Geothermal industry in United States - Current and future outlook

The US geothermal industry is expanding into new regions with the support of increased funding and technological advancements. Up to 18,900 MW of potentially exploitable geothermal resources were discovered in West Virginia in 2010. The development of coproduced geothermally heated water from hydrocarbon production has led to a number of oil and gas geothermal coproduction projects in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and North Dakota.

In the past year the Department of Energy (DOE) funded geothermal research, development, and demonstration projects in 50 states, including DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Program which received over $50 million in support and completed action on its nearly $400 million in Recovery Act grants.

Congress extended the Section 1603 Tax Credit program created by the stimulus bill for another year; bipartisan legislation extending the 30% Investment Tax Credit for new geothermal projects through 2016 was introduced in both the House and Senate, and legislation restoring payments to counties from geothermal bids and royalties was approved by the House and will hopefully pass the Senate.

“In both the House and Senate, key geothermal supporters won re-election, several by significant margins,” said Gawell. “We believe this shows that their efforts to support more clean, domestic geothermal power production were recognized by their constituents.”

The US geothermal industry is working with collaborative state and regional efforts, as well as other renewable groups, to ensure transmission networks and policies support new geothermal development. The Western Electricity Coordinating Council and the Western Governors’ Association have over $25 million in DOE funding to develop 10 and 20-year transmission plans for the Western Interconnection. GEA also publicly opposed California Proposition 23, which was defeated by California voters in November.

As 2011 unfolds there will be a new surge in geothermal power projects. Around 500 to 700 MW of power projects should enter their final construction phase, adding approximately 3,000 construction jobs. The geothermal sector is also growing in diversity, with almost half of federal stimulus awards going to non-industry entities such as colleges and universities; cities, counties, and other state and local institutions; tribal entities; and The Department of Energy’s National Labs.

New geothermal projects in 2011 will mean over $2 billion in new capital investment. The finance community will gather with top experts and major players in geothermal development and finance for the 2011 Geothermal Energy Finance Forum on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at the Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park in New York City. The program will report on global growth in geothermal production and use.

Can EU become totally renewable by 2050?

Some respected European politicians and energy experts have recently stated that EU could by 2050 completely satisfy its total energy demand from renewable energy sources. In order to do so, all EU countries would have to work together and make huge investments in further development of renewable energy technologies, especially renewable energy storage technologies. Is such scenario really possible?

To some this may (rightly) seem like some sort of "green utopia" while there are some that are really convinced how this is very much possible, on both economic as well as technological level. This optimism is mostly based on some recent estimates, according to which Europe, together with North Africa has excellent renewable energy potential to produce approximately 140,000 terawatt hours of energy, which is around 20 times the amount of current energy consumption in Europe.

Current EU's renewable energy goal is 20 % of energy coming from renewable energy sources by 2020, which many energy experts believe will be achieved with relative ease, especially since the recent data shows that 60% of all investments in energy sector were transferred towards renewable energy projects.

What some energy experts keep forgetting is the fact that EU is still not united body when it comes to energy policy. You have countries like Germany and Spain that are making huge investments in renewable energy sector, France meanwhile continues to further invest in new nuclear power plants, while central European countries still invest in thermal power plants based on fossil fuels and look reluctant to drastically reduce CO2 emissions.

The other important part in this story is the fact that many countries are still not ready to give Brussels all the power in making joint energy decisions because this could put in jeopardy some bilateral energy agreements that these countries have with countries like U.S. and China, which enable these countries to get certain energy resources under privileged conditions.

Some energy experts even dream about Pan-European renewable energy network that would reach entire EU by connecting Spain's solar and wind power projects with geothermal power plants in Italy, offshore wind farms in Britain and Denmark, and hydropower projects in Scandinavia.

Renewable energy projects of this magnitude look highly unlikely in EU because differences among countries still look like a too big obstacle in making such important decisions. Thus totally renewable EU by 2050 is just a nice dream that has more to do with the science fiction than actually being possible in real life.

Building new nuclear power plants - Drawbacks and benefits

Since U.S. obviously plans to build new nuclear power plants in years to come I reckon it would be good idea to discuss the main drawbacks and benefits of nuclear power plants. The most important issue is of course the safety of the new nuclear power plants. When it comes to the safety of new nuclear power plants then it's important to say that nuclear power plants have significantly improved their safety in the last few decades, and nuclear disasters like Chernobyl and Three Miles Island are almost impossible to happen again.

All new nuclear power plants need to satisfy maximum safety standards, and the newest nuclear reactor designs really ensure maximum safety by applying the concept of the negative feedback loop, which ensures that as the nuclear reactor's power output increases, it becomes more and more harder to squeeze any more power out of it, meaning that nuclear chain reaction that could lead to nuclear reactor explosion is almost impossible to happen. Though this design is not totally foolproof it is much safer compared to the older designs. Of course there are still many older nuclear power plants that still use the older design, but even they ensure the maximum safety as there hasn't been any major accident since Chernobyl.

