Image via WikipediaRenewable energy is necessary for several reasons, least of which is a cleaner environment. First and foremost is independence from foreign oil and the control producing nations can exert on all of our markets. In the winter of 2010 and 2011 foreign oil prices jumped higher because controlling nations know we're experiencing winter, and this has been going on for years.Despite this, prices for renewable energy still remain high because members along the merchandising chain can't make the profits they require unless their projects are subsidized by some government, an example of this is in Spain. The Spanish government subsidizes a large part of every renewable energy project in that country, something the U.S. won't do.
As an alternative, since 2000 the U.S. government has identified natural gas as a logical and necessary step along the transition to renewable energy. An obscure government document, “Analysis of Strategies for Reducing Multiple Emissions from Electric Power Plants: Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Dioxide, and Mercury and a Renewable Portfolio Standard”, from the Energy Information Administration, Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC 20585, treats this transition in detail and makes the call for 20% national renewable energy by 2020.
