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US to double renewable energy capacity by 2012

Vice President Joe Biden said the US will achieve targets set by the Obama administration to double renewable energy by 2012

The White House said yesterday that the US is on track to double its renewable energy generating capacity – as well as its renewable energy manufacturing capacity – by 2012.

Releasing a new report summing up progress under the Recovery Act, Vice President Joe Biden predicted that the cost of solar power would be cut in half by 2015, putting it “on par” with the cost of retail electricity from the grid.

And he forecast a 70% cut in the cost of electric vehicle batteries between 2009 and 2015, leveling the costs of an electric vehicle with non-electric counterparts.

The Vice President said the “game-changing” breakthroughs would not be possible without the $23 billion in investment from the Recovery Act.

He said yesterday:  “We’re planting the seeds of innovation, but private companies and the nation’s top researchers are helping them grow, launching entire new industries, transforming our economy and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the process.”

Renewable Energy

According to the White House, the 28.8 gigawatts (GW) of solar, wind and geothermal generation installed up to 2008 would expand to 57.6GW by the end of 2011, providing enough new capacity to supply 16.7 million homes.

Renewable energy manufacturing capacity is set to grow from 6GW per year to 12GW by the end of 2011, it said.

Within this, the report suggested the US would see its share of the global solar photovoltaic market jump from 6% to 14%.

The White House said rooftop solar energy costs were set to drop from 21 cents per kilowatt-hour (2009) to 10 cents per kWh in 2015, adding that utility-scale solar costs would also fall from 13 cents per kWh to six cents per kWh.

In the long term, rooftop solar panels will see prices drop as low as six cents per kWh by 2030, according to the report.

Electric vehicles

Meanwhile predictions for electric vehicles included a fall in battery costs for all-electric vehicles, from $33,000 to $10,000 per unit between 2009 and 2015, and from $13,000 to $4,000 for electric hybrid batteries.

The report noted that electric-drive vehicles cost upwards of $100,000 in 2009, but that the forthcoming 2011 Nissan LEAF and Chevy Volt vehicles would start at just over $25,000 and $33,000 respectively, after federal rebates.

The weight of a typical electric-vehicle battery is forecasted to decrease by 33%, from 333 kilograms to 222 kilograms, by 2015. The lighter battery means a lighter car, which means less energy is needed to power the car.

US Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, said: “Thanks to investments made possible by the Recovery Act, we are unleashing the American innovation machine to change the way we use and produce energy in this country.”