This week saw many stories about the damage our current choices have made, and the foolishness with which our legislators and even judges push an economy based upon corporation-centered thinking instead of human-centered thinking. Amidst all that, we saw a strong stream of news that focused on the probable - not just the possible...on what we have already done - not just on what we hope to do. The most inspiring of all these looked at whether it is a dream to move toward renewable energy in our lifetimes. It turns out, as I have often said, that we absolutely can move to a renewables-dominated economy in the next twenty years....all it takes is the will to make it happen.
Life after oil and gas
A National Research Council report released last week concluded that the United States could halve by 2030 the oil used in cars and trucks compared with 2005 levels by improving the efficiency of gasoline-powered vehicles and by relying more on cars that use alternative power sources, like electric batteries and biofuels.
Just days earlier a team of Stanford engineers published a proposal showing how New York State — not windy like the Great Plains, nor sunny like Arizona — could easily produce the power it needs from wind, solar and water power by 2030. In fact there was so much potential power, the researchers found, that renewable power could also fuel our cars.
In the past five years, we have demonstrated beyond a doubt that we can decouple energy use, emissions production, and economic growth. We no longer need as much energy to power our economy, and since we already stand at a per capita energy use rate that is twice that of Japan or Western Europe, this gives us great hope that our use can continue to fall while we recover economically. Even though part of our emissions reduction comes from fuel-switching instead of reduction in use, the future looks bright as prices for fuel are starting to once again reflect the scarcity of the resource.
A model for reducing emissions
"What stands out most in this shift, however, is not environmental regulation or public concern about global warming but the price of energy and market-driven technological advancements. 'It wasn’t so much a policy shift that brought carbon emissions down,' said James Hamilton, an energy economist at the University of California, San Diego. 'It was irresistible market forces.'
The United States consumes 9 percent less energy for each $1 of G.D.P. than it did five years ago. Total energy use has fallen about 5 percent in the last five years."
On top of that, we have seen an emergence of bi-partisan support for the expansion of wind energy - and more importantly community wind energy - into our economy...
Iowa bill would support farmer-owned wind installations
"The bill, SF 372, would require all electric utilities in the state to purchase power from customers’ wind turbines at a guaranteed price for up to ten years. The program would apply only to wind projects built on agricultural land with a nameplate capacity of 20 megawatts or less. And power purchases would be capped at 50 percent of the utility’s sales growth in the previous year."
Meanwhile, in what many consider a sluggish year at best for economic growth, we saw record growth in the solar industry, with states across the political spectrum contributing to the historic rise.
Sun shining bright: A record-breaking year for U.S. solar installations
"The report, from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), points out that the 2012 growth has taken both solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) to notable new heights. By year’s end, the 3,313 new megawatts meant that the U.S. had 7,221 megawatts of PV and 546 megawatts of CSP online, enough to meet the energy needs of some 1.2 million homes."
To put the proverbial icing on the cake, this surge in renewable energy and reduction in carbon emissions has come with a net positive increase in job growth - as many have predicted. If you shift spending from fossil energy into human capital, you save money and create local, stable jobs. We only lack the will to accelerate this cycle, restore our economy, and improve our quality of life for generations to come.
Green jobs grow four times faster than others
"Green jobs of course cut across industries. By the BLS definition, they include work that is primarily involved in the production of green goods and services -- for instance, renewable energy, pollution reduction and recycling, and natural resources conservation. The agency also counts as green those jobs that involve education and training related to environmental compliance.
The growth in green jobs in 2011 parallels a surge in public and private money plowed into clean energy that year. Total investments in clean energy business and development jumped 42% in the U.S. in 2011 from the prior year, to $48 billion, according to an earlier report by Pew Charitable Trusts. That was more than any other country, with China and Germany not far behind."
Happy (Good) Friday!
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