Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
three times more than the baseline Energy Department budget and more
than the annual budgets of the Labor and Interior departments combined.
Energy's baseline budget received a 10 percent funding increase, solar
energy research received $175 million, biofuels $217 million, hydropower
$40 million, and additional funds were allocated for weatherization of
buildings, energy effi ciency, and vehicle technology.
Claims that it is not the government's place to support the develop-
ment of new renewable energy technologies distort the country's history
by denying the crucial role that government support has played in build-
ing the nation's current energy infrastructure. These claims are clearly
motivated by the desire of the fossil fuel industries and their lobbyists to
maintain their dominant position in the energy fi eld.
The future looks bright for the development of alternative energy in
the United States (fi gure 7.1) but the job of changing America's energy
industry is immense. The energy industry, based on fossil fuels, is not
only politically powerful, it is very large and hard to replace. As noted
in chapters 2 and 6, the nation has about 500 coal plants that produce
nearly half of the country's energy, thousands of miles of low-voltage
electricity lines, more than 10 million old fashioned meters, and 354
million cars and trucks that run on diesel or gasoline with mediocre
effi ciency.
According to the Energy Information Administration, 71.7 percent of
the electricity in the United States in 2009 was generated by power plants
fueled by fossil fuels: coal, 44.9 percent; natural gas, 23.4 percent; and
oil, 1.0 percent. Nuclear power (20.3 percent) is the dominant alternative
energy source. Most of the rest is provided by hydroelectric plants. The
residential cost of electricity at the end of 2008 averaged 10.9 cents per
kilowatt-hour (12 percent higher than in 2004), but is variable among
states because of the mix of energy sources used in different areas (table
7.1). New England is the most costly area, the northern midcontinent
the cheapest.
Renewables in Other Countries
The United States is not alone in its increasing emphasis on renewable
and nonpolluting energy development. At least eighty-three countries
now have national targets for renewable energy.
4
At least sixty countries
have policies to promote renewable electricity, and at least fi fty-three
countries, states, and provinces have biofuels mandates. The European
Union planned to have 21 percent of its electricity generated by renewable
energy by 2010. As of mid-2010, only seven of the twenty-eight EU
