I feel like her breaking this transition into three steps made it easier to understand her thought process and made her points more convincing. Additionally she mentioned a “S-Curve”, essentially an exponential chart of us making the switch to just about anything but in this case to renewable energy. Addressing that the S-Curve is driven by a cycle which includes more deployment, falling prices, competitive in new markets, and demand increases. Lastly she concluded that progress is inevitably bumpy with things like rising energy costs, unfavorable regulations, as well as politics all playing apart. Though she noted that with lots of federal incentives coming from the IRA and BIL, as well as residential rebates will all help change social norms. So overall I feel Dr.Via’s key points were all really convincing and just her taking the time to mention all the difficulties that come with this change to renewable energy showed that she did not have logical fallacies. It was also really evident that she is really passionate and dedicated to renewable energy which was also really nice.