Emission caps would boost the use of renewable energies

WASHINGTON, DC, US, 2004-06-16 Refocus Weekly The use of renewable energy in the United States would double if the federal government were to set a cap on the emission of greenhouse gases, according to an analysis by the Department of Energy.

The Climate Stewardship Act of 2003 introduced by Senators McCain and Lieberman in January 2003 would establish the cap on GHG emissions in two phases, beginning in 2010 and 2016, and last October the senators proposed an amended version of the bill, SA.2028, which removed references to a second phase in 2016.

The Energy Information Administration evaluated SA.2028 last month, using GHG allowance costs of US$167 per tonne of carbon equivalent in 2025 under the amendment. In that scenario, the primary use of renewables would rise from 5.3 quadrillion Btu in 2001 to 15.31 quads, higher than the 8.8 quads under the reference case.

By comparison, natural gas would go from 23.3 quads in 2001 to
37.5 quads, compared with a reference case of 35.6, while petroleum would go from 38.5 to 53.0 quads, compared with 56.1 reference, while coal would go from 22.0 to 13.9 quads, versus a reference case of 29.9, and nuclear would rise from 8.0 to 10.5, compared with 8.3 quads under the reference case.

Total energy could rise from 97.3 quads in 2001 to 130.5 in 2025 under the amendment caps, or 138.6 quads under the reference case.

Renewables includes grid-connected power from conventional hydroelectric (not pumped storage), biomass, landfill gas, municipal solid waste, wind, solar photovoltaic and solar thermal, as well as non-electric energy from active and passive solar systems and biomass.

There is virtually no impact on the U.S. consumption of renewables in the residential and commercial sector, where consumption stays at 0.4 and 0.1 quads respectively across the 25-year period, while the industrial sector rises from 1.8 quads in 2001 to 3.0 in 2025 under the caps.
In the utility sector, the use of renewables goes from 3.0 quads in 2001 to 11.8 in 2025 under the amendment, compared with 9.5 quads under the reference case.


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