OUR RENEWABLE ENERGY FUTURE

Our Renewable Energy Future delves into the clean energy technology evolution and where our energy system is going. While the book's foundation is technology innovation, it brings a unique perspective that technology alone is not what has brought about the explosive growth of renewable energy and offers fresh insights into how technology, economics, social dynamics, policy, and geopolitics are forces affecting our energy future. This book is a culmination of Dr Arent's lifelong passion for energy, sustainable development, and renewable energy technology. It covers the journey of evolving technology, economics, political economy and geopolitics of clean energy over the last 40 years and provides insights for the coming decades. From a technology perspective, the book traces the arc of recent innovations and synthesizes innovations across multiple interacting perspectives into a description of Our Renewable Energy Future. Contents: Preamble and Thesis Prologue About the Author Acknowledgements List of Figures Abbreviations Introduction Phase I: Promises — The Technologies of Tomorrow (1950s–1980s): Key Themes Technology 'Discovery' and Very Early Niche Markets Factors Phase II: Inching Along — Early Commercialization (1990s–2000): Key Themes Factors Phase III: From Problem Child to Problem Solver — The Era of Exponential Growth (2000–2020): Key Themes Factors Economics Policy Dynamics Phase IV: Dominance — From Petro to Electro (2020+): Key Themes The Convergence of Factors Clean Electricity is the Backbone of Our Clean-Energy Economy Economics/Finance: From Competitive to Mainstream Policy/Regulatory (Local, National, and Global) Knowledge ((Models, Tools & Data for Planning & Operations and Business Models) Social Willingness Institutional Willingness and Political Economy Dynamics Phase V: Beyond 2050 — A Global Net-Zero Energy Economy (2050+): Final Reflections and Our Call to Action Appendices: List of Publications by the Author (as of June 2023) Solar Energy: Can It Be Used Effectively? References Index Readership: Academia: undergraduate and graduate students, research staff. Industry: energy sector, vehicles/transportation, oil and gas. NGOs and governments: policy and program leaders, advocates. Consultancies: practitioners, consultants, advisors. Lay readers interested in our collective energy future. 'An invaluable resource to understand that we have the knowledge, tools, and technologies to transform our energy system to realize our climate change goals while assuring security, growth and jobs. It is a must read for all who are serious about leading transformational change for our energy future.' - Klaus Schwab Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum 'A huge 'thank you' is in order to Doug Arent, who over his career has been a key architect of the analysis, design, and deployment of clean energy technologies. In Our Renewable Energy Future, he makes an exceptionally important case for the overwhelming benefits and the increasing ease of implementing and profiting from a clean energy economy at levels from households to nations to the globe.' - Dan Kammen Professor of Sustainability, University of California, Berkeley, and Former Science Envoy, US State Department 'Doug Arent's story is indeed remarkable: He takes us beyond the despair and gloom of climate change to a world of abundance and possibility. This isn't a fictional story but a way of thinking that combines technology, economics, policy and new ways of creating knowledge itself.' - Richard KauffmanChair, Generate Capital 'Doug Arent has actively sought to understand and help to shape the nation's clean energy transition and has been both an on-field player and occupant of a front-row seat for the transformation of technologies from dreams to reality. Our Renewable Energy Future brings a unique vantage point to explain key elements of that transformation in ways accessible to the interested and reasonably informed layperson, with...