Energia Combustibles Fósiles

Courtesy of Andrew Hsiao. Used with permission.
Andrew Hsiao
21W.732 – Prof. Doherty
Final Proposal
Abstract
The fact that fossil fuel sources being depleted is widely publicized, and the
growing energy crisis means that sources of more sustainable energy must utilized.
However, renewable energy continues to be sidelined, as it is not considered costcompetitive with other energy sources.This paper presents a proposal to rectify this
situation, and includes two strategies suggested by literature: increased federal R&D and
the internalization of externality costs of fuels. The paper also specifies the extent to
which these methods should be applied, and suggests a timeline for execution.

Background
Global energy consumption is projected to grow by two-thirds by 2030 (Dorian,2006). If energy sources keep their current growth rates, fossil fuels will comprise 90%
of the energy sources. This is an unacceptable percentage when the environmental
damage fossil fuels cause is taken into account. Consider that in 2004, renewable energy
only provided 3 percent of total global energy, yet this 3 percent avoided the release of
0.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide (Martinot,2006). And buildup of greenhouse gasses is
not the only negative impact fossil fuels have been associated with; others include acid
rain, forest die-off, and even increases in human respiratory diseases.
Considering the consequences of using fossil fuels, it is not surprising that there
has been increasing interest in the development and use of alternative energy sources,
including bothrenewable energy and other sources such as nuclear power and natural
gas. However, power sources other than renewable energy still have many problems that
need to be worked out before they can afford to be used. For example, whenever nuclear
energy is brought up, the debate over where to store the radioactive waste rears its head,
in addition to the security concerns regarding nuclear power plantsin this new age of
terrorism. Nuclear energy also faces the problem of production output, namely the fact
that it would be very difficult to build enough nuclear plants to have nuclear power
comprise a significant portion of the world’s power output. The 30 plants planned in

Courtesy of Andrew Hsiao. Used with permission.
China and India each, for example, would not provide even 5 percentof the countries’
power needs (Flavin, 2006). Even more distressing is the fact that 70 new reactors would
need to be built in the next decade just to replace those that are projected to be closed
(Flavin, 2006).
On the other hand, renewable energy is ready to be used now, and investment in
renewable energy is increasing dramatically, from $14 billion in 2000 to $39 billion last
year(Martinot, 2006). With such a heavy investment, it is difficult to dismiss renewable
energy as a passing fad. However, the transition from investment in research to
investment in commercialization is a difficult one. If policies regarding renewable
energy are not changed, unless a major technological breakthrough is made in the field of
renewable energy, these technologies will only becomecompetitive after we pass the
point where it is too late to start research.
Problem Statement
Since most renewable energy sources have already been proven to be viable from
a technological standpoint, the biggest obstacle facing the transition from fossil fuels to
renewable energy is renewable energy’s lack of cost-competitiveness. In other words, we
need to implement policies to reduce the marketdistortions that make renewable energy
appear to be less cost-effective than fossil fuels. For example, as of 2002, the cost of
renewable energy was between two to twenty times the cost of coal, and up to thirty
times the cost of gas, depending on the energy source (Owen, 2006). “Best-performance”
wind power was the closest at approaching the cost of exhaustible fuels, but that is only if
the...