Is it feasible to supply 20% of US electricity from non-hydro renewable sources by 2020?
Yes. The United States is blessed by an abundance of renewable energy resources from the sun, wind, and earth. Good wind areas, covering only 6% of the land area of the “lower 48” states, could theoretically supply more than one and a third times the total current national demand for electricity. A 12,000-square-mile area in Nevada could produce enough electricity from the sun to meet annual national demand. There are large untapped geothermal and biomass (energy crops and plant waste) resources. Of course, there are limits to how much of this potential can be used economically, because of competing land uses, competing costs from other energy sources, and limits to the transmission system. The important question is how much it would cost to supply 20% of our electricity from renewable energy sources other than hydroelectric power.
