Renewable Energy Has Grown a Ton Since 1970 in the US, but…
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David Roberts of Grist recently shared a couple of interesting graphics (in particular, when compared) from Black & Veatch. Here are Roberts’ succinct notes on renewable energy projects visible on the first map (below), which is of renewable energy projects in the U.S. up to 1970: “One, there weren’t very many! Two, they weren’t very big. And three, they were all biomass. In other words, in 1970, renewable energy in the U.S. was effectively nonexistent.”
And some of Roberts’ apt comments on the next, much different graphic: “The point the B&V analyst takes from that is that Solyndra is a sideshow. It’s not going to stop the march of renewables in the U.S. And that’s undoubtedly true. The point I take, of course, is that this growth is impressive but not nearly fast enough. In 10 years, I want the gray U.S. map to be invisible beneath a blanket of multi-colored dots. Get on it, people!”
I don’t think there’s much to add — renewable energy growth has been tremendous in the U.S. in the past few decades, but it needs to be MUCH MORE tremendous in the coming decades. (Have you gone renewable yet? Have you pushed your Congressman to support renewable energy yet?)
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