January 20,2015
Alternative energy advocates have worried that low oil and gasoline prices may hurt the effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions with renewable energy.
The counter argument is that renewables are being mandated by governments around the world to insure that does not happen and even increase their use.
Even oil rich United Arab Emirates says it ain’t so.
“Our interconnected energy landscape has evolved beyond the point where the price of oil determines the fate of clean energy,” said minister of state Sultan al-Jaber who is also chairman of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company.
Oil prices have fallen by almost 60 percent since June, crashing on worries over global oversupply and weak demand in a faltering world economy.
Speaking at the World Future Energy Summit opening ceremony in Abu Dhabi, Jaber said that globally, investments in clean energy have increased by 16 percent during the past 12 months amounting to $310 billion.
Meanwhile, production capacity of wind turbines and solar energy panels increased by 26 percent during the same period, producing 100,000 megawatts.
That’s true for ethanol in the US where government mandates the fuel mix be at least 10% renewable blended ethanol despite what price oil is selling for.
In California Governor Brown has called for an increase in mandated renewable uses to generate power to 50%.
Power generation does not come from oil but coal and nat gas in the fossil fuel category.
To cut gasoline use in the state Brown has backed solar and wind powered high speed rail.
