A project to deploy 42,000 solar dishes in the Southern
California desert has passed a key hurdle with the issuance
of a draft environmental impact statement. Stirling Energy
Systems and Tessera Solar recently deployed a much
smaller system, featuring 60 solar dishes, in Arizona.
Electricity generation accounts for about 40% of total U.S. energy consumption. (Source: Institute for 21st Century Energy)
In 2007, renewable sources of energy accounted for about 7% of total U.S. energy consumption and 9.4% of electricity generation. (Source: EIA)
In 2007, about 58% of the petroleum consumed in the U.S. was imported from foreign countries--primarily Canada, Saudia Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico and Nigeria. (Source: EIA)
Today’s challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while meeting the country’s steadily rising demand for electricity make it essential for legislatures and public utility commissions to shift their focus toward mechanisms that make demand reduction as profitable for utilities as increasing supply. (Source: Institute for 21st Century Energy)
Fossil fuels provide more than 85% of all the energy consumed in the US, nearly two-thirds of our electricity, and virtually all of our transportation fuels. (Source: DOE)
