U.S. Demand for Renewable Energy Exceeding Supply

[LMagic007]

U.S. Demand for Renewable Energy Exceeding Supply

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com...story?id=50401

"State-level Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and voluntary green power markets are generating unprecedented demand for renewable energy in the U.S., which could create significant near-term shortages of renewable energy, according to a new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). "

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/home

[spadlet]

In that case the tariffs are having a use in the US. It was pointed out to me that the tariffs wont actually increase RE use in the UK unless the supplies agree to tear up the Renewables Obligations Certificates, rather than trade them, unless demand from tariffs outweigh the ammount of RE electricity generation that the government requires of the supply companys.

[aliendroid]

It's no big deal. What's happening here in Texas is that people are given the choice to switch over to 100% wind power. But the laws of physics dictate that the electron will go to the nearest power load, unless we string a wire from west texas all the way to some guy's house in Houston, he won't really be getting 100% wind power. Some people in Lubbock might be actually getting most of their power from wind without knowing it. When you switch to 100% wind power in Texas you pay a larger price for electricity. Your bill pays the base cost of around 10 cents per KwH for whatever electrons actually did pass through the cables in your house and the rest (normally 4 or 5 cents) goes to fund wind power development. So if you count up everyone who has switched to "100% wind power" in Texas (including everyone I know), yes there are a lot more KwH of wind power demanded than being produced, but it doesn't matter because coal and nuclear are just making up the difference, while the financial difference (the free money for wind power) is helping us develop wind power at a rapid rate. So in conclusion the reason Texas is the renewable energy leader in the USA today and the reason we are building more wind power than any other state is because Texans want renewable energy. We have no subsidies for renewable power, just tax incentives. So the market is pushing it even though it's still more expensive than coal, which has subsidies.

This will happen to solar also before it becomes competitive with coal, because people like solar more than coal power.