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WASHINGTON, DC, US, September 27, 2006
(Refocus Weekly)
Many new renewable energy technologies “are, or
soon will be, economically competitive with the fossil fuels that
meet 85% of U.S. energy needs,” says a report prepared by the
Worldwatch Institute and the Center for American Progress.
“With oil prices soaring, the security risks of petroleum
dependence growing and the environmental costs of today’s fuels
becoming more apparent, the country faces compelling reasons to put
these technologies to use on a large scale,” explains the joint
report, ‘American Energy: The Renewable Path to Energy Security.’
“Energy transitions take time, and no single technology will solve
our energy problems, but renewable energy technologies, combined
with substantial improvements in energy efficiency, have the
potential to gradually transform the U.S. energy system in ways that
will benefit all Americans.”
Currently, renewables provide 6% of total U.S. energy but that level
could increase rapidly in coming years due to dynamic growth rates
that are driving down costs and spurring rapid advances in renewable
energy technologies. Since 2000, wind power around the world has
tripled, production of solar cells has increased six-fold, fuel
ethanol has doubled and biodiesel production has expanded four-fold.
“Annual global investment in ‘new’ renewable energy has risen almost
six-fold since 1995, with cumulative investment over this period
nearly US$180 billion,” the report explains. The U.S. has some of
the world's best resources of renewable energy “which have the
potential to meet a rising and significant share of the nation's
energy demand.”
“Despite strong public support and rapidly rising interest in
renewable technologies, the U.S. has not kept up with the rapid
growth in the sector globally over the past decade,” the report
notes. “If the U.S. is to join the world leaders in renewable energy
(among them Germany, Spain and Japan), it will need world-class
energy policies based on a sustained and consistent policy framework
at the local, state, and national levels.”
“If there was ever a time when a major shift in the U.S. energy
economy was possible, it is now,” the report continues. “Three
decades of pioneering R&D by both the government and the private
sector have yielded a host of promising new technologies that turn
abundant domestic energy sources, including solar, wind, geothermal,
hydro, biomass and ocean energy, into transportation fuels,
electricity, and heat.”
Last year, global investment in renewables (excluding large hydro)
was $38 billion, equal to 20% of total annual investment in the
electric power sector. Investments in renewables have doubled over
the past three years, increased six-fold since 1995 and, next to the
Internet, “new energy technology has become one of the hottest
investment fields for venture capitalists.”
“The United States will need a much stronger commitment to renewable
energy if it is to take advantage of these opportunities,” it notes.
“In order to break the national addiction to outdated fuels and
technologies, America will need a world-class energy policy” similar
to Germany and Spain in wind and Japan and Germany in solar.
Those countries had “strong and enduring policies that their
legislatures adopted in the 1990s (and) these policies created
steadily growing markets for renewable energy technologies, fuelling
the development of robust new manufacturing industries,” it
explains. “By contrast, U.S. renewable energy policies over the past
two decades have been an ever-changing patchwork. Abrupt changes in
direction at both the state and federal levels have deterred
investors and led dozens of companies into bankruptcy.”
Increasing its use of renewables would allow the U.S. energy economy
to become more decentralized and efficient, while dependence on
Persian Gulf oil would decline and improve U.S. national security.
Trade deficits would fall as oil imports decline, reducing the $300
billion the U.S. will spend on importing oil this year, and air
would be
cleaner, emissions of global warming gases would decline, hundreds
of thousands of new jobs would be created, and rural communities
would be revitalized.
“This vision will become reality only if Americans come together to
achieve it, mobilized behind the goal of increasing our national
self-reliance and leaving a healthy environment for the next
generation,” it continues. “The time is now.”
“Over the past three decades, governments in the U.S. and abroad
have experimented with a variety of policies to promote renewable
energy and improve energy efficiency,” it notes. “Although frequent
shifts in government support have hindered development, policymakers
can learn much from these experiences, which will help to build a
policy framework that allows renewable energy to flourish.”
“Across the U.S. and around the world, there is one clear lesson
from past policy experiments: wherever renewable energy industries
have emerged, government policy reforms have played a central role,”
it concludes. “To fully utilize America’s renewable energy
resources, policies should be enacted that establish a consistent,
predictable, and long-term framework of rules and incentives; create
performance-based incentives; incorporate external costs and
benefits into energy pricing; reduce subsidies for fossil fuels;
enact complementary policies for energy efficiency; involve
stakeholders at all levels; and promote cooperation regionally and
internationally.”
Governments should “establish clear and long-term goals and targets
for renewable energy use and energy efficiency gains; provide
long-term, low interest loans and bonds to address high upfront
costs and reduce risk; use government purchasing power together with
the private sector to build large aggregated markets for renewable
energy; ensure fair market access and pricing for renewable
electricity; implement siting regulations to address environmental,
aesthetic and other concerns and to reduce uncertainty for
stakeholders; and enact ‘high-performance’ building codes to improve
efficiency and increase the share of energy provided from
decentralized renewable sources.”
The Worldwatch Institute is a research organization that publishes
an annual ‘State of the World’ report, and the Center for American
Progress is a research institute.
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