Carbon-Free Energy Is Possible -- Without Nukes [View all]

[kristopher]

Eleanor LeCain
President, The Breakthrough Way

Carbon-Free Energy Is Possible -- Without Nukes

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I asked him what he discovered in his research that made him believe it is possible. He replied: "We are in the midst of a technological revolution that is making renewables more economically feasible. We can make this happen." Since the book was published, the pace of technology change has continued to accelerate.

- Wind power has been economical for years. In 2006, solar electric was five times more expensive than it needed to be to compete as a source for home energy, but it is becoming competitive.

- As demand goes up, the cost of production goes down: manufacturers can shift from custom-made to larger scale production. The price of silicon needed for solar cells is down. A few years ago, you'd pay $4 a watt for a solar panel, now it's 70 cents a watt.

"I thought we'd need major legislation such as a price on carbon through a carbon tax or trading emissions," said Dr. Makhijani. "But the technological developments are making renewables economically feasible without any major legislation." Thank God we don't have to rely on legislation passed by our increasingly dysfunctional Congress. He continued, "I thought it would take to the middle of the century; now, if we try hard, it could be much faster -- by 2035 or 2040."

Demand for renewables is coming from many directions. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan increased its use of renewables, and is now the second largest market for solar energy, bigger than the U.S. Among the largest buyers of solar electricity in the US is that great bastion of radicals, the Pentagon. They are also leading in alternative energy. It makes sense, given that the military understands our vulnerability to disruption in oil supplies: if our oil supply were cut from the Mideast and elsewhere, we'd need renewables to ensure enough stable energy at home. Of course, climate is a security issue: more extreme weather increases the need for more domestic energy supplies.

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Dr. Makhijani offers a clear goal -- a zero CO2 economy -- which gives policy coherence and a yardstick by which we can measure progress. He identifies 12 critical policies to be enacted to achieve it....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eleanor-lecain/carbonfree-energy-is-poss_b_4486153.html?utm_hp_ref=energy

Arjun Makhijani
Arjun Makhijani, President of IEER, holds a Ph.D. in engineering (specialization: nuclear fusion) from the University of California at Berkeley. He has produced many studies and articles on nuclear fuel cycle related issues, including weapons production, testing, and nuclear waste, over the past twenty years. He is the principal author of the first study ever done (completed in 1971) on energy conservation potential in the U.S. economy. Most recently, Dr, Makhijani has authored Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy (IEER Press), the first analysis of a transition to a U.S. economy based completely on renewable energy, without any use of fossil fuels or nuclear power. He is the principal editor of Nuclear Wastelands and the principal author of Mending the Ozone Hole, both published by MIT Press.

Short Curriculum Vita of Arjun Makhijani
http://ieer.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Short-Curriculum-Vita-of-Arjun-Makhijani.pdf