Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
C ONCLUSIONS
It is unlikely that DOE's current level of R and D funding or the nation's
current energy policies will be sufficient to deploy alternative energy sources in
the next 25 years that will reverse our growing dependence on imported oil or the
adverse environmental effects of using conventional fossil energy. The United
States has generally relied on market forces to determine the nation's energy
portfolio, primarily conventional supplies of oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear
energy. In contrast, advanced energy technologies have higher up-front capital
costs that make them less cost competitive than conventional technologies. As a
result, despite periodic energy price spikes caused by disruptive world events and
about $50 billion (in real terms) in energy R and D funding since 1978, the United
States has made only steady incremental progress in developing and deploying
advanced renewable, coal, and nuclear technologies that can compete with
conventional energy technologies. However, continued reliance on conventional
technologies leaves the United States vulnerable to crude oil supply disruptions,
with economic, energy security, and national security consequences.
The nation is once again assessing how best to stimulate the deployment of
advanced energy technologies in response to recent high energy prices—caused
by the growing world demand for energy, wars in the Middle East, and last year's
hurricanes—and concerns about the adverse environmental effects, particularly
greenhouse gas emissions, of using conventional fossil energy. Reducing the
nation's dependence on oil and carbon dioxide emissions in the next 25 years is
not unlike the 1960s challenge to put a man on the moon. Without sustained high
energy prices or concerted, high-profile federal government leadership, U.S.
consumers are unlikely to change their energy-use patterns, and the United States
will continue to rely upon its current energy portfolio. Specifically, government
leadership is needed to overcome technological and market barriers to deploying
advanced energy technologies that would reduce the nation's vulnerability to oil
supply disruptions and the adverse environmental effects of burning fossil fuels.
The nation's current energy portfolio has raised concerns about the adverse
environmental effects of energy generation—particularly greenhouse gas
emissions from coal-fired and oil-fired power plants and the long-term storage of
spent nuclear fuel. In addition, the duration of certain federal tax incentives has
been insufficient to stimulate investment decisions to deploy advanced energy
technologies. For example, renewable energy industry representatives have stated
that the 2-year extension of the production tax credit in the Energy Policy Act of
2005 does not provide sufficient certainty to stimulate investment. In providing a
production tax credit to stimulate the construction of projects using advanced
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