Answering Calls of Our Time: Energy Technology Transitions and Equity

How can we deploy clean energy technologies on a scale that matters and in a time frame that makes a difference? Market conditions that motivate private equity investments are framed in part by public policy decisions taken in contexts where social equity is a factor. Claims for justice are persistent in sticking points such as the distribution of benefits and burdens along energy supply chains, investing revenue from climate policies, and international development efforts to expand access to electricity worldwide. However, advocates with urgent calls for technology transition often overlook calls for fairness and inclusion as a path for expediting progress.

From this vantage point, advancing equity and opportunity is tightly aligned with opening opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers everywhere – and with sustaining Earth's life support systems. Interdisciplinary thinking that connects engineering, economics, policy, sociology, and philosophy can integrate concepts of fairness and inclusion into strategies for accelerating clean energy technology deployment. This seminar will draw on real-world examples at multiple scales to highlight landscapes of opportunity for more innovations in interdisciplinary problem-solving that can accelerate clean energy revolutions.

Speaker: Holmes Hummel, founder, Clean Energy Works