Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 7.2
POWER GENERATION PROFILES OF LEADING ENERGY
CONSUMING STATES, 2010
Net Generation
(Gigawatt Hours)
%Generated by
Fossil Fuel
%Generated by
Nuclear
Texas
411,695
82.84
10.04
Pennsylvania
229,752
63.20
33.87
Florida
229,096
86.28
10.45
California
204,126
55.05
15.78
Illinois
201,352
49.47
47.77
Alabama
152,151
67.54
24.94
Ohio
143,598
88.20
11.01
New York
136,962
47.10
30.57
North Carolina
128,678
62.71
31.66
Indiana
125,181
96.74
0.00
Michegan
111,551
70.40
26.56
Washington
103,473
18.57
8.93
Source
: Energy Information Administration, www.eia.gov.
increasing from 5.1 million barrels per day in 2007 to 5.5 million barrels per
day in 2010. By 2020, it is expected that domestic oil production will top 6.7
million barrels per day, a production level not seen since 1994.
17
Research
has documented fossil fuel special interest groups pouring sizable amounts
of money into strategies designed to perpetuate the status quo. Some of
these organizations have been known to disseminate biased analyses that
highlight the disadvantages of renewable technologies while obfuscating
the beneits. Climate change expert James Hansen asserts that the damage
caused by these misinformation campaigns has been so obstructive to cli-
mate change mitigation eforts that the perpetrators of these tactics should
be tried for “high crimes against humanity and nature.”
18
he change in 2009 from a Republican regime led by George W. Bush to a
Democratic regime led by Barack Obama has catalyzed a noticeable shift in
federal support for a transition to clean energy. he American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 included commitment to the Advanced Energy
Manufacturing Tax Credits program that provided over US$300 billion
in tax breaks and beneits for manufacturing clean energy products.
19
In
February 2011, the government announced the Sun Shot Initiative, which
is a federally funded efort to restore American leadership in solar PV manu-
facturing by supporting initiatives to reduce the cost of solar PV energy by
75% by 2020.
20
If successful, it is envisaged that the contribution of solar
power to the electricity grid will be 14% by 2020. Wind power has also
