A Green New World

Renewable Energy is Powering the Future

 

Renewable energy prices are rapidly declining and, in many instances, are now cheaper than oil, gas or coal. Private investment has surged into companies creating green technologies. These new technologies harnessing the infinite power of sunlight, wind, water and earth heat can produce considerable savings in terms of energy use and emissions, increased independence from fossil fuels and more jobs.

Solar

Solar energy uses sunlight and heat from the Sun as fuel for electricity production using various technologies. Two such approaches include photovoltaic (PV) devices which convert direct sunlight directly into electricity, and concentrated solar power (CSP) plants which focus sunlight onto central towers with mirrors to generate steam for turbines.

Both industries have experienced rapid expansion, with costs dropping rapidly to become cost competitive in many markets. Scale economies and innovation are leading them toward becoming the dominant solution to powering our future.

As opposed to fossil fuels, renewable energy does not pose any negative environmental or human health impacts. But this doesn't necessarily make all forms of renewable energy beneficial - large hydroelectric dams may damage wildlife while fracking can deforest large stretches of boreal forests on Earth.

Wind

Wind power is the leading renewable energy source in the US, saving over 336 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year while supporting an efficient domestic supply chain and mitigating risk from natural gas and coal price spikes with long-term generation contracts.

As more people turn to renewables, they're helping themselves and their communities to become less dependent on foreign fossil fuels while creating jobs in manufacturing, construction, and operations. But much work remains before reaching our clean energy goals; every dollar invested in renewables creates three times more jobs than in fossil fuel industries.

Distributed wind technologies (also known as behind-the-meter wind) present an incredible opportunity for consumers to transition toward renewable electricity sources. Being smaller than on-grid turbines and being placed near consumers' homes or businesses allows these smaller technologies to take advantage of local resource availability. Under optimal circumstances - aggressive cost declines, more flexible rules, strategic extension, and expansion of policies/tax credits etc. - NREL (The National Renewable Energy Laboratory) projects front-of-meter wind could reach about 4,000 gigawatts by 2035.

Biofuels

Biofuels are liquid or gaseous fuels derived from renewable plant sources that are produced for use as transportation fuel, with biofuel production playing a critical role in efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Both regulatory policies in the USA and Europe encourage biofuel production by setting targets for blending them into their fuel pools as part of life cycle GHG reduction requirements.

Biofuels offer many environmental advantages over fossil fuels. Not only are they cleaner burning alternatives than gasoline and diesel, but they also emit less greenhouse gases (GHGs). In addition, biofuels are sustainable since their feedstock comes from renewable resources such as crop residue, wood waste and animal byproducts - providing further environmental advantages.

As global transportation demand rises, so does our demand for clean fuel. Biofuels offer one solution that could significantly decrease dependence on oil from limited supplies in unsecure regions; thanks to technology like synthetic biology plants can produce biofuels without competing with food crops or using land set aside for other purposes - these new generations of algae- and cellulosic biomass-derived biofuels offer year-round harvests with smaller environmental footprints than prior generation biofuels.

Geothermal

Underneath Earth's surface lies enough energy for civilization to continue operating smoothly, both from hot springs and dry rocks as well as underground reservoirs and volcanoes. A new generation of startups are emerging with technology to extract this heat, led by experienced oil and gas veterans looking for new sources to diversify their portfolios without shifting focus away from core expertise.

One of the most promising technologies, enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), aims to tap lower temperature resources. EGS reduces drilling costs, making renewable energy production even more cost effective and helping the renewable industry to flourish.

Technology related to geothermal, nuclear and hydropower is still in its infancy; however, it shows promise. Potentially it could help solar, and wind overcome intermittency issues; however the industry will require government support through guaranteed loans for well-drilling operations, regulatory overhauls and staffing investments. Many backers are pushing for mandates requiring that some percentage of renewable energy come from "baseload" sources like geothermal, nuclear, and hydro.

Hydropower

Hydropower is one of the world's primary renewable energies in terms of capacity, producing 17% of global electricity output. Hydropower offers significant potential for carbon emission reduction in the power system while boasting competitive production costs relative to other renewables and coal power plants.

Hydropower generation, however, is vulnerable to climate change: drought is one of the greatest challenges to hydropower, with reservoirs shrinking during dry spells - one such period in America being 22-years dry! Lake Mead supplies power to millions of Americans but currently stands at its lowest ever level.

Hydropower plays an essential part in our nation's energy future and is the single largest source of clean, domestic renewable electricity production. Hydropower helps provide reliable baseload power in the US while supporting variable renewables like wind and solar, as well as being stored during times of peak demand to balance supply with demand and support our economy while providing employment in engineering, manufacturing, construction and utility operations and maintenance jobs.