US renewable energy sufficient to meet significant portion of nation’s electricity needs, according to report

17 June 2009

Renewable energy resources in the US are sufficient to meet a significant portion of the nation’s electricity needs, according to a new report from the National Research Council.

Fully taking advantage of these potential low CO2-emitting sources for generating electricity will call for enhanced technologies, increased deployment, financial investments, and implementation of policies to drive increased adoption of renewable electricity. If the use of renewable electricity is to grow significantly, large increases will be required in the manufacture and installation of these technologies, offering significant employment and economic opportunities, according to the report.

Hydroelectric power is the largest source of renewable electricity in the US, generating seven percent of all US electric power in 2007. Non-hydroelectric renewable resources, comprising solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass, account for only 2.5 per cent of US electricity, although they have the potential to contribute far more, the report says. Nationally, solar and wind resources, in particular, could offer significant amounts of electrical power.

Technological advancements will continue to be needed to reduce costs and make renewable electricity technologies more efficient, the report says, but even with current technologies, renewable resources could contribute more than they do now. With accelerated deployment, increases in transmission capacity, and other electric-grid improvements, non-hydroelectric renewables could technically contribute up to ten per cent of US electricity by 2020, and 20 per cent or more by 2035. However, the report said, major scientific advances, and changes to the way the US generates, transmits, and uses electricity, will be needed before renewables can contribute the majority of US electricity.

Necessary improvements include the development of intelligent, two-way electric grids; large-scale and distributed electricity storage; and significantly enhanced, yet cost-effective, long-distance electricity transmission.

For renewable electricity to make a significant contribution to US electricity generation, it is critical that there is an understanding of the scale of deployment that will be required. Large increases will be needed over current levels of manufacturing, employment, investment, and installation. The U.S. Department of Energy recently stated that for wind energy to contribute 20 per cent of US electricity it would require 100,000 wind turbines, $100bn of additional capital investments and transmission upgrades, and employees to fill 140,000 jobs. The result would be the elimination of more than 800 million metric tons of CO2 emissions from the U.S. electricity sector. According to the committee that wrote the report, the US could feasibly meet this goal by 2030, but the challenge will be great.

Achieving widespread adoption of renewable energy will also require long-term and consistent policies that encourage the generation of renewable electricity, the report said. In most cases, electricity from renewables is more expensive to produce than electricity from fossil fuels. In the near term, policy incentives, such as the renewable production tax credit, would boost the use of renewable electricity. Continued research and development into renewable electricity generation could lead to more cost-effective technologies. Overall, technological developments and consistent policy will need to be coordinated with manufacturing capacity and access to capital in order to accelerate deployment of renewable electricity.

The National Research Council (NRC) functions under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The NAS, NAE, IOM, and NRC are part of a private, nonprofit institution that provides science, technology and health policy advice.

Copyright © 2009 NewNet

Tags: biofuel, biomass, energy efficiency, geothermal, hydro, smart grid, wind

This story was published on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 4:21 pm and is filed under North America, biomass/biofuel, by type, energy efficiency, energy storage, geothermal, knowledge, solar, water, wind. You can follow any responses to article entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “US renewable energy sufficient to meet significant portion of nation’s electricity needs, according to report”

1. Zenneia McLendon says:

   17 June 2009 at 9:08 pm

   My name is Zenneia McLendon and I am writing from the National Academies. We are delighted that you have chosen to post on our recent report “Electricity from Renewable Resources:Status, Prospects, and Impediments”.

   I want to inform your readers that this report is available online at (http://bit.ly/fRNrG. We hope that by reading this report it will enhance the conversation.
2. Danny Clark says:

   19 June 2009 at 11:07 pm

   One source of clean inexpensive energy is methane from landfills. There are a number of landfills in the US which are burning off the methane instead of using it for energy.

   This is a source which already exsits and has been shown to be the least expensive form of green power, even over solar, wind and hydro. Methane is also a very high heat convertable fuel and is only second to hydrogen.

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