Government Grants for Alternative Energy Source - Research Paper Example

Government Grants for Alternative Energy Source Introduction As our world population grows day by day, it is becoming far more evident that our generations to come will have far more problems in their hands that they could handle. Alternative energy sources can evidently provide us with the edge we require to make this world a healthier place to live and more importantly to ensure the continuity of our future generations. Currently there are quite a few different establishments that are involved in researching alternate energy sources; it is a well known fact that our fossil fuel reserves will run out in the near future, depriving us of the leisure and comfort of our lives that some of us take for granted. One of the main problems that are faced with research is the fact that they require funding, however there are companies who are involved in such activities based on the assumption that there efforts will pay off in the near future, but is it enough? Evidently there is a strong need for governments to take the responsibility and provide grants to organizations that are involved in researching the fuels of the future. One of the biggest problems with the use of fossil fuels is the carbon dioxide emissions into the environment, everyday carbon dioxide is injected into our system, and these emissions stay there in our system building up every single day, it is the single most known factor for the global warming that our world faces (Alternative Energy, n.d.) There are quite a few different energy sources that are currently in use today, however the fact still remains that these sources are quite limited. According to British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell, by the year 2050 one third of our energy needs will have to be fulfilled by wind, solar and other renewable sources, the statement has been originated from the biggest oil companies in the world (Alternative Energy, n.d.) Solar energy has been in existence for quite some time but still there are problems that need to be resolved. Solar energy is one of the best ways to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions, it has been calculated that a 1.5 kilowatt PV system will help reduce the carbon emissions by 110,000 pounds over the next 25 years (Alternative Energy, n.d.) Apart from reducing the carbon emissions the technology also helps in reducing the consumption of the limited fossil fuels, this figure of reduced conventional fuels comes out to be a reduction of around 60,000 pounds of coal (Alternative Energy, n.d.) There are added advantages of using such energy source; it eliminates the acid rains and overall pollution of the atmosphere. However it is not always that simple, the electrical suppliers are reluctant to change their conventional way of producing electricity, this is where the governments role is most important. Some of the argumentations present the fact that the production of the solar panels itself consumes a lot of energy, although the argument is self founded but many studies have shown that the amount of electricity used to make a solar panel is equivalent to the amount of electricity that the panel will generate in two years time, hence this debt will be paid in that time (Alternative Energy, n.d.) The other most common environmentally friendly power generation system is driven by the forces of nature itself, wind. This technology has been around for quite some time now; there are quite a few areas that are generating their complete power supply through this system. Studies have shown that the use of wind power generation has doubled three times between 1999 and 2000; in the year 2000 the electricity produced by these systems was around 10,000 megawatts. This amount of electricity is enough to power five cities of the size of Miami (Alternative Energy, n.d.) Yet again there are problems associated with producing electricity using wind, one of the most practical problems with using wind is that some places are more prone to favorable winds than others; the places with lower winds are ineligible for the use of this technology. The other problem is cost, these systems are quite costly, however is has been shown that the cost of the technology has dropped by 15% with the doubling of the capacity of worldwide usage (Alternative Energy, n.d.) Other researches have proved that the cost of such technology will further reduce by around 40% if these plants are financed on the same terms as the conventional systems are (Alternative Energy, n.d.) As of now the wind technology is still more expensive than the conventional systems used, however the more of these systems will be produced and installed worldwide the less they are going to cost in the future, the concept is quite evident by the facts provided above, the costs have been reduced significantly over the past years, there is no reason to believe that it would stop here. The use of wind to produce electricity is not only limited to the developed countries of the world, there are countries that are still in the development phase but they are employing modern technologies to power their nation. Pakistan is one of the examples of the fact, it has been recently noted that the use of wind mills are introduced in their country. However their current production is at 49.5 megawatt, but there are further developments that are underway that will enable them to produce much more than their original capacity. 