Energy and American Society – Thirteen Myths

374 Pages·2007·4.55 MB·English

by  Benjamin K. Sovacool

Energy and American Society – Thirteen Myths
Energy and American
Society – Thirteen Myths
Edited by
Benjamin K. Sovacool
Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
and
Marilyn A. Brown
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
About the Authors vii
Acknowledgements xiii
1. Introduction – The Compelling Tangle of Energy and American
Society 1
Benjamin K. Sovacool and Marilyn A. Brown
2. Energy Myth One – Today’s Energy Crisis is “Hype” 23
Marilyn A. Brown
3. Energy Myth Two – The Public is Well Informed About Energy 51
Rosalyn Mckeown
4. Energy Myth Three – High Land Requirements and an Unfavorable
EnergyBalancePrecludeBiomassEthanolfromPlayingaLargeRole
in Providing Energy Services 75
Lee R. Lynd, Mark S. Laser, John Mcbride, Kara Podkaminer
and John Hannon
5. Energy Myth Four – The Hydrogen Economy is a Panacea
to the Nation’s Energy Problems 103
Joseph Romm
6. Energy Myth Five – Price Signals are Insufficient to Induce Efficient
Energy Investments 125
Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren
v
vi Table of Contents
7. Energy Myth Six – The Barriers to New and Innovative Energy
Technologies are Primarily Technical: The Case of Distributed
Generation (DG) 145
Benjamin K. Sovacool and Richard F. Hirsh
8. Energy Myth Seven – Renewable Energy Systems Could Never Meet
Growing Electricity Demand in America 171
Rodney Sobin
9. Energy Myth Eight – Worldwide Power Systems are Economically
and Environmentally Optimal 201
Thomas R. Casten and Robert U. Ayres
10. Energy Myth Nine – Energy Efficiency Improvements have Already
Reached their Potential 239
Amory B. Lovins
11. Energy Myth Ten – Energy Efficiency Measures are Unreliable,
Unpredictable, and Unenforceable 265
Edward Vine, Marty Kushler and Dan York
12. Energy Myth Eleven – Energy R&D Investment Takes Decades
to Reach the Market 289
Daniel M. Kammen and Gregory F. Nemet
13. Energy Myth Twelve – Climate Policy will Bankrupt
the U.S. Economy 311
Eileen Claussen and Janet Peace
14. Energy Myth Thirteen – Developing Countries are not Doing
their Part in Responding to Concerns about Climate Change 341
Thomas J. Wilbanks
15. Conclusions – Replacing Myths with Maxims: Rethinking
the Relationship Between Energy and American Society 351
Benjamin K. Sovacool and Marilyn A. Brown
Acronyms 367
Index 369
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dr.BenjaminK.SovacoolisaEugeneP.WignerPost-doctoralFellowinScience
Policy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN. Previously,
Dr. Sovacool served as a research analyst for the Consortium on Energy Restruc-
turing,whereheworkedonagrantfromtheNationalScienceFoundation’sElectric
PowerNetworksEfficiencyandSecurityPrograminvestigatingthesocialandlegal
impediments to renewable energy systems. He is also a former Senior Research
FellowattheVirginiaCenterforCoalandEnergyResearchinBlacksburg,Virginia,
where he assessed renewable energy potential for the state of Virginia.
Dr.MarilynA.BrownisChairofEnergyPolicyintheSchoolofPublicPolicy
at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at
Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Brown is an internationally recognized expert
on issues surrounding the commercialization of new energy and environmental
technologies and the evaluation of government programs and policies. She has
authored more than 150 publications and has been an expert witness in hearings
beforeCommitteesofboththeU.S.HouseofRepresentativesandtheU.S.Senate.
SheisalsoamemberoftheNationalCommissiononEnergyPolicyandtheNational
AcademiesBoardonEnergyandEnvironmentalSystems,andisaCertifiedEnergy
Manager.
Dr. Rosalyn McKeown-Ice directs the University of Tennessee’s Center for
Geography and Environmental Education. Dr. McKeown’s interests focus on the
role of education in a more sustainable future and on assessing the environmental
literacyofundergraduatestudents.Aspartofherassessmentefforts,Dr.McKeown
has developed and validated frameworks for teaching environmental issues and
the socio-political-cultural foundation of environmental education. She is also the
author of the popular Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit website, and
a former President of the Tennessee Environmental Education Association.
Dr.LeeR.Lyndisaprofessorofengineeringandadjunctprofessorofbiological
sciencesatDartmouthCollege,andaprofessorextraordinaryofmicrobiologyatthe
University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. He is a recipient of the U.S. National
ScienceFoundationPresidentialYoungInvestigatorAwardandatwo-timerecipient
of the Charles A. Lindbergh Award for his efforts to promote balance between
vii
viii About the Authors
technological progress and preservation of the natural and human environments.
Professional activities include service as a member of a Presidential Advisory
Committee on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Personal Vehicles and
Co-Leader of a project entitled The Role of Biomass in America’s Energy Future.
