Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Source: GAO analysis of DOE data.
Note: Budget authority is in real terms, adjusted to fiscal year 2005 dollars to account for
inflation.
Figure 1. DOE's Budget Authority for Renewable, Fossil, and Nuclear R and D, Fiscal
Years 1978-2005.
While federal R and D funding has declined and the government has relied on
the market to make advanced energy technology deployment decisions, many
states have assumed higher profile roles by enacting standards, mandates, and
financial incentives primarily to stimulate renewable energy technologies that
address their growing energy needs and environmental concerns. For example, in
Texas over 1,900 megawatts of new renewable capacity was installed and
renewable energy now accounts for 3 percent of electricity consumption because
legislation enacted in 1999 and 2005 requires Texas' utilities to meet renewable
energy capacity standards. In addition, each of the six countries we reviewed—
Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Spain, and France—has used mandates and/or
financial incentives to deploy advanced energy technologies that are providing, or
are expected in the future to provide, significant amounts of energy. For example,
Brazil has replaced all of its imported oil with ethanol, wind energy provides 19
percent of Denmark's electricity, and Germany's renewable energy technologies
generate 10 percent of its electricity.
B ACKGROUND
For the past several decades, the United States has enjoyed relatively
inexpensive and plentiful energy supplies, relying primarily on market forces to
determine the energy mix that provides the most reliable and least expensive
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