By Allen Hibner: I just discovered this handbook/field manual after reading an August 6th, 2020 article about it in Vox (read full article here). Everything discussed in this field manual (download it here) and in the Vox article really hit home for me, "This is the confirmation and validation of, along with the technical basis for, everything that I am doing to decarbonize and electrify my family's entire life: in our home, with our cars (see my 2020 Chevy Bolt EV blog article here) and in the Penfield community working to implement Community Choice Aggregation (PenfieldCCA)."
This field manual is an excellent road map and foundation for my current and upcoming series of articles in this blog; "Our-Big-Beautiful-Green-ALL-ELECTRIC-Life." I recommend that you follow Saul Griffith, author of this field manual by visiting his website - Rewiring America - here.
Synopsis of this handbook as published on the Rewiring America website - by Saul Griffith - July 29th, 2020:
"In this book we approach the climate emergency from a new angle. We look for solutions, not barriers. We outline pathways to success.
We don't begin with the question of what is politically possible, but ask what is technically necessary to make a climate solution that is also the best economic pathway for the country. We need mobilization of technology, industry, labor, regulatory reform, and critically, finance.
This pathway is technology-agnostic; we have used the test “is it ready and does it work?'' to understand the ideal way forward. This pathway is best summarized as electrify everything.
We lean on data and an unprecedented analysis of the U.S. energy economy that allows us to look at the consequences of electrifying everything. Will our lives change? The surprising answer is not a lot. Those things that will change, though, are for the better: cleaner air, cleaner water, better health, cheaper energy, and a more robust grid. We can have pretty much all of the complexity and variety of the American dream, with the same-sized homes and vehicles – and we'll need less than half the energy we currently use. This is a success story that casts aside trying to “efficiency” or “deprive” our way to zero emissions.
How do we ensure the lowest cost of energy while electrifying everything? First, we have to rewrite the federal, state, and local rules and regulations that were created for the fossil-fueled world and are preventing the U.S. from having the cheapest electricity ever. Then, we have to finance our transition to a zero-carbon energy system with a low-interest ``climate loan.'' We have precedents and mechanisms for doing this; the U.S. pioneered public-private financing in the past that can help us get the job done today.
The consequence of getting the technology, financing, and regulations right is that we can save every family in the U.S. thousands of dollars a year.
We will need to triple the amount of electricity delivered in the U.S., and we'll discover that the moonshot engineering project we need is a new grid with new operating rules, more like the Internet. We must have “grid neutrality.”
The industrial mobilization required will mean an effort similar to WWII's Arsenal of Democracy in size, speed, and scope.
For a world looking to bounce back from a pandemic, there is no other project that would create this many jobs. An analysis shows that there are tens of millions of good paying jobs that will be created in every zip code, suburb, and rural town in the country.
It is by no means easy, but it is still possible. But not for long. Billionaires may dream of escaping to Mars, but the rest of us... we have to stay and fight."
Again, I recommend that you (download the full field manual PDF here) Join with us in, "Our-Big-Beautiful-Green-ALL-ELECTRIC-Life..." Thanks for reading this. We hope it inspires you too!