Communities and Infrastructure in a 100% Renewable World | Webinar

Join the Post Carbon Institute for a rich, thought-provoking conversation about communities in the renewable-energy future with three long-time national leaders in urban sustainability: Alicia Daniels Uhlig (International Living Future Institute),Hillary Brown, FAIA (City College of New York Spitzer School of Architecture; author, Next Generation Infrastructure), and Warren Karlenzig (Common Current; author, How Green Is Your City?). Hosted by Post Carbon Institute’s Daniel Lerch (author, Post Carbon Cities), in this webinar we’ll explore the findings of the new Island Press book Our Renewable Future: Laying the Path for One Hundred Percent Clean Energy—and what the implications are for community planning and design in the 21st century.

Transportation accounts for over 40% of U.S. energy end use, and over 95% of that transportation runs on oil. Lighting, heating and cooling buildings also consumes an enormous amount of energy, much (but not all) of it powered by electricity. But we can’t simply replace all our cars with electric models, convert all our furnaces and air conditioners to electric heat pumps, and power it all with massive amounts of new renewable energy. Instead, the renewable future will require deep rethinking of how we design our communities and build the infrastructure that serves them.

The transition to 100% renewable energy raises profound questions for the future of our communities and infrastructure. For instance:

Can we produce enough renewable energy to power all the cars and trucks we have today? If not, how should our transportation system change? And what does that mean for land use patterns?

What infrastructure—from highways to power lines—do we need for a 100% renewable future? What infrastructure can be retrofitted, and what needs to be built new?

We know how to build net-positive-energy buildings; but what will it take make the entire building stock net-positive? Is it possible to construct building using only renewable energy?

Are the architecture, construction, engineering, and planning industries getting ready for a 100% renewable future? Is local government?

Click here to register for this exciting event.