The Power of Renewables
The Power of Renewables

Author: Chinese Academy of Engineering

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-01-29

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0309160006

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The United States and China are the world's top two energy consumers and, as of 2010, the two largest economies. Consequently, they have a decisive role to play in the world's clean energy future. Both countries are also motivated by related goals, namely diversified energy portfolios, job creation, energy security, and pollution reduction, making renewable energy development an important strategy with wide-ranging implications. Given the size of their energy markets, any substantial progress the two countries make in advancing use of renewable energy will provide global benefits, in terms of enhanced technological understanding, reduced costs through expanded deployment, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional generation from fossil fuels. Within this context, the U.S. National Academies, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), reviewed renewable energy development and deployment in the two countries, to highlight prospects for collaboration across the research to deployment chain and to suggest strategies which would promote more rapid and economical attainment of renewable energy goals. Main findings and concerning renewable resource assessments, technology development, environmental impacts, market infrastructure, among others, are presented. Specific recommendations have been limited to those judged to be most likely to accelerate the pace of deployment, increase cost-competitiveness, or shape the future market for renewable energy. The recommendations presented here are also pragmatic and achievable.

Electricity from Renewable Resources
Electricity from Renewable Resources

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2010-04-05

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 030913708X

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A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system. A quantitative characterization of technologies, this book lays out expectations of costs, performance, and impacts, as well as barriers and research and development needs. In addition to a principal focus on renewable energy technologies for power generation, the book addresses the challenges of incorporating such technologies into the power grid, as well as potential improvements in the national electricity grid that could enable better and more extensive utilization of wind, solar-thermal, solar photovoltaics, and other renewable technologies.

Short Circuiting Policy
Short Circuiting Policy

Author: Leah Cardamore Stokes

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-03-18

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0190074280

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In 1999, Texas passed a landmark clean energy law, beginning a groundswell of new policies that promised to make the US a world leader in renewable energy. As Leah Stokes shows in Short Circuiting Policy, however, that policy did not lead to momentum in Texas, which failed to implement its solar laws or clean up its electricity system. Examining clean energy laws in Texas, Kansas, Arizona, and Ohio over a thirty-year time frame, Stokes argues that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why states are not on track to address the climate crisis. She tells the political history of our energy institutions, explaining how fossil fuel companies and electric utilities have promoted climate denial and delay. Stokes further explains the limits of policy feedback theory, showing the ways that interest groups drive retrenchment through lobbying, public opinion, political parties and the courts. More than a history of renewable energy policy in modern America, Short Circuiting Policy offers a bold new argument about how the policy process works, and why seeming victories can turn into losses when the opposition has enough resources to roll back laws.

Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation
Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation

Author: Christopher E. Moorman

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1421432730

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Brings together disparate conversations about wildlife conservation and renewable energy, suggesting ways these two critical fields can work hand in hand. Renewable energy is often termed simply "green energy," but its effects on wildlife and other forms of biodiversity can be quite complex. While capturing renewable resources like wind, solar, and energy from biomass can require more land than fossil fuel production, potentially displacing wildlife habitat, renewable energy infrastructure can also create habitat and promote species health when thoughtfully implemented. The authors of Renewable Energy and Wildlife Conservation argue that in order to achieve a balanced plan for addressing these two crucially important sustainability issues, our actions at the nexus of these fields must be directed by current scientific information related to the ecological effects of renewable energy production. Synthesizing an extensive, rapidly growing base of research and insights from practitioners into a single, comprehensive resource, contributors to this volume • describe processes to generate renewable energy, focusing on the Big Four renewables—wind, bioenergy, solar energy, and hydroelectric power • review the documented effects of renewable energy production on wildlife and wildlife habitats • consider current and future policy directives, suggesting ways industrial-scale renewables production can be developed to minimize harm to wildlife populations • explain recent advances in renewable power technologies • identify urgent research needs at the intersection of renewables and wildlife conservation Relevant to policy makers and industry professionals—many of whom believe renewables are the best path forward as the world seeks to meet its expanding energy needs—and wildlife conservationists—many of whom are alarmed at the rate of renewables-related habitat conversion—this detailed book culminates with a chapter underscoring emerging opportunities in renewable energy ecology. Contributors: Edward B. Arnett, Brian B. Boroski, Regan Dohm, David Drake, Sarah R. Fritts, Rachel Greene, Steven M. Grodsky, Amanda M. Hale, Cris D. Hein, Rebecca R. Hernandez, Jessica A. Homyack, Henriette I. Jager, Nicole M. Korfanta, James A. Martin, Christopher E. Moorman, Clint Otto, Christine A. Ribic, Susan P. Rupp, Jake Verschuyl, Lindsay M. Wickman, T. Bently Wigley, Victoria H. Zero

Harnessing Renewable Energy in Electric Power Systems
Harnessing Renewable Energy in Electric Power Systems

Author: Boaz Moselle

Publisher: Earthscan

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1936331861

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Reflecting its reliance on fossil fuels, the electric power industry produces the majority of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The need for a revolution in the industry becomes further apparent given that 'decarbonization' means an increasing electrification of other sectors of the economy'in particular, through a switch from gasoline to electric vehicles. Of the options for producing electric power without significant greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy is most attractive to policymakers, as it promises increased national self-reliance on energy supplies and the creation of new industries and jobs, without the safety and political concerns of nuclear power or the unproven technology of carbon capture and storage. Drawing on both economic theory and the experiences of the United States and EU member states, Harnessing Renewable Energy addresses the key questions surrounding renewable energy policies. How appropriate is the focus on renewable power as a primary tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions? If renewable energy is given specific support, what form should that support take? What are the implications for power markets if renewable generation is widely adopted? Thorough and well-evidenced, this book will be of interest to a broad range of policymakers, the electric power industry, and economists who study energy and environmental issues.