Nuclear power plants do not need fossil fuels to produce electricity, and this means that they do not release harmful carbon emissions that contribute to pollution and climate change problem. Since there are no carbon emissions nuclear power is also considered clean energy source just like solar, wind or geothermal energy.

In order to properly operate nuclear power plants require nuclear fuel. Nuclear fuel mostly used in nuclear power plants in uranium though some nuclear power plants also use plutonium. Uranium is plentiful in United States, and building more nuclear power plants would therefore contribute to better energy independence as there would be reduced need for importing expensive foreign fuels.

Nuclear power plants operate very efficiently and reliably. Their efficiency can be even compared to coal power plants, and once they are built they are extremely reliable given that there's enough uranium to feed them, and as already said there is plenty of uranium in United States.

The main disadvantage of nuclear power plants is no doubt nuclear radioactive waste that has lifespan of more than 5000 years so more new nuclear power plants will mean more radioactive waste, and current nuclear waste storage options definitely do not ensure totally safe storage for the next 5000 years or so.

Another disadvantage are relatively high construction costs, and there is also the high number of licenses that need to be obtained prior and during the construction which significantly prolong construction time but are needed to ensure the maximum safety of new nuclear power plants.

With the increased number of nuclear power plants there would also be the greater possibility of terrorist attacks so nuclear power plants need not only to ensure the maximum safety against nuclear reactor explosion but also against possible terrorist attacks.

Renewable energy jobs statistics - United States

The U.S. government funding of $2 billion dollars should be enough to ensure more than 1500 permanent jobs in US solar power industry.

In U.S., solar power installer has an average salary between $40,000-50,000 per year, while solar power engineer double this amount.

It has been calculated than in the last decade the number of jobs in U.S. solar power industry has increased by more than 20 percent.

The average wind energy technician salary in United States is between $30,000-40,000 per year.

At the end of 2009, there were around 95,000 people employed in US solar power industry.

In February 2009, the U.S. Congress passed an $800 billion stimulus package which should in years to come create around two million jobs in renewable energy industry, mostly in solar power industry.

According to some recent studies renewable energy jobs, together with energy efficiency jobs should create more than 4 million employments by the year 2030.

The 2008 study by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) predicts 37 million jobs and $4.29 billion in annual revenue by 2030 from renewable energy and energy efficiency in U.S.

It has been estimated that around 95% of all renewable energy jobs are in private industry.

Renewable energy sectors that account for the majority of green jobs in United States include solar, wind and biofuels.

Wind farm manager in United States earns an average salary between $70,000 to $90,000 per year.

US ethanol industry currently employs more than 200,000 people despite the recent struggle.

Biomass and biofuels industry currently employs around 350,000 people in United States.

It is estimated that wind power sector in Iowa currently employs close to 4000 people.

Solar energy industry is most developed in California where it employs more than 30,000 people. In 2009 alone, California added more than 5000 new renewable energy jobs, most of which in solar industry.

Oregon has lately experienced real boom in new green jobs, especially in solar power industry. Solar power industry in Oregon currently employs more than 1000 people, mostly in manufacturing solar power gear.

It is expected that the number of solar energy jobs in United States would grow by 26% compared to 2010.

More than half of US solar energy companies expect to add new jobs in 2011.

In 2011 there should be around 3000 new geothermal energy jobs in United States, mostly in California and Nevada.

By the year 2020 the US biofuel industry should account to around 800,000 green energy jobs (both direct and indirect).

U.S. hydropower industry currently accounts for approximately 250,000 direct jobs.

How to build wind turbine blades at home?

Large wind farms are installed in many parts of the world but the popularity of small wind turbines among individuals and commercial businesses is also growing as small wind turbines are now increasingly used to supplement energy consumption.

If we look at the current numbers and expert predictions we can see that 2008 revenue of $165 million in small wind turbines industry will grow approximately 2,5 times to $412 million by 2013 if estimates from Pike's Small Wind Power report are correct.

But why are small wind turbines becoming so popular? The main reason of their popularity is the fact that on a cost-per-watt basis many are finding small wind turbines to be less expensive than solar panels, so they are economically the most acceptable way to go for clean energy.

So if you decide to give small wind turbine a chance then you also need to know that you can save some money by building wind turbine blades at home.

You can build you homemade wind generator blades from different materials but the most commonly used materials are PVC and wood. When it comes to choosing between these two materials then I would suggest you go with the PVC because PVC represents better value for your money compared to wood. It is much easier to balance wind turbine blades made from PVC compared to the ones made of wood which will in the end result in less time needed to built them. Also, wood is less water protectant, and once wood starts absorbing moisture you can forget about balanced blades because instead of balance you will see lot of wobbles, and once your blades start wobbling they'll be far less efficient. So the PVC is definitely the recommended option.

