The Obama administration have been seen to be making very positive signs about increasing the role of renewable energy in the coming years. The recent economic stimulus bill had around $50 billion of investment in renewable energy.
In promoting their Clean Energy 2030 proposal, Google are bringing their considerable influence to bear in a very progressive manner. Their proposal for Clean Energy 2030 was introduced in 2008 to help to stimulate debate around the time of the new administration.
Current energy demands are met primarily through the burning of coal and other fossil fuels. The future needs to focus more on wind, solar and geothermal renewable energy sources. Google propose that the way to make this happen is to work at making renewable energy cheaper. Once cost parity is achieved with fossil fuels, the critical tipping point will have been reached.
How does Clean Energy 2030 suggest that we do this? Firstly the national grid needs significant improvements to handle the nature of renewable energy creation. Wind power will come from the central and coastal regions, whilst solar and geothermal energy will come from the desert southwest. The infrastructure also needs to account for the fact that renewable energy production is much more intermittent than that of fossil fuels.
Clean Energy 2030 proposes that the nation focus much more on personal and corporate energy efficiency. Tax incentives, grants and enforceable efficiency standards need to be introduced to make our appliances, buildings, industry and transport far more energy efficient.
For our personal vehicles, Clean Energy 2030 suggests that we need to look at two areas. Firstly, plug in vehicles can only work if the infrastructure is there to support them. Secondly, fuel efficiency in vehicles can only be consumer led if there are incentives to do so. Buyers need to be encouraged to buy greener vehicles.
If all these plans can be put into action quickly, then it will not be long before the cost of renewable energy comes down to the level of fossil fuels.
This is an admittedly expensive plan, but it provides a good forum for debate around the topic. Whilst the cost of the proposal is estimated at about $3.7 trillion, it is projected to be cost effective over the years to 2030. The net savings are estimated to be over $800 billion. So whilst the Obama administration’s $50 billion stimulus for renewables is a boon to the sector, much more needs to be done.
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