Renewables
Renewables

Author: Michael Aklin

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2018-03-23

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0262344610

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A comprehensive political analysis of the rapid growth in renewable wind and solar power, mapping an energy transition through theory, case studies, and policy. Wind and solar are the most dynamic components of the global power sector. How did this happen? After the 1973 oil crisis, the limitations of an energy system based on fossil fuels created an urgent need to experiment with alternatives, and some pioneering governments reaped political gains by investing heavily in alternative energy such as wind or solar power. Public policy enabled growth over time, and economies of scale brought down costs dramatically. In this book, Michaël Aklin and Johannes Urpelainen offer a comprehensive political analysis of the rapid growth in renewable wind and solar power, mapping an energy transition through theory, case studies, and policy analysis. Aklin and Urpelainen argue that, because the fossil fuel energy system and political support for it are so entrenched, only an external shock—an abrupt rise in oil prices, or a nuclear power accident, for example—allows renewable energy to grow. They analyze the key factors that enable renewable energy to withstand political backlash, andt they draw on this analyisis to explain and predict the development of renewable energy in different countries over time. They examine the pioneering efforts in the United States, Germany, and Denmark after the 1973 oil crisis and other shocks; explain why the United States surrendered its leadership role in renewable energy; and trace the recent rapid growth of modern renewables in electricity generation, describing, among other things, the return of wind and solar to the United States. Finally, they apply the lessons of their analysis to contemporary energy policy issues.

The Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition
The Geopolitics of the Global Energy Transition

Author: Manfred Hafner

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 398

ISBN-13: 3030390667

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The world is currently undergoing an historic energy transition, driven by increasingly stringent decarbonisation policies and rapid advances in low-carbon technologies. The large-scale shift to low-carbon energy is disrupting the global energy system, impacting whole economies, and changing the political dynamics within and between countries. This open access book, written by leading energy scholars, examines the economic and geopolitical implications of the global energy transition, from both regional and thematic perspectives. The first part of the book addresses the geopolitical implications in the world’s main energy-producing and energy-consuming regions, while the second presents in-depth case studies on selected issues, ranging from the geopolitics of renewable energy, to the mineral foundations of the global energy transformation, to governance issues in connection with the changing global energy order. Given its scope, the book will appeal to researchers in energy, climate change and international relations, as well as to professionals working in the energy industry.

Energy Law and Policy
Energy Law and Policy

Author: Lincoln Davies

Publisher: West Academic Publishing

Published: 2021-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781647084301

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New book purchase includes complimentary digital access to the eBook. This casebook serves as a guide to energy law and policy for students who seek to practice in the field and anyone interested in better understanding this critical area of law. It introduces the key federal, state, and local government actors shaping energy issues and explores the multi-jurisdictional approach to energy regulation pervasive in the United States. The book explains the foundations of the laws and policies governing energy extraction, use, markets, and disposal. It covers how we make energy from renewable and non-renewable resources and examines the future of the energy sector in light of new technologies, market trends, emerging risks, and the need for greater equality. The authors use a systemic approach that allows for a deeper exploration of the linkages between the resources, technologies, law, policy, and markets that make up our core energy systems, including electricity and transportation. Energy Law and Policy contains cases, sample statutes and regulations, and pertinent excerpts from experts. These policy-oriented, often empirical materials offer the necessary building blocks for a public law course, particularly one covering a rapidly transitioning field. The book is organized into three parts that introduce students to the fundamental aspects of the energy sector, energy law, and the most pressing energy topics of the 21st century. The third edition expands and deepens coverage in important ways: Updated treatment of state and federal policy initiatives such as community solar, 100% clean energy laws, energy transition and energy markets. An entirely new chapter on how climate change risks and initiatives are shaping the energy sector, including domestic and international net zero energy goals and widespread adoption of electric vehicles. Integration of energy and environmental justice concerns throughout the book. Expanded discussion of energy leasing and extraction on private and federal lands, including solar, geothermal, and onshore and offshore wind energy, and the critical role of energy efficiency. In-depth coverage of new energy-related executive orders, regulations, and policy shifts since the start of the Biden Administration. Enhanced attention to controversial energy transport projects, including oil and natural gas pipelines, fossil fuel export terminals, and long-distance electric transmission lines.

Powering Forward
Powering Forward

Author: Bill Ritter, Jr.

Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing

Published: 2016-03-15

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1933108886

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A historic energy revolution is underway in the United States. Wind, sunlight, and other sustainable resources are now the fastest growing sources of energy in the U.S. and worldwide. American families are installing power plants on their roofs and entire communities are switching to 100 percent renewable energy. The urgent need to prevent climate change is causing people around the planet to question their reliance on carbon-intensive oil, coal, and natural gas. Author Bill Ritter, Jr., the 41st governor of Colorado and one of America's key thought leaders on this topic, discusses the forces behind the energy revolution, the new ways we must think about energy, and the future of fossil and renewable fuels. It is an essential read for any who want to understand one of history's biggest challenges to peace, prosperity, and security in the United States. Written in partnership with the Center for a New Energy Economy.