Is New Zealand's High Contribution of Renewable Resources in Electricity Generation Transferable to the United States?
Open Access
- Author:
- Maisel, Katharine Ann
- Area of Honors:
- Energy, Business, and Finance
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Jonathan P Mathews, Thesis Supervisor
Andrew Nathan Kleit, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- New Zealand
Electricity - Abstract:
- Global climate change threatens the safety of the population. Facing this threat, New Zealand has adopted renewable resource generation in a growing share of its total electricity supply. In 2013, New Zealand reached a level of 75% of electricity generation from renewable resources. With additional wind and geothermal capacity additions, the nation has set a target of 90% of electricity from renewable resources by 2025. It is examined if New Zealand’s high contribution of renewable electricity can economically and practically be applied in the United States domestic power supply. Through literature review and interviews conducted during travel, it is determined that New Zealand’s abundance of renewable resources and lack of significant fossil fuel resources, in addition to their milder climate, low energy-intensive industries, small size, and commitment to the environment, created conditions conducive to renewable electricity development. The high percentage of renewable generation in New Zealand is not transferable to the United States because of factors relating to economics, scale, resource availability, transmission, policies, social barriers, and cultural trends. Renewable generation contribution remains low in the United States, with hydropower, wind, geothermal, biomass, and solar accounting for only 13% of supply. While stricter environmental regulations in the U.S. have led to the retirement of coal-fired power plants, with coal contributing 40% of the United States electricity in 2013 compared to 50% in 2005, instead of renewable resources taking the place of coal generation, natural gas switching has occurred and is expected to continue. Thus, given the current conditions, it is unlikely the United States will experience a significant transformation away from fossil fuel generation in the near future.