“We need to move boldly on a deliberate path on each of our most viable clean energy options,” Dan Arvizu, Director of the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) told a business group in Kansas City.

“There is no one ‘silver bullet’; instead, our path should be to push forward with multiple clean energy resources and technologies, putting each to their highest and best use.”

“There will be those who will argue that energy alternatives don’t work or we can’t afford them (but) there’s an easy answer for that,” he explained. “The truth is we already are producing more renewable energy today than the energy  content from all US offshore oil production.”

Renewable energies 6.2:  offshore oil 3.9

In 2008, non-hydro renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal and biomass supplied 4.9 quadrillion BTUs (quad) in the form of electricity and liquid fuels, he quoted from the latest Energy Outlook from DoE’s Energy Information Administration. If renewable hydroelectric power is added, the USA obtained 6.2 quad of renewable energy each year, compared with the 3.9 quad in the 683 million barrels of offshore oil the country drills.

“With renewable energy already contributing more to the nation’s overall energy needs as offshore oil, it’s clear that renewable technologies and resources no longer live solely in the future,” he explained.

“They have proven themselves as viable, and substantial, today.

“Whether it’s a serious trade deficit resulting from oil imports, or the financial support oil imports provide to hostile regimes, energy is central to our economic and national security interests,” he continued.

“It’s becoming clear that the trio of crises - the environmental, economic and national security predicaments we face - are not distinct - they’re intertwined. Each is related directly to how we generate and use energy.

“The environmental, security and economic benefits of renewables, and the fact that renewables are distributed, lead me to believe these technologies will ultimately be our best choice for the future,” he added.

US has 35 GW wind energy and 1 GW solar PV

At 35 GW of installed capacity, the US has become the world’s largest producer of wind power, and the country has 1 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, both of which are growing at 30% to 40% per year.

“We still have a long way to go to capitalize on the full advantages of wind and solar resources, as they only comprise just over 1% of our electricity generation, but it is important to note, just as our energy problems are intertwined, our energy solutions are intertwined as well,” he stated.

“Several recently conducted comprehensive analyses on wind and solar alone indicate that we can realistically expect to supply 20% to 30% of our electricity from wind and to supply 10% to 20% of our electricity from solar.”

The real price for a unit of energy from solar, wind and biofuel and other renewable energy technologies now costs from 10% to 30% of what a unit of energy cost when the US research effort began on renewable technologies in the late 1970s.

“If we consider the many economic development and educational benefits additionally derived from these efforts, the Federal investment in energy R&D has paid for itself many times over,” he said.

“Unfortunately, that benefit has mostly accrued to the international market players that have created today’s renewable energy industry globally. Only 10% of the market is in the US.”

Future energy landscape must include all renewable technologies

“I believe that in the future, the US energy landscape, must be and will be, vastly different than it is today,” he concluded.

“This long-term clean energy R&D portfolio must include cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, fuels produced from algae, renewably produced hydrogen, solar, wind and geothermal power, smart grid technologies, new battery and other energy storage systems and, of course, energy efficiency technologies as well.

“Rather than discussing the sacrifices and costs of getting there, what we really need is a comprehensive, forward-thinking, sustainable energy plan, one with aggressive goals, and a focused commitment to achieve those goals,” he said.

“The real answer lies in transforming our entire energy infrastructure toward a full range of sustainable energy sources - driven by innovation, private-sector investment and a supportive national energy policy.

“My guess is it won’t be much of a sacrifice at all and may just invigorate our economy!”