Energy: Extreme Challenge, Extreme Possibility • Genevieve Lillis

(Electricity Associate, Rocky Mountain Institute || CO USA)

“During high school, I assumed science was truth — it’s clear, logical, and seemed indisputable. As I deepened my understanding of science in university, I realized it is a belief system based on the best evidence we have at any point in time. Science is my belief system, but I no longer believe it to be fact. Socially, this realization has also made me more accepting of people who hold conflicting belief systems to my own.

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You can’t influence the world with science or economics alone — we’re finding that with climate change. My work at RMI focuses on transitioning energy generation from fossil fuels to low-cost, clean alternatives. In support of this transition, I work in our Electricity Innovation Lab, a social innovation lab that convenes diverse stakeholders and explores possible win-win solutions. Oftentimes our stakeholders are competitors or hold conflicting obligations to their constituents, and building trust amongst parties can be an immense challenge. This work bridges the technical coal transition work I’m doing with the complex human elements — it feels representative of the problem we’re facing. Electricity is responsible for a huge amount of industry emissions, yet we don’t really face a near-term technology problem in reducing carbon. So why are we still finding it so tough to make progress at the pace demanded by climate science when we have access to low-cost, clean solutions? We’re holding the extreme challenge and extreme possibility of the energy space together. I’m inspired by what we can achieve through collective action.

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I never spent a summer break at home in Australia. I studied full-time throughout the winter, then I’d go to Canada or Japan to snowboard and work in hospitality. Studying climate and sustainability can be emotionally taxing and frustrating — I need to get outside and be challenged by nature to retain perspective, be reinspired. It’s so important for how my brain works. What am I doing, and why am I doing this? There’s a lot to be said for it. If you make time for internal reflection, you can retain control of your learning in exciting ways.”