Although the United States is one of the top energy consumers globally, it now risks falling behind other countries in renewable energy use, according to Cathy Zoi Th'85, assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Advances in both policy and technology are necessary to maintain U.S. competitiveness in the global renewable energy market, Zoi said in a lecture, "America's Clean Energy Future," held in Cook Auditorium on Thursday.
The U.S. global market share in photovoltaics, a technology used in solar energy, has fallen from over 40 percent to less than 10 percent in the last 15 years, Zoi said. Efforts to promote the use of renewable energy sources are lagging behind those of other countries, Zoi said, adding that China plans to generate 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Combining the use of photovoltaics, geothermal, biomass, wind and solar energy with increased energy efficiency is the key to reducing the use of fossil fuels and other forms of unclean energy, Zoi said.
"Energy is the essential ingredient for economic growth," Zoi said. "We have the perfect opportunity to use energy as the catalyst for the next industrial revolution."
Zoi proposed four main strategies for building a clean energy economy: high impact innovation, implementing new technology quickly and at scale, taking advantage of available talent and publicizing effective alternative energy efforts.
High-impact innovation involves investing in new technologies that will "create major changes and have a major impact," Zoi said. She cited a thermoelectric generator that converts waste heat to electricity as one of several examples.
"What too many [politicians] don't understand is that this kind of technology is ready to work on a utility scale," Zoi said.
Some lawmakers have proposed implementing the $6-billion HOME STAR program, a national incentive to retrofit homes and make them more energy-efficient, according to Zoi. She said the program would both increase energy efficiency and create new jobs to jump start the economy. Currently, only 20 percent of U.S. houses are properly insulated, according to Zoi.
Encouraging citizens to understand the human element of the clean energy effort is another important strategy, Zoi said. The U.S. Department of Energy has recently started a program called Energy Empowers which shares the stories of individuals who have benefitted from the use of renewable energy, she said.
Policy is a crucial component in the renewable energy movement, Zoi said.
"Economic, climate and energy challenges require transformation change," Zoi said. "Transforming the American energy landscape requires strong policy."
President Barack Obama has taken policy a step in the right direction with efforts to double renewable energy capacity by 2012 and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 83 percent by 2050, Zoi said.
"We need an energy bill that's going to create prosperity and create jobs, and maintain a sense of economic competitiveness for ourselves and our children," Zoi said.
Although developing clean energy tends to receive widespread approval in polls, with all groups expressing support regardless of political persuasion, partisanship remains a major obstacle to promoting renewable energy, Zoi said.
"I'd like us to consider the abundant global challenges that we're all facing right now," Zoi said. "When you consider these [challenges], energy is the connective tissue."
