January 5, 2007

In Search of Renewables

It might seem too good to be true: solar power, poised to become part of our energy mix in a big way, thanks solely to market forces. Not only that, but the Solar Revolution bypasses centralized, hierarchical market structures and introduces a new era of decentralized, locally managed power generation. Presto, many of our problems solved. In other circumstances one might suspect that Travis Bradford—a thirty something overachiever with no background in energy, who rented a place in Spain where he churned out this book in a few months—was peddling snake oil. Except that MIT Press picked it up. One must conclude, at a minimum, that Travis has a certain genius in selling himself. And since the MIT science editor and their anonymous reviewers were satisfied it also seems not unreasonable to suppose that what Travis has figured out is, whether right or wrong, worth pondering. I happen to think he's probably right, though I'm still not 100% sold (experience warns me of market failures). Whatever, Travis exemplifies the best among energy techno-optimists. Please also take a moment to visit his site at the Prometheus Institute. Total runtime here of an hour and thirteen minutes. Enjoy!