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April 11, 2007

States in U.S. Reach Renewable Energy Milestone

The success of state renewable energy standards is helping build momentum for a federal standard of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.
Washington, DC [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]

Recent increases in the amount of renewable electricity required under existing standards in Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico put the states over the 100-million metric tons (MMT) milestone.

On Monday, Maryland passed legislation expanding its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) with a "solar carve out" that will require approximately 1,500 megawatts (MW) of the state's electricity supply to come from solar by 2022.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) projects that 21 states and the District of Columbia that have adopted renewable electricity standards are on track to reduce their global warming emissions by 108 MMT of carbon dioxide by 2020.

By 2020, the UCS projects the state standards will produce more than 46,000 megawatts (MW) of clean, renewable power, enough to meet the needs of 28.5 million typical homes. State renewable electricity standards are expanding, with at least 10 more states considering adopting a requirement or raising existing targets.

One recent example: On Monday, Maryland passed legislation expanding its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) with a "solar carve out" that will require approximately 1,500 megawatts (MW) of the state's electricity supply to come from solar by 2022.

The success of state renewable energy standards is helping build momentum for a federal standard of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020. The federal standard would increase renewable energy output nearly four times over current state standards.

To help track and compare state standards, UCS has developed a new, one-stop resource, the Renewable Electricity Standards Toolkit, which includes summaries of all 22 standards, as well as maps illustrating existing standards and projections for future renewable energy development. It offers a database with detailed information about state standards, ranging from how renewable energy technologies are defined to how standards are enforced.
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Reader Comments (3)
 
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April 11, 2007
The increased renewable electricity state standards should help accelerate wind, solar, wave and Geothermal development. By providing the alternate energy industries with a financial guarantee, they will be able to plan ahead for increased production.

Legislation such as Marylands "solar carve out" will certainly give the solar sector additional guaranteed funding.

Each state should establish a pattern for growth in some sector(s) of renewable energy.

Committment and sound attitude to the importance of renewable development is evident by our states. If only our Federal Government could also demonstrate a similar change in attitude and committment, we could really grow and become more energy secure as a nation.

adrianakau@aol.com
Comment 1 of 3
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April 13, 2007
100 million tons of carbon dioxide sounds like a lot, but total annual US emissions of carbon dioxide is on the order of 7 billion tons. We've barely scratched the surface of the problem.
Comment 2 of 3
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April 14, 2007
It's very easy for states to mandate something. The money comes from somebody else. What we realy need is not somebody not producing something, but somebody producing something. How about 500 gigawatts of electrical power from renewable sources (not biofuels, which imperil billions of people around the world). If we want to survive, we need to electrify America from renewable sources - solar thermal, wind, geothermal, tides, etc.
Comment 3 of 3
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