The Barriers And Opportunities For Increased Renewable Energy Generation

The United States is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world, and yet is doing very little to fix this startling statistic (Dennis). The US’ reliance upon outdated energy sources continues to harm both the environment and the economy by producing millions of tonnes of pollution every year and costing the government billions of dollars (“Fact Sheet: Clean Power Plan”). Fossil fuels have been the main energy sources in America since the industrial revolution, and it is time to make a change. Renewable energy is energy harnessed from sources like the sun, wind, or water, and has little to no negative effects on the environment (“Renewable Energy Technology Basics”). The United States needs to integrate and increase the use of these types of energy across the country, as well as implement positive environmental policies, to prevent further pollution of the earth and combat the effects of climate change.

As we can see, the sense of urgency of this policy has kindled some sort of energy revolution in the world's developing nations. The Kyoto Protocol cannot perhaps be attributed with all the credit for this revolution, however it must have at the least given these nations a workable justification behind any changes that previously would have been unacceptable.

The switch to clean energy in the United States and around the world is a difficult necessity that must be met within the subsequent five to six decades. The prolonged use of damaging fossil fuels and other unsustainable forms of energy are greatly damaging the planet. These sources of non-renewable energy are bound to run out in the following century. Millions of square kilometers of Arctic ice has melted so far, the sea level is rising, and the CO2 levels present in the atmosphere are drastically increasing (Chang). The transition to renewable energy must be met; however, this is not a process possible to achieve overnight. This change will require an extensive amount of resources and time but will reap many benefits to the users of this growing technology.

Anderson, D. United Nations Development Programme, United Nations. & World Energy Council. (2000). World Energy Assessment: Energy and the challenge of sustainability. New York, NY: United Nations Development Programme

Nevertheless, there are empirical indicators that promoting the transition to the decarbonisation of current global energy mix will necessitate the shift of energy systems towards a more sustainable configuration (Loorbach and Rotmans 2010). This view is not only shared amongst the academia but also amongst policy makers. But the big question is, is decarbonization in itself sustainable? Whereas the decarbonization of energy mix is appreciated, but given that the remaining hydrocarbons;

As policy measures, Indonesia has various policies in place such as Energy Law(LawNo.30/2007), Geothermal Law(LawNo.27/2003), Geothermal Business (GovernmentRegulationNo.59/2007), Green Energy Policy (MinisterialDecree:No.0002/2004) which would encourage the use of green energy in Public as well as private sector. The aim is to increase the share of renewable energy

Technologies such as solar power, wind, bioenergy and more can change the ways that energy is being produced and prevent the dangers of global warming.

“Doubling the share of renewable energy by 2030 could deliver around half of the required emissions reductions…,” the author of REthinking Energy 2015, a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) ahead of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where a new agreement is to be signed about climate change at Paris summit in December 2015. In addition, the report points out that renewable energy is countries’ essential tool not only to fulfil climate change mitigation objectives but also to incite economic growth. In fact, I belief that renewable energy is the pledge that each nation must take to avoid potential harms of ecosystems. In brief, my research concerns the renewable energy resources and their integration with power grids.

tion accounting for the 90 % of the energy consumption in the Kingdom, one of

In the recent years, World’s energy consumption has been increasing at a rapid rate due to economic development and population growth. The International Energy Outlook report released in July 2013 (IEO2013) projects that there will be 56% rise in the world energy consumption by 2040 (ref). It has been projected that total world energy use rises from 524 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) in 2010 to 630 quadrillion Btu in 2020 and to 820 quadrillion Btu in 2040, which corresponds to an increase of 16% and 36% respectively (Figure 1.1). It has been predicted that much of the growth in energy consumption may occur in countries that are not included in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (ref). At present, there prevails huge variation in the economic performance of various countries world-wide. For OECD countries, the pace of economic growth varies but is relatively slow when compared to emerging

Tracing the current trend in energy development is somehow a challenge without taking into consideration the geographical implications of climate change. With the ambition to come up with a sustainable energy solution, companies and nations have over the recent past been focussing on the horizontal capacity in addition to the conventional energy sources. However, the dependence on conventional energy sources such as coal, natural gas, and oil has always proven to be a challenge considering the increased levels of energy consumptions and the

The strategies a developed nation uses to combat GHG emissions doesn’t differ greatly from that of a developing nation such as Thailand. Developed nations are economically more capable of introducing, implementing and developing technologies for mitigation, but these technologies are expected to be readily available to developing nations

As we move ahead in time, the population growth rate is increasing at an exponential rate. As a result of this the energy demand is increasing as well. To meet this demand, more and more energy is being generated. Conventional energy sources like natural gas and coal has been the main sources of energy production. At the rate we are going, these sources will be depleted very soon. These sources contribute to a major portion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the power industry. It is about time that everyone start looking towards the sustainable practices or sources that contribute to GHG emission reductions and prevent natural resource depletions. Everyone is now interested in the idea of "Going Green" and this is the right way to go. Residential as well as industrial energy consumers are becoming more and more attracted towards green energy. Energy produced from sources like solar and wind have minimum environmental footprint and these sources do not deplete like conventional sources. With the enactment of facilities like net metering and various tax incentives, people are getting more encouraged towards investing in these sources.

Differently from the INDC, the WWS forecasts the complete turn of Bangladesh to renewable energies by 2050. This program envisions this possibility based on a reliance on multiple sources of energy (Jacobson et al., 2015). While solar energy would have to cover 87.6% of the total energy demanded, wind will provide 11.6% of the energy demanded, while hydroelectric and marine sources will offer the remaining 0.9%. This project is supposed to help the economy of Bangladesh by creating around 211,000 job opportunities, and also by improving energy efficiency (Jacobson et al., 2015). With an improved efficiency, the population will be able to decrease the energy demand and use by 47% by 2050 (Jacobson et al., 2015).

Gas is an energy future of Indonesia. It is a fact that cannot be denied anymore. Based on existing data, throughout 2010 there were new discoveries of gas reserves are significant enough to achieve 2.09 trillion cubic feet, while the discovery of oil only amounted to 140 million barrels only. On January 1, 2011, proved reserves position and potential of gas in Indonesia reached 153.72 trillion cubic feet of proven and potential reserves and crude oil for 7.41 billion Barrels. (BPMIGAS Bulletin Issue, 2011)