So now that we have decided to go with the PVC we need to determine the size of blades. It is vital that you measure everything perfectly because by ensuring perfect measures you will ensure the maximum efficiency in harnessing wind energy. If your blades are no more than 30" in length the 4" diameter PVC should be sufficient, and if you plan to build blades over 30" in length then you should definitely consider to use the stronger 6" PVC pipe.

Balancing the blades can seem like a very difficult task. But there is rather simple solution to overcome this problem. You should put numbers 1,2,3 on each of your blades, and then give your blades a decent spin. After a couple of spins you will see which blade ends up most often at the bottom, and then you simply trim a little bit of the end of that blade off, and then give it another spin. This shouldn't take much of your time.

To conclude, with just the basic technical skills you can build your own wind turbine blades in couple of hours time. It's as easy as that. Good luck.

Domestic oil drilling - Good or bad energy option?

A not so long ago president Obama backed new drilling for oil and natural gas off parts of the US coastline. This support was supposedly a president's idea to decrease nation's energy dependence on foreign oil import but can this idea really work, and will U.S. really be less dependent on foreign oil with domestic offshore oil drilling?

Many energy experts agree that domestic offshore oil drilling is not only unwise energy option from environmental but also from economical point of view. Why? Because it is very likely that domestic oil will in the end cost even more than the foreign oil, and given the current economic times we live in there won't be many people that will be thrilled to support the idea of buying more expensive energy option just because it is domestic, heck if that was the case than we wouldn't see the cheap stuff from China everywhere we turn to.

Capital costs of these projects are projected to be very high, and U.S. still needs to test potential sites by making drilling tests and some other required tests and studies that of course don't come cheap either. And once domestic oil starts flowing you can be sure that these upfront costs will be included in final oil price making it more expensive compared to foreign fuel option.

How many of you would buy more expensive oil just because of its domestic origin? In today's economy patriotism doesn't pay off, and cheaper solutions are always the popular ones. In reality, the only thing that could make people buy more expensive domestic oil is some government regulation, and this definitely wouldn't go well with public.

Renewable energy is much better option, and instead of drilling for domestic oil U.S. should put more efforts to develop renewable energy technologies in order to make renewable energy projects more feasible. Yes, renewable energy option is still a rather expensive option but offshore oil drilling doesn't come cheap either. Therefore, renewable energy is definitely the better option, if not for anything else then because of its environmental benefits.

But U.S. still fails to realize this rather simple logic, and this is really the main reason why U.S. is currently well behind China in global clean energy race.

Global oil statistics

At the end of 2009, there were 1333.1 billion barrels of proved oil reserves (this number doesn't include Canadian oil sands) according to the BP's Statistical Review of World Energy.

Russia is currently the world's largest oil producer. In 2009, Russia produced in average 9.93 million barrels of oil per day for a total of 494.2 million tons, which is around 12% of world's total oil production.

According to the data from IEA China is currently the world's largest oil consumer. In 2009 China consumed 2.252 billion tons of oil equivalent, which is about 4% more than the U.S., which consumed 2.170 billion tons of oil equivalent. It is also expected that China’s oil demand will likely rise by more than 5% in 2010.

In 2009, China's oil consumption increased by 6.7 percent while US oil consumption declined by 4.9 percent (mostly because of recession).

According to the data from the US Energy Information Administration, approximately 4.1 billion barrels of oil are held in strategic reserves, of which 1.4 billion is government-controlled.

International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that the global oil demand in 2010 would grow by 170,000 barrels a day to 86.5 million barrels, mostly because of developing countries which depend on oil to continue their economic growth.

Besides United States and China, the list of five largest oil consumers in the world also includes Japan, Russia and India.

Saudi Arabia is currently the world’s second largest crude oil producer behind Russia. It is estimated that Saudi Arabia currently produces around 8.5 million barrels of oil per day.

World crude oil demand grew an average of 1.76% per year from 1994 to 2006.

Transportation sector has the highest oil consumption rates, accounting to 55% of oil use worldwide, and for approximately 68.9% of the oil used in the United States.

Saudi Arabia's largest oil fields are now declining at a rate of around 8% per year. The average global rate of field decline is at about 4.5% per year.

In 2005, global oil production reached an all-time high of 73,720,000 barrels per day.

Oil had the largest price on June 30th, 2008 crossing over $143 a barrel.

Top five countries in oil reserves category are Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, and United Arabian Emirates.

Energy did you know - Various data and statistics

Here is some interesting info about different energy sources.

Did you know that the first U.S. geothermal power plant, opened at The Geysers in California, back in 1960, is still active?

