Wendell Porter

Interview with ICAG's "Energy Doc", Wendell Porter 

June 2026

How did you find out about climate change?

I remember reading an article about James Hansen’s testimony in 1988 to the US Senate describing climate change, or as he put it: “human-caused global warming had begun and was actively altering the Earth’s climate.” I had been working on my first attempt at a PhD in mechanical engineering between 1983 and 1986 and had taken literally every heat transfer class that was offered at the time so I was quite curious concerning the details of his testimony.  Simply put, carbon dioxide changes the way energy is transmitted, absorbed and re-radiated in the atmosphere.  As the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere goes up, so does the temperature.  Research validating this supposition includes more than 40 distinct global circulation models but also has been supported by research going back to the early 1800’s.

What does it mean to you personally?

I intended at that time to spend my career in energy analysis, so I thought that other scientists, researchers, and engineers would tackle the global warming issue and I would work on energy efficiency and renewable energy.  In retrospect: How naïve?

I had an experience in 2006 that led me to get much more involved in energy and climate change efforts, both in our community and academically where I worked.  I helped found a non-profit that trained volunteers to go into low-income homes and show renters and homeowners how to reduce energy and water bills.  Since 2008 this group, the Community Weatherization Coalition, has performed energy tune ups on over 2000 homes.  At the University of Florida, I developed a course titled: Global Sustainable Energy.  I developed this to help students track and understand the renewable energy transition on a global basis.  Because of these efforts I was awarded a Climate Fellow in 2018 from the Florida Climate Institute.  During one of my many public speaking events during this period, I was asked what I thought about our path forward.  This is what I said: “This will be a fight to the end of our days and beyond. Mitigation to whatever level we can and then centuries of adaptation.”

What are your fears?

That we will fail and leave our children and grandchildren a planet that will not sustain them.  We live on a knife’s edge of future scenarios.  Our climate has already changed and there is no “new normal”.  That is because we still haven’t stopped pouring climate altering chemicals into the atmosphere.  Until we do, we are still digging the proverbial hole that we are in.  Changing rainfall patterns coupled with increasing temperatures could cause a massive crop failure in more than one area of the globe at the same time.  Global grain stocks in days of consumption are as low as 30 days and a high of maybe 120 days for the different major food grains.  A severe drought in more than one region could leave us without grain for a period until the next harvest.

What are your hopes?

In 2025 over 600,000 MW of photovoltaic panels were installed globally.  More than 120,000 MW of wind power were also installed.  Combined, these new resources will produce more electricity than the growth in electricity demand during the same period.  Going forward, renewable energy will produce a larger fraction of the world’s electricity needs every year.  Based on past rates of increase, the world’s electricity production will be nearly fossil fuel free in less than ten years. 

Sales of electric vehicles soared past 20 million during 2025 and annual growth rates for EV sales have topped 20% every year lately.  Global EV sales should approach 100% of the market sometime before 2035, with cumulative sales of one billion before 2040.  China has put over one million EV buses on its roads and 75% of its railroad system is electrified.  The renewable energy transition is happening faster than most people realize, but it needs to happen even quicker.

What actions are you taking?

First and foremost, we try to live with the environment throughout each day and season.  On many hot days we might turn the aircon on for just a few hours and then open the house with the evening breeze and not run the aircon overnight at all.  In the winter months we open the house during the hottest part of the day and close it before it cools down.  We also have the ability to heat or cool just the bedroom.  This takes very little energy.  We also put our water heater on a timer so that it recharges only during peak solar hours.  We installed solar panels on the roof that take care of about 65% of our electricity needs on an annual basis, including charging our EV.  We plan to add a battery soon that should move our solar electricity proportion to about 98%.  Indirectly related to energy, we have added a 10,000 litre water tank to our house and plan to add an additional 5,000 litres.  Everyday food choices are also important, so we try to be local as much as possible and to limit our beef intake due to its energy and land intensive nature.

What sustains you, gives you joy, motivates you?

We have a son and daughter and they have both turned out to be just wonderful human beings!  We also now have two grandchildren!  These four (five with partner, equally wonderful) provide me with both joy and motivation to keep up this work to the end of my days.