Dr. Lynd has authored over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 5 patents.
Dr. Mark Laser is a research associate in the Thayer School of Engineering
at Dartmouth College, where he teaches process design and chemical engineering
fundamentals. He recently co-authored a report on biomass refining, entitled
“Strategic Biorefinery Analysis,” funded by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory. He also has experience in biomass pretreatment research, as well as
bioethanol process design and economic analysis.
JohnMcBride,KaraPodkaminer,andJohnHannonareallgraduatestudents
in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
Dr.JosephRommisaleadingexpertongreenhousegasmitigation,cleanenergy
technologies and advanced vehicles and author of Hell And High Water: Global
Warming—The Solution and the Politics (William Morrow, 2007) and The Hype
About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate (Island Press,
2005). Romm was Acting Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy’s
billion-dollar Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during 1997. He
iscurrentlyexecutivedirectoroftheCenterforEnergyandClimateSolutions,and
a principal with the Capital E Group.
Dr. Jerry Taylor is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is the one of the
most frequently cited energy experts in the nation and is the author or coauthor of
studiesaddressingenergyconservation,renewableenergy,resourcescarcity,energy
R&D, electricity regulation, energy price controls, the Department of Energy, and
theStrategicPetroleumReserve. HehastestifiednumeroustimesbeforeCongress
on energy-related matters and is active on the lecture and media circuit.
Dr. Peter Van Doren is editor of Regulation magazine. He is the author of
Politics,Markets,andCongressionalPolicyChoices(UniversityofMichiganPress,
1991), which examines the history of government energy interventions, and is
the author or co-author of energy studies addressing renewable energy, electricity
regulation, energy price controls, and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Dr.RichardF.Hirshisaprofessorofhistoryandscience&technologystudies
at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Dr. Hirsh has published two books on
the recent history of the American electric utility system—Technology and Trans-
formation in the American Electric Power Industry (Cambridge and New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1989) and Power Loss: The Origins of Deregulation
and Restructuring in the American Electric Utility System (Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press, 1999). He also currently directs the university’s Consortium on Energy
Restructuring,aninterdisciplinarygroupoffacultymembersandgraduatestudents
studying distributed generation technologies.
Mr. Rodney Sobin has worked on a variety of business assistance, pollution
prevention, technology innovation and commercialization, and environmental
and energy technology topics. He is currently with the Virginia Department of
About the Authors ix
Environmental Quality. His previous work in consulting focused on technology
transferandenvironmentaltechnologydemonstrationsandanalysisforDepartment
of Defense and other clients. He performed policy analyses and contributed to
reports on innovation and commercialization; technology and the environment;
environment,trade,andforeignassistance;andrelatedtopicsfortheCongressional
Office of Technology Assessment and the World Resources Institute.
Mr. Thomas R. Casten has spent 30 years developing decentralized energy
recycling projects as founding President and CEO of Trigen Energy Corporation,
a New York Stock Exchange corporation and its predecessors from 1977 through
2000,andcurrentlyasfoundingChair&CEOofPrimaryEnergyVenturesLLC,an
Oak Brook, Illinois based firm with a Toronto Stock Exchange traded subsidiary,
Primary Energy Recycling Corp. Mr. Casten has served as President of the Inter-
national District Energy Association and has been named a “CHP Champion” by
theUSCombinedHeatandPowerAssociation.Tom’sbook,TurningOffTheHeat
(published by Prometheus Press in 1998), explains how the world can save money
andpollution.Hisarticleshavebeenpublishedinavarietyofenergyjournalsandhe
has testified on several occasions before US Senate and House Energy committees
and advised officials in India, China, and Brazil on power industry governance.
Dr.RobertU.Ayreswastrainedasatheoreticalphysicistbeforebeginningwork
attheHudsonInstitute,ResourcesfortheFuture,andCarnegie-MellonUniversity,
where he served as a professor of engineering and public policy. He also worked
at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg,
Austria (1986–2000). He has written or co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed
journalarticlesorbookchaptersand16books,andeditedorco-editedanadditional
12booksontopicsrangingfromtheoreticalphysicsandthermodynamicstotechno-
logical change, energy, ecological economics and industrial metabolism.
Mr. Amory B. Lovins is the Chief Executive Officer of Rocky Mountain
Institute. Mr. Lovins has received nine honorary doctorates, a MacArthur
Fellowship,theHeinz,Lindbergh,RightLivelihood,WorldTechnology,andTIME
Hero for the Planet awards, the Happold Medal, and the Nissan, Shingo, Mitchell,
andOnassisPrizes.Hisworkfocusesontransformingthehydrocarbon,automobile,
real estate, electricity, water, semiconductor, and several other sectors toward
advancedresourceproductivity.Hehasauthoredorco-authoredtwenty-ninebooks
and hundreds of papers, and consulted for scores of industries and governments
worldwide.Newsweekhaspraisedhimas“oneoftheWesternworld’smostinflu-
ential energy thinkers;” and Car magazine ranked him the twenty-second most
powerful person in the global automotive industry.
