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We’re wrapping up our energy series with Mark Mills, Executive Director of the National Center for Energy Analytics. Mark and I both began our careers in manufacturing plants before American manufacturing largely moved overseas. Today, that megatrend is coming full circle, as rising labor costs in China and an increased focus on resiliency persuade businesses to bring manufacturing and production back to the US.
I see this as a positive for North America, and advances in automation will make our manufacturing even more productive.
But this boom in reshoring, or “repatriation” as Mark calls it, requires massive amounts of energy. Where will it come from? That is the focus of our interview today.
Mark and I also discuss the limits of solar and wind power, the second power grid that few talk about, and why efficiency gains in energy-hungry appliances may be close to their limit.
In addition to his work at the NCEA, Mark is also a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a faculty fellow at Northwestern University, and a partner in Montrose Lane.
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Time stamps:
00:00 – Introduction
01:52 – Growth in electricity demand
09:49 – Looking the other way on China and Africa’s environmental practices
15:22 – Is reshoring inflationary?
21:35 – Free energy myths
27:12 – The backup grid
34:40 – Data centers driving energy demand
41:41 – Europe has terrible energy policies
47:50 – The future of oil demand
59:52 – What it would take to get off hydrocarbons
