Report Outlines Possible Energy Future, Demands Action

The next ten years will determine the future of energy in the United States, one way or another. If it’s to be a green future, the path to sustainability must start now. So says the report from the National Research Council, which harps on the case for a more aggressive approach to renewable and sustainable energy, including transportation and infrastructure.

This report is the culmination of the Council’s larger America’s Energy Future project. In short, the report outlines the most effective path toward a sustainable future for the United States. Steps include a broad approach to renewable energy, transformation to hybrid and electric vehicles, as well as an urgent move to energy efficiency.

In general, the report is a repeat of what hundreds of scientists, renewable industrialists, and advocacy groups have been voicing for years – that we need “green” change and we need it now. Moreover, it points to energy efficiency upgrade as a near-term solution and an overhaul of transportation and energy production as a long-term possibility, essentially repeating what the Obama administration has put forward, and to an extent, already put into action.

The report does have a few distinctions from similar studies from environmental advocacy groups. For one, it admits that petroleum will continue to be a force in the next few decades. Secondly, it puts “clean coal” technologies, such as carbon capture and sequestration, at a high priority, something the federal government supports but many in the green sector feel is a waste of time.

Thirdly, the report iterates that a portfolio approach to renewable energy must continue and extensive financial support must be supplied to research & development for everything from solar to wind to cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels.

None of these potential solutions are really any different than advocates have been selling for years, except for the heightened sense of urgency. In a way, the report is at once a threat and a promise. We have potential for a sustainable future, but every day that we skirt the problem, the harder it gets to fix.

Regardless, inactivity on the matter over the next decade will seriously harm our energy future. Beginning with energy efficiency, the usage of which the report claims can reduce by 30 percent by 2030, we must make a hard and fast turn toward a sustainable future. In essence, it’s like the advice we give to potential solar homeowners on this site -  Before you install panels on your house, first take steps to make it more energy efficient, thus saving on energy usage as well as solar system size.

It makes sense that this same advice would transfer to a larger arena. Only this time, the very fate of our nation may be at stake.

Posted on August 27th in Going Solar by Dan.