ACORE’s Eckhart Affirms Global Benefits of Scaling Up Renewable Energy To Combat Climate Change
The following statement was issued by Michael Eckhart, President, American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), on the release earlier today of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group III report on mitigation:
WASHINGTON – "How we grow our portfolio of energy supply options -- by local governments, utilities, companies, states, regions and the federal government -- can make a difference in managing responses to climate change. Indeed, today's call by the lead authors of the IPCC report to ‘mainstream’ global mitigation has been at the heart of our efforts at ACORE to promote the widespread adoption of renewable energy and put new technologies into use on a massive scale,” Eckhart said.
"One prudent response is for our federal government to develop a comprehensive renewable energy strategy that addresses both the challenges of climate change and our dependence on foreign oil suppliers using the competitive market as the most powerful driver of change," Eckhart said.
In anticipation of the IPCC report, ACORE coordinated the release of projections earlier this week of how much of a role renewable energy can play in the U.S. to help mitigate climate change. The projections, entitled, 2007 Joint Outlook for Renewable Energy in America, asserts that with helpful policies, renewable sources could supply 635 gigawatts of new electric generating capacity by 2025. That’s more than double the new capacity industry experts forecast will be needed by then.
The report also projected that as much as 30 to 40% of U.S. petroleum products could be supplanted by renewable fuels by 2030.
“The principles outlined in our report can guide our country in scaling up the use of renewable energy to power and fuel America,” Eckhart said.
The report is available at: http://acore.org/theoutlook07.php.
The future of renewable energy globally is the focus of a ministerial-level Washington International Renewable Energy Conference in Washington, DC March 3-8, 2008. “WIREC 2008,” as it is known, will be hosted by the U.S. Department of State with support from ACORE.
ACORE is a 501(c)(3) membership nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., dedicated to bringing renewable energy into the mainstream of the US economy and lifestyle through information and communications programs.
acore.org