Did you know that according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards it takes 10,000 years of radioactive decay before the spent nuclear fuel will no longer pose a threat to public health and safety?

Did you know that the world's largest nuclear power plant is Japan's Kashiwazaki nuclear plant, with 7 operating units and total capacity of 8,212 MW which is enough to satisfy the needs for electricity of 16 million households?

Did you know that according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, geo-exchange systems save homeowners 30-70 percent in heating costs, and 20-50 percent in cooling costs, compared to conventional systems?

Did you know that according to the study by the Michigan State University it is 36 percent more efficient to grow grain for food than for fuel?

Did you know that approximately 40% of the world electricity production uses coal?

Did you know that geothermal heat pumps are always more efficient at heating compared to being used as pure electric heaters, even when extracting heat from cold winter air?

Did you know that according to the study from Brazil's National Institute hydroelectric dams hurt climate more than oil by releasing significant amounts of methane into the environment, thanks to the rotting vegetation submerged when the reservoir floods?

Did you know that Colorado was the first U.S. state to create a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), back in 2004?

Did you know that the world's fastest growing energy technology is photovoltaic production that is increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002?

Did you know that wind power provides about 20% of electricity production in Denmark which is significantly higher proportion than in any other country int he world?

Did you know that unlike wind and solar resources, which are more dependent upon weather fluctuations, geothermal resources are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Did you know that the New Hope Power Partnership, located in South Bay, Florida, is the largest biomass power plant in North America?

Did you know that currently around 90 % of all buildings in Iceland is heated with geothermal power?

Did you know that biomass is the second most common renewable energy source in United States that satisfies around 4% of nation's electricity demand?

Did you know that the world's largest wind farm is located in Texas, The Roscoe Wind Farm with the capacity of 781 MW?

Did you know that California has more photovoltaics installed than all other U.S. states together?

Did you know that solar panels perform optimally when placed in direct sunlight so it is always wise to position your photovoltaic array directly under the noontime sun in order to achieve maximum efficiency?

Did you know that global geothermal heat pump capacity is growing by 10% annually?

Did you know that biofuels provided 1.8% of the world's transport fuel in 2008?

Did you know that wind energy sector is the fastest growing renewable energy sector int he world?

Did you know that coal is mostly used energy source to generate electricity (approximately 49% of the United States electricity comes from coal) despite being the "dirtiest" energy source of them all?

Did you know that there are more than 85,000 people employed in the US wind industry?

Did you know that Chinese plan to have 5 million electric cars on the nation’s road by 2020?

Did you know that biodiesel has 10 to 12 percent lower energy density compared to standard diesel fuel meaning you get a lower mileage for biodiesel compared to ordinary diesel fuel?

Did you know that in 2009 U.S. accounted for only five percent of the world’s solar cells production?

Fossil fuels vs renewable energy in United States

Fossil fuels are still dominant energy sources in United States, and their dominance doesn't look like being decently challenged by renewables in years to come. But this doesn't mean that everything looks negative for renewable energy sector in United States, on the contrary, the latest data shows that Americans used significantly more renewable energy resources in 2009 compared to previous years (especially wind energy).

According to the US Department of Energy Americans were in general using less energy in 2009 compared to previous years. There are two factors mainly responsible for this: recession and improved efficiency. Recession is connected with lower economic activity and thus decreased demand for energy, and higher efficiency appliances and vehicles were able to reduce energy demand even further.

Coal and petroleum are still heavily used in United States but recent data shows that United States used significantly less coal and petroleum in 2009 than in 2008. Wind energy was the most popular renewable energy source in 2009, and Americans were using significantly more wind power in 2009 compared to 2008.

Other renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal, and hydropower also experienced increase in use though this increase is significantly smaller compared to wind energy.

The estimated U.S. energy use in 2009 was 94.6 quadrillion BTUs, down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008, and domestic energy use experienced decline in all important sectors (residential, commercial, industrial and transportation).

The significant increase of totally installed US wind power capacity in 2009 was mostly due to the more than acceptable incentives, and technological advancement of wind power technologies. To put it in other words, in 2009, the wind power technology got better and the incentives remained relatively stable (despite the financial crisis).

This has resulted in less CO2 emissions compared to previous years because Americans were burning less fossil fuels. It will be very interesting to see whether this trend will continue once energy demand starts to grow again, or will coal and petroleum, once again, grow in popularity.

Why does Russia want more coal?

Coal is fossil fuel that is highly polluting our environment, and worldwide burning of the coal in coal power plants is one of the main reasons why we are currently engaged in fight against climate change. Despite the highly negative environmental impact many countries heavily rely on coal to fuel their economies since in most cases coal presents the cheapest energy option. China, the world's fastest economy has built its economic success on coal.

