Next Ten Years Are Crucial to U.S. Energy Future, Says Report

A report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and National Academy of Engineering (NAE) says that actions the U.S. takes now —or fails to take —will determine the country’s energy options for many decades. Titled “America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation,” the report is the product of America’s Energy Future, a project of the National Research Council, operating arm of the NAS and NAE. The report finds that existing energy efficiency strategies now could eliminate the need for many new power plants.  But a sustained development and deployment of new and anticipated technologies is needed before 2020.

   Quick Take: Like other recent studies, such as the one from EPRI, this one advocates not a single solution, but a portfolio approach that deploys a variety of solutions.  And like those studies, the report notes that enhancing electricity reliability and security means modernizing the grid with technology that can accommodate intermittent energy sources like wind and solar as well as changes in load growth and demand —in other words, Smart Grid.

   Power Online report

   Purchase page for the forthcoming study

   SGN report of EPRI study