A lot of arguments in favor of hydraulic fracking for natural gas end up with the statement—you can’t be against everything. People will want to be warm with the lights on.
Now, a new study by Stanford and Cornell scientists offers an alternative future for New York State, and it’s not based on natural gas, coal, or nuclear power. Rather, their work suggests that New York can be entirely powered by wind, water, and sunlight by 2030. Furthermore, it will be beneficial to the economy, both in jobs created and healthcare costs avoided.
According to the plan, solar and wind could provide some 80% of New York’s power. This would involve equipping 5 million houses with 5-kW solar panels as well as building 14,000 5-megawatt wind turbines—about twice the capacity already installed in the State of Texas. Cars would be powered with electric batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.
Net gains would be made in manufacturing, installation, and technology jobs because most of the energy would be produced in state.
“Today I drove to work in an electric car. I took a shower this morning heated by electricity from this high efficiency heat pump.”
Robert Howarth, one of the study’s authors, is a professor of ecology at Cornell University.
“This technology is great. More and more people are living with it. But we couldn’t have been doing it five to ten years ago. So we are at a point now where the timing is right – we can do it – and I just don’t think enough people know that.”
Some will argue that this is too expensive. Certainly, there are upfront installation costs, but payback period is only about 10 years. Can we be bold enough to implement this soon?
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Web Extra
Full interview with Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology at Cornell University
[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/howarth_full_web.mp3|titles=howarth_full_web]
Web Links
Examining the feasibility of converting New York State’s all-purpose energy infrastructure to one using wind, water, and sunlight
http://www.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/Articles/I/NewYorkWWSEnPolicy.pdf
Photo, taken on January 3, 2009, courtesy of SkySeeker via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY, with partial support from the Field Day Foundation.