Culture in Decline, 2012 UW-Milwaukee

1. CultureinDecline?
12-12-12
Technology and the transition
to clean energy

2. Solutions the media and general public tend to ignore:
Trend-Setter
Solar Everything
Solar Engine
Clean, Efficient Sustainability
Chef Solar
Gravity-Powered Lamp
Thermoelectric Material
Solar Energy and Jobs
Geothermal Map
Electric Car Facts
Corn=Energy
Biomass
Clean Incentives
Road Fuel Efficiency
Wave Energy
Innovative Energy Technologies
US Energy Map
Milwaukee Brewing Energy!
Meeting the Demand

3. HowSolar EnergyBenef i
tsusandour
planet; TheEnergyDepartment’sOf f
i
ce
of EnergyEf f
i
ciencyandRenewable
EnergyPros:
Triple Return on Investment: From 1975 to 2008, the Energy
Department spent about $2.3 billion on R&D to advance PV
technology, with net economic benefits totaling more than $15
billion with a conservatively-estimated 17 percent internal rate of
return.
50 Percent Cost Reduction: Since the Energy Department began
investing in solar research development and deployment,
production costs per watt of photovoltaic (PV) modules fell from
more than $100 in the mid-1970s to between $1 and $2 per watt
by 2008 with system reliability increasing from 2 to 25 years during
this same period.
Significant Emission Reduction: About 6.8 million tons of CO2
emissions were avoided, with approximately 1.1 million tons of
those emissions directly attributable to EERE’s investments.
Knowledge and Technology Transfer: Energy Department
support of early solar PV research led to foundational knowledge
that drives today’s private sector innovation, including an
estimated 274 patent families.
Innovation Spillover: Over time, the influence of Energy
Department-funded thin film PV research has spread extensively to

4. Transitiontothe3rd
Industrial Revolution
Mission Statement
Collaborative Effort
http://www.un-energy.org/
@Energy
3rd Industrial Revolution
Declaration

5. What is preventing
the transition?

6. “The Bush administration, supported by traditional
energy concerns and large manufacturing industries,
portrayed the Kyoto Protocol as a flawed regime that
would be costly in terms of jobs and harmful for
economic growth were the United States to join it.”
“Politicians from states with large coal, oil,
manufacturing, and/or agricultural industries,
regardless of party affiliation, have been inclined to
vote against climate legislation because they see it
as a threat to their state’s economy and jobs.”
“A study by a California-based
research firm, Collaborative
Economics, found that there
had been a 36% increase in
jobs in the green economy
between 1995 and 2008, far
higher than the 13% overall
job growth rate in California
during this time (Schmit,
2009).”
Breaking the impasse in the international climate negotiations:
The potential of green technologies
“A study organized by the Pew
Charitable Trusts found that
nationally, jobs in the clean energy
sector grew at a rate of 9.1%
between 1998 and 2007, far higher
than the rate of growth in traditional
jobs (3.7%).”
“In a wake-up call to the United States,
the report also notes that over 85% of the
market for clean energy technologies is
outside of the United States (Pew Center,
2011).”
‘‘Governments have a huge role. With the right
policies and a global framework, we can
generate economic growth and steer it in a
low-carbon direction, not unlike Roosevelt’s
original New Deal. Handled properly, our
efforts to cope with the financial crisis can
reinforce our efforts to combat climate change.
In today’s crisis lies tomorrow’s opportunity —
economic opportunity, measured in jobs and
growth.’’(Ki-Moon,2008).
Our Good Friend Fox News

7. Are there more people making
strides in clean energy and a
sustainable society compared with
the small percentage of elitists,
CEO’s and politicians promoting
profit and power? It is up to you and
I to transform this
CORPORATOCRACY to an actual
DEMOCRACY for the well-being of all
species and our 1 and only finite
planet.
Corporatocracy
Law of Mother Earth
Kyoto Treaty
UNFCC

8. Surviving Progress
The Zeitgeist Movement
Prophets of Doom Episode
(The Futurists)