Solar Energy and our Environmental Future

~By Carol Browner~
Former Administrator, U.S.   Environmental   Protection Agency

EPA and other federal agencies are working with thousands of private sector partners to bring these efficient technologies into more widespread use. You can look for EPA and DOE's ENERGY STAR label to find energy-efficient computers, heating and cooling equipment, home appliances, televisions, and other products. Over the next 15 years, these more energy-efficient products have the potential to cut the nation's utility bills by $100 billion and reduce emissions of the pollutants that cause global warming.

So increasing energy efficiency is a key part of the solution to global warming. The other critical component of the solution is changing the kind of energy we use — transforming our nation’s energy infrastructure away from reliance on polluting fossil fuel and towards low-carbon and renewable energy sources.

Solar energy will be part of that transformation. In the coming decade, solar energy use in the U.S. is expected to grow dramatically, eventually producing enough thermal and electric clean energy to supply a million homes, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 5 million tons a year — the equivalent of taking more than 3 million cars off the road.

To help accelerate the diffusion of solar energy into the marketplace, EPA has initiated a number of solar-related activities.

EPA voluntary programs now include solar. The EPA State and Local Outreach Program, for example, is working to encourage municipal governments to buy solar energy systems. The ENERGY STAR Buildings Program is identifying opportunities for building-integrated solar applications. And the Climate Wise Program is working with industrial companies to encourage them to install solar.

EPA is also examining the pollution prevention benefits of solar energy. EPA and the utility industry are partners in a $4.25 million cost-shared program to fund the installation of 30 commercial and residential rooftop photovoltaic systems totaling 376 kilowatts of generating capacity. The systems’ performance is compared with hour-by-hour operating characteristics of the participating utilities to accurately determine the pollution benefits of the PV systems.

EPA is looking at its own facilities, using the results from a study conducted in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to examine opportunities for application of solar and other renewable technologies at EPA facilities.

EPA has also formed a group to work with States to develop guidance for accurately forecasting changes in energy use and their air pollution benefits. The goal is to provide a tool that will assist States in getting credit for energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts in state plans to comply with the Clean Air Act.

In short, EPA is committed to a partnership with the solar industry because of our shared goals in reducing pollution and addressing global warming.

There are some who say that we are not up to the challenge of global warming. In the past, every time we have acted to protect public health and the environment, pessimists have said it would hurt the economy. But now our environment is cleaner than it was before we started, and our economy is the strongest it has been in a generation. We have proven that we can have strong environmental protection and still have strong economic growth and prosperity.

When it comes to tackling global warming, we can do it again. I look forward to a partnership with the solar industry in this effort.