During her featured speech at the University of Iowa Energy Expo on Wednesday in Iowa City, Hunter Lovins said that pursuing corn ethanol was “daft.”  The audience, mostly college students, did not challenge her claim.  Her presentation and the theme of the Expo was focused on reducing our carbon footprint to reduce global warming and “dirty” energy needs. 

The third annual exposition featured presentations and exhibits about sustainable living, green design, energy conservation and renewable energy.

Another featured Expo speaker, Billy Parish, is an award-winning founder of the Climate Campaign.  He dropped out of Yale University to lead the millennial generation in what he calls the “next great social movement in this country.”

Parish said during his talk that, by using wind power only, Iowa has the potential to produce up to 5 percent of the nation’s electricity needs and that North Dakota was currently providing only 55 megawatts (MW) of the 410,000 MW it could potentially generate through wind powered turbines. 

Here’s Billy Parish:

Watch a video interview with Hunter Lovins and part of her presentation below the fold.Hunter Lovins co-founded the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), in 1982, but left 20 years later.  She is the president and founder of Natural Capitalism Inc.and the recent co-author of the book “Natural Capitalism,” with Paul Hawken.  Their philosophy of natural capitalism champions sustainability, innovation and green technology for corporations and governments.

In the video below she talks about carbon exchanging.  The University of Iowa is participating in a carbon exchange through the Chicago Carbon Climate Exchange, which Lovins says is “an organization of companies, nonprofits, universities, cities, counties, states [who are] trading carbon in a country where there’s no law that says you have to … they create a carbon financial instrument which they can sell to people.”

In this interview, she also gives a summary of her presentation, which focused on what she calls the “drivers of change” in the world.

Part of Lovins’ feature presentation in Macbride Hall can be seen below.  This video includes her slam on corn ethanol.  She said she supports ethanol plant-building, however, because it will lead to cellulosic innovations that she predicts will be much more sustainable.

Another Energy Expo organized by I-Renew will be held this Saturday and Sunday at the Solon High School in Solon, Ia.