Republic of uzbekistan ministry of higher education, science and innovations

Fundamental issues in Renewable Energy

Renewable energy, including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, wave, and tidal, offers the possibility of a large, continuous supply of energy in perpe- tuity. Analysis of the natural energy flows in the world shows that they provide usable energy many orders of magnitude greater than the entire human use of energy (Hermann 2006). For example, the amount of sunlight reaching the earth is more than 10,000 times greater than the total human direct use of energy, and the amount of energy embodied in wind is at least 4 times greater (Archer and Jacobson 2005; Da Rosa 2005; EIA 2008). In principle, renewable energy offers the possibility of a virtually unlimited sup- ply of energy forever.
In contrast, most of the energy sources we rely on heavily today, such as oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium, are depletable resources that are present on the earth as finite stocks. As such, eventually these stocks will be extracted to the point that they will not be economical to use, because of either the availability of a substitute energy source or scarcity of the resource. The greater the rate of use relative to the size of the resource stock, the shorter the time until this ultimate depletion can be expected.
These simple facts about the nature of depletable and renewable resources point to a seemingly obvious conclusion: the United States and the rest of the world will eventually have to make a transition to alternative or renewable sources of energy. However, the knowledge that the world will ultimately transition back to renewable resources is not sufficient reason for policies to promote those resources. Such transi- tions will happen regardless of policy, simply as a result of market incentives.
The fundamental question is whether markets will lead the United States and the rest of the world to make these transitions at the appropriate speed and to the appropriate renewable resource conversions, when viewed from a social perspec- tive. If not, then the question becomes, why not? And if markets will not motivate transitions at the appropriate speed or to the appropriate renewable supplies, the question becomes whether policy interventions can address these market failures so as to make the transitions closer to the socially optimal.
The question of why not may seem clear to those who follow the policy debates. Environ- mental and national security concerns are fore- most on the list of rationales for speeding up the transition from depletable fossil fuels to renewable energy. Recently there have also been claims that promoting new renewable technologies could allow the United States, or any country, to become more competitive on world markets or could create jobs.
But much national debate often combines these rationales and fails to differentiate among the various policy options, renewable technolo- gies, and time patterns of impacts. The rest of the chapter explores these issues in greater detail in order to disentangle and clarify the arguments for renewable energy policy.