1. Wake up to the power of solar
Ron Swenson, SolarQuest®
MBITA
Monterey, California
May 4, 2007

2. The Elevator Speech
Solar (renewable) energy is the only way to stop global warming and mitigate oil depletion. We are out of time. We cannot be complacent.
SolarQuest continues with its solar energy / energy conservation program in the Galapagos Islands under contract with the UNDP and Ecuador’s Ministry of Energy under sponsorship of UNF and the e8. We are developing plans for a Renewable Energy Applications Laboratory.
To build support for solar ramp-up, SolarQuest is organizing a Renewable Nations Network, with University capacity partners in the USA and educational institutions in-country.

3. LESSONS LEARNED:
Rapid Response to Crisis
International Collaboration
Public / Private Partnership
Carbon Finance
Structural Adjustments
Removal of Barriers
Identification of Best Practices
Response Time / Lag
Human Capacity Building
Global Modeling
Development Impacts

4. $33 M Capital Cost - $47 M Subsidy - $5 M Soft Costs - (Total $85 M)

5. Human Capacity Building for Sustainable Energy Development

6. Renewable energy programs and monitoring

7. The market is enormous

8. We are also doing things locally
Real Estate Strategies & Solutions, Project Developer
Barry Swenson Builder, General Contractor
ElectroRoof, Project Integrator
Owens Electric and Solar, System Installer
Central Coating Company, Roofer
Solar Technologies, Panel supplier
Plantronics, Santa Cruz

9. My job is to ….
Dispel the myths
Bountiful oil
The hydrogen economy
Oil substitutes (tar sands, shale, coal-to-liquids)
The biofuel bonanza…
Demonstrate the potential of solar energy…
And challenge each of you to take action – to mitigate global warming and oil depletion.
There are incredible advantages to being ahead of the game!

10. Wishful Thinking: Energy Futures
Source: Bill Reinert, ASPO Boston, 2006 October
Used with permission by Peter Wells
Diversity of energy resources is increasing in line with growing energy demands

11. It looks more like this.
Source: Colin J. Campbell,

12. … or worse….

13. For example: Mexican oil is fading…
Cantarell, one of the world’s Big 4 Fields, is dropping fast.
Cantarell offshore facility

14. Biofuels will hardly make a dent.

15. Projected Impacts of Climate Change

16. More likely, the All-New DonCar!

17. Global Solar Energy Balance
Solar Energy Input (TeraWatts)
178,000
Reflected to Space Immediately
53,000
Absorbed and Then Reflected as Heat
82,000
Used to Evaporate Water (Weather)
40,000
Captured by Plant Photosynthesis
100
Total Energy Used by Human Society 13
Total Energy Used by US Society
2.5
Total Human Food Energy
0.6
99.93% of our energy is Solar and 0.01% is created by humanity.

18. 120,000 TW of solar energy received by the Earth
Source: Chu, Steve, Solutions to the energy problem, Asia Pacific Partnership Conference, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley,

19. Total Area Required for a PV Power Plant to Produce the Total US Electrical Demand
Source: J. A. Turner, “A Realizable Renewable Energy Future”, Science, 285, p 5428 (1999). “We will first address the question ‘Can we really supply all our energy needs from renewable energy?’ The power of renewable energy can easily be shown using the United States as an example. The US is the world largest energy consumer, total US annual electrical demand for 1997 was about 3.2 x 1012 kWh (representing 25% of the World’s consumption). If we assume flat fixed-plate collectors covering only half of the available land area with a system efficiency of 10% (current commercial technology), a PV array 104 miles (166 km) on a side (~10,900 sq. miles, km2), placed in southwest Nevada, would over one year supply all this energy. This area represent less than 0.4% of the available land area of the United States. A system efficiency of 15%, which should be available in the next 3-5 years, would drop the area to 7200 sq. miles. If we add wind to the energy mix, this area for PV grows smaller, if we add geothermal, smaller still, if we add hydro smaller still, …the point is clear, we can gather more than enough renewable energy to power our society and yet have an abundance of renewable resources available for future growth. Also one should note that wind alone or solar thermal alone could also provide all our electrical energy needs. The area of the Nevada test site is approximately 5000 sq mi.” [J A Turner, Solar World Congress, Orlando, FL, 2005 August]

20. Personal Rapid Transit (Podcars)

21. Podcars can be powered 100% by solar

22. Compare Solar to Gasoline at $2.50/gallon25
mpg, average fleet mileage
27,000
passengers per day to match
2.0
people/vehicle
13,500
vehicles/day
x $2.50
/gallon fuel price
= $33,750
Cost to travel fleet mileage daily
$ 12,318,750
Annual cost to travel fleet mileage
$ 45,000,000
Cost of solar to cover fleet mileage
= 3.7
years, Payback for solar system to offset gasoline

23. Non-Oil, Power Exporting …
not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.[B]oat builders would suffer and towline, whip, and harness makers would be left destitute. Martin van Buren, Governor of New York, April
If canal boats are supplanted by railroads, serious unemployment will result …
If canal boats are supplanted by railroads, serious unemployment will result …
not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.[B]oat builders would suffer and towline, whip, and harness makers would be left destitute. Martin van Buren, Governor of New York, April
...not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.
Van Buren 1832
8th President
...not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.
Van Buren 1832
8th President
Non-Oil, Power Exporting …
Countries…(Sweden, Iceland..)
Cities… (Santa Cruz?)
Colleges… (UCSC?)
Companies… (ElectroRoof, 3 BOE/day)
Citizens… (You and I?)
To learn how, let’s go back to the future…

24. Thomas Edison
“I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait 'til oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”
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25. Renewable Nations
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