Track: Energy

Abstract

The primary source of energy in the United States is fossil fuels and it creates damaging consequences to our environment. It pollutes the environment, and it will continue to create negative issues for future generations to come, but renewable energy sources like solar would greatly reduce the production of carbon emissions, so solar has been on the rise in recent years. This study is important because with non-greenhouse emissions increasing it causes the temperature to rise dramatically. Humans have increased the number of emissions which resulted in climate change and rising sea-levels. Electrical systems in California, the Southwest, New England, and New York were compared using data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The NREL includes data on daily hourly estimates of 6000 hypothetical PV installations and one year’s worth of solar energy output every 5 minutes, while the EIA data talks about net generation by source, total carbon emissions, and carbon emissions by fuel type. The results show that there could be significant potential to reduce carbon emissions by incorporating 100% solar power plants in California and the Southwest. This demonstrates that the integration of solar energy would decrease carbon emissions caused by electricity, with California and the Southwest having the most significant decrease with incorporation of 100% of potential solar plants, and New York and New England needed more regulations and incentives to achieve emission targets.