Forward Thinker Jesse Jenkins on turning back the clock on climate change
Forward Thinker Jesse Jenkins on turning back the clock on climate change
Jesse Jenkins, an assistant professor at Princeton University with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment, is a forward-thinking macro-scale energy systems engineer with a focus on the rapidly evolving electricity sector. In this first video short in the “Forward Thinkers” series, Jenkins discusses the research foundations that could make possible a transition to a zero-carbon environmental policy, as well as the implications of economy-wide decarbonization efforts.
Content
0 -> [FOOTSTEPS]
1.464 -> [PIANO MUSIC]
7.808 -> JESSE JENKINS: OK.
8.675 -> We know how to make
clean energy cheap.
10.3 -> We did it with wind power.
11.395 -> We did it with solar power.
12.52 -> We did it with the batteries
in our electric vehicles.
14.77 -> And now we have a decade to do
the same thing for bioenergy,
17.35 -> for hydrogen, for
carbon capture,
19.09 -> and for other
advanced technologies.
20.84 -> We need to complete the job.
22.78 -> I'm Jesse Jenkins.
23.74 -> I'm an assistant professor,
and I study macro-scale energy
26.71 -> systems engineering.
28.12 -> Most of my research focuses
on the electricity sector
31.19 -> and electric power systems,
which, in some ways,
33.19 -> are the largest machines that
humans have ever created.
36.28 -> So I study how policy changes,
technology changes, planning
39.82 -> decisions might evolve and
change how that system operates
42.97 -> and to ideally deliver
a more sustainable,
45.73 -> cleaner energy
supply, particularly
48.34 -> with a focus on electricity.
49.6 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
52.94 -> Climate change has
been accelerating.
55.37 -> We're already closing
in on one degree
57.8 -> Celsius of global warming
average across the country.
61.477 -> One degree might not
sound like a lot,
63.06 -> but we're already seeing
devastating wildfires
65.78 -> and accelerating coastal
flooding and hurricanes.
68.64 -> The last year we saw
horrendous wildfires
71.63 -> across much of the
Western United States.
73.76 -> Scandinavia was on fire,
the Arctic in Russia.
76.43 -> I mean these changes are partly
human activity from forestry,
80 -> but also accelerated by
dry humid temperatures
83.24 -> that are unprecedented.
85.59 -> We've had something like
seven of the 10 hottest years
88.13 -> ever in the last decade.
89.75 -> And that's fueling
droughts and water stress
93.8 -> that is impacting where we're
going to get our water from,
96.5 -> for agriculture and for cities.
98.9 -> And it's leading to horrible
air quality, apocalyptic air
101.93 -> quality on a regular basis.
105.2 -> I grew up in Oregon
and the American West.
107.36 -> My family lives there
today and in California.
109.79 -> And, you know,
fire season wasn't
111.38 -> a thing when I was a kid.
112.61 -> It's something that my
parents and my friends
115.25 -> have to live with
on a regular basis.
117.05 -> My dad spent-- spent
two weeks huddled
121.4 -> inside his house, unable
to go outside this year,
124.61 -> with HVAC filters taped
over the bathroom fan trying
131.912 -> to keep the smoke
out of his house,
133.37 -> so that he could breathe.
135.47 -> That's-- that's climate change.
138.86 -> And and it's going to get worse,
unless we do something now.
142.902 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
146.68 -> I'm one of the co-PIs of
the Net-Zero America study,
149.21 -> which was just released
in December, which is--
152.29 -> with unprecedented granularity,
charts five different paths
155.2 -> to reach net-zero greenhouse gas
emissions across the entire US
158.32 -> economy, by 2050.
159.64 -> The Net-Zero America
study finds that we
161.62 -> can affordably transition
to net-zero greenhouse gas
164.95 -> emissions, spending
the same amount,
166.6 -> as a share of our GDP,
as we have in the past,
169 -> just spending it on the
right kinds of decisions.
172.43 -> And so that's, on the
one hand, very good news.
174.582 -> The other thing we
find is that it really
176.29 -> is a dramatic transformation
of how we make and use energy
179.11 -> across the entire country.
181.03 -> And that has big impacts
and also big benefits.
183.41 -> We will save on the order
of 200,000 to 300,000 lives
186.76 -> that would otherwise be lost to
air pollution from fossil fuel
189.43 -> use over the next 30 years.
191.38 -> And it will create
a half a million
193.09 -> to one million jobs
in the energy supply
195.58 -> sectors by 2030 alone, and
several million by 2050.
199.18 -> There are really
whole new industries
201.1 -> that need to emerge
over the next 30
202.96 -> years that are going
to be integral parts
204.82 -> of our future energy system.
206.56 -> We need a new hydrogen
economy that's
208.51 -> going to create hydrogen
from a variety of sources.
211.058 -> We're going to use hydrogen
both as a direct fuel
213.1 -> to displace natural
gas, and heating,
214.87 -> and industrial processes,
and as an intermediary fuel
219.1 -> to carry energy across
the country in pipelines
221.23 -> and convert it later to
jet fuel or diesel fuel
223.9 -> that we can substitute
for fossil fuels.
226.72 ->
230.24 -> My vision for a
net-zero economy is
232.61 -> one in which more people
are employed in the energy
235.58 -> sectors than today, across
all parts of the country,
239 -> building wind and
solar facilities,
241.13 -> harvesting and growing
bioenergy crops,
244.13 -> converting those crops into
low-carbon fuels, or hydrogen,
248.78 -> capturing and storing
and transporting
251.21 -> CO2 across the country, making
electric vehicles and heat
254.48 -> pumps in US
manufacturing facilities.
257.053 -> All parts of the
country are going
258.47 -> to participate in
different ways.
260.12 -> And it's going to
impact communities
262.46 -> all over the country.
263.97 -> And this vision
is very possible.
265.49 -> We have the tools today
to start along this path
268.61 -> and to make
substantial investments
270.95 -> and progress towards net-zero.
273.02 -> And we have the time, that
if we use it proactively,
275.22 -> we can spend the next decade
making the rest of the tools we
278.09 -> need cheap, and scalable.
279.38 -> and affordable.
280.25 -> And we need to get this
challenge under control,
282.65 -> or those costs and
impacts are just
284.57 -> going to continue to mount
over my lifetime, and my son's
287.54 -> lifetime.
288.14 -> It's time to make a difference
and work on these problems.
291.12 -> Because if we don't get a
handle on the climate challenge
295.13 -> now, if we don't make
substantial progress
297.62 -> in the next five, 10 years,
then the window of opportunity
301.58 -> to really avoid the worst
effects of climate change
304.31 -> is starting to close.
305.6 -> I'm Jesse Jenkins and
I'm a forward thinker.
307.61 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
309.76 ->
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZZik8bHtBw