Brookings/Google.org PHEV Conference

As the Energy Efficiency Forum was wrapping up at the National Press Club, I headed across town to the Brookings/Google.org PHEV conference called Plug-in Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington. RechargeIt is one of Google.org's initiatives to accelerate the adoption of PHEVs and V2G. Brookings has posted the full transcript of the event here. There are also event videos of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Representative John Dingell (D-MI) discussing PHEVs, and Fred Smith, the CEO of FedEx, who is calling for a carbon tax rather than cap-and-trade.

I was extremely interested in this conference, as a large portion of my current research is exploring GHGs from plug-ins, well as policies to encourage both PHEV adoption and low-carbon electricity. Overall it was a very exciting conference, with a lot of enthusiasm, interesting discussion, and policy and research opportunities. Stay tuned.

See the video below of the entire first panel, which included:

Moderator
Vijay Vaitheeswaran Correspondent, Economist and co-author, Zoom

Panelists
Shai Agassi, Founder and CEO, Project Better Place
Mark Duvall, Program Manager, Electric Transportation, EPRI
Deron Lovaas, Vehicles Campaign Director, NRDC
Chelsea Sexton, Executive Director, Plug-In America
Dave Vieau, CEO, A123 Systems





One of the speakers was Shai Aggasi, of Project Better Place. Project Better Place aims to mass deploy electric vehicles using a business model similar to mobile phones - owners will exchange empty batteries for full ones throughout a network. They have a major automaker on board, as well as bold policies starting in Israel and Denmark. See Shai explain the concept in his talk from the panel, courtesy of Shannon from Triple Pundit:




The second panel included:

Opening Remarks
Mark Fields, President, Ford-North America

Moderator
Juliet Eilperin, Correspondent, Washington Post

Panelists
Alan Madian, Director, LECG
Felix Kramer, Founder, CalCars
Tom Kuhn, President, Edison Electric Institute
Bill Reinert, National Manager, Advanced Technology Group, Toyota
Mary Ann Wright, CEO, Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions

Bill Reinert of Toyota asked, "Who owns the carbon reduction credit at the tailpipe" in the second panel. Smart policy design can align the incentives. Also in that panel, Mary Ann Wright, CEO of Johnson Controls-Saft , says they will put a Li-ion battery in its first automotive application in a Mercedes S-Class HEV.






Video of the third panel, which included:

Moderator
Tom Friedman, Columnist, The New York Times

Panelists
Andy Karsner, Assistant Secretary, U.S. DOE
The Honorable Jay Inslee, U.S. Representative (D-Wash.)
John Podesta, President, Center for American Progress
Sue Tierney, Managing Principal, Analysis Group Inc.
Jon Wellinghoff, Commissioner, FERC