Dr. Edward Vine is a Staff Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory and is the Manager of the Environmental Program at the California
InstituteforEnergyandEnvironment.Hehasover27yearsofexperienceinevalu-
ating energy-efficiency programs and policies at the local, state, regional, national
andinternationallevels.Hehaspublishedmanypapersontheevaluationofenergy-
efficiencyprograms,technologies,andpolicy.Dr.VineisamemberoftheBoardof
DirectorsandPlanningCommitteeoftheInternationalEnergyProgramEvaluation
x About the Authors
Conference, the American Evaluation Association, and the Association of Energy
Services Professionals.
Dr.MartyKushlerisDirectoroftheUtilitiesProgramfortheAmericanCouncil
for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). While at ACEEE he has directed
severalwidelyacclaimednationalstudiesofutilitysectorenergyefficiencypolicies
andprograms.PriortojoiningACEEE,Dr.KushlerwasSupervisorofEvaluationat
theMichiganPublicServiceCommissionfornearlytenyears.Hehasbeeninvolved
directing research and evaluation regarding energy efficiency and utilities for over
two decades, has been widely published, and has provided consulting services to
numerous states and the federal government.
Dr.DanYorkisaSeniorResearchAssociatefortheUtilitiesandPublicBenefits
Program of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. In this role
Dr. York researches and analyzes energy efficiency policy and program issues
within the utility sector. Example projects include studies of energy efficiency
programbestpractices,reviewsofpublicbenefitsprograms,andtrackingofenergy
efficiency program trends. Previously, Dr. York served for five years as a Senior
ProjectManagerattheEnergyCenterofWisconsin.Whileagraduatestudent,York
received a Fulbright Fellowship for researching energy planning and policy issues
associated with Norway’s restructured utility industry.
Dr.DanielKammenisaprofessorintheEnergyandResourcesGroup,professor
of public policy in the Goldman School of Public Policy, and a professor of
nuclear engineering in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University
of California, Berkeley. He is also the founding Director of the Renewable and
Appropriate Energy Laboratory. Before joining Berkeley, Dr. Kammen was an
assistant professor in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs and chair of the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy program
at Princeton University. He has authored more than 90 journal publications and a
book entitled Should We Risk It (Princeton University Press, 1999).
Mr. Greg Nemet is a doctoral candidate in the Energy and Resources Group
at the University of California, Berkeley. His dissertation aims to contribute to
understanding the process of innovation in the energy sector to inform technology
policymodels.Heco-leadsBerkeley’sClimateChangePolicySeminar(abi-weekly
forum that includes students, faculty, and campus researchers). Prior to coming to
Berkeley, he worked as a research manager at the Institute for the Future.
Ms. Eileen Claussen is the President of the Pew Center on Global Climate
Change and Strategies for the Global Environment. Ms. Claussen is the former
AssistantSecretaryofStateforOceansandInternationalEnvironmentalandScien-
tificAffairs.Inthatcapacity,shewasresponsiblefordevelopingandimplementing
policyonbehalfoftheUnitedStatesonmajorinternationalissues,includingclimate
change;ozonedepletion;chemicals;naturalresourceissues,includingforests,biodi-
versity,oceans,fisheriesandwildlifeconservation;andthesustainabledevelopment
efforts of the multilateral development banks and the United Nations. Prior to
joining the Department of State, Ms. Claussen served for three years as a Special
About the Authors xi
Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Environmental Affairs at
the National Security Council.
Dr. Janet Peace is a Senior Research Fellow in the Economics Program at the
PewCenteronGlobalClimateChange. AtPewsheservesasthein-houseeconomist
andcoordinatestheCenter’sresearchontheeconomicmodelingofclimatechange
policies. Prior to coming to the Pew Center, Dr. Peace was the Director of Offsets
Development and Industry Relations with a Canadian non-profit group, Climate
ChangeCentral. HeresheworkedonissuesrelatedtoimplementationoftheKyoto
Protocol, including the assessment of cost effective, alternative policies that were
politically feasible for industry and all levels of government. Working with these
stakeholders,shewasafoundingChairoftheNationalOffsetsQuantificationTeam
– an intergovernmental/industry group currently developing standardized offset
quantification protocols for use in the proposed Canadian offset system.
Dr. Tom Wilbanks is a Corporate Research Fellow at the Oak Ridge
National Laboratory and leads the Laboratory’s Global Change and Developing
Country Programs. He conducts research and publishes extensively on such issues
as sustainable development, energy and environmental technology and policy,
responses to global climate change, and the role of geographical scale in all of
these regards. He has played roles in many national and international energy and
climatechangeassessments,includingservingasCoordinatingLeadAuthorforthe
chapteroftheFourthAssessmentReportoftheIntergovernmentalPanelonClimate
Change(IPCC)onclimatechangevulnerabilities,impacts,andadaptationprospects
for“Industry,Settlement,andSociety.”WilbanksisalsoChairoftheU.S.National
Research Council’s Committee on Human Dimensions of Global Change.