Though coal can bring economic success on one side it can also bring total environmental failure on the other side, and is really no surprise that many environmentalists have been worried about the latest Russia's plans to substantially increase energy production from coal as this will mean even more carbon emissions in the atmosphere, and with it the bigger climate change impact.

Why would Russia, the well known oil and natural gas giant also turn to coal to increase its energy production? There are several reasons for this. First of all Russia has enormous coal reserves, second only to United States, coal is as already said cheap energy option, and third increased coal use could help Russia to easier fulfill its gas export contracts.

Many energy experts do not see this move to be very wise, not only from environmental point of view but also from economic point of view since Russian coal is of poor quality because of high sulfur and moisture content. United Kingdom for instance displaced Russian coal with Australian and South African coal that both have significantly better quality than Russian coal.

But other energy experts will tell you that even if Russian coal is of poor quality, the Russia can still profit on shale gas (natural gas produced from shale). Shale gas technologies still need to be fully developed but they would enable countries that have enough coal, and not enough natural gas to produce shale gas at coal basins. Since Russia, as already said has abundance of coal of poor quality, extracting shale gas out of the coal basins would really be the case of getting the most out of it, especially as current estimates say that shale gas development should rise by more than 70% in the next 20 years.

Russia is filled with fossil fuel riches, and this is probably the main reason why Russia isn't doing much to use more renewable energy sources to supply its energy demand. The global clean energy race is on, and Russia still looks to be hesitating to join in. Fossil fuel riches are more than capable to provide Russia a relative energy comfort on global market at present times but Russia should also think about its energetic future, not to mention the fact that there will be huge economic benefits for winners in clean energy race.

Why should renewable energy replace fossil fuels?

Renewable energy is touted by many energy experts as the best possible option to replace fossil fuels, and here are the reasons why.

Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) are currently dominant sources of energy that have long tradition and powerful lobbies behind them. Though our industry and economy is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels there are several reasons why we should start reducing this dependence as soon as possible. Two the most important reasons are huge environmental damage fossil fuels do and the fact that fossil fuels are limited energy resources meaning that they will be eventually depleted.

Fossil fuels burning creates harmful greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide emissions) that have significantly contributed to global warming and climate change, and the science warns us that if we continue this path we will very soon see irreversible changes in our climate that will mean the end of our current way of life. Possible climate change scenarios include more frequent extreme weather events, severe food shortages, flooding and droughts, and even new diseases so serious climate change is definitely something we could live without.

We must also accept the fact that eventually world will run out of oil, natural gas and coal. This will not happen in the next few decades but is likely to happen in lets say 100 years from now. When this happens we must have another option ready and well prepared to jump in and replace the fossil fuels, and renewable energy is definitely the best available option we have at our disposal.

Why is renewable energy the best option to replace fossil fuels? First of all renewable energy doesn't harm our environment like fossil fuels do, and generally speaking compared to fossil fuels renewable energy sources are far more environmentally friendly.

Renewable energy sources cannot be depleted like fossil fuels can, sun will continue to shine and wind will continue to blow while oil, natural gas and coal will likely disappear in relatively near future.

There are also so many renewable energy resources to choose from: in some places solar power may be the best renewable energy option, in other wind, in some hydropower, geothermal energy, biomass, tidal power. All these renewable energy options are available, and it's up to each country to choose what is best for their residents.

Renewable energy technologies are still far from being fully developed meaning that fossil fuels still have edge in costs when compared to renewable energy sources. But the good news is that renewable energy sources are becoming more and more cost-competitive with fossil fuels (for instance the prices of wind turbines and solar panels have significantly decreased in the last few years), and this is definitely a good sign for the future of renewable energy.

The media should do much more to promote renewable energy by presenting people all the benefits these sources have over fossil fuels, but not only by showing the advantages of renewable energy sources but also by showing their drawbacks, and the possible solutions to fix these drawbacks.

The first thing each and every one of us must learn is that the "perfect energy source" doesn't exist, and thus we need to choose the best available option we have at our disposal. Renewable energy is not perfect and certainly has its flaws but it's still way better compared to fossil fuels. At least in my book, that is.

Top 10 interesting energy questions and answers

1. Why is renewable energy called renewable, what does this mean? This means that renewable energy (unlike fossil fuels) can be replenished in relatively short periods of time, and thus cannot be depleted.

2. Which fuel is the most common source of electricity in the world. The answer is coal. Coal despite being very dirty fuel is also the cheapest energy option in much of the world. For instance, 49% of the electricity in United States comes from coal.

3. Why solar energy, despite the enormous potential still counts for such a small share of global energy supply? Solar energy, indeed has enormous potential but solar power technologies are still very expensive, and also do not provide adequate efficiency to be used on a wider scale. This means that solar energy sector definitely needs cheaper and far more efficient solar cells in order to compete with fossil fuels.

