Renewable Energy

The image above shows solar panels on the roof of the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge. Image: Jdcantin via Wikimedia Commons

What is renewable energy?

Renewable energy is an alternative to the use of coal, oil and natural gas for the world’s energy. Solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydroelectric are sources that can be transformed into energy sources by technology. These sources are renewable, meaning they replenish themselves over time. Overall, renewable sources are abundant and environmentally friendly compared to their fossil fuel counterparts (Rinkesh, 2020), but they still pose some relevant environmental concerns (Rinkesh, 2020; Nunez, 2019).

History of renewable energy

Renewable energy has been used since the Europeans first used water wheels in 200 B.C. (ProCon, 2021). Wood was the only commercial scale renewable resource in the U.S. until the first hydroelectric plant was built along the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, in the 1880s (Nunez, 2019; U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020). Since then, the development of technology has allowed the harnessing of energy from wind, solar and geothermal sources as well (Rinkesh, 2020). At 56%, renewable energy is currently the most used energy source in the nation’s electric power sector (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020). Wind energy passed up hydroelectric power in 2019 to become the most used renewable energy source nationwide (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020) after concerns about hydropower’s impact on river ecosystems led to a push toward other renewable energy sources (Nunez, 2019).. Solar and wind power have made up a majority of the nation’s renewable energy growth since 2015 (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020).

Renewable energy came into the national spotlight in the 1970s when research into climate change revealed the relationship between rising global temperatures and carbon dioxide emissions released by the burning of fossil fuels (ProCon, 2021). This research coincided with three of the largest oil spills of all time. In 1978 and 1979, oil spills off the coast of England, Trinidad and Mexico released almost 300 million gallons of oil (Rafferty, n.d.). Oil from the Mexico spill washed up in Southern Texas, causing lost tourism and commercial fishing revenue (Rafferty, n.d.). At the same time, many renewable sources were becoming cheaper, and the government approved the leasing of federal lands for renewable energy generation (ProCon, 2021). All of these factors combined to make renewable energy more appealing to the public at large.

Image: History of Renewable Energy Graphic by Hannah Michel Hanks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Renewable energy in Louisiana

In June 2010, the Louisiana Public Service Commission authorized a renewable energy pilot program to determine if the state government should legislatively require more renewable energy development (NC, 2016). The report concluded in August 2013 and determined that Louisiana should not require development of renewable technologies because the energy is more expensive than traditional sources and the state’s other policies encouraging renewable energy use are sufficient enough to avoid mandatory renewable energy regulations (NC, 2016).

Louisiana’s current renewable energy production represents 4% of the total energy generation in the state (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020a). Approximately ⅓ of renewable energy is in the form of hydroelectric power from the Sidney A. Murray Jr. Hydroelectric Power Station in Vidalia, about 200 miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020a). Another ⅗ of the state’s renewable energy production is in the form of biomass from wood waste (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020a). Louisiana has two wood pellet manufacturing plants that produce nearly 1 million metric tons of wood pellets annually for export to European countries--enough to heat 500,000 homes through the winter (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020a). The biomass for the pellets is collected from a number of sustainable sources: sawmill residues, tree thinnings, branches, low grade roundwood and agriculture residues (Drax, n.d.). According to Drax, the main wood pellet company in the U.S., all wood is harvested in such a way that forests are protected and preserved (Drax, n.d.).

Only 7% of Louisiana’s renewable energy is in the form of solar power, most of which comes from individual buildings’ solar panels (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020a). Louisiana encourages solar panel installation with tax breaks. For solar panels installed before 2018, Louisiana offered a 50% refundable tax credit up to $25,000 (Technology Assessment Division, n.d.). Current solar power incentives include the Home Energy Loan Program, which gives homeowners 5-year, low-interest loans to finance solar panel installation (EnergySage, n.d.). There are currently two major utility-scale solar production plants producing power in Louisiana, with two more under construction and an additional three proposed (Mosbrucker, 2020). As the map below shows, most of the functioning, proposed and planned solar farms are in southeast Louisiana, with the exception of the proposed plant located near Morehouse (Mosbrucker, 2020). Current research on solar technologies in the state is being led by the Solar Thermal Applied Research and Testing Lab, which is associated with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (Ezeanya et al., 2018). The START lab consists of engineering professors and students from multiple disciplines who collaborate on research projects across southern Louisiana with the goal of making cheaper, more cost efficient and more land efficient solar farms (Ezeanya, et al., 2018).

