We are in the middle of an energy revolution and it is exciting to see who reforms to the new idea’s of renewable energies such as solar…
Lancaster California has been working on becoming the #1 city in the world to go solar, while Sebastopol California is catching up at a fast pace in becoming the second fastest city to go solar.
California along with Arizona have the highest rates of sunshine in the United States, both states average about 5.5 strong hours of continuous sunlight, so it would be to the advantage of these states to cash in with solar to make their states more energy efficient and to give other states the initiative to do the same.
The Important Question is Why Do We Need Solar?
There 5 different area’s that we will focus on:
1) Economic growth- The high usage of electricity over the past several decades has grown drastically from all of the devices we have been inventing over these time periods such as the internet, computers and computer related products that have a huge appetite when it comes to energy usages.
As the United States continues to grow in their thirst for energy, we cannot continue down this path if we want to evolve safely.
The following chart is a 40 year chart of United States energy usage.
2). Population Growth- Population growth is a given throughout the United States and California.
The expected growth for California from 2000 to 2040 is 51%.
The expected growth for the United States during the same time frame is estimated to be 42%.
3). Reliance on Imports- California’s energy demand increased 6% from 2001-2005, that was California’s last energy crisis.
A Silicone Valley Manufacturing Group is fearful that California State may need more energy then it can import. This same group that its nearly 200 members lost over 100 million dollars in just one day from the June 2000 blackouts. Transmission systems inability to import enough power was the cause of the rolling blackouts that occurred that year.
The chart below show the high need of imported energy.
4). Dirty Energy- Since 2006 California only consumes 11% renewable energies that include; solar, geothermal, small hydroelectric, biomass and wind, while 57 % is from dirty energy like fossil fuels, coal, natural gas and nuclear.
Recently a law pasted stating that California had to accelerate their renewable energies through private investor owned utilities and to receive a 20% renewable portfolio by 2010.
Fossil fuels create too much greenhouse gas pollution (e.g. coal). Fossil fuels and nuclear energy have health consequences and risks both for individuals and our environment. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change, comprising more than 2,000 of the world’s leading climate
scientists, have found that our global climate is gradually warming. They predict that during our
children’s lifetimes global warming could raise the planet’s average temperature by as much as 11
degrees Fahrenheit. Without acting upon this information, this landscape-altering disaster promises heavy damages on our ecosystems, economies and quality of life. Energy from non-renewable sources
become even more expensive over time due to finite supply. Renewable energy technologies
tend to become more affordable as supply and economies increase.
Solar Energy is just the ticket for clean and reliable energy, it can eliminate most of the states energy problems and is more affordable then the dirty energies of the present. Solar can also help eliminate California’s carbon foot print and reduce global warming. Best of all, once a solar system is
installed, it generates energy for free, requires minimal maintenance, and can last 35 years or more.
California for years has been a trend setter, lets just hope that this trend moves fast across the United
States, so that we can reduce our carbon footprint and be leaders in renewable energies..