4. What exactly is the electricity? The simplest definition would be the movement of electrons but this is in fact more general term that encompasses a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge.

5. How to solve the intermittency issue of wind and solar energy? By finding cheap and efficient energy storage solution, some researches have shown tremendous potential to solve this issue but we are yet to see some commercially viable solution to this problem.

6. How long will fossil fuels last? Difficult to tell as there are different reports about current fossil fuel reserves but to make things simple lets say about 150-200 years. Unless, of course climate change issue speeds up things a bit.

7. Why is using renewable energy good for environment? Simple, because the more renewable energy we use the less we need fossil fuels, and less fossil fuels means less carbon emissions, and lesser impact on climate change and air pollution.

8. Are large wind farms big threat for birds? There have been some cases of bird deaths that were caught between gigantic blades of the large wind turbines but this issue can be solved with the introduction of radar that can spot the colony of birds flying towards turbines, and temporarily stop the blades until the birds reach a safe distance.

9. What is better energy option, solar or wind? There is no exact answer to this question, and it all depends on area you live in. Generally speaking, wind energy is currently more cost-competitive compared to the solar energy, but as said before the economy of going wind or solar will primarily depend on area you live in.

10. What is the current US position in global clean energy race? Not very good, Chinese are far ahead (top producers of both solar panels and wind turbines, more than million renewable energy jobs), and US needs to significantly increase its current efforts to become more competitive. The national renewable energy policy would make a good thing to start with.

Current wind energy development - US vs Germany

Offshore wind energy is becoming increasingly popular around the globe, and the latest example is Germany, especially after Norbert Röttgen, German Federal Environment Minister, announced that offshore wind power companies can rely on debt guarantees from the government to secure the financing of "10 mega projects" wind turbines in the North and Baltic seas up until the end of 2011.

This may seem as a surprise because very few energy experts expected such a strong support for offshore wind energy in Germany.

According to this new plan, 10,000 MW of offshore wind farm capacity should be built within the next 10 years, and 25,000 MW in the next 20 years, meaning that wind power should play key energy role in ensuring clean energy future for Germany.

This was confirmed by Röttgen's words when he said how he believes that Germany can "reach nearly 100% renewable energy by 2050, and wind power will provide about 50% of this".

This will no doubt attract many investors in Germany, and Germany looks set to become one of the leaders in global clean energy race.

As said above, offshore wind energy is becoming increasingly popular around the globe, and Europe currently leads the way by constantly adding new offshore wind projects. According to the latest reports this year was exceptional for offshore wind energy in Europe as European offshore wind farm installations have exceeded all expectations since more MW have been installed in the first half of this year than in the same period in 2009.

The same cannot be said for United States, and latest reports indicate that US wind energy sector is somewhat stagnating, with latest reports showing how only 1.24 GW of wind energy capacity was added in the first half of this year, less than half of the capacity installed in the same period in both 2008 and 2009.

Many energy experts agree that this slowdown in adding new wind energy capacity is mostly connected with the lack of adequate renewable energy policy that would show more support for new renewable energy projects in United States.

As AWEA chief executive Denise Bode said "strong federal policy supporting the US wind energy industry has never been more important, and Congress has to act now - before time runs out this session".

Quick electric car statistics

Here is some quick electric car statistics with some rather interesting numbers:

Electric cars have lately attracted significant funds with United States to ensure US$2.4 billion in federal grants for electric cars and batteries, and China to ensure massive 15 billion to start an electric car industry.

Recent independent study claimed that by 2020 electric cars, together with other "green" cars will account for a third of the total of global car sales.

Electric cars are more expensive than conventional cars, and many people are still not ready to pay more for "green car". In fact, according to the recent Financial Times survey 65 percent of Americans and 76 percent of Britons are not willing pay more for an electric car above the price of a gasoline car.

US currently has around 500 electric vehicle charging stations. This number should increase up to 20,000 by 2012.

The global electric vehicle market should grow to 2.7 million cars by 2015, with around around 885,000 located in North America and around 780,000 in Europe.

According to a report by Pike Research the electric car market should rise to $1.5 billion by 2015.

According to the data from Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Environment there should be one-million electric cars on Germany’s roads by 2020.

An electric car emits in average 115 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven compared to 250 grams of CO2 emitted by conventional gasoline powered car.

Electric cars have an average efficiency of 80%, which is much better compared to conventional gasoline engines that can effectively use only 15% of the fuel energy content, and diesel engines are not much better either as they can achieve efficiency of around 20%.

It is expected that by 2015, global electric car market value will be 7,3 times bigger compared to the 2005's value.

Currently, 66% of the manufacturers of electric vehicles in the world are in China, with over 90% of the world's electric vehicles being made in China.

In 2010 there were around 29 million electric vehicles sold on global level.

