Green Energy Economies

Renewable fuels, such as wind, solar, biomass, tides, and geothermal, are inexhaustible, indigenous, and often free. However, capturing them and transforming them into electricity, hydrogen, or clean transporation fuels often is not. Green Energy: Technology, Economics, and Policy addresses how to approach and apply technology, economics, and

Green Energy Economies offers insight into the major drivers that are shaping a new future powered by clean energy sources. Assembling cutting-edge researchers as contributors, the book provides a comprehensive account of the shift underway, examining in detail the complexities and intricacies involved with such a transition. The book first details the promises and problems of a green energy transition. Next, it explores the economic benefits that a comprehensive strategy toward a green energy economy might create. Then it investigates how communities will be affected and explores the social, cultural, and other changes that are likely to result. Finally, it explores the shift toward new technologies in-depth. Green Energy Economies concludes with policy options that support a transition to a better energy, environmental, and economic future. The contributors argue that a green energy economy offers great promise, but its realization will require making hard choices, and soon. They argue for investments in renewable energy and economic systems that can deliver a sustainable and equitable future. This book makes a forceful case for a green future.

Green Energy Economies offers insight into the major drivers that are shaping a new future powered by clean energy sources. Assembling cutting-edge researchers as contributors, the book provides a comprehensive account of the shift underway, examining in detail the complexities and intricacies involved with such a transition. The book first details the promises and problems of a green energy transition. Next, it explores the economic benefits that a comprehensive strategy toward a green energy economy might create. Then it investigates how communities will be affected and explores the social, cultural, and other changes that are likely to result. Finally, it explores the shift toward new technologies in-depth. Green Energy Economies concludes with policy options that support a transition to a better energy, environmental, and economic future. The contributors argue that a green energy economy offers great promise, but its realization will require making hard choices, and soon. They argue for investments in renewable energy and economic systems that can deliver a sustainable and equitable future. This book makes a forceful case for a green future.

A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system. A quantitative characterization of technologies, this book lays out expectations of costs, performance, and impacts, as well as barriers and research and development needs. In addition to a principal focus on renewable energy technologies for power generation, the book addresses the challenges of incorporating such technologies into the power grid, as well as potential improvements in the national electricity grid that could enable better and more extensive utilization of wind, solar-thermal, solar photovoltaics, and other renewable technologies.

A volume on the political economy of clean energy transition in developed and developing regions, with a focus on the issues that different countries face as they transition from fossil fuels to lower carbon technologies.

The United States and China are the world's top two energy consumers and, as of 2010, the two largest economies. Consequently, they have a decisive role to play in the world's clean energy future. Both countries are also motivated by related goals, namely diversified energy portfolios, job creation, energy security, and pollution reduction, making renewable energy development an important strategy with wide-ranging implications. Given the size of their energy markets, any substantial progress the two countries make in advancing use of renewable energy will provide global benefits, in terms of enhanced technological understanding, reduced costs through expanded deployment, and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions relative to conventional generation from fossil fuels. Within this context, the U.S. National Academies, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), reviewed renewable energy development and deployment in the two countries, to highlight prospects for collaboration across the research to deployment chain and to suggest strategies which would promote more rapid and economical attainment of renewable energy goals. Main findings and concerning renewable resource assessments, technology development, environmental impacts, market infrastructure, among others, are presented. Specific recommendations have been limited to those judged to be most likely to accelerate the pace of deployment, increase cost-competitiveness, or shape the future market for renewable energy. The recommendations presented here are also pragmatic and achievable.

Bringing together renewable energy and energy security, this book covers both the politics and political economy of renewables and energy security and analyzes renewable technologies in diverse and highly topical countries: Japan, China and Northern Europe.

This volume examines the outlook for renewable energy in electricity generation-particularly wind and solar power-as a substitute for conventional fuels such as coal and natural gas. Economist Benjamin Zycher evaluates the central arguments in favor of policies that would make way for broader use of renewables and concludes that all are deeply problematic. "Renewable" energy sources are not superior in cost to conventional fuels; nor are they less taxing on the environment. The popular argument that increased use of renewables will create "green jobs" is likewise a fallacy-because wind and solar power are costly and inefficient, the net economic impact is a negative one. Zycher concludes that resource-use behaviors emerging from market competition are the best guides to effective, sustainable energy policies.