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March 15, 2005
The State of Renewable Energy
Mounting energy concerns are fueling industrial interest in clean energy. But despite the white-hot growth of solar and wind power, the country's total renewable energy consumption actually hasn't budged for years:
Yes, renewable energy is seeing some good times. The growth rate for solar is nothing short of spectacular, exceeding 30% a year. Ditto for wind power, which is posting comparable growth rates, says a recent BusinessWeek article. "And there's no end in sight," the article opines, "given high oil and gas prices, an increasing number of government mandates and incentives, and the first real steps toward tackling global warming." What's more, the overall green-energy market will increase seven-fold from about $13 billion today to some $92 billion by 2013, says research and strategy consultant Clean Edge Inc.
Indeed, developing renewable energy sources--which generate electricity with nearly none of the emissions that typify fossil-fueled power plants--has gained a heightened sense of urgency in industry, as the U.S. grapples with oil and natural gas price volatility.
But here's the not-so-good news. While some forms of alternative energy are thriving, total consumption has stayed put.
According to the most recent figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy is still a modest part of our energy portfolio, accounting for only about 6% of the country's total energy supply. And at 6.1 quadrillion Btu, total renewable energy consumption has remained unchanged from its 1989 level, when the EIA first started monitoring "non-utility" electricity facilities.
At its peak in the mid-1990s, renewable energy consumption hit 7.1 quadrillion Btu, providing 7.5% of the country's total energy supply--due in large part to robust hydropower output. But it's been mostly downhill for hydropower production since then.
The EIA points out that while wind and solar photovoltaics are booming, "their share of the total is so small that this growth has not affected the renewable industry trend significantly." According to the EIA, the source of official energy statistics from the U.S. government, the biggest renewable energy sources are as follows:
1) Biomass (accounting for 47% of renewable energy's contribution to U.S. energy supply)
2) Hydroelectric (accounting for 45%)
3) Geothermal (5%)
4) Wind (2%)
5) Solar (1%)
According to the EIA, the no. 1 renewable energy source--biomass--has actually been declining gradually, while geothermal output has shown little change.
Clearly, alternative energy has a long way to go before it can start to ease our reliance on fossil fuels. The question now is how to make it mainstream--a goal that requires technological improvements, further cost reductions and the development of profitable industries to assemble, install and maintain renewable energy systems.
Currently, green power sources are still more expensive than conventional sources. According to Building Operating Management, "while the fuel sources are essentially free, most renewable energy is priced higher than electricity from coal, natural gas and nuclear sources because the amortized capital investment per kilowatt-hour (kwh) is usually much higher for renewable sources."
Fortunately, there's a bright side. For one thing, renewable energy is becoming more affordable. Also, clean-energy prices tend to be very stable because fossil fuels are not part of production.
Given the finite nature of the world's supply of oil and natural gas, some say it's just a matter of time before it becomes our dominant source of energy. "The future belongs to renewable energy," Brad Collins, the executive director of Colorado-based non-profit American Solar Energy Society tells National Geographic News.
Six countries--the U.S., Denmark, Germany, Japan, Spain and India--are making sure that future happens, throwing their support behind these power alternatives and helping drive their rapid expansion. Combined, these countries represent approximately 80% of the world market for wind and solar power. Because they have been largely responsible for the tremendous growth rate of renewable energy in the past 10 years, these nations have shown that it's possible to effectively establish and quickly grow markets for such energy sources. They have done so through demand-creating policies such as low-cost financing, tax incentives and other subsidies.
Others point out that developing renewable energy transcends the issue of economic cost. "People sometimes get caught up in cost-effectiveness," says Paul Torcellini, a senior engineer at the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado. "But it can be a question of values and what we spend our money on." While there's still a lot of work to be done, the rewards promise to be tremendous--from decreased fossil fuel dependence to a cleaner environment and better human health.
Sources:
Renewable Energy Annual 2003
Energy Information Administration
www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/rea_data/rea_sum.html
Green Energy Charges Forward
Lindsay Audin
Building Operating Management, March 2005
www.facilitiesnet.com/bom/article.asp?id=2634
Alternative Energy Gets Real
John Carey
BusinessWeek, December 27, 2004
www.businessweek.com
The Future of Alternative Energy
Cameron Walker
National Geographic News, October 28, 2004
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1028_041028_alternative_energy.html
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Comment
22 CommentsThe historical reasons for applying renewable energy were as follows:
1. Electric utility power was not available.
2. Reliable 24/7 power was required. (solar is more reliable than the utility)
3. Concerned environmentalist.
Payback on these historic systems could take decades. That was not a big problem because the technology quite literally lasts and works for decades but something new and exciting has occurred in the renewable energy that most media does not report.
