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SIX GOOD WAYS TO REPLACE VERMONT YANKEE6 GOOD WAYS TO REPLACE VERMONT YANKEE! RENEWABLES CAN RELIABLY GENERATE AS MUCH ENERGY AS CONVENTIONAL FUELS WITHOUT PRODUCING CARBON EMISSIONS OR RADIOACTIVE WASTE.
According to Public Citizen renewable energy can replace fossil fuels and nuclear power. It is technically nd economically feasible for a diverse mix of existing renewables to completely meet our energy needs. As uch as 20% of U.S. electricity could immediately come from non-hydro renewable energy sources without ndermining electrical grid reliability. A European Renewable Energy Council Report (2004) concluded that 1. RENEWABLES PRODUCE VIRTUALLY NO GREENHOUSE GASES AND CAN EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE. A Japan’s inistry for the Environment study found that renewable energy combined with efficiency could reduce reenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2050. Renewable technologies can address climate change more uickly than nuclear power, and without creating more radioactive waste. The combination of wind, solar, advanced hydro, and some biomass and geothermal energy could completely meet U.S. electricity needs. ccording to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the entire U.S. electricity demand could be met by enewable energy resources by 2020. 2. WIND ENERGY COULD GENERATE ENOUGH ENERGY TO POWER THE WORLD! Stanford University concluded that wind t specific locations could generate more than enough energy to meet world demands. U.S. Pacific Northwest aboratory evaluating wind potential (Department of Energy) estimated that land-based wind across the US is capable of producing almost 1.5 times current U.S. annual electricity use. 3. SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIAL IS ENORMOUS! Every hour more energy strikes the surface of the Earth than is onsumed globally in a year. Until now highest efficiencies came from expensive, thick silicon panels. Recent evelopments now produce cheap, flexible thin film panels capable of over 15% efficiency on a significant scale. 4. ADVANCED HYDRO: Hydropower provides 10% of electricity generation in U.S. Large dams caused serious environmental damage and must be deconstructed or retrofitted with smaller systems with advanced turbine designs. Advanced systems according to DOE, can be applied at more than 80% of existing hydropower, and can also be built at small existing dams. Advanced hydro reduces the impact on fish and fish migration, and mitigates sediment and water quality problems. 5. BIOMASS CAN BE A SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF NON-CARBON EMITTING ENERGY, but crops must be grown with little ultivation and fertilizer, transported short distances, and grown and harvested in a way that does not degrade the land. Grasses are low impact possibilities for biomass. According to a recent NREL study, biomass could produce 17-28% of U.S. electricity by 2020. 6. EFFICIENCY IS ESSENTIAL FOR A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE. U.S. Office of Technology Assessment estimated that the U.S. could reduce its electricity use 20-45% through efficiency, including improvements in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, more efficient refrigerators and other appliances, lighting systems, and increased building insulation. Earth source heat pumps use the earth’s constant temperature for heating and cooling. Widespread use of these pumps could reduce energy used for heating and cooling by 30-60%.
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