February 9, 2022

In today's newsletter, we're sharing ideas on re-imagining the future for a sustainable economy and world. To borrow from Ankur Shah (in this issue), we're asking: how can we transition from a "death economy" that depletes our planet, to a "life economy" that works within resource bounds and renews? Here are three key areas discussed in this newsletter.

During the roundtable it was said, "We have about 95 months to really make an impact on climate issues to avoid cascading impacts by 2030." By working together, and learning from each other, we can increase the breadth and speed of change.

#3 - A 10-minute video produced by Ankur Shah, called How to Transform Climate Anxiety in Climate Action. He gives myriad examples of how we can transition our actions and professions toward helping the planet.

Let us know at info@leadersinenergy.org.

In A Brief History of a Perfect Future: Inventing the world that we can leave our kids by 2050, Chunka Mui, Paul B. Carroll and Tim Andrews pose the question: What if, instead of trying to predict the future, we could just pick the one we want – and then invent it?  They describe seven stunning technological advances that will occur by 2050 and show how to combine them, starting now, to build a sustainable future. They explore key technological advances in research for computer, communication, information, genomics, energy, water, and transportation. With this, they create “future histories” of how the world could be - and how we can live into it.

Click the button below to hear the authors being interviewed by Dr. Lawrence Jones. Use the Password: s*2%qy2D (make sure to remove any trailing spaces when you copy the password).

The "Re-imagining Global Energy & Climate Leadership Conference" was held in Davos, Switzerland, in January. Leaders in Energy (LE) was among the speakers, along with presenters from government, industry and NGOs, from Europe and North America. Here are some highlights from the conference:

Eco Wave Power (EWP): Yair Rudick, VP of Strategic Projects for EWP, a Swedish company in Israel, spoke on harnessing wave energy. Their Eco Wave Power Gibraltar project is a major step toward commercializing wave technology and is the only grid-connected wave energy array in the world, operating through a Power Purchase Agreement. This video provides further details on the technology and their projects. (The company’s founder, Inna Braverman is from Ukraine and was impacted by the Chernobyl nuclear accident. She has always been intrigued by renewable energy. See her story here.)

Nordic Energy Research, Enabling a Zero-Carbon Future including Green Hydrogen: Helena Saren, Head of Carbon Neutral Finland mission at Business Finland, presented for Nordic Energy Research. Her passion is to enable a zero-carbon future and strengthen Finland’s role in that development on a global level. She is seeking to work with impactful partners in different parts of the world to speed and scale up the new innovations and solutions that are needed.

As part of the 2019 joint Declaration on Carbon Neutrality among Nordic countries, Finland is committed to becoming carbon neutral. This includes utilizing wind energy to produce green hydrogen (many areas of Finland have extremely good wind conditions) plus developing and relocating industry in the vicinity of hydrogen production to encourage economic development.

Janine Finnell and Leaders in Energy (LE) spoke on innovative studies on creating economies that help the Earth flourish rather than destroy it, by envisioning new ways of developing our economy. These include:

Unlocking The Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century: Accelerating Climate Action in Urgent Times by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate examines opportunities in five economic systems: 1) energy, 2) cities, 3) food and land use, 4) water, and 5) industry, including the circular economy. It estimates that at least US$26 trillion in economic benefits could be delivered by 2030 compared with business-as-usual scenarios, along with 65 million low-carbon jobs.

The Future of Nature and Business by the World Economic Forum proposes how to have a thriving economy without destroying nature. The report highlights 15 key transitions in three key areas could create $10 trillion of business opportunities. Akanksha Khatri, a Leaders in Energy 2020 Four Gen Awardee, was recognized for her lead role in the report.

Sustainable Markets Initiative: This Initiative was also cited at the roundtable and was launched in 2021 by the UK's Prince Charles, a champion for the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.  The Initiative's Terra Carta lays out guiding principles on its work to harness the power of Nature combined with the transformative power, innovation and resources of the private sector.

Prince Charles says, "'Looking forward, new employment opportunities, entire new industries and markets rooted in sustainability are within our grasp, with the potential for unprecedented economic opportunity growth."

On January 12th, the White House sent out this press release: FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Races to Deploy Clean Energy that Create Jobs and Lowers Costs including off-shore wind leasing, rooftop solar, and more.

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is launching the Clean Energy Corps, a defacto team comprised of staff from more than a dozen offices across the Department - current staff and new hires and potentially you! People working in energy or with transferable skills to research, develop, demonstrate, and deploy solutions for climate change. (See partial list below). The Clean Energy Corps is ready to recruit an additional 1,000 staff using special hiring authorities included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

To make it simpler to recruit and bring you on board the DOE has just launched an applicant portal to submit your interests and vitals. 

Here is the Secretary’s message about the new effort and the broad-ranging areas in which DOE is hiring: 

Job opening, Licking Creek Bend Farm, end of July into the fall. A rare opportunity to gain knowledge to get a job in food co-ops and the natural food industry.

Plugging In To Federal Clean Energy Innovation Programs by the Clean Energy Business Network (CEBN) on February 14th at 2:30 pm EST. CEBN has partnered with Third Way to feature experts across the Department of Energy who will provide a holistic overview of the U.S. clean energy innovation system. The showcase will highlight existing programs and new programs created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that fund cleantech innovation.

Please let us know your interests by filling out our volunteer form at the link below. We also have positions posted here. We look forward to hearing from you and to meeting you!