Climate Change isn't a game... but this board game can help us navigate solving it.

Climate Change isn’t a game… but this board game can help us navigate solving it.

Climate change and renewable energy are hot topics constantly popping up these days in mainstream media. But although most people in the USA support increasing the deployment of renewable energy which would help to mitigate climate change, it is difficult to discern the intricacies surrounding the feasibility of different renewable energy options, the political and social context, as well as technological and economic limitations.

Energetic is a collaborative, educational, Board Game designed to teach the complexity of transitioning from a fossil-fuel dominated electrical grid to 100% clean Energy.

“Energetic” is a collaborative board game created by CityAtlas that navigates the trade-offs between cost, engineering, technology, policy and public opinion during the transition to clean and renewable energy. The original board game was created to model New York’s ambitious climate targets for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The game creators estimate that in order to phase out fossil-fuels completely and account for increased demand from “electrify everything,” 16 GW of carbon free energy would need to be built to power New York City. A Gigawatt is equivalent to 1 billion Watts, but to this number into perspective, check out this article by the DOE.

In Energetic there are four players who take on differing roles as climate activist, engineer, entrepreneur, and politician. Although each player has their own respective superpowers and constraints everyone is working together towards to same goal, to de-carbonize the NYC electric grid by removing fossil fuel and replacing it with 16 GW of renewable energy. Throughout the game players can conduct research, build power plants and create climate action policies. Meanwhile climate change events and social and environmental movements are impacting both the electrical grid and the population.

The game also has a Green New Deal version based on the resolution put forth by Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Green New Deal version in Energetic sets an earlier benchmark of 2035 to better comply with the IPCC report on 1.5 deg Celsius that indicates the need for a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions of “45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero around 2050.” 

When we at CGTC’s played the board game Energetic for the first time we had some reflections.

We, at CGTC, found that the Green New Deal version was not only easier to play but it’s faster and more urgent pace allowed players to build momentum while learning fully about the many intricacies and trade-offs of a renewable energy transition, all without prolonging the movement and allowing for player fatigue. Although the educational aspects of the game are vital, the Green New Deal also makes the game more “playable” which is important when trying to make the game accessible to those not originally interested in board games. Coincidentally, these reflections, of picking up momentum and urgency may be similar to sentiments felt by those advocating for climate change policies to be more reflective of how dire the current situation is. Also as citizens of a small island developing state, one of the most climate vulnerable communities as identified by the IPCC, we found we wanted to know more about how the earth, humans and in particular environmental justice communities were doing if we did or didn’t complete our goals in time.

THE CGTC is working with City atlas to create a board game specific to the Caribbean and US Virgin Islands.

The Caribbean Green Technology Center reached out to the board game creators to work collaboratively in designing a new version of the game which better emulates the situation in the Caribbean islands.

On a tropical, isolated island or archipelago, solar energy and other renewable energy systems are not only a means of climate change mitigation but more importantly can decrease costs and promote energy independence and security. In the Caribbean and small island developing states, the traditional electrical utility system of the mainland USA has additional unique political, economic and technical challenges which cause issues for providing an affordable and reliable electrical grid. Traditionally, the utility industry is characterized by high initial investments which can prove formidable for small islands due to their lack of access to capital. The nature of small systems means that islands do not benefit from economies of scale and are forced to run aging diesel generation which is both pollutant and inefficient. Another issue is the technical challenges and high financial cost of undersea transmission making it difficult to both build and maintain interconnected grids. This often means that small system failures become catastrophic as grids are isolated and nearby utilities cannot easily send aid. On island transmission and repair can also become arduous and expensive due to hilly terrain. To add to this, most Caribbean islands lack natural fossil fuel resources and rely on costly imports and shipping supply chains. Finally, economic and political setbacks can be disastrous to the entire community as there is typically a single, centralized utility company in change of the entire electrical system.

To make matters worse, following the 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria, the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico faced prolonged, island-wide blackouts for over 4 months due to catastrophic failures to the entire transmission and distribution line system. Unfortunately extreme weather events and hazards such as flooding, drought, sea level rise, hurricanes, coral bleaching and habitat loss are expected to increase at unprecedented rates as climate change impacts are felt around the globe.

The Energetic board game developed for the Caribbean needs to address issues of climate change adaptation, technological constrains and advantages, political and economic challenges, and the public health impacts we may face if the entire world does not work urgently to mitigate climate change.

IN the Meantime The Energetic board game goes completely online amidst the global pandemic.

Over the weekend, a group from CityAtlas invited CGTC to take part in the testing of the up-and-coming online version of the Energetic board game. Due to widespread social distancing guidelines and policies it may become difficult for educators and avid board game enthusiasts to partake in all that Energetic has to offer. The app developers are working to incorporate the teachers’ educational guide into the game play for the online version so that it can be used for outreach to students and the general public. The Caribbean version will also be available online and as a board game once developed. We look forward to sharing the further details once the online version is published.