The election is over and it’s time to move on. The new administration has made public its desire to reduce greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050, and to meet this goal, electrical energy currently generated with coal and other fossil fuels must be replaced with clean, sustainable sources. Unfortunately, if you look at the facts, this transition will likely prove difficult and very costly.

Let’s check the facts:

*2006 United States Electrical Generation by Fuel in Megawatts

Total                    464,000

Coal                      220,000

Natural Gas            92,000

Nuclear                  89,000

Hydroelectric         33,000

Wind                       21,000 (2008)

To put things in perspective, Hoover Dam produces 2,000 Megawatts of power.

Natural gas is a far cleaner fuel than is coal. And according to a Navigant Consulting survey, tapping into unconventional gas supplies could raise production by 50% in 10 years.  While not a long-term solution, replacing coal-fired power plants with gas-fired generators would have a substantial, positive impact on the environment.

Ethanol is a clean burning fuel, but America’s breadbasket cannot be emptied to create electricity.  As a source for biofuel, a tree or a plant that is both rich in oil and able to tolerate drought and frost would be ideal.  Rather than competing with corn and wheat production, biofuel sources could be grown and processed on (conventionally) unproductive land in the Southwestern areas of the United States. The jatropha plant is rich in oil, is well suited to the desert Southwest, but cannot survive a freeze.  However, grown in greenhouses warmed by low temperature geothermal energy (see below,) jatropha could provide the oil needed to replace petrol-based diesel with cleaner, sustainable bio-diesel, which is of vital importance to the military and the long-haul trucking industry.

When it comes to generating electricity, wind power is becoming a real player. There are, however, certain costs. Those huge blades, drive-trains, and towers are made of steel, aluminum, and copper. Somewhere, raw materials are mined, smelted, machined, processed, and transported to produce the end-product. Nothing comes without a price. That said, wind power is one of the few alternative energy sources that can provide America with the substantial quantities of electricity so vitally needed for the transition away from fossil fuels.

Low Temp Geothermal Generator - Image courtesy of Raser Technologies

Another promising technology uses low temperature geothermal energy to produce electricity. While high temperature geothermal energy production amounts to roughly 2,800 megawatts annually and is geologically limited, low temperature geothermal generating plants have the potential to produce more than 100,000 megawatts. Using already existing technologies, low temperature geothermal well-water transfers heat to fluids that boil at temperatures lower than water does. The possibilities are huge, but current production constraints do limit the impact on America’s total energy requirements. A retooling by Ford, Chrysler and/or GM to low temperature geothermal generators would be necessary to provide the scale required to make the transition from fossil fuels.

When it comes to a clean energy policy and energy independence, getting from here to there is a road fraught with peril.  Short of a major technological breakthrough, weaning America off fossil fuels will prove to be a painful, expensive process and a single misstep could put America’s security or economy at risk. Major resource shifts are required, but concessions may be necessary. Economies in ruin are not concerned with going green.

*Source: Energy Information Admintration

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