His bold ideas caught the eye of the US president. Now inventor Saul Griffith is sparking an energy revolution in Australia, with a goal to create the first all-electric community where households could save $3,000 a year on their energy bills.
Two years later, Saul started a company called Makani Power. With the help of a cash injection from Google, his team built and tested tethered autonomous "kites" which generated energy.
In 2016, Saul convinced the US Department of Energy to fund Otherlab to conduct a study mapping the entire energy flow of the US economy, from where power is generated to where it's used: "your toasters and your cars and your ovens and your air conditioners," says Saul. "Saul and Alex are both very ambitious," Arwen says. "They both had experience with Silicon Valley, where billions of dollars get tossed around and I think they thought, if you can do that for an app, let's do it for the planet."
For 18 months, Rewiring America forged political and industry coalitions as the Biden administration's climate policy took shape. And they made some powerful enemies too. There was "hand-to-hand combat" with the oil and gas industry, says Saul. "We just relentlessly fought the science-based argument.", an opaque title for his signature climate bill, which included measures for healthcare and tax reform.
Francis was already engaged in climate activism when Saul moved into the area. He knew him as a "Silicon Valley type" who had been doing good things in the US. The group meets every few weeks in each other's homes to plan how to educate the community and convince more people to take part.
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