Renewable energy is poised to “green” our energy grid. By the start of 2009, there were more than 25,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity (up from about 2,500 MW in 2000). In 2008, nearly 4,000 MW of geothermal energy was under development, far more than the 2,800 MW installed in all prior years. Currently there is far less installed solar capacity — only about 3,400 MW — but there are over 29,000 MW in the CalISO queue, with still more planned in other states.
These trends will only accelerate. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have renewable portfolio standards (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just raised California’s to 33 percent by 2020), and 19 states, including California, have established their own or participate in regional greenhouse gas emissions targets. President Obama, who has promised a national renewable portfolio standard and supports a mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions, recently pressed Congress to pass a stimulus package that will “double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar and biofuels over the next three years” and provide 3,000 miles of new transmission lines.