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy suggests that Louisiana has a huge potential in the biomass, wind and geothermal energy industries (U.S. Department of Energy, 2013). Its report also claims that clean energy jobs pay 12.6% more than the average salary in the state, meaning that renewable energy development could be economically beneficial (U.S. Department of Energy, 2013). The state currently provides tax credits and rebate programs to encourage businesses and families to build energy efficient homes and install solar or wind power technologies (U.S. Department of Energy, 2013). The state also requires that state-funded building projects be more energy efficient than the regular state building code (U.S. Department of Energy, 2013).

Each of Louisiana's major renewable energy sources--hydroelectric power, biomass and biofuels, and solar power--are presented in the by-the-number graphics below.

Hydroelectric Power

Hydroelectric power is energy converted from moving water.

Image: Louisiana Hydroelectric Statistics Graphic by Hannah Michel Hanks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Biomass and Biofuels

Biomass and biofuel use the energy stored in living organisms to produce energy.

Image: Louisiana Biomass and Biofuels Statistics Graphic by Hannah Michel Hanks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Solar Power

Solar panels convert energy from the sun's light and heat into usable energy.

Image: Louisiana Solar Statistics Graphic by Hannah Michel Hanks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Controversies surrounding renewable energy

The controversy about renewable energy worldwide balances between the logistic and economical feasibility with relative safety and reliability of different sources of energy (Rinkesh, 2020). See the sections below for more specific information supporting and detracting from the feasibility of renewable energy.

Image: Renewable Energy Supporters Graphic by Hannah Michel Hanks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Supporters

Supporters of renewable energy tend to be more liberal, and the issue is featured in the Democratic National Committee’s 2020 Platform (Democratic National Committee, 2020). Proponents fall on a spectrum from more moderate parties, like President Joe Biden and casual nature lovers (Democratic National Committee, 2020; Pyke, 2017), to parties farther left such as Greenpeace and Environmental and Political Activist George Monbiot (Pyke, 2017).

Image: Renewable Energy Detractors Graphic by Hannah Michel Hanks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Detractors

Detractors of renewable energy tend to be more conservative, and the issue is featured in the Republican National Committee’s 2016 Platform (Republican National Committee, 2016). Opponents also fall on a spectrum from moderate parties, such as blue collar workers in the traditional energy industries (Pyke, 2017), to parties farther right, like Former President Donald Trump and Energy Theorist Alex Epstein (Republican National Committee, 2016; Pyke, 2017).

The sections below address specific views of renewable energy supports and detractors on different issues.

Supporters: Climate Change and Pollution

Climate change and pollution levels are the major concern pushing the world toward renewable energy sources. Environmental Activist George Monbiot argues that ⅔ of current fossil fuel reserves must be left untouched for a 50% chance that global warming will remain under 2 ℃ this century (qtd. in Pyke, 2017). Most renewable energy sources have low or zero carbon emissions, reducing air pollution and leading to better air quality (Rinkesh, 2020). Some types of renewable energy, like biomass and biofuels, can actually be used to recycle waste products into usable energy, reducing the amount of area needed for and methane gasses released by landfills (Rinkesh, 2020).

Detractors: Climate Change and Pollution

Renewable energy still generates pollution during the construction phases. Carbon and methane are released into the atmosphere during the production of some renewable energy technologies (Rinkesh, 2020). Furthermore, some renewable energy sources still contribute to environmental issues (Rinkesh, 2020). Because of related environmental concerns, hydropower is being pursued less than other sources (Nunez, 2019). These environmental concerns include methane released from a build-up of decaying organic material and disruptions to the river ecosystem’s natural flow (Nunez, 2019). Biomass and biofuels, on the other hand, release greenhouse gases when burned, but they are still being pursued as a renewable energy source because of the abundant organic material that can be used to produce the energy (Rinkesh, 2020).

Supporters: Cost Efficiency

Though renewable energy does require capital investment, the investment is outweighed by the economic growth created by the industry. Researching to improve the renewable technologies and the expertise needed to install the technologies has led to job creation (Rinkesh, 2020), and these jobs pay about 13% more than the average salary earned by Louisianans (U.S. Department of Energy, 2013). According to Forbes Magazine, jobs in the energy efficiency sector pay an average of $24.44 per hour with the highest rate at about $24.85 per hour in the wind and solar energy sectors (Magill, 2020). This is substantially higher than oil and petroleum jobs, which pay an average of $24.37 per hour (Magill, 2020).

