IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v80y2017icp1372-1388.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

fEvaluation of renewable energy technologies and their potential for technical integration and cost-effective use within the U.S. energy sector

Author

Listed:
  • Tran, Thomas T.D.
  • Smith, Amanda D.

Abstract

Energy demands, environmental impacts of energy conversion, and the depletion of fossil fuels are constant topics of discussion in the energy industry. Renewable energy technologies have been proposed for many years to address these concerns. However, the transformation from traditional methods of power generation, usually based on fossil fuels, to power generation based on renewable resources presents many challenges associated with emerging, or less established, technologies. This paper examines the role of renewable energy in the U.S. and its potential to meet current and future energy needs in a way that is technically and economically sound. Renewable energy technologies, ranging from well-developed and established to new and emerging technologies, are presented in terms of their technical potential, current state of the technology, potential for further growth, and economic potential. While renewable energy sources are abundant across the U.S., issues of dispatchability, variability, scalability, energy storage, geographic limitations, and investment costs are critical in determining future progress. The analysis in this paper can be used to guide the integration of renewable energy systems toward becoming a larger share of energy production.

Suggested Citation

  • Tran, Thomas T.D. & Smith, Amanda D., 2017. "fEvaluation of renewable energy technologies and their potential for technical integration and cost-effective use within the U.S. energy sector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1372-1388.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:80:y:2017:i:c:p:1372-1388
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.05.228
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032117308626
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2017.05.228?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. ., 2016. "Public utility pricing and rate setting," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 10, pages 198-220, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Rehman, Shafiqur & Al-Hadhrami, Luai M. & Alam, Md. Mahbub, 2015. "Pumped hydro energy storage system: A technological review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 586-598.
    3. Silva Herran, Diego & Dai, Hancheng & Fujimori, Shinichiro & Masui, Toshihiko, 2016. "Global assessment of onshore wind power resources considering the distance to urban areas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 75-86.
    4. Federico Boffa & Amedeo Piolatto & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2011. "Political centralization and government accountability," Economics Working Papers 1335, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jul 2015.
    5. ., 2016. "Public utility operations, maintenance and planning," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 15, pages 299-324, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Chong, Kok-Keong & Khlyabich, Petr P. & Hong, Kai-Jeat & Reyes-Martinez, Marcos & Rand, Barry P. & Loo, Yueh-Lin, 2016. "Comprehensive method for analyzing the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells under different spectral irradiances considering both photonic and electrical characteristics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 516-523.
    7. Emilson C.D. Silva, 2016. "Decentralized Leadership," CESifo Working Paper Series 6064, CESifo.
    8. Tran, Thomas T.D. & Park, Keunhan & Smith, Amanda D., 2017. "System scaling approach and thermoeconomic analysis of a pressure retarded osmosis system for power production with hypersaline draw solution: A Great Salt Lake case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 97-111.
    9. Alami, Abdul Hai & Aokal, Kamilia & Abed, Jehad & Alhemyari, Mohammad, 2017. "Low pressure, modular compressed air energy storage (CAES) system for wind energy storage applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 201-211.
    10. ., 2016. "Electric energy utilities," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 4, pages 69-88, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. ., 2016. "Public utility management ethics," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 17, pages 342-358, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. ., 2016. "Public utility information systems," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 12, pages 239-256, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Kannan, Nadarajah & Vakeesan, Divagar, 2016. "Solar energy for future world: - A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1092-1105.
    14. Bai, Zhang & Liu, Qibin & Lei, Jing & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2017. "New solar-biomass power generation system integrated a two-stage gasifier," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 310-319.
