Peter Fox-Penner is one of our nation's leading experts on climate policy. Peter's beautifully written recent book -- Power After Carbon, Building a Clean Resilient Grid -- discusses the lynchpin of our green-energy future -- the electric grid.
If you are worried about climate change or just interested in the potential green transformation of the country, please listen to this podcast (and buy Peter's terrific book!).
Here are two of the many mental zingers I read in Power After Carbon.
Eight percent of the Sahara Desert could generate enough solar power to power the planet.
Dozens of federal and state regulatory agencies would need to sign off to erect a next-generation grid to transport large-scale green energy from its source to its use.
The first zinger tells us that green energy is there for the taking. The second tells us that getting it here (to us) is the real issue. In the podcast, Peter takes us from there to here in a fascinating hour's conversation.
Peter received a B.S. in engineering from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. During the Clinton Administration, Peter worked closely with Vice President Al Gore's team, serving first as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy and then in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Before and after working for the federal government, Peter was engaged in economic and energy consulting. This included serving for over two decades as Principal and Chair of The Brattle Group, one of our nation's premier consulting firms. Peter left the Brattle Group to found and direct Boston University's Institute for Sustainable Energy and served as a Professor of Practice at BU's Questrom School of Business.
Peter is currently a Partner and Chief Impact Officer of Energy Impact Partners, one of the world's largest dedicated clean energy private equity fund groups. He also serves as Senior Advisor to The Brattle Group, as a member of the Global Leadership Council of the World Resources Institute, and as an Advisory Board member of Mobility Impact Partners.
Peter's is a frequent speaker on energy topics and the author of numerous published articles and books. Peter's research has been widely cited, including in one Supreme Court decision. It spans electric power strategy, regulation, and governance, energy and climate policy, sustainable finance, and the relationships between public and private economic activity.
Economic Matters - The podcast is hosted by Laurence Kotlikoff and moderated by Alex Kotlikoff.
Laurence Kotlikoff is a Boston University Economist, a NY Times Best Selling Author, President of maxifi.com, and Author of Money Magic.
Talking About a Green Grid With Peter Fox-Penner