U.S. 100 Percent Renewable Energy Plan Lacks Price Tag
Engineers from Stanford and U.C. Berkeley have developed a state-by-state plan to convert the United States to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. The plan aims to:
Eliminate air pollution mortality, create jobs and stabilize energy prices.
The researchers behind the plan, referred to as “The Solutions Project,” examined the amount and source of energy consumed by the residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors in each state. Though the plans calls for aggressive changes to infrastructure and energy consumption methods, Jacobson and Delucchi ― the engineers behind the project ― claim the conversion is technically and economically possible with technology that already exists.
Jacobson and Delucchi claim replacing all fuel usage with electricity through their plan would yield significant energy savings, reducing total end-use power demand by 39 percent by 2050.
Though a neat concept, the lack of a visible price tag is worrisome. The engineers admit that the up-front costs of conversion would be steep, but doesn’t seem to offer a comprehensive cost for the project, either by state or as a whole.
It is hard to take this too seriously, since it is partly funded by Leonardo DiCaprio. In spite of his rhetoric on climate change, the man flies around the world in private jets to multiple homes. Instead of turning off the heat during the winter and wearing an extra sweater around the house to stay warm and save energy, he flies to his beach home and soaks in the solar energy while sipping on a refrigerated beverage.