On Tuesday we shared a story about why a green recovery is necessary to protect human health and promote a more equitable economy. Today we wanted to share a few stories about the green recovery in action and what it could look like on a large scale.
Globally, renewable energy sources are likely to become the largest source of global electricity in five years. Just this year renewable capacity around the world is expected to increase by almost 4% and renewable energy will be almost 90% of increased global power capacity. Despite the prevalence of renewable sources increasing, governments around the world have continued to focus their relief efforts on fossil fuels and maintaining the status quo. The International Energy Agency released a report last week that clearly shows the booming growth of renewable energy despite the coronavirus pandemic. We encourage you to read the entire report here!
About 17% of US electricity generation is from renewable energy sources, with 7.1% coming from wind and only 1.7% from solar energy. The US needs to increase our use of renewable energy sources to wean us off of our insatiable lust for fossil fuels. Projects around the country are happening to make that happen.
(Ute Mountain Solar installation in Towaoc, Ute Mountain Reservation, April 2019. Photo from referenced article)
In late 2019, the Ute Mountain Ute tribe in Colorado began generating electricity with a 3,500 solar panel system. This system generates 1 megawatt and provides about 10% of the electricity for the Ute Mountain Ute tribe. This installation also reduces emissions from tribal land by over 1,500 tons of greenhouse gases every year. What is really exciting about this project is that the tribe is planning on expanding the solar system to 200 megawatts which would enable the Ute Mountain Ute tribe to achieve net-zero energy, but also allow the excess power to be transported for use outside of tribal lands. You can read the entire story about the Ute Mountain Ute tribe’s solar farm and their expansion plans here!
In April of this year, Governor Northam signed the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA). The VCEA requires Virginia power to be generated by 100% carbon free sources by 2050 and requires that almost all coal fired power plants close by the end of 2024. As coal plants close, Virginia has a couple options- they can choose to replace the lost generation with increased natural gas use, or they can expand renewable energy use.
The largest solar farm east of the Rockies is being built in Spotsylvania County. In 2018, Virginia’s solar capacity was 656 megawatts. This new 620 megawatt solar system will almost double Virginia’s solar energy capacity. This solar farm was hotly debated during the permitting process, mostly focused on land use concerns and hollow environmental concerns. Last year, the Rappahannock Sierra Club wrote an excellent piece on the reasons to support the Spotsylvania solar farm. The Spotsylvania solar farm is currently under construction, here is some more of the latest information about it!
Wind turbine off the coast of Virginia Beach. Photo from WTKR News Virginia Beach. https://www.wtkr.com/news/news-3-gets-a-first-look-at-virginias-offshore-wind-project)
Increasing wind power capacity will be critical for Virginia to achieve zero carbon energy by 2050. Virginia is collaborating with North Carolina and Maryland to reduce project costs and improve infrastructure. Virginia has a 12 megawatt offshore wind installation, and our colleagues in Virginia Beach say it is extremely impressive. This three state collaboration will result in 86,000 jobs, $57 billion in investments and $25 billion in economic output by 2030. Read the entire story about this three state wind energy collaboration here! As we look to increase the prevalence of renewable energy, it is important that all impacted stakeholders are consulted through the process. Renewable energy does often require significant land (or water), and displacing communities or their way of life is not an appropriate strategy. Renewable energy can grow equitably.
It’s OK to acknowledge that offshore wind isn’t perfect- there are no perfect ways to generate energy, but there are certainly better ways than fossil fuels.
