Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have increased dramatically in the past few decades. Fortunately, solar energy technologies can be one solution to transition the United States to a low-carbon, sustainable future.
SEIA was recently asked by the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change for actions or policies federal agencies could adopt, using existing authorities, to reduce emissions of heat-trapping pollution. The SEIA response letter can be found here.
Solar as a Silver Bullet?
Greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions in the United States come from a number of different sectors in the economy, the most prominent being the electric power industry (29.5 percent), followed by transportation (22.9 percent), then industry (18.5 percent), residential (15.5 percent), and commercial (13 percent). While there may not be a silver bullet technology that can reduce all U.S. ghg emissions to zero, solar technologies can be used in many applications to reduce emissions in each of these sectors:
About a third of U.S. ghg emissions result from electricity usage in buildings and homes. Both concentrating solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies can produce clean, emissions-free electricity, while solar heating and cooling (SHC) technologies can displace electricity usage with thermal energy. As of Q3 2012, there were over 6,400 MW of installed solar electric capacity. If coal generated electricity were displaced by PV energy, at least 98% of air pollution such as SO2, NOx, and heavy metals could be avoided in addition to ghg emissions.
Plug-in hybrids are widely seen as one of the near-term climate change solutions in the transportation sector, especially when these hybrid cars are plugged into and charged by a grid fed with renewable energy. The deployment of plug-in hybrid cars using a solar renewable energy grid can significantly bring down the percentage of emissions that stem from this sector.
Many heavy industries rely on significant sources of power to generate steam or hot water for process heat and other manufacturing purposes, such as the aluminum and steel industries, and therefore generate high levels of ghg emissions. CSP technologies can generate high-temperature steam that can power furnaces that are part of the materials production process, whereas solar heating and cooling technologies can generate high-temperature hot water to be used in a plethora of industrial processes, such as process heating used in drying paint in the automobile industry and cooking packaged foods. These solar technologies ultimately reduce the ghg emissions emitted during industrial production.
Commercial and Residential
Combined, the commercial and residential sectors make up 28.5% of U.S. ghg emissions. The commercial sector includes buildings such as offices, malls, warehouses, schools, restaurants, and hospitals. The residential sector consists of homes and apartments. PV and SHC technologies can reduce or displace the electricity needs, and SHC technologies can satisfy demand for heating and cooling. Furthermore, solar cooling can be used as a clean, emissions-free solution to meet cooling needs.
Life Cycle Assessment
Another benefit of solar is that it often produces less “life-cycle” ghg emissions than conventional fossil fuel energy sources. A lifecycle assessment for a PV panel examines the production, generation phases, as well as the recycling of the system. Compared to the most commonly-used technologies for generating energy today, solar technologies produce the least amount of ghg emissions.
SEIA supports comprehensive climate and energy legislation, and is opposed to any legislation that would weaken the Clean Air Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also moving forward with rules on the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases, including a plan to regulate ghg under the Clean Air Act.
SEIA encourages all countries to use solar energy as countries transition to a sustainable clean energy future.
SEIA previously participated in the 16th and 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) under the UNFCCC in Cancun and Copenhagen, respectively, to highlight the role that solar energy can play in combating climate change. SEIA worked with multiple solar groups from around the world to have one message at the conferences: solar energy means more jobs, more energy, and less CO2.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - International scientific body that compiles data for the assessment of climage change, including environmental, social, and economic impacts.
- Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program- A program run through the EPA in response to the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule (74 FR 56260) which requires reporting of ghg data and other relevant information from large sources and suppliers in the U.S. to inform future policy decisions.
- Greenhouse Gas Data from UNFCCC- data from countries around the world.
- 2012 U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report- The Inventory of U.S. ghg emissions and sinks tracks the national trend in ghg emissions and removals back to 1990. The report contains total U.S. emissions by source, economic sector and ghg.