As stated in the article “A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030,” the three main sources of renewable energy are technologies that consist of zero-emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants of their entire life cycle (Jacobson, 87). Of course there are several renewable energy sources, but the three main resources listed in the article are wind, water and sunlight (WWS). To this day, wind supplies up to 51% of the energy demand with about 3.8 million wind turbines installed (Jacobson, 88). They are composed of concrete and steel in which steel may become a scarce resource (Jacobson, 88). However, wind energy has a downtime of only 2% on land and 5% at sea compared to 12.5% for coal (Jacobson, 88). A second renewable energy source would
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Two of the main challenges involved are centralized banking and governments. To this day, there are a few resources of capital that finance clean energy projects (Parish, 2013). Stated in the article “Renewable Energy Revolution: The Biggest Business Opportunity on the Planet,” of the 8,000 banks currently in the U.S., only 20 have a dedicated department for clean energy financing (Parish, 2013). Therefore, this allows them to charge incredibly high rates for capital making clean energy projects costly and overpriced (Parish, 2013). However, new laws are making it possible for renters to buy into community solar gardens and wind farms which could become the world’s largest energy industry (Parish, 2013). When it comes to the government however, government subsidies for research and development give an advantage to nuclear and fossil fuels. In 1996, Congress gave $422 million to fossil fuels while renewable energy received only $273 million (“Barriers to Renewable”). With renewable energy becoming a viable new source of energy, Congress needs to re-appropriate these subsidies into the sources that are becoming more prominent and will ultimately become our future. Additionally, the United States does not have a federal renewable energy plan therefore making it difficult to implement the system fully (Elliott). To go along with that, Congress has differing political views which …show more content…
Many of the customers are not well informed on the benefits of renewable energy resources. Oftentimes people think that solar and wind polar are an unreliable source since they are only available when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing (“Barriers to Renewable”). However, that is not the case. Nonetheless, public education is a critical part if a renewable energy system is going to
Two of the main challenges involved are centralized banking and governments. To this day, there are a few resources of capital that finance clean energy projects (Parish, 2013). Stated in the article “Renewable Energy Revolution: The Biggest Business Opportunity on the Planet,” of the 8,000 banks currently in the U.S., only 20 have a dedicated department for clean energy financing (Parish, 2013). Therefore, this allows them to charge incredibly high rates for capital making clean energy projects costly and overpriced (Parish, 2013). However, new laws are making it possible for renters to buy into community solar gardens and wind farms which could become the world’s largest energy industry (Parish, 2013). When it comes to the government however, government subsidies for research and development give an advantage to nuclear and fossil fuels. In 1996, Congress gave $422 million to fossil fuels while renewable energy received only $273 million (“Barriers to Renewable”). With renewable energy becoming a viable new source of energy, Congress needs to re-appropriate these subsidies into the sources that are becoming more prominent and will ultimately become our future. Additionally, the United States does not have a federal renewable energy plan therefore making it difficult to implement the system fully (Elliott). To go along with that, Congress has differing political views which …show more content…
Many of the customers are not well informed on the benefits of renewable energy resources. Oftentimes people think that solar and wind polar are an unreliable source since they are only available when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing (“Barriers to Renewable”). However, that is not the case. Nonetheless, public education is a critical part if a renewable energy system is going to