global warming, but would allow large polluters to pay for the right to exceed their limits by basically paying for unused pollution rights from other organizations that don’t pollute as much as they are allowed under the law.
Pao also pointed out some of the many deficiencies in the national electric grid infrastructure, saying, “Our current energy infrastructure isn’t very robust.” Of the estimated $1 trillion of energy Americans use every year, Pao said more than half is wasted, for example, by generating electricity to maintain baseload generation levels at times when power consumption is low. “So we use a lot of energy, and we waste a lot of energy.”
But as Pao pointed out in her talk, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” As a result, KPCB’s has invested in certain technology startups such as Redwood City, CA-based Silver Spring Networks, which specializes in technology, software, and services that enable utilities to transmit and receive information from any point on the power grid.
In her overview, Pao identified both cap and trade and expanding the grid as “smart policies” for the federal government, and which help encourage technology innovation in potentially fruitful areas. In addition, she cited three more:
—Establishing incentives for utilities to implement renewable power and energy efficient technologies by re-aligning their rate structures to reward such behavior. Pao said utility rate structures (which are set by state regulatory agencies) now reward utilities for the more electricity they sell.
—Efficiency and energy savings through improved energy use in buildings and in transportation.
—Encourage research and development. Pao said R&D is crucial, and one of the insights that she shared about KPCB’s cleantech investment philosophy is that the firm looks for ways in which it can anticipate advances in science. She said one of the things KPCB partner Bill Joy says is to look for the limits of science, and then go out to the labs and talk with the researchers who are working in that particular area.
