I used to like to light things on fire when I was a kid.
Did you ever do this?
There was something powerful and magical about using a magnifying glass to turn sunlight into fire.
Light turns to flame! No match, no chemicals, just sunlight.
Sunlight is astonishing
We walk through sunlight every day. We take it for granted, but check this out:
We get enough sunlight on earth every 90 minutes to power all of humanity’s needs for a year.
We just have to harness it.
Humans have been harnessing solar energy for thousands of years. Think Roman baths, south-facing cliff dwellings, and greenhouses.
Sunlight + Focus = Incredible power
Solar ovens and concentrating Solar Power plants increase that power by focusing it on a smaller area.
I recently walked through “two suns” power at our National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). (I walked through very quickly.)
Our national labs can concentrate enough sunlight to burn through steel plates in seconds. Read more about concentrated solar
My personal focus: Fossil Fuel Free by 2023
My goal to ditch fossil fuels by 2023. Here are my first steps:
- 2018: An electric car
- I’d like to get a Tesla but the model 3 is delayed
- Instead I’m considering the new Nissan Leaf (PNM/Nissan deal) and Bolt
- 2018: assess my heating with natural gas
Buy 
my car!
Do you want a 2014 Leaf? Under $10k! Contact me!
Tech has solutions
We are literally burning our children’s future and our sun is THE SOLution. We have the technology. Our engineers got us to the moon in nine years. Our grid is one of the technological wonders of the world. We just have to do it.
We have to all be completely carbon emission-free by 2040. Can we do it? How will we do it?
Does New Mexico know how? (2018 Earthdays)
As an engineer, I can tell you that most projects go over budget and take longer than planned.
So we must AIM HIGH!
And FOCUS!