Pivoting toward Energy Transition 2.0
In places with highly developed electrical infrastructure (grids) the integration of renewable means of making electricity has been surprisingly fraught. Even supporters of renewable power struggle as variably made electricity and distributed generation confound the logics of contemporary grids. Infrastructure in this transition is materially incalcitrant, while its resistance to change is often read as political or ideological. In her talk, Gretchen Bakke detailed the infrastructural, cultural and business structures and cultures that make a renewables revolution difficult to accomplish. She pointed to likely scenarios for strong, resilient, and smart electrified futures and welcomed the elephant into the room, as energy transition 2.0 – the total elimination of fossil fuels from energy systems – overwhelms and complicates the many successes of transition 1.0 (all those renewables) that has already come so far. This presentation draws on Gretchen’s 2016 book The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between America and Our Energy Future – an entertaining yet careful study of the historical, infrastructural, business, and legislative contexts of the energy transition in the US. She moved beyond this, however, to also consider the implications of a phase-out of fossil fuels for contemporary electricity systems.