ASU Center for Energy & Society
Putting people at the heart of the energy revolution
A collection of science fiction stories, art, and essays exploring human futures powered by solar energy, with an upbeat, solarpunk twist. What will it be like to live in the photon societies of tomorrow? How will a transition to clean, plentiful energy transform our values, markets, and politics?
Download a free copy of The Weight of Light.
Continue reading “The Weight of Light”“For all the immediate challenges that we gather to address this week — terrorism, instability, inequality, disease — there’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate.”
— President Barack Obama, United Nations, Sept. 23, 2014
At the Center for Energy and Society, our work begins with the insight that to design the future of energy is to design the future of society and the economy.
Continue reading “Designing the Future”
The social value of energy is a simple but profound shift in how we view energy. Instead of asking “how much energy does someone use,” we ask “when people use energy, how much value are they able to create for themselves and for their families, businesses, or communities?”
Continue reading “The Social Value of Energy”
Energy is complicit in racial and economic inequality, here in the US and around the world. That reality should motivate us to make social justice an integral part of the energy revolution.
Continue reading “Ending the Energy-Poverty Nexus”
Making Energy Beautiful and Multi-Functional
The 2019 SolArt Competition allowed ASU students to explore strategies for using solar energy to create socially valuable outdoor spaces on the ASU campus.