+ The Rise of Renewable Energy ENVI MAR2012 Richie Doucette Garret Wood

+ OUTLINE WHY THE NEED FOR RENEWABLES? SOLAR WIND BIOFUELS OTHER RENEWABLES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

+ WHY THE NEED FOR RENEWABLES? FOSSIL FUELS ARE FINITE RESOURCES THE COMBUSTION OF FOSSIL FUELS RESULTS POLLUTION (CO 2, SO 2, NO x, HEAVY METALS) ON A LARGE SCALE, RENEWABLES WOULD BE COMPETITIVELY PRICED VS. TRADITIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY PRODUCTION.

+ SOLAR POWER (PHOTOVOLTAICS) 1.4% PERCENTAGE OUT OF RENEWABLES IN THE US IN PERCENT TOP EFFICIENCY OF EXPERIMENTAL SOLAR CELLS 20 TO 25 CENTS COST PER kWh OF SOLAR POWER 5,000 MEGAWATTS GLOBAL GENERATING CAPACITY OF SOLAR POWER

+ WIND POWER 11.4% PERCENTAGE OUT OF RENEWABLES IN THE US IN CENTS TAX CREDIT FOR WIND POWER, PER kWh 60,000 MEGAWATTS GLOBAL GENERATING CAPACITY OF WIND POWER

+ BIO FUELS 23% PERCENTAGE OUT OF RENEWABLES IN THE US IN 2010 $2 BILLION ANNUAL SUBSIDY FOR CORN BASED ETHANOL 2.8 PERCENT ETHANOL’S SHARE OF ALL AUTOMOBILE FUEL 16.2 BILLION LITERS OF ETHANOL PRODUCED IN THE US IN 2005

+ OTHER RENEWABLES HYDRO-ELECTRIC 31% OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE US IN 2010 BIO-MASS 30.3% OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE US IN 2010 GEO-THERMAL 2.6% OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE US IN 2010

+ RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT THE UNITED STATES IS “ADDICTED TO OIL” R&D SPENDING HAS FALLEN STEADILY SINCE ITS PEAK IN 1980 BETWEEN 1980 AND 2005 THE FRACTION OF ALL U.S. R&D SPENDING DEVOTED TO ENERGY FELL FROM 10 TO 2 PERCENT THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD CREATING A SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ECONOMY IS TO INSITUTE MARKET-BASED SCHEMES TO MAKE THE PRICES OF OIL REFLECT THEIR TRUE COST TO SOCIETY CHANGES IN THE U.S. ENERGY SECTOR COULD TURN IT INTO A VIBRANT, ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE ENGINE OF GROWTH FOR THE UNITED STATE

+ QUESTIONS?