.eco

I had the privilege to be invited to Al Gore’s conference on climate change. This conference was restricted to about 50 invited guests, but the list was astounding. John Doerr from Kleiner Perkins, Mitch Kapor (the inventor of Lotus 123), Evan Williams from Twitter, Wes Boyd from MoveOn.org, Maggie Fox from the Alliance for Climate Protection, Larry Schweiger from the NWF, and many more.

The summit was a great opportunity to get a snapshot on the cutting edge of the fight against climate change, and a unique venue to meet with some of the leaders of IT and energy technology.

Some of the key take-aways:

First of all, the problem is intensifying. We are in a structural feedback loop where higher temperatures are depleting the ice caps and releasing methane from the oceans, which in turn forces temperatures higher. We are clearly beyond the upper bounds of the IPCC. China and India’s growth curves are such that in 10 years, they, and not the US, will be the largest C02 contributors.

Second, there is a lot to be gained from intelligent metering, and smarter grids. As a speaker from SoCal Edison remarked, current energy consumers have no idea how they use electrons. To make an analogy, it would be as if a consumer went to the supermarket every day for a month, bought products with no price tags on them, and only got billed at the end of the month. Smarter metering is the key to better energy usage and efficiency – and this is a huge area we can improve on.

Third, the problem is legislation. We need to identify and implement key legislation that forces a more carbon neutral economy. This can be done without sacrificing growth, contrary to what many are saying. Unfortunately, we need to do a lot, and we need to do it quickly. For example, right now, most US utilities are just in the business of selling electrons. There is really no incentive at all for energy efficiency or conservation. Our grid is obsolete, and needs serious rework. We need to pass the cap and trade bill. And we need Copenhagen to succeed.

In conclusion, the problem is quite severe and demands serious near term efforts. I’m thrilled to be working with such distinguished voices in our efforts to make .ECO a reality.

Fred Krueger
Dot Eco, LLC