On the Number of Creatures on the Planet:

There are 195 tons of carbon are on the planet in the form of animals that wear their skeletons on the inside of their bodies. mammals, humans, fish, reptiles, etc.

· 40 million tons are attributable to humans

· 100 million tons are attributable to domesticated and bred animals

· 50 million tons are attributable to water dwelling animals

· Only 5 million tons are now attributable to wild animals on land

Non-domesticated animals are disappearing rapidly.

On Over Population:

Human population is currently 6.25-6.5 billion people on the planet. The generally agreed upon peak for human population is 9 billion. The rapid increase in both human population and industrial age technology strains earth’s resources and is likely to be catastrophic without changes.

There are some that would say that the population is only a problem in as far as it correlates to the consumption of natural resources. The argument against this thinking is that all human’s want to live better, and until the satiety level of all society is met there will be an ever increasing depletion of resources per capita. Since the generally agreed upon level of satiety in terms of dollars is roughly $75k per household and the median income for American households currently is only $50k, the reality of reaching a satiety level throughout the entire world, where many countries are far below America’s current standards is almost entirely impossible, therefore resource consumption will continue to rise exponentially as more people populate the planet, never reaching the leveling off period.

The only feasible way we may be able to get to the desired satiety level would be for catastrophic die-off. Disease, famine, natural disaster, WAR. War has often been waged because of resources and that is what we are going to be looking at in the future.

On Government Systems Tackling Climate Change:

Different economic & social systems are tackling climate change differently.

US: Venture Capital and Angel Investors are driving innovation and new technology adoption. The US’s emphasis on individual rights brought on in the industrial era have made unilateral action by the government almost impossible.

• Incidentally Maria Cantwell has a bill with one supporter, Patricia Snow, that would actually promote a carbon tax system in the US. An Upstream CAP with 100% of credits auctioned and no fossil fuels able to be imported without a permit received at auction. The taxes are then collected and redistributed on a prorate basis to the public. Likelihood is that it will never pass.

China: The Chinese Government is able to act unilaterally and does not get push back from its people, so it can decide what is best for its citizens and act accordingly. There society values the good of the mother country and the people as a whole over individual rights, which makes it easier for their government to set goals and achieve them without popular opinion and individual rights getting in the way.

Unfortunately, environmental externalities are getting to be so prevalent and detrimental that it appears that capitalism and individual freedoms in regard to the environment may not get us where we need to go.

On What is Currently Happening and What is Really Important

• Almost 100% of Scientific Organizations across the world believe that Climate Change is really happening.
• There are currently no Republican Candidates seeking election that believe Climate Change is happening.
• Denis believes that in the future 90% of our energy will be derived from Solar Technology because it is the cleanest, most abundant, and least harmful source of energy with the most evenly distribution throughout the planet.
• Ultracapacitors, Flywheels, storage technologies are all important research and development areas.
• Nanotechnology is highly affecting all levels of clean tech
• Material Sciences are increasingly important in clean tech
• Technology we once thought was really clean and brilliant is now known to be some of the most detrimental, ie Chlorofluorocarbons, so we have to be diligent and continue to question and think about the things we produce.
• The US used to be Green Technology and particularly solar technology leaders in the world in the 70’s. Reagan took office and ripped off the solar panels that Carter had put on the white house and the entire plan for energy reform in the US was trashed. Subsequently leadership has changed hands from Japan to German and other countries that are now in many ways on par with the US in Green Tech because of our stalled ambitions in the 80’s.
• There is a good chance that we have already passed Peak Oil Production. OPEC works like a cartel and is able to set the production and price of oil as they see fit. Oil is volatile and if the very few oil producing countries get disrupted in any significant way much of the infrastructure of the world is in jeopardy, including the United States. The only real viable solutions for replacement of Fossil Fuel in conventional engines is Algae Based BioFuels which isn’t really viable on a large scale because of the space and time it takes to develop.
• Water & food shortages are going to be large problems in the not too distant future.
• Building Materials and green building is another major area for innovation
• The Bullitt Foundation is going to be building a new headquarters building in Seattle and is aiming for the lowest EUI in the World, 16. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory just opened its new building in Colorado with a very low EUI of ~30. The Average Building EUI is around 93 with Seattle’s average EUI at ~78.
• The Bullitt Foundations Living Building will be carbon neutral, will have solar arrays, rain catchments, geothermal technology, composting toilets, and other existing technology, packaged together in new ways
• Building Occupant re-education is going to be a large piece of the puzzle as well as building flow design to subtly get people to do what you would like them to, like use the stairs instead of the elevator, turn off the lights, etc.
• Financing for Green Buildings can be exceedingly difficult as our financial system is not currently set up to value future cash flows that are significantly far removed from present day. Discounted cash-flows to present day value on payments 50 years from now are virtually worthless and there is no mechanism for including any calculations regarding the benefits of green buildings. Our current accounting practices “militate” the vast bulk of our financial system against financing green construction.