Image via CrunchBase
I had the pleasure of listening to Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE and a fellow Dartmouth alum speak yesterday in Dartmouth’s Leading Voices Series. He spoke about energy, technology, job creation and American competitiveness, but for me one of the most poignant parts of his presentation was when he laid out “everything he knows about clean energy on one page.”
While many of the points seem simplistic or obvious to those of us in clean energy, if you take them at face value you can learn a lot about what he believes is important for the clean energy industry going forward. He made it clear that regulation is a necessity, but that in the meantime GE is going to continue to invest–and has the luxury to do so in a technology-neutral way, rather than having to pick winners. He also made it understandable and clear for a diverse audience. Pretty powerful.
Below, a paraphrased version of everything Jeff Immelt knows about clean energy.
Ten Things I Know About Clean Energy
1. Energy markets are huge, dynamic and complex.
2. At no point – and at no time – has energy been a classic free market
3. The clean energy future will be driven by multiple technical solutions (don’t pick winners)
4. Investment in energy creates jobs
5. Scale is important
6. Public policy plays an important role in energy competitiveness
7. The USA has no appetite for broad energy policy
8. States and companies can provide leadership and drive change
9. Solving big problems requires system thinking
10. Facts and science, not environmentalism, are how to drive the process
You can see the full video of his lecture and others here.
