Clean energy revolution: US highlights transformational technology
November 16, 2015 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
Just ahead of the COP21 UN Climate Negotiations in Paris, the U.S. Department of Energy has released a new report detailing the state of several energy technologies in the United States providing solutions to climate change.
The 2015 Revolution…Now report builds upon past Revolution…Now reports that showed a dramatic increase in deployment and a decrease in cost of four transformational technologies: wind turbines, solar technologies, electric vehicles (EV) and light-emitting diodes (LED). "We are experiencing a clean energy revolution in the United States, and this report confirms it," Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said during a discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Paris. "Today, clean energy technologies are providing real-world solutions -- not only to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming, but they also drive a domestic, low-carbon economy with technologies that are increasingly cost-competitive with conventional technologies. We have the tools for a cleaner and more secure energy future." The 2015 iteration shows that dramatic cost reductions are continuing to drive the adoption of clean energy technologies. The report covers the rapid growth of photovoltaic (PV) solar modules for large, utility-scale PV plants, as well as smaller, rooftop, distributed PV systems that have achieved significant deployment nationwide. DOE continues to invest in research and development for these technologies in addition to reducing market barriers in order to make these clean energy technologies even more cost-effective and widely available across the United States. Between 2008 and 2014, land-based wind accounted for 31 percent of all new generation capacity installed in the U.S., in part, due to early investments from DOE that helped drive the technology innovation that has enabled this growth. As of 2014, there were more than 65,000 MW of utility-scale wind power deployed across 39 states -- enough to generate electricity for more than 16 million homes -- with another 13,600 MW under construction in 2015. By 2014, more than 8 GW of distributed solar PV was installed, which is enough to power roughly 1 million American homes. Utility-scale solar PV grew by 68 percent in 2014 to 9.7 GW total -- more than 99 percent of which has been installed since 2008. The growth of the utility-scale PV market is, in part, due to support from DOE's Loan Programs Office of the first five projects over 100 MW. As of mid-2015 there were more than 17 subsequent utility-scale projects over 100 MW that were financed solely by the private sector. The transportation sector makes up 27 percent of overall U.S. carbon emissions. An average EV reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 48 percent as compared to a gasoline-fueled car, and with nearly 300,000 EVs sold in the U.S. through 2014, that is equivalent to taking nearly 150,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road. In addition to these technologies, the updated report introduces three technologies on the cusp of wider deployment and cost reduction in the coming years, including smart building systems, fuel-efficient freight trucks, and vehicle lightweighting. For more: © 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex, LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.smartgridnews.com/story/clean-energy-revolution-us-highlights-transformational-technology |