    15. Federico Boffa & Amedeo Piolatto & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2012. "Centralization and accountability: theory and evidence from the Clean Air Act," Working Papers 2012/14, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    16. ., 2016. "Public utility regulatory environment," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 3, pages 43-66, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Huifang Mao & Xingbo Li & Kalpesh Kaushik Desai & Shailendra Pratap Jain, 2016. "Self-construal and feature centrality," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 781-789, December.
    18. Hussain, Akhtar & Arif, Syed Muhammad & Aslam, Muhammad, 2017. "Emerging renewable and sustainable energy technologies: State of the art," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 12-28.
    19. Federico Boffa & Amedeo Piolatto & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2016. "Political Centralization and Government Accountability," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(1), pages 381-422.
    20. ., 2016. "Public utility physical and cybersecurity challenges," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 19, pages 379-401, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Yang, An-Shik & Su, Ying-Ming & Wen, Chih-Yung & Juan, Yu-Hsuan & Wang, Wei-Siang & Cheng, Chiang-Ho, 2016. "Estimation of wind power generation in dense urban area," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 213-230.
    22. Barbour, Edward & Wilson, I.A. Grant & Radcliffe, Jonathan & Ding, Yulong & Li, Yongliang, 2016. "A review of pumped hydro energy storage development in significant international electricity markets," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 421-432.
    23. Goodhart, Charles A. E., 2016. "Whither central banking?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 69297, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    24. repec:dgr:kubcen:2012033 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Grieser, Benno & Sunak, Yasin & Madlener, Reinhard, 2015. "Economics of small wind turbines in urban settings: An empirical investigation for Germany," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 334-350.
    26. Mahani, Khashayar & Farzan, Farbod & Jafari, Mohsen A., 2017. "Network-aware approach for energy storage planning and control in the network with high penetration of renewables," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 974-990.
    27. Emejeamara, F.C. & Tomlin, A.S. & Millward-Hopkins, J.T., 2015. "Urban wind: Characterisation of useful gust and energy capture," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 162-172.
    28. Mark Z. Jacobson, 2016. "Clean grids with current technology," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(5), pages 441-442, May.
    29. Atsu, Divine & Agyemang, Emmanuel Okoh & Tsike, Stephen A.K., 2016. "Solar electricity development and policy support in Ghana," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 792-800.
    30. Modi, Anish & Bühler, Fabian & Andreasen, Jesper Graa & Haglind, Fredrik, 2017. "A review of solar energy based heat and power generation systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1047-1064.
    31. Eichler, Stefan & Littke, Helge C.N. & Tonzer, Lena, 2017. "Central bank transparency and cross-border banking," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-30.
    32. Prante, Jeri L. & Ruskowitz, Jeffrey A. & Childress, Amy E. & Achilli, Andrea, 2014. "RO-PRO desalination: An integrated low-energy approach to seawater desalination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 104-114.
    33. Bruce E. Logan & Menachem Elimelech, 2012. "Membrane-based processes for sustainable power generation using water," Nature, Nature, vol. 488(7411), pages 313-319, August.
    34. ., 2016. "Public utility environmental challenges," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 18, pages 361-378, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    35. Jawahar, C.P. & Michael, Prawin Angel, 2017. "A review on turbines for micro hydro power plant," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 882-887.
    36. Ozkop, Emre & Altas, Ismail H., 2017. "Control, power and electrical components in wave energy conversion systems: A review of the technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 106-115.
    37. ., 2016. "Public utility governance," Chapters, in: Public Utilities, Second Edition, chapter 13, pages 259-280, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    38. Uihlein, Andreas & Magagna, Davide, 2016. "Wave and tidal current energy – A review of the current state of research beyond technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 1070-1081.
    39. Simões, Teresa & Estanqueiro, Ana, 2016. "A new methodology for urban wind resource assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 598-605.
    40. Mihai Burcea & Wing-Kai Hon & Hsiang-Hsuan Liu & Prudence W. H. Wong & David K. Y. Yau, 2016. "Scheduling for electricity cost in a smart grid," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 687-699, December.
    41. Bilgili, Mehmet & Ozbek, Arif & Sahin, Besir & Kahraman, Ali, 2015. "An overview of renewable electric power capacity and progress in new technologies in the world," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 323-334.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Thomas T. D. Tran & Amanda D. Smith, 2019. "Stochastic Optimization for Integration of Renewable Energy Technologies in District Energy Systems for Cost-Effective Use," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, February.
