Barack Obama is now officially the 44th President of the United States. George W. Bush and the majority of those that came with him are now gone. Already contrary to anything Bush ever put forward, Obama has come up with a very ambitious energy plan: to double our renewable energy output within three years.

On his way out, however, exiting Energy Secretary Sam Bodman called Obama’s energy plan “extremely difficult.” He did point out that solar energy is the best candidate for ramped-up production but remained rather pessimistic. “I’m not saying you can’t do it,” he added, “it depends on how much money you spend.”

Bodman disagreed with spending any more money on renewable energy advancement, noting that in his mind “we’re spending about at the rate which makes sense.”

I don’t doubt that achieving the President’s goal will be difficult, but I also find it a bit ridiculous to say our present rate of investment is adequate, but this comes from a Bush appointee who had very little direct energy experience prior to his nomination to Energy Secretary (he does have a long history in the financial markets). Yes the current recession complicates things immensely, but the fact is steps must be taken, and the renewable energy industry is ready and raring to go.

The solar industry itself is biting its nails with anticipation, waiting for the starting gun. Several powerful breakthroughs await further development, the polysilicon shortage is all but taken care of, and solar manufacturers and installers are set to handle whatever demands might be thrown their way.

The wind industry may, as Bodman asserted, have a tight manufacturing capacity at the moment, but let’s start by increasing that capacity. The Midwest is prime windy real estate and can at least provide that region with a hefty amount of energy in the short term.

The potential for geothermal power is vast and as yet unfathomed in my opinion. New technologies make it a viable resource anywhere in the world and it could be implemented on old oil drilling sites here in the U.S., where a good portion of necessary infrastructure already exists. And with such freedom of location, geothermal plants could be located near existing transmission lines to help circumvent that problem.

And there are still hydroelectric or tidal power, biofuels, and other biomass technologies to speak of. So while money may be an issue — and a big one at that — the number of resources readily available to us could power our entire country many times over in three years if only we could get them up and running that fast. In an age where extremely large sums of money are thrown around like confetti (i.e., TARP, the banker bailout), what else can we do but set our aims high and work hard to reach them?

One likely thorn in our side will be transmission and an over-stressed national electric grid. When all lines are busy it doesn’t matter how much energy you’re creating; it won’t be getting to the people. Should Obama continue the current federal MO, which focuses primarily on large scale solar power then I believe things will be delayed more than necessary. We must remember that there are millions of rooftops already attached to the grid, requiring no further infrastructure to utilize.

This would put a lot of power into the hands of the average homeowner, which I know many investors and deregulated utilities won’t like, but hey, we elected him.

Nevertheless, I believe that doubling our current renewable energy output (7 percent of our total energy usage in ‘07 according to the DOE) is definitely feasible within the next three years. At the same time, I understand that these are complex resources and perhaps even more complex times, but we’ve arguably regressed in the last eight years when it comes to curbing global warming and solidifying our energy future. Now is the time for ambition and a sky-is-the-limit mentality. In other words…

We have a lot of catching up to do. And I applaud President Obama and his energy team for devising a plan that could catalyze an industry, and a people increasingly desperate for a guiding light and a rallying point.

LINKS:

Reuters

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Posted on February 2nd in Solar Politics by Dan.