Potential Displacement of Petroleum Imports by Solar Energy Technologies
The United States currently imports close to half of its petroleum requirements. This report delineates the economic, social, and political costs of such a foreign oil dependency. These costs are often intangible, but combined they clearly constitute a greater price for imported petroleum than the strictly economic cost. If we can assume that imported oil imposes significant socioeconomic costs upon the American economy and society, one way to reduce these costs is to develop alternative, domestic energy sources - such as solar energy technologies - which can displace foreign petroleum. The second half of this report estimates that by the year 2000, solar energy technologies can displace 3.6 quads of petroleum. This figure includes solar energy applications in utilities, industrial and agricultural process heat, and transportation. The estimate can be treated as a lower bound; if the United States were to achieve the proposed goal of 20 quads by 2000, the amount of displaced oil probably would be greater. Although all the displaced oil would not be imported, the reduction in imported petroleum would relieve many of the conditions that increase the present cost of foreign oil to the American consumer.
- Research Organization:
- Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (USA)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 5315928
- Report Number(s):
- SERI/TR-352-504
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Potential displacement of oil by nuclear energy and coal in electric utilities. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, Ninety-Sixth Congress, Second Session, December 9, 1980
Solar thermal technology near term impact on imported petroleum
Related Subjects
Industrial
& Business Aspects
140300 -- Solar Energy-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
140400 -- Solar Energy-- Environmental Aspects
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
299001* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Solar-- (1989-)
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ECONOMICS
ELECTRIC POWER
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ENERGY
ENERGY POLICY
ENERGY SOURCES
FORECASTING
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
FUELS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HEAT
IMPORTS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN
NORTH AMERICA
PETROLEUM
POLITICAL ASPECTS
POWER
PROCESS HEAT
PUBLIC UTILITIES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SIMULATION
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
SOLAR ENERGY
SOLAR PROCESS HEAT
TRANSPORTATION SECTOR
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
USA
computerized simulation
economic impact
economics
electric power
electric utilities
energy planning
policy and economy
energy policy
forecasting
fuel substitution
imports
mathematical models
national energy plan
petroleum
political aspects
process heat
renewable energy sources
socio-economic factors
solar energy
transportation systems