As California moves toward alternative energy, the state needs to consider all technologies to meet the goal of becoming carbon neutral, rather than seeking a “silver bullet” as a solution, a speaker told a North County audience Wednesday.

Sarah Saltzer, manager of the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage and the Stanford Carbon Removal Center, said various factions have pushed for one technology over another, pushing the state to look to electrifying everything or using biofuels, or doing a lot of carbon capture and storage or switching to hydrogen. 

After analyzing the results of “going hog wild” on one technology at a time, she said, it won’t achieve the goal to be carbon neutral by 2045, she said.

“The bottom line is there is absolutely no silver bullet, there is no technology that is the thing that is going to get us to neutral by 2045,” Saltzer said. “We need to all work together. We need to max out as much as we can on all of these technologies and stop any inner fighting between technology groups to really proceed as a whole to get to zero, so we need to put everything on the table.”

The issue centers on carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse emission considered key to causing global climate change and leading to more fires, flooding and other natural disasters. 

That has led to a push toward becoming carbon neutral — and what needs to be done to achieve the goal in 22 years, such as eliminating the reliance on fossil fuels including natural gas by seeking alternative, or renewable, energy sources.

Saltzer spoke Wednesday at the EconAlliance‘s Evolving Energy Alternatives Forum at the Craft House at Corque in Solvang. 

It was Saltzer’s second speech at the North County group’s energy forum, after appearing at the 2022 event. 

She also shared about new laws looking to help streamline carbon capture and sequestration projects along with implementation of incentives.

“These incentives are key, and we need to make sure that these incentives remain in place, and for some industries, we probably need even more incentives to do it,” she added.

For homes, gas-powered water heaters and furnaces can become carbon neutral with the use of heat pumps, Saltzer said. 

“The thing about a heat pump is it’s a very efficient way to use electricity to transfer heat from a cool space to a warm space, and it works in both directions,” she said, adding that it would provide heat during the winter and cooling in the summer. 

However, heat pumps contain refrigerants, so disposal programs need to be created to avoid release of the substance along with programs to develop heat pumps lacking refrigerants, she said.

As it moves forward, California still needs to build a lot more electrical capacity, she said, adding that it means power plants along with the transmission and distribution system. 

“We probably need to get started on that right now,” she added. 

In addition to Saltzer’s keynote speech on pathways to carbon neutrality, audience members heard an update on various aspects of alternative energy projects, including the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, an offshore wind energy pilot project, hydrogen innovation and Central Coast Community Energy. 

Robert Collier represents Cierco US Energy, which has partnered with another firm to create Floventis Energy to develop an offshore wind energy pilot project near Vandenberg Space Force Base.

He estimated that the project, which will be in state waters, could be operational by 2027, making it the first offshore wind project in California. 

“There’s a lot of complexities and a lot of risk, but a lot of potential for offshore wind for this region and for the state moving forward,” Collier said.

While delivering opening remarks, Ben Oakley, the California coastal regional manager for the Western States Petroleum Association, noted that the path ahead will require environmental policies that have been successful while avoiding others that have unintended environmental and social consequences. 

“Right now, we’re on the brink of an energy crisis,” Oakley said. “We simply do not produce enough energy to meet our needs, as evidenced by the increasing volatility across the entire energy portfolio.”

Policies put into place have reduced the amount of energy produced, he added.

“We need an all-of-the-above energy strategy as we make way for renewables and set our eyes on a path toward achievable carbon neutrality,” he said. “There is still a long ways to go, and reliability and affordability of energy will become a real issue if we don’t work together.”