US Federal agencies purchased or produced 2.3 TWh of electricity from renewable sources in FY09, representing 4.2% of the Government’s electricity and surpassing the goal of 3% set by EPAct 2005. This represents a 2x increase over 2003. The goal increases this year to 5% of total electricity from renewable sources, and increases again in 2013 to 7.5%.
Perhaps what is most fascinating is that this figure does not include non-electric renewable energy purchased or consumed by the Federal government — sources like bio-thermal space heating or solar thermal hot water. However, according to a Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) testimony, “The renewable sources of non-electric energy are often the most cost-effective means to displace fossil energy,” she explains.
With that acknowledgment, what steps can be taken to insure the adoption of these cost effective sources?
One way is increase subsidies to promote adoption, much like those in H.R. 5805: Thermal Renewable Energy and Efficiency Act of 2010. Unfortunately these are only focused on large scale applications. An alternative would be to look to other countries where these alternative technologies have been employed and implement their approach — incentives targeted at residential heating.
The State of New Hampshire’s Wood Pellet Boiler Rebate program is an example of such a program. It is narrowly focused on wood pellets, but removes much of the upfront cost of implementing a system that makes a homeowner energy self-sufficient.
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