    2. Mendicino, Luca & Menniti, Daniele & Pinnarelli, Anna & Sorrentino, Nicola, 2019. "Corporate power purchase agreement: Formulation of the related levelized cost of energy and its application to a real life case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Tran, Thomas T.D. & Smith, Amanda D., 2018. "Incorporating performance-based global sensitivity and uncertainty analysis into LCOE calculations for emerging renewable energy technologies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 157-171.
    4. Rosa-Santos, Paulo & Taveira-Pinto, Francisco & Rodríguez, Claudio A. & Ramos, Victor & López, Mario, 2019. "The CECO wave energy converter: Recent developments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 368-384.
    5. Bellocchi, Sara & De Falco, Marcello & Gambini, Marco & Manno, Michele & Stilo, Tommaso & Vellini, Michela, 2019. "Opportunities for power-to-Gas and Power-to-liquid in CO2-reduced energy scenarios: The Italian case," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 847-861.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Timothy C. Irwin, 2020. "Accrual Accounting and the Government's Intertemporal Budget Constraint," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 128-141, December.
    2. Christopher Simasiku & Nico Schutte, 2017. "An Analysis of the Facilitating and Constraining Factors Affecting Quality Service Delivery in a Selected Namibian Parastatal," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 5908283, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    3. Chang, Zheng & Phang, Sock-Yong, 2017. "Urban rail transit PPPs: Lessons from East Asian cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 106-122.
    4. Montalvo, José G. & Piolatto, Amedeo & Raya, Josep, 2020. "Transaction-tax evasion in the housing market," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Adrian Chadi & Matthias Krapf, 2017. "The Protestant Fiscal Ethic: Religious Confession And Euro Skepticism In Germany," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(4), pages 1813-1832, October.
    6. Glaeser, Edward L. & Ponzetto, Giacomo A.M., 2018. "The political economy of transportation investment," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 4-26.
    7. Michał Myck & Mateusz Najsztub, 2020. "Implications of the Polish 1999 administrative reform for regional socio‐economic development," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 559-579, October.
    8. Gino Gancia & Giacomo A M Ponzetto & Jaume Ventura, 2022. "Globalization and Political Structure," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 1276-1310.
    9. Federico Boffa & Vincenzo Mollisi & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2023. "Do incompetent politicians breed populist voters? Evidence from Italian municipalities," Economics Working Papers 1861, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    10. Chen, Jidong & Shi, Xinzheng & Zhang, Ming-ang & Zhang, Sihan, 2024. "Centralization of environmental administration and air pollution: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    11. Che, Jiahua & Chung, Kim-Sau & Lu, Yang K., 2017. "Decentralization and political career concerns," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 201-210.
    12. Glaeser, Edward L. & Ponzetto, Giacomo A.M., 2014. "Shrouded costs of government: The political economy of state and local public pensions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 89-105.
    13. Abramson, Boaz & Shayo, Moses, 2022. "International integration and social identity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    14. Morscher, Christof & Schlothmann, Daniel & Horsch, Andreas, 2017. "Bargeld quo vadis?," Freiberg Working Papers 2017/01, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    15. David Bartolini & Agnese Sacchi & Domenico Scalera & Alberto Zazzaro, 2018. "The closer the better? Institutional distance and information blurring in a political agency model," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 146, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    16. Edward L. Glaeser, 2012. "Urban Public Finance," NBER Working Papers 18244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Bo, Shiyu, 2020. "Centralization and regional development: Evidence from a political hierarchy reform to create cities in china," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    18. Ricardo Dahis & Christiane Szerman, 2023. "Decentralizing Development: Evidence from Government Splits," Monash Economics Working Papers 2023-18, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    19. Amrita Dhillon & Pramila Krishnan & Manasa Patnam & Carlo Perroni, 2020. "Secession with Natural Resources," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(631), pages 2207-2248.
    20. Dirk Niepelt, 2018. "Dynamic Tax Externalities and the U.S. Fiscal Transformation in the 1930s," Diskussionsschriften dp1803, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:80:y:2017:i:c:p:1372-1388. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.