What are the key obstacles to achieving energy independence?
For starters, much of the key technology is new. We already take good advantage of the Southern California sunshine to produce electricity with photovoltaic panels and to run solar thermal heating and cooling systems. And, no doubt, the bulk of our renewable energy will come that way. Still, some other key technologies for power storage and generation are in the early stages, and it’s not clear how far we can affordably go with them in the near future. Even if we don’t make extensive use of some of these technologies, we probably will set up demonstration projects highlighting other forms of renewable energy to teach and inspire our students. We could demonstrate wind technology, for example. Why not put up lots of solar panels to cover all of your electricity needs? For starters, that’s not my call. In the LACCD, each college ultimately has the authority to shape its building program, including its energy plan. And some of the colleges don’t have the wide-open space to set up lots of
