Joan White  Clean Energy Fund Ideas  jgabel@uvm.edu
I.
Energy 101
Problem
Energy policy is the most important environmental and economic issue we face because it
drives economic development and human well being as well as climate change, air and water
quality problems, and land-use concerns. Many members of the UVM community lack a basic
understanding of how the American and global energy systems work. The popular press focuses
primarily on fuel sources, especially oil and it’s product, gasoline, but to fully understand energy
issues, one must consider the energy system writ large. From extraction, transportation, and
refining to finance, regulation, transmission, and consumption – the energy cycle is complex.
In order to promote new clean energy projects on the UVM campus and beyond, UVM
students need a basic understanding of how the energy system works. What are the “true” costs of
fossil fuels, renewables, conservation, and efficiency? How can we compare these resources on a
level playing field so we know what’s best? How do intermittent resources, like solar and wind,
plug into the grid? How do climate change, cost, and reliability influence energy policy? Why is it
taking so long to transition away from fossil fuels when we know climate change is so urgent?
This project will provide students and other constituencies at UVM with answers to these
basic questions in an easy-to-digest, 40-45 minute presentation about energy. The presentation
will fit easily as a guest lecture into class schedules or could be given at student group meetings,
teach-ins, or seminar series with time for questions and answers. I plan to actively promote the
presentation to faculty and student groups on campus, soliciting invitations to come speak to
many small groups on campus throughout the year.
Educational Products

Energy basics for the 21st century. A 40-45 minute presentation. I have outlined the major
components below, but this outline is a preliminary draft only, and I am certainly open to
suggestions and revisions.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
How much energy do we use and how (breakout by type, fuel, and sector)
What are the major constraints on how we use energy?
a. Human wellbeing/reliability
b. Cost
c. Environmental concerns
There are two sides to every equation: load and supply
a. Efficiency/Conservation
b. Generation
c. (Note: Renewable does not equal infinite, and there is no “free lunch”)
Project finance and regulation
a. Depreciation
b. Net present value
c. Rate regulation and return on investment
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Joan White  Clean Energy Fund Ideas  jgabel@uvm.edu
V.

Full world energy politics: the future of energy on a planet of 9 billion people.
Handouts summarizing the information from the presentation for participants to keep.
Methods
Secondary research
Using secondary sources like reports, data, and visuals by the Energy Information
Agency (U.S. DOE), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, and academic sources, I will create a PowerPoint presentation of about 25 slides with
talking points for each. I already have most of this data, but I will need to supplement, organize,
and synthesize it.
Vetting and polishing
I will present the talk in front of several critical audiences knowledgeable about energy
issues before giving it publicly to students. First and foremost, my mentor at Vermont Law School,
Michael Dworkin, and his team of energy researchers at the Institute for Energy and the
Environment will vet several drafts and give comments. Secondly, I will solicit feedback from the
UVM Office of Sustainability, Assistant Professor Richard Watts, Professor Walter Poleman (my
advisor), and graduate students at the Rubenstein School who are also working on energy issues.
It is extremely important to me that the presentation be accurate, credible, and easy to understand
for an audience of non-experts.
Soliciting invitations to speak
I will compile a list of likely audiences including courses, student groups, and seminar
series’. I will contact the professor or leader of that group and explain what the presentation is,
why it is important, and how I think it fits into the course or mission of the group. I will ask if this
is something they might be interested in hosting, and try to schedule a time to deliver it.
Delivery
Total delivery time will be about 1 hour 15 minutes, with 40-45 minutes for presenting and
another 15-20 minutes for questions. Following the presentation, I will administer a short
evaluation (less than 5 questions) to gage audience response. I will give the presentation as many
times as I can on campus during the course of one year hopefully reaching a minimum of 550
people on campus (one presentation per week, average audience of ≈ 20, 14 weeks in each
semester).
Evaluation and follow-up
I will collect anonymous evaluations at the end of each presentation. The evaluations will
ask whether the audience member feels that she/he understood the information presented,
whether that information is useful, what other classes or groups would benefit from seeing it, and
what could be improved or made clearer. I will read the evaluations and incorporate helpful
suggestions to improve the presentation as the year progresses. I will also track the total number
of people who have participated.
Throughout the year, I will be available by email and phone for participants who have
questions.
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