 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 24, 2010 Proposed legislation introduced yesterday in the U.S. Senate would establish a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) that sets targets for the year 2013 and beyond that are actually lower than the amount of non-hydro renewable electricity already being produced in the United States today. The Senate bill, sponsored by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Mark Udall (D-CO), would require sellers of electricity to retail customers to obtain 3% of their electricity from renewable energy resources or from energy efficiency improvements by the years 2012-2013. Yet, according to the most recent issue of the "Electric Power Monthly" issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), non-hydro renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, solar, wind) provided nearly 4.1% of domestic U.S. electrical generation during the first half of 2010. Hydropower provided an additional 6.8% of net U.S. electrical generation for the same time period. ** Moreover, electrical generation from non-hydro renewable sources continues to grow rapidly. According to EIA data, electricity from biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind during the first six months of 2010 increased by 13% over the amount generated during the first half of 2009. Wind-generated electricity increased by 21.4%; electricity from solar thermal and photovoltaics rose by 16.4%; wood and other forms of biomass rose by 4.5%; and geothermal output increased by 0.8%. Thus, inasmuch as the Senate bill includes incremental hydropower, hydrokinetic, and new hydropower at existing dams as well as energy efficiency improvements among the resources - in addition to biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind - that can contribute to the RES targets, it's obvious that the 2013 target has already been surpassed by 30% or more and the 2016 target of 6% is within easy reach. "Creating an RES framework and starting foundation is a worthy goal and the Senate bill should be supported for that reason," noted Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. "However, inasmuch as the near-term targets have already been surpassed and the longer-term targets are easily achievable, any criticism or opposition by those who might suggest the renewable electricity targets would be costly, unrealistic, or otherwise burdensome should be dismissed as being disingenuous at best."
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links -
Moscow Forum To Seek Solutions On Sharing The Arctic's Mineral WealthMoscow, Russia (RIA Novosti) Sep 21, 2010 Recent developments in the Arctic, such as the discovery of new oil deposits off Greenland and border delimitation expeditions in the Arctic by various nations, suggest it is time to begin a serious dialogue on the region. Russia intends to do just this with the forum The Artic - Territory of Dialogue. The forum has been organized by the Russian Geographical Society in association with the ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
