Green technologies move ahead to fuel the future

The move toward clean energy gets a small push forward each time disasters such as the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico draw attention to the major environmental impact of our traditional energy systems. However, as the Daily Green recently explained, the public’s short memory is problematic and the old arguments for the status quo are still creating hurdles for the clean energy movement.

Luckily, there are some good ideas in the works, and the website has offered an update on four potential replacements for oil dependence: wind energy, solar power, wave energy and clean trash burning.

Offshore wind projects are now in the works around the country. Perhaps the most publicized has been the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound, but there are others in development off the coasts of Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. Citing the American Wind Energy Association, the website says these projects could create a combined output of 2,500 megawatts.

Solar power is also seeing renewed attention as projects scale up to produce more energy. The current solar electric capacity in the U.S. is only enough to power 350,000 homes, the website reports, but revenue in the industry climbed last year by 36 percent. One industry funder recently predicted that using only 1 percent of the world’s desert areas for solar power could meet global demands for electricity by 2030.

The other two technologies, wave energy and clean trash burning, are not as highly publicized, but they are beginning to take hold. Wave energy facilities create electricity by taking advantage of the ocean’s movements, but they are currently prohibitively expensive.

Clean trash-to-energy plants, which filter out toxins as they burn trash, are popular in Europe. However, the website says that in the U.S. there is more available landfill space and a low public opinion of the old trash burning technology.

The Cape Wind project, which was approved by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior last month, is already seeing interested buyers. CNET last week reported that Utility National Grid will purchase half of the electricity produced by the wind farm. Speaking at a press conference, the company’s president said National Grid will pay 20.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for the electricity.

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