Peter Droege is an expert on the role of renewable energy within the fields of urban design, development and urban infrastructure with a wide variety of experience and responsibility. He has directed and developed Solar City, a research development effort conducted under the auspices of the International Energy Agency as well as carrying out academic roles at major universities in the United States and Japan.
He is presently Senior Advisor, Beijing Municipal Institute for City Planning and Design, Steering Committee member, Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN), Conjoint Professor, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle, Visiting Professor and Director, Centre for Sustainable Urbanism, School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, Beijing University and Chair, World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) Asia Pacific.
The issues that drive his efforts are climate change-- caused in large part by burning fossil fuelâand energy security which is now in question due to Peak Oil. He speaks of the shacklesâ created by our current Industrial Revolution/fossil fuel based urban and socioeconomic infrastructures and the general environmental degradation, including personal health, caused by our current energy systems. Droege discusses how interconnected our life support systems are and how a total systems design approach must be applied as communities take on the transition from reliance on cheap energy from oil, with its multitude of subsidized, hidden costs. One example is the fact that half of all fresh water used in the U.S. today is used to cool oil and coal fired electric power plants. In todayâs world, he claims, many things seem upside down. Itâs more expensive to waste than save, but waste is more profitable. Efficiency must become a priority and profitable for individuals. We canât consume our way out of the problem either with a set of quick fix products or programs. We must reverse many of the âflowsâ which go out of our communities causing damage and decay. Many of the resources needed to make the changes to a renewable culture, can and should be freed up from current inefficiencies. We must change from our current toxic energy source. We canât consume our way out of the problem either with a set of quick fix products or programs. We must reverse many of the âflowsâ which go out of our communities causing damage and decay. Droege explains his vision of a new paradigm which replaces fossil fuel with renewable fuels as the energy foundation of our culture. This vision encompasses and goes beyond simple techno fixes to the heart of economic and cultural transformation. His vision realized will lead to real urban, social, environmental and economic reform, possibly revolution, by this transformation of our fundamental energy system. He gives examples from a variety of countries of a more self sufficient approach based on relocalization, community and individual empowerment, economic and social incentives and a basic reframing of what globalization is and how it may become a positive force.
Interviewed at the Ecocities World Summit in San Francisco in April 2008.
Websites of interest? www.solarcity.org, www.wcre.org (World Council for Renewable Energy).
Link? http://www.renewablecity.org
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Sue Suprianos Steppin Out of Babylon is a radio interview series covering a broad range of important issues in todays world: peace and war, human and civil rights, communication, the media, the environment, food security, racism, globalization, immigration and matters of the spirit. Over 250 shows are available at this site:
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