Wind power industry in Nebraska likely to struggle

Nebraska is ranked among top 10 US states in the nation with the greatest energy potential from wind power but its current wind power capacity is only around 153 megawatts. Given Nebraska's wind power potential this is indeed very small number as theoretically Nebraska's wind power could satisfy around 90% of US electricity needs.

Things will likely not significantly improve in years to come because Nebraska plans to add only around 300 megawatts by the end of 2012.

Nebraska is missing lot of different factors that would ensure fast development of wind power industry such as adequate financial incentives, transmission lines,lack of demand for excess power production, and most of all renewable energy portfolio standard. Without renewable energy portfolio standard and adequate renewable energy legislation Nebraska will fail to attract renewable energy investors despite its excellent renewable energy potential.

Wind power is currently meeting only around 1% of Nebraska's electricity needs. The largest wind farm in the state is operating near Bloomfield, and has a maximum capacity of around 80 MW, with 27 wind turbines, each capable of generating nearly 3 megawatts at full capacity

Many people in Nebraska are still not convinced about wind power because wind is intermittent energy source which means that it can't consistently meet base load demands.

The entire US wind power industry will have tough time in the next couple of years because it will have to compete with natural gas. Natural gas prices are expected to continue with their current falling trend, and this will make things very difficult for wind power development because even Obama recently said that natural gas is "terrific energy resource".

It certainly looks like wind power industry in Nebraska is in for a rough ride. At least for the next couple of years.

Photovoltaic market growth 2010 statistics

Germany is still the largest photovoltaic market in the world, and photovoltaics are still one of the fastest growing renewable energy sectors. Worldwide photovoltaic installations were expected to rise to 14.2 GW by the end of 2010, but as it turns out this number will likely be around 15,8 GW at the end of 2010.

At the end of the 2009 the total worldwide installed photovoltaic capacity was at 7,2 GW, which means that year 2010 will represent a staggering growth of 119 percent compared to 2009.

The main reason for such tremendous growth was Germany, mostly because German photovoltaic sector grew exceptionally well during the first half of the 2010, when Germany alone installed around 3,9 GW of photovoltaics.

In 2011 things should slow down, and the latest predictions forecast 19.3GW in the beginning of 2011, which is slightly down from previous forecasts that predicted 20,2 GW of photovoltaic installations.

Many energy experts are saying that this slowdown will be actually good thing because it will drive down prices of solar panels, and stimulate bigger demand in the second half of the year. The slowdown in first quarter of the year is actually very common thing for global photovoltaic market, and 2011 will just be following the trend.

Energy analysts predict that this slowdown will cause the decrease of average price for crystalline solar module by around nine percent in the first quarter of 2011, and further six percent in the second quarter.

At the end of 2011 Germany should add 9.4GW of new photovoltaic installations. However, Germany despite being the world's largest photovoltaic market isn't also a world's fastest growing photovoltaic market. UK is currently the fastest growing photovoltaic market in the world, with a total increase of massive 1500% compared to 2009. In 2009, UK had just 6 Megawatts (MW) of PV systems, and this number is expected to grow to 96 MW by the end of 2010.

US natural gas statistics

In 2008 natural gas accounted for 23,8% of US primary energy consumption.

More than 50% of US homes are heated with natural gas.

It is estimated that there are around 1.3 million miles of underground gas pipelines across the United States.

In 2009 in United States, the price of natural gas was little over $4 per thousand cubic feet while in 2008 natural gas had biggest price of more than $13 per thousand cubic feet.

In 2009 United States increased its natural gas production more than any other country in the world. In fact, in 2009 US even managed to overtake Russia as the world's leading natural has producer. According to the EIA, 21 trillion cubic feet of natural gas was produced in the United States in 2009 which accounts to around 90% of total domestic natural gas consumption.

According to EIA there are 2,587 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas in the United States. U.S. natural gas reserves have been historically concentrated around Texas and the Gulf of Mexico but with the recent shale gas discovery some other US states are expected to play big role as natural gas producers such as New York, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

According to the most recent calculations US accounts for around 3 percent of the world total natural gas reserves.

It is estimated that around 59 percent of the U.S. undiscovered natural gas resources is located on federal lands and offshore waters.

The top natural gas consuming US states are Texas, California and Louisiana.

Natural gas accounts for around 21,5% of electricity generated in United States.

Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming are the top US natural gas producing states accounting to around 80% of total US natural gas production.

95 percent of U.S. natural gas imports are coming from Canada.

Five US states have around one-half of the total US natural gas reserves: Alaska, Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

If US continues with current production rates it will have enough natural gas for about a 65-year supply.

There are currently around 288,000 wells in US that are producing natural gas.

In 2008, according to the data from the Natural Gas Supply Association there were approximately four million Americans employed either directly or indirectly by the US natural gas industry.

