Just after the 2022 midterm elections, Congressman Jake Auchincloss (D, MA-CD4) hosted a climate summit at Needham’s Olin College of Engineering with experts in climate and energy. (See video.)
Opening the summit, Olin College President Gilda Barabino highlighted the current climate emergency and noted that Olin students are taught to serve people, especially disadvantaged people, and strive for elimination of greenhouse gas emissions and advance sustainability.
Rep. Auchincloss said that President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act was “the biggest, boldest climate action, clean energy bill in history,” providing $1 trillion to achieve clean air, clean water, and clean energy and cutting greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 — within the reach of the (2015) Paris Accords. He noted that the U.S. produces 15% of global emissions and must work with China and India for global solutions.
Rep. Auchincloss’ predecessor, Joseph P. Kennedy III, now Managing Director of the Massachusetts-based Citizens Energy, said C E uses profits from its utilities and pharmaceutical businesses to fund development of solar, wind, and other non-carbon power sources. “Massive electricity generation {is the only way} to avoid planetary disaster. We need three to five times more electricity than we currently generate,” he said. C E works with utility companies and low-income communities to invest in developing low-cost solar energy for the community in exchange for laying transmission lines to arrive at energy-efficient, mutually beneficial solutions for utility companies and communities.
The first panel, highlighting Massachusetts’ leadership in the science of carbon-free energy delivery, was moderated by State Rep. Jeff Roy, who led the 2021 legislative initiative establishing the state’s carbon-free energy goals for 2050. He said, “Massachusetts has the most robust wind in the contiguous United States and can be a leader in offshore wind.”
- Daniel Sieger, Project Development Director for RWE (an offshore wind development company) and former Massachusetts Undersecretary of Environmental Affairs, said that RWE is working with the University of Maine to build large floating turbines to maximize the benefits of offshore wind, exceeding those already in use in Europe.
- Ben Downing, a former state senator, currently Vice President of Public Affairs at MIT’s The Engine, said that The Engine is investing in “Tough Tech,” like fusion, to eliminate carbon emissions and provide greater energy efficiency.
- Caroline Hon, who heads the NationalGrid’s Gas Network Strategy and Planning, noted that “utilities have a role to play” with carbon-free technologies like offshore wind, geothermal heating wells, and electricity-producing utility poles as charging stations. She highlighted a geothermal heating well project that will provide electricity to sixty homes for which National Grid will pay for retrofitting homes and appliances. She contended that utility companies need to keep gas lines in place as a “back up” in case of extremely cold weather or high demand.
A Newton resident asked Hon why National Grid was digging up and installing new gas lines all over the city instead of installing geothermal heating wells, to which Hon replied that it would be too expensive to dig wells since the gas lines are necessary as a backup energy source. Another audience member, Lisa Cunningham, co-founder of ZeroCarbonMA, challenged Hon’s assertion, saying “Heat pumps can work effectively and don’t need backups.”
The second panel, focusing on emerging carbon-free energy technologies, included:
- Jennifer Daloisio, CEO of Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, offering a range of heat pump and solar heating options;
- Kelly Friend, Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Nexamp, a national solar energy company working on a non-wire approach to energy delivery;
- Dennis Whyte, Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center working to expand the use of fusion as an energy source; and
- Castro Laicer, Vice President of Battery Technologies for Giner Labs, located in Auburndale (developing long-lasting batteries that use abundant materials rather than cobalt).
The third panel, led by Rep. Auchincloss, focused on international cooperation and included:
- Cait Brumme, CEO of Mass Challenge a global innovation network helping start-ups to connect with investors;
- Carlos Araque, co-founder and CEO of Quaise Energy, which aims to use microwaves to meltrock to dig geothermal heat wells;
- Elissa Levin, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, an investment company specializing in non-carbon energy, largely wind-based, including Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind project (online next year).
Rep. Auchincloss noted that the global challenge is to bring countries like China and India, which rely on coal, to cooperate in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Cait Brumme said that sustainability is at the core of European energy programs. Carlos explained that in South America and Asia, people use what they have, so programs there and in Africa must rely on delivering critical technology cheaper and faster.
