Home Environment Green Policy

How The U.S. Is Really Doing in the Renewable Energy Sector

40
0

You may have realized a while ago that in a few decades from now, the renewable energy sources like wind, sun and geothermal will become more and more stuck to our immediate reality. So, if you live in the US and are interested in how your country is doing, we’re offering you a peak here: pretty good, I’d say, given that its number 2 spot on the “most attractive for renewable energy investment” goes past Germany and races behind China.

To go a little more into details, the professional service organization Ernst & Young compiled a list of the status in each US state starting with California, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Texas in this order. Along the same line, the US is seeing great potential coming from Midwestern states like Ohio and Michigan.

Another key point the report made is how threatened these industries really are. I think it’s fair to say the country had a record year in solar and wind energy, but cuts in the Production Tax Credit (PTC) may never allow that to happen again.

For example, in what the solar industry is concerned, the expiration of the Section 1603 at the end of last year means developments will rely on tax equity, which is not exactly at its best: the expected demand of $7 billion to $10 billion will surely leave a gap in the $3.2 billion tax equity supply.

Likewise, if the same PTC is not prolonged this year, 33,000 jobs from this industry will go down the drain. And it would be a real shame, since last year the US installed 6.8 GW, which allowed it to reach a total 50 GW of installed renewable energy. The country actually has a history of that, when the annual installed capacity plummeted 93% in 1999, 73% in 2001 and 77% in 2003.

[via Cleantechnica]

(Visited 46 times, 1 visits today)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.