SOURCE:Energy Points
DESCRIPTION:
Today U.S. energy policy is an amalgamation of disparate tax breaks and subsidies. For decades the government has supported “clean” technologies without visibility into their environmental and energy performance. It has been guided by nearly arbitrary concepts of what is “green” or “clean.” Can we really consider low-efficiency solar panels, manufactured using coal as an energy source, while polluting a local river in Asia, as renewable energy in the U.S.? Completing source energy and lifecycle energy analysis that accounts for environmental impact would have us conclude ‘no.’ This analysis can quantify what it means to be “green” and would help to ensure that the U.S. clean energy sector does not lose manufacturing jobs to countries with cheaper yet environmentally harmful solutions.
Source energy accounts for 80% of GHG emissions (Scope II). Quantifying it is imperative to increasing the nation’s energy productivity and reducing environmental impact. Failing to do so renders the monetary cost as the primary means of evaluating clean technologies; which, in many cases, can be counterproductive to sustainability efforts. Evergreen Solar and Solyndra are two companies that folded after substantial government grants because they could not compete with low-cost manufacturing in China (that uses coal to make solar panels). What would be the destiny of these companies if the actual energy productivity and environmental performance of their products were part of the equation?
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About the Author
Ory Zik, Founder & CEO of Energy Points @oryzik
Ory holds a Ph.D. in physics and founded and led a few companies (QuantomiX, HelioFocus). A longtime proponent and creator of clean technologies, he founded Energy Points when he realized the world needed a better, more accurate way to evaluate and understand energy use.
Contact Info:
Asena Woodward
Energy Points
awoodward@energypoints.com
KEYWORDS: Climate and the environment, Energy Policy, Energy, source energy, Clean Energy, clean energy jobs