The renewable energy industry has also stabilized global energy prices because the price of renewable energy is based solely on the price of technology installation, not the supply, demand and inflation that affects the cost of fossil fuels (Rinkesh, 2020).

Additionally, Pyke argues that fossil fuels are not as cheap as current figures suggest (2017). Figures published do not reflect taxes paid into government subsidies that benefit oil and gas companies, the cost of the industry’s climate impact or the initial cost of building drilling and refining facilities, which make the costs much more comparable (Pyke, 2017). Data from the Energy Information Administration 2019 Annual Energy Outlook determined the costs of different energy types in dollars per kilowatt hour. The energy sources are listed in order from cheapest to most expensive:

Geothermal: $0.037
Hydro: $0.039
Natural gas: $0.043
Wind: $0.072
Biomass: $0.092
Nuclear: $0.093
Solar: $0.10
Coal: $0.12-$0.13

This data shows that, though some renewable energy forms are more expensive than others, four of the five cheapest energy sources are renewables (Rozenblat, 2019). For more updated information, see the EIA 2021 Annual Energy Outlook.

Detractors: Cost Efficiency

The installation of renewable energy sources across the globe requires huge upfront capital, which is not always feasible (Rinkesh, 2020). This, combined with the high maintenance costs and costs associated with research and planning, means that renewable energy is not always a commercially-viable option (Rinkesh, 2020). To further complicate the issue, large-scale renewable energy use would require time and money to redistribute current power grid infrastructures (Pyke, 2017). For example, Texas spent over $7 billion to replace power lines that were insufficient to carry the amount of energy produced by wind farms during peak production (Ahmed, 2018). This $7 billion investment replaced powerlines to less than 2,000 homes (Ahmed, 2018). Once the energy is captured, storage costs incur. Because many renewable sources like solar and wind can not be produced on command, extra energy must be stored to provide power when the sources are not currently producing energy (Rinkesh, 2020). Current battery technology is large, expensive and inefficient, limiting how much energy can be stored for lapses in production (Rinkesh, 2020). Fossil fuel energy production can be turned on or off as needs change, eliminating the need for energy storage entirely (Rinkesh, 2020).

Supporters: Reliability

Renewable energy is renewable, meaning the sources that produce the energy replenish themselves at a relatively fast pace (Rinkesh, 2020). Unlike fossil fuels, we will not deplete our renewable energy resources (Rinkesh, 2020). Renewable energy technologies are relatively new, so their efficiency is not as high as fossil fuels and their reliability is spotty (Pyke, 2017). However, as technology improves with research and investment, renewable energy will become safer, more reliable and more efficient (Pyke, 2017). The future of renewable energy links together different renewable technologies to fill in gaps in energy production, but European countries currently use energy produced by natural gas when renewable sources falter (Owusu & Asumadu-Sarkodie, 2015). This combined with decreasing energy demand in many developed countries gives reliable energy the potential to power entire nations (Pyke, 2017).

Detractors: Reliability

Renewable energy sources are intermittent by nature, meaning that they are not constantly producing consistent levels of energy (Pyke, 2017). This makes it difficult to align energy production with energy needs and makes renewable energy unable to sustain the world’s total energy needs (Pyke, 2017). Renewable energy sources are not very efficient either (Rinkesh, 2020). Renewable technologies are not on a level to compete with the efficiency of older and more researched fossil fuel technologies (Rinkesh, 2020). Because of the cost, land requirements and insufficient technology, renewable sources will have difficulty meeting the world’s increasing demand for energy (Pyke, 2017).

Supporters: Land Use

Much of the land used for renewable energy generation, especially wind energy, is farmland leased from farmers, but the land can still be used for farming (Pyke, 2017). This gives the land dual purpose, minimizing the development of lands that could disrupt local ecosystems (Pyke, 2017). Proper planning and environmental assessments before installation can help ensure the impact is minimized (Pyke, 2017). Complaints from people located near renewable energy production mostly focus on aesthetic issues, which would be the same case with fossil fuel energy production plants (Pyke, 2017).

Detractors: Land Use

Renewable energy’s production-to-land ratio is much lower than that of other energy sources (Rinkesh, 2020). For example, nuclear power plants produce five times the amount of solar power and over 400 times the amount of wind power produces given the same amount of land and (Rinkesh, 2020). The extra land use necessary to produce the same amount of power interrupts the state’s agriculture practices. The solar panel farm in Morehouse, Louisiana, for example, is being built on 1,000-acres of leased land that was previously used as farm land (Mosbrucker, 2020). Compound this with the statistic that land requirements for energy production per person globally are more than 10 times larger than the amount of productive land per person (Pyke, 2017). These figures make it seem unlikely that renewable energy can produce enough energy given our space limitations.

