MODELING THE RENEWABLE ENERGY PORTFOLIO OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES THROUGH 2050
Introduction/Abstract
We present a model for analyzing various renewable energy portfolios for the Southern half of the United States through 2050. The model evaluates multiple renewable energy sources including solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal. The Southern half of the U.S. is divided into three regions: Southwest, South Central, and Southeast, which are chosen given their location and the level of abundance of renewable resources. A mathematical predictor takes into account variables such as supply/demand and non- renewable/renewable sources. The input to the model include massive amount of data on the available renewable resources in the twenty southern states, compiled mostly from the data published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Energy Information Agency (EIA). Our results show that while the Southwest and South Central regions will have a surplus of renewable electricity by 2050, the Southeast region will not have enough renewable resources to detach itself from the use of fossil fuels. Under the scenario of utilizing 60 % of the capacity, the Southwest region will be able to produce its entire electricity from renewable sources by 2031 whereas the South Central region can become 100% renewable as early as 2017. By 2050 these two regions will have a significant surplus of electricity that can be exported to the neighboring regions with minimum transportation cost.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Stockton campus, University of the Pacific
Format
Poster Presentation
MODELING THE RENEWABLE ENERGY PORTFOLIO OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE UNITED STATES THROUGH 2050
DeRosa University Center, Stockton campus, University of the Pacific
We present a model for analyzing various renewable energy portfolios for the Southern half of the United States through 2050. The model evaluates multiple renewable energy sources including solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal. The Southern half of the U.S. is divided into three regions: Southwest, South Central, and Southeast, which are chosen given their location and the level of abundance of renewable resources. A mathematical predictor takes into account variables such as supply/demand and non- renewable/renewable sources. The input to the model include massive amount of data on the available renewable resources in the twenty southern states, compiled mostly from the data published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Energy Information Agency (EIA). Our results show that while the Southwest and South Central regions will have a surplus of renewable electricity by 2050, the Southeast region will not have enough renewable resources to detach itself from the use of fossil fuels. Under the scenario of utilizing 60 % of the capacity, the Southwest region will be able to produce its entire electricity from renewable sources by 2031 whereas the South Central region can become 100% renewable as early as 2017. By 2050 these two regions will have a significant surplus of electricity that can be exported to the neighboring regions with minimum transportation cost.
