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In his five-point plan, one vision on energy - 11.15.07

Duke Energy chief says society needs more efficient power sources

By TOM BAYLES

tom.bayles@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA -- The path to reversing greenhouse gas emissions and providing cleaner, cheaper and more efficient energy lies with innovation and finding new technologies that would not only save the planet but help the world's economies as fuel costs fall.

It would take a global sea change to reduce society's dependence on fossil fuels and use less energy through efficiencies, but paradoxically that is exactly what James E. Rogers, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy, one of the largest power companies in America, wants to do.

"No amount of mitigation is going to stop what we are doing today; this problem is enormous," Rogers said. "It's worldwide. The U.S. alone can't do it. The world has to do it."

Rogers was delivering the keynote address at the Sarasota International Design Summit, a three-day meeting of about 250 people that showcased the Ringling College of Art and Design's goal of using design principles to create competitive advantages in the global business marketplace.

Rogers' comments Wednesday come amid recent actions by Gov. Charlie Crist. This month he announced a $182 million deal with private investors for a Tallahassee plant that will turn garbage into electricity.

Crist also plans to ask Congress to end import taxes on ethanol from Brazil after visiting that country recently.

In July, he issued an executive order calling for a reduction by state government of greenhouse gases by 40 percent by 2025. Utilities must cut those emissions to levels they emitted in 2000 by 2017.

He also created a task force to prepare an energy plan for the state to be discussed by the 2008 Legislature.

Rogers said he has met with Crist and the men share many of the same visions, energy-wise anyway.

Rogers' design is five-fold, but begins with two musts: reducing the nation's reliance on fossil fuels and improving the efficiency of the energy types the country uses.

"That fact of the matter is our modern world is really built on electricity, yet 1.6 billion people in the world do not have access to electricity," he said. "One of the challenges is how do we get these people to move into the modern world."

His five-point plan to reduce harmful emissions while producing environmentally friendly power that will become cheaper over the years:

Move away from oil.

Make hybrid vehicles the most common.

Continue to operate and build nuclear power plants and build the first of many spent fuel rod recycling facilities.

Advance the storage technology for wind and solar energy so that it remains a constant and reliable energy source even when it is not windy or it is cloudy.

Use and improve the methods to capture carbon emissions so we can return to a wholesale use of coal, of which there are hundreds of years of supply in the ground.

Rogers said he felt all of that could be accomplished in just one generation and, if so, oil will be selling for about $20 a barrel in 2030 instead of nearly $100 a barrel today because of decreased demand.

"That is the vision I share with you," Rogers said. "I see it. I feel it. But it's going to take an incredible amount of commitment."

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The Herald-Tribune Showcases the Summit's Long-term Thinking - 11.10.07

by Harold Bubil

What a week it was. At the south end of the yacht basin that's bookended by the Ritz-Carlton and the Hyatt Sarasota, the International Design Summit was being held for the second year by the Ringling College of Art and Design.

At the north (Hyatt) end, the Sarasota County Bar Association and the Sarasota Association of Realtors was holding its second annual Real Estate & Law Summit.

At the International Design Summit, I was impressed with the incredible creativity of the speakers, as well as the ideas of James Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy in the Carolinas, where he is supplying electrical power to a good number of former Floridians.

In addressing the issue of global warming, greenhouse gases and a dwindling supply of fossil fuels, Rogers urged his listeners to adopt "cathedral thinking." The solutions to today's energy problems will take "several decades" to solve, but that is a short time, considering what the cathedral-builders of the past faced. Notre Dame in Paris took a century to build; the architects never saw it finished, many of the stone masons never saw it finished. Yet the community and its artisans shared a commitment to get the job done, even when the task seemed so great.

We don't know where the world will handle its energy needs 100 or 200 years from now. But, Rogers said, by harnessing the power of a committed community, mankind will find the answer.

At the Real Estate & Law Summit, I was intrigued by a talk by Port Charlotte attorney David Levin, of Icard Merrill, whose specialty is waterfront real estate.

He pointed out the various restrictions placed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on coastal and flood-zone construction. For example, in a "V" (velocity) zone, where a storm surge might be expected, the ground floor (below base flood elevation) of a home built since 1975 can only be used for storage or parking, and must allow moving water to pass through.

I've been in many beachfront houses in which the ground floor was being used to "store" nice furniture delightfully arranged in such a way that the owners or their guests could enjoy watching the TV plugged into the wall next to the wet bar.

That is illegal, Levin said.

"If it's illegally nonconforming, there will be a day of reckoning," he said, "and more than likely the local jurisdiction will come in, cite them for a violation, require them to retrofit it so that it is just storage -- and failure to do so will result in fines."

When selling, don't even think of not disclosing that the house is nonconforming.

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Herald Tribune Spotlights the Design Summit's Return - 11.03.07

by Harold Bubil

The Sarasota International Design Summit returns next week with a full slate of intriguing seminars and lectures at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota.

The 2007 edition includes a number of programs on sustainability and green building -- subjects of great importance, both to readers of this section and the world community, as well.

One of the speakers will be Hussain Ali-Kahn, vice president for real estate development at The New York Times Company. His topic at 2 p.m. Monday is "A Case Study in Green Workplace."

Ali-Khan builds green workplaces. He was a key figure in the development of both the Times' new, 1.5 million-square-foot office building in New York, as well as the Herald-Tribune's building on Main Street in Sarasota.

We like to think our building was a warm-up for the Times' skyscraper.

A major component of green design, besides energy efficient lighting and air-conditioning, and water-conserving plumbing, is something called "daylight harvesting." In the old days, before "global warming" became part of the language, this was known as "lots of big windows."

We know all about big windows at the Herald-Tribune. One day, when the building was under construction and I really didn't have enough to do, I counted them. It was difficult from outside the construction fence, but I came up with a figure of about 2,000 of the 2- by 4-foot panes. And they are all energy-efficient and impact-resistant.

What this means in the workplace is that we feel connected to the outside. We always know whether to take an umbrella to the car, and we have more energy.

The design summit, themed "Designing for Life" and presented by the Ringling College of Art and Design, also features such presentations as "Designing Successful and Sustainable Communities" (9:15 a.m. Tuesday), "Human-Centered Worlds: The Next Frontier -- Integrating Social Sustainability with Green Design" (1:30 p.m. Tuesday), "Eco-Innovation -- International Trends in Sustainable Design from Mass to Luxury Markets" (11:15 a.m. Wednesday), and "The Energy Innovation Challenge: How the U.S. Can Become the Most Energy-Efficient Economy in the World" (12:15 p.m. Wednesday). Information is online at sarasotadesignsummit.com.

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To our fabulous speakers, visionary sponsors, volunteers, staff , talented students and especially our attendees - thanks to each and every one of you for making this 2nd inaugural Design Summit a fabulous success.

Special thanks to Dr. Larry Thompson, Mary Craig, Michelle Bauer, Peter Kageyama, Christine Lange, Anand Pallegar, Amanda Eyer, Nan Summers, Amanda Gatlin, the EDC of Sarasota Registration Team, our Design Summit Steering Committee and
the Ringling Board of Trustees.

We could not have done it without you.