Renewable Power Pathways A Review of the U.S. Department of Energy's Renewable Energy Programs (2000) / Chapter Skim
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2 Role of Renewable Sources of Energy
2 Role of Renewable Sources of Energy
Pages 13-27
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From page 13... ...
This chapter provides a brief introduction to the key factors and issues the committee considered in its deliberations. Recommendations for helping OPT refine its strategic plans and define its role in delivering the next generation of advanced renewable energy technologies appear in subsequent chapters.
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From page 14... ...
program, Research Applied to National Needs, which investigated alternative sources of energy. Following the oil price shocks of the 1970s, the shortlived Energy Research and Development Administration became part of a new cabinet-level department, the DOE, which has since become the lead agency for federal R&D on energy technologies, although other agencies also have relevant programs.
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GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Prior to the 1970s, the prevailing view was that the private sector was the appropriate place for the development of energy technologies. However, economists are quick to point out that there has been inadequate or little private support for R&D that is itself a "public good" (i.e., when results of the research will become widely known but the beneficiaries are uncertain)
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This is the traditional justification for government sponsorship of R&D for less environmentally intrusive forms of energy conversion (e.g., clean combustion, solar energy technologies, fuel cells) , although technology development has been pursued by private interests to meet new regulatory standards or, more recently, to avoid effluent fees on the emissions of pollutants.
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However, the decline in federal sponsorship of R&Dis only one of the forces shaping the landscape for the development of the next-generation renewable energy technologies. Some other influences are the structure of the economy, the maturity of technologies developed to date, the prevailing attitudes toward regulation, the growing complexity of environmental issues, and change from a bipolar world with two superpowers to a world of regional hot spots.
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Today, one could argue that environmental concerns are dominant. Therefore, although energy security is still a long-term goal for the development of alternative energy technologies, the urgency of the 1970s no longer prevails.
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. Major mergers and acquisitions involving multinational firms have also changed the cast of players involved in the renewable energy technology business dramatically over the last decade.
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A competitive electricity market may, with appropriate policies, improve the deployment or renewable energy technologies in the long term; these changes have seriously undermined the short-term climate for the adoption of new technology in the electric power business by reducing available funds for industry investment in long-term power-generation alternatives. Restructuring of the oil and gas sectors.
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. 21 markets, the diversification of world oil supplies, and dramatic increases in the availability and discovery of new natural gas reserves, have led to persistently low oil and gas prices, which have greatly weakened incentives for the development of alternative energy supplies.
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Until recently, DOE was able to "stay connected" to the thinking and planning of the electric industry, which was rather homogeneous and "open." The emergence of a competitive supply sector with different economic drivers, technology risk profiles, and commercial strategies, has challenged DOE to engage new suppliers, as well as conventional suppliers, in future technology decisions. EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH ON RENEWABLE ENERGY In the 1970s and early 1980s, energy prices were expected to rise, and the opportunity for using natural gas in industry, especially for the production of electric power, was expected to be limited.
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, a financially struggling electric utility industry, a general expectation of continued increases in energy prices, and occasional geopolitical events that focused attention on energy security all contributed to the deployments of renewable energy technologies in the early 1980s. At the same time, natural gas markets became increasingly deregulated, precipitating a number of important energy technology trends, such as dramatic improvements in exploration and drilling technologies and in the cost and performance of combustion turbine technologies for electric power generation.
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STRATEGIC RATIONALE FOR THE OFFICE OF POWER TECHNOLOGIES' PROGRAMS The significant changes in energy markets and the restructuring of the industry in the last decade are not reflected in the strategic direction of OPT's technology programs for the next decade, which are still focused on the cost, performance, and security goals established during the late 1970s and 1980s. The following national energy interests should drive OPT's programs (Office of the President, 1997~: · competitive market entry · environmentally sustainable energy supplies · national energy security and the reliability of critical infrastructure Competitive markets are creating new opportunities for particular technologies as commercial and residential buyers are beginning to purchase energy systems tailored to meet specific energy needs.
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Scenarios of U.S. Carbon Reductions, the Eleven-Laboratory Study, also concluded that renewable energy technologies have a significant potential to reduce greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by displacing electricity generated by fossil fuels and that a national investment in R&D and demonstration over the next three decades would provide a portfolio of technologies that could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions (EERE, 1997~.
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Promote energy production and use that reflect human health and environmental values thus improving health and local, regional, and global environmental quality. · Expand future energy choices by continuing to pursue science and technology to provide future generations with a robust portfolio of clean, affordable sources of energy.
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From page 27... ...
1997. Federal Energy Research and Development for the Twenty-First Century.
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