Global perspective

Louisiana

Louisiana is economically tied to the oil and gas industry, which impacts decisions made in the political sphere and makes it nearly impossible for Louisiana to suddenly withdraw from the industry. According to the Louisiana Mid-continent Oil and Gas Association, the oil and gas industry is one of the leading industries in Louisiana and contributes $73 billion to Louisiana’s GDP annually (2020). Research suggests the economic impacts of transitioning away from oil and gas can be mitigated with 3 steps:

1. Oil and gas companies should move to produce more natural gas, which is cleaner burning than oil;

2. Oil and gas companies should invest more in renewable energy so that they benefit from the transition and are more stable with an integrated energy profile; and

3. They should use their geological expertise to benefit from geothermal energy production (Lu et al., 2019).

VS

Iowa

Renewable energy is huge in Iowa. Renewable wind energy constitutes 57.51% of Iowa’s total electric grid mix (U.S. Department of Energy, n.d.a). The wind energy industry provides jobs and cheap energy to the state and supplements farmers’ incomes with money from land rentals (U.S. Department of Energy, n.d.a). It also greatly reduces the state’s use of fossil fuels and, consequently, its contribution to greenhouse gas levels (U.S. Department of Energy, n.d.a). For comparison, natural gas produces 71.69% of Louisiana’s electric grid mix (U.S. Department of Energy, n.d.b), compared to only 11.72% of Iowa’s (U.S. Department of Energy, n.d.a). Iowa’s energy profile leads to more positive environmental, health and justice impacts while mitigating many of the Louisiana-based concerns about transitioning to renewable energy.

More on Louisiana's position

Renewable energy is responsible for only 4% of Louisiana’s total energy production (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020a). The rest of the state’s energy needs comes from fossil fuels and nuclear power (U.S. Department of Energy, n.d.b). This reliance has led to an 85-mile zone of refineries along the Mississippi River known as “Cancer Alley” (Pasley, 2020). Cancer Alley got its name from the high rate of cancer in the region, which is likely caused by the high levels of pollution released from refineries (Pasley, 2020). Cancer Alley is a major area discussed when talking about environmental justice and environmental racism (Pasley, 2020). An environmental burden placed on sections of the state due to our reliance on nuclear power is the potential 50-mile evacuation zones from plants in case of disaster (DEQ, n.d.). These evacuation zones include large cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans (DEQ, n.d.). As renewable energy becomes more prevalent in the state, production levels of the energy sources responsible for these environmental burdens will decrease, therefore decreasing the impact of these burdens on local residents.

Why does renewable energy matter?

The burning of fossil fuels contributes to climate change by releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The drilling and development required to extract oil and natural gas from the ground can disrupt local ecosystems and pose a threat in event of spills or leaks. Furthermore, we are draining our fossil fuel resources much faster than they are being replaced. The globe’s large energy demand is depleting these resources we rely on, and eventually we will run out. Renewable energy is not only necessary to reduce our impact on the environment; it is also necessary to power our grids as we move forward.

Source: Pyke, 2017

What now?

As more research is conducted and technologies are made cheaper, renewable energy should become a more reasonable option for the average citizen. When deciding what renewable energy is worth, consider not only energy savings but also its reliability. In Louisiana, we are no strangers to hurricanes, floods and other power-outage causing natural disasters. Solar technology, specifically, has the power to alleviate some of the issues caused by disaster-related power outages.

For now, if you can afford to install renewable energy technologies on your house or business, do so. If you are educated in a field related to renewable energy, consider joining research teams. And if none of that describes you, use your voice: tell local and national politicians what you think about renewable energy and connect with local organizations to amplify your impact. Below are two great resources for connecting with renewable energy organizations in Louisiana:

Louisiana Land Conservation Assistance Network links out to local land and energy conservation resources based on what region of the state you live in. Resources include informative articles, suggested actions and local organizations to connect with. It suggests taking steps like making more energy efficient housing, reducing overall energy consumption and considering what renewable energy sources might work to power your home.

The 25x’25 Alliance works to reduce the nation’s reliance on imported oil and increase the levels of clean energy harvesting. Their website includes general information about renewable energy initiatives nationwide, but it also features an “In the states” section that details renewable energy development, policy and initiatives in each specific state.

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