Energy from My Backyard - The Renaissance of Renewable Energy - page 236

connect resources across long distances through the construction of long grids, and to store
energy produced in excess at given times (e.g., in both windy and sunny periods).
According to the authors, a lot can also be achieved by increasing the efficiency of
energy use. They estimate that, by improving technologies and reducing the distance
between the sites of production and consumption (though small-scale renewables), world
powerdemandcanbereducedby30percent.InJacobsonandDelucchi'smodel,electricity
will become the central commodity in the energy economy. The transport sector will
abandon oil in favour of hydrogen fuel and electric vehicles. Excess power will either be
stored or used to produce hydrogen.
Such scenarios promise a bright future for the power utilities. However, a lot of things
need to happen before they can be put into practice. With the exception of hydroelectric
plants, current renewable capacity is just a tiny fraction of what would be required under
Jacobson and Delucchi's plan (see Section 7.1 ). Moreover, we know that, in addition
to technology, market forces come into play and, of the renewables, only hydro and
geothermal are currently competitive with fossil fuels. However, the authors believe that
a steady rise in fossil fuel prices as reserves dwindle will serve to make wind, solar and
water power competitive with coal, oil and gas. They project that, by 2030, all new energy
demand could be met by renewables, with full replacement by 2050.
The two researchers explain that “building such an extensive infrastructure will take
time. But so did the current power plant network. And […] if we stick with fossil fuels,
demand by 2030 will rise to 16.9 TW, requiring about 13,000 large new coal plants, which
themselves would occupy a lot more land, as would the mining to supply them” (Jacobson
and Delucchi 2009 , 61). Hence, the barriers to this virtuous plan are not technological or
economical, but primarily social and political (Jacobson and Delucchi 2011a , 2011b ) .
7.5 Reality Check: How Renewables Fare in the Current Market
In 1979, at the height of the world's second major oil crisis, U.S. President Jimmy Carter
held a press conference on the roof of the White House. Standing next to a newly installed
solar water heater, Carter announced that the United States would invest a billion dollars
over the following twelve months to kick-start an energy revolution. He hoped that, by the
year 2000, the United States would obtain 20 per cent of its energy from the sun. Carter
conceded that this goal was an ambitious one, and predicted that “a generation from now”
the White House solar heater would either be “a small part of one of the greatest and most
exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people, or a museum piece” (Yergin
2011 , 523). It followed the latter route, as just seven years later, under President Reagan,
the solar heater was removed from the roof. Today it is a permanent exhibit at the Carter