Now with solar net-metered power systems a renewable energy power system can pay for itself in energy savings and in distributed energy or power contributions back to the electric utility grid at large.
Now solar net-metered power systems can apply excess electric power produced back to the grid for:
a. A Watt to Watt trade with the utility.
b. A credit on the monthy structure electric bill.
c. Or for a check from the utility.
Net-metered or grid tied renewable energy electric power systems now can make significant distributed energy contribution to our country's energy requirements.
The lack of development of alternative energy is primarily due to the fact that the country is run by the oil industry. Keep in mind, the higher prices go, the more profit they make.
March 15, 2005 6:44 PMFrom our point of view, much is being done to provide renewable energy, but industry and Govt. are stuck in the early 20th century. Our company has a method of producing hydrogen as a fuel in compact unit that gives 'On Site,On Demand' supply at ultra low cost.
The process is not for sale but developed units are avilable for electric generators, home heating and automobile applications
The article says there are tax incentives to using none fossil fuel systems, but I question why there are no tax incentives for hybrid ( gas electric) cars. In fact it seems that the total cost of having a Hybrid car is still higher than a gas car. Why are there no Tax incentives for gas electric hybrid cars?
March 16, 2005 8:31 AMHave Wind generators become economical enough to put on your house?
March 16, 2005 8:38 AMFor well over the last twenty years, wind power, as well as solar, has had the proven technology in existance to alleviate commercial as well as residential energy needs.
One wonders why commercial property developers don't get on that glaciall.
moving band wagon? The answer is simple.....start up costs !!
They are far greater than the norm. Further, every developer is only interested in developing a property as cheaply as possible.
This is one of the few times where the power of the Executive branch of the governments "Bully Pulpit" would have a jarring effect to wake up our sleepy politicians to the overwhelming possibilities of wind and solar energy.
But thus far the renewable energy concept has no viable voice in government. No lobbying group exists to grease the skids vis a vis our politicians, to give voice to this concept. The plethora of emails from concerned citizens, go unheeded, because no campaign reelection check accompanies the email. When government buildings start getting retrofitted, with arrays of solar collectors, and wind mill towers, then perhaps we will all start getting the message.............
The interesting thing about solar and wind power, is that the source of energy, the sun, is free. Only the hardware to convert this source of energy into useful form costs money. Once erected and in place once the ongoing cost of maintenance occurrs.
High startup costs and low ongoing maintenance costs are the only elements of this proposed program.
The neat thing is that neither wind or solar power pollutes in any way.
I doubt that the "future belongs to renewable energy." It certainly will play a role, and likely a much greater role than it does today. But the fact is renewable energy is unlikely to be able to produce the huge quantity of energy needed to drive a vibrant world economy. There's really only one source of energy that's viable in the very long term, when oil, gas & coal dwindle - that's Nuclear. It's the only energy source that is viable for thousands of years to come and can produce energy in large enough volume to support long term world economic vitality. Saying that today may be "politically incorrect" but it doesn't change the facts.
March 16, 2005 10:06 AM Why all the fuss? Let's just burn up all the oil and get it over with. When the cost goes up, alternatives will prevail. Keep the government out of it; they can only make inefficiencies.
The growing need for energy in today's world is obvious. Mankind will not accept less then they have today in commodity, so "we have to accept" that the demand for energy will keep growing. Our main energy source on this earth is the sun. Our main objective should be to harvest this energy in an efficient, economical and environmental save way to guarantee sustainability and a future for our children.
Obviously burning hydrocarbons, producing nuclear energy …etc does not meet this cause and should make place for newer technologies which do. Wind, Solar, hydro…are possible alternatives but also seem to have their disadvantages as we all know…and maybe fuel cells are the way to go. Our technology has not yet reached is limits ….and who knows what will come next. We should focus at finding those alternatives which could comply with the objective as mentioned earlier …and maybe then we can all find our self in accepting that ….as the ideal energy conversion method and have a happy and bright future in front us..
if i were a Saudi, i wouold not worry about U.S. gasoline prices; why should I? the Americans aren't doing anything, like minimizing mpg!
re renewables...why no attention to waste-to-energy? like nuclear shunned for 25 years. it will always be here tho only another 5% or so of our energy needs, but cleaner than coal, located near the load centers [cities], reduces landfill volume by 90%, will recover metals otherwise buried.
March 16, 2005 4:52 PM
