news

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."

Ringling College of Art and Design   2700 North Tamiami Trail   Sarasota, Florida 34234-5895   p 941.351.5100 f 941.359.7517

atLarge Inc