Natural gas vs wind energy in US

US president Obama was seen by many as the main driving force that will shift US energy policy towards renewable energy sources such as wind power, but after the recent election results, it can be clearly seen that Obama is first of all politician, and not environmentalist as some hoped he is.

After being asked how will US tackle environmental issues at the post-election conference Obama suddenly started mentioning natural gas as a "terrific natural resource" for United States. This was really the last thing that wind energy sector needed, and many wind energy supporters were left bitterly disappointed, not only by Obama's latest view on energy and environment but also about the fact that US can now might as well forget about cap and trade policy.

US solar energy sector is so far looking very good but this cannot be said for wind power industry which is somewhat stagnating. The US wind power industry, despite achieving tremendous growth in the last couple of years, is still standing on shaky legs, and the last thing US wind developers need right now is more focus on natural gas.

Can natural gas really have such a negative impact on further development of wind industry in United States? The answer is yes it can.

First of all natural gas is significantly less polluting compared to coal, and in general the cleanest fossil fuel. Second, a big new shale gas discoveries are coming on line across the US. Third, natural gas can be moved easily through existing pipelines, and their is no need for new expensive transmission infrastructure, and it can be also stored in underground formations.

Wind energy desperately needs new transmission lines in many parts of the US, which comes anything but cheap. Generally speaking transmission system is the main obstacle which wind energy sector will need to overcome in order to continue its rapid growth in years to come.

Wind energy also requires adequate storage solution(s) because wind-generated electricity still cannot be stored. Wind power also suffers from intermittency because wind doesn't blow all the time.

It will be very interesting to see whether federal and state governments will ensure adequate funds to create better transmission system for wind-generated electricity.

Without big money US wind power industry will not be able to compete with natural gas, regardless of environmental benefits. Therefore, it's really no wonder that Obama has jumped on natural gas bandwagon, after all he's politician, and from political point of view natural gas currently seems as the more acceptable option.

US ethanol fuel statistics

United States is world's leading producer of ethanol. In 2008 United States produced 9 billion U.S. liquid gallons of ethanol fuel, and 10.6 billion U.S. liquid gallons of ethanol fuel in 2009. This represents around 55% of world's total ethanol production.

The ethanol market share in the U.S. gasoline supply was little less than 8% in 2009.

Portland, Oregon, was the first city in the United States that required all gasoline sold within city limits to contain at least 10% ethanol.

At the end of 2009 US had 189 ethanol distilleries in operation.

Most US ethanol is produced from corn. Current estimates say that around 36% of corn produced in 2010/11 will go to produce ethanol.

US ethanol industry currently employs around 210,000 people. The record year was 2005 when US ethanol industry created more than 150,000 new jobs.

There are currently around 2400 stations in the United States that sell E85 (the most common blend of ethanol).

It was estimated that around 21 percent of U.S. ethanol production capacity was shut down in 2009 because of financial crisis.

At the end of 2008 there were around eight million E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads.

Iowa is the nation's largest ethanol producer, followed by Nebraska and Illinois. Iowa represents 26% of nation's total ethanol production with around 3.5 billion gallons.

US ethanol industry has projected 45 billion litres of ethanol production for the year 2010.

US electricity statistics

Renewable energy sources such as biomass, hydropower and wind power currently satisfy around 11% of US electricity demand.

Hydropower accounts for the most electricity coming from renewables in US with 6,8% of US total electricity use.

US is the world's largest consumer and producer of electricity, followed by China and Japan. In the January 2010, US had total electricity generation of 3992 billion KWh while China had 3715 billion KWh.

In the first half of 2010 the electricity coming from wind power increased by 21.4%, and electricity from solar power by 16.4% in US.

Coal currently generates around 49% of US total electricity. This is because coal still remains the cheapest fuel when it comes to operating costs. In the last 40 years the use of coal to generate electricity in the U.S. has nearly tripled because of the rapidly growing electricity demand.

Nuclear power plants currently generate around 20% of US electricity. The average US nuclear power plant generates around 12.4 billion kWh.

It is expected that solar power, with the current growth, could account by more than 4% of US electricity by 2020.

According to the data from 2008 the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 11,040 kWh, an average of 920 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month. Tennessee had the highest annual consumption at 15,624 kWh and Maine the lowest at 6,252 kWh.

More than 17% of generated electricity in US is used for cooling and ventilation.

Around 13,5% of total U.S. electricity consumption goes to lightning.

Texas is the nation's largest electricity consumer followed by California, Florida, Ohio and New York. In 2008 Texas consumed 347,050 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Nation's lowest electricity consumer is the state of Vermont, followed by Alaska and Rhode Island.

Computers account for around 3% of US total electricity consumption.

Hawaii is the US state with the lowest estimated average residential electricity consumption per person with 2,382 kilowatt-hours in 2008.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that US electricity demand will grow by 41% by 2030.