49.6 megawatts is quite a negligible amount when it comes to powering a nation, but future prospects will only flourish once they are initiated (Wind Power Project, n.d.) The role of the government is very important in resolving the issues that are present in the alternative energy sources, one of the biggest issues in all the projects is the fact that they require grants from the government’s side to support their activities for the time being, their costs are relatively high due to the reduced use of the technology. Once the technology is well used all over the world their costs would be much less. United States Government in 2009 started accepting applications from organization working in the field of researching renewable resources, the main purpose of the initiative was to increase the use of renewable resources and to cut down their costs and make them much more feasible to use (US Grants, 2009) The grant will be provided to around 5000 organizations involved in the production of biomass, solar, wind and other. These facilities will be provided with a tax credit of the amount that will be granted to them by the government, thus reducing their overall costs of production, it is a well founded initiative that will help new few facilities to provide products that will be comparatively lower priced, in the end it is the promotion of the technology among the public that is of more importance (US Grants, 2009) It was stated that the total amount of the grant is $3 billion; it will be allocated between the organizations on an average of around 600,000 per organization (US Grants, 2009), however there is no description as to the limit of the grant to be provided to each facility, these will vary amongst different facilities. The previous system of grants enabled the companies to apply for tax credits that took quite a long time, under the new plan it has been stated that they will forgo the tax credit in exchange for an immediate 30% reimbursement on certain expenses (US Grants, 2009) this arrangement was provided to facilitate the organizations in their activities, it is suppose to speed up the process, providing them with the funds with a reduced time lag. President Obama stated that this plan is like more of an investment in the future, it will help jump start the economy (US Grants, 2009) The United States government is quite active in providing grants for the development of renewable resources. Without the help of the government it is quite impossible to promote the success of the alternative energy, the public need to have the knowledge in order for them to support the cause, the role of the public is as important as the role of the government. As the new alternate energy sources are new in the current markets, their costs as discussed above are relatively higher, these costs are normally directed to the general public, and they have to pay more for the receiving services that enable lower emissions, the general public will have to bear some of the costs in the near future for them to be able to enjoy the comfort of sustainable energy in lower costs in the future. If the public is strongly driven to the concept of sustainable energy, the governments will automatically have to rethink their strategies and to devise plans to provide grants for the development of the renewable resources. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is involved in different activities that will enable the future to be compatible with the use of sustainable energy and renewable resources. Their efforts are quite staggering; in 2009 alone the EERE awarded $9 billion in financial assistance to the organizations to develop new resources that can be used to power our needs of the future, these funding can be in the form of money, property or other services that are required by the recipients, like for example such funds might be awarded to research improvements in photovoltaic cells (Types of Financial Assistance, 2011) U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has made making our nation's energy system cleaner, more efficient and more diverse one of her top priorities. She fought for the recent extension of the Treasury Grant Program, which has supported over $18 billion in clean energy investment and built over 8,000 megawatts of renewable energy generation. She leverages her membership on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources, Commerce, and Finance Committees to push her vision of a clean energy economy and to support budding clean energy industries, while bringing tax relief to the American people and opening new markets to American goods and services. (2011 Federal Information & News Dispatch) Apart from the grants listed above there are various other grants that are available for the organizations and the general public as well. The general public are being awarded different grants to support their cause in reducing their electrical usage by employing different techniques used in the latest building structure designs and the materials that are used in the building process, all these techniques reduce the usage of electricity and or the materials that are used are made from renewable resources and furthermore the materials are made in a facility that follows the guidelines of the sustainable energy needs of the future. Businesses are also provided with different ways to use the grants by incorporating different techniques in their business office building and the usage of electricity in their activities, different grants are provided to them depending on the area of their building and the reduction that is achieved by employing such techniques, some of the grants are based on the square foot area of the building, the building however must be certified to be eligible for the grant to be received, these are only available for the owners of the building and not to the people who have rented the place for their activities. The grants are a simple reduction in the tax that should have originally been levied on the costs of the building (Tax Deductions, 2010) Grants are awarded all over the world these days; it is one of the hottest topics in discussion all over the world. Australia is another country who has even provided grants for the schools; the offer is still active for the schools who wish to invest in the solar panels for their school buildings. The maximum amounts of the grants available for the schools are stated as $50,000 per school (School Program, n.d.) As part of the research conducted in this paper, it has been strongly noted that people are strongly being made aware of the fact that the renewable resources are the way to go nowadays. This is one the most important part in the process of the development of the renewable resources; however it should not be ignored that the companies are also a very strong integral part of the process, quite a big chunk of the energy used is by the organizations and their factories, unless they are turned towards rethinking their strategies and incorporating sustainability into their system, the whole process will deem to be useless. This is where the role of the governments comes in; their part is to ensure that the companies and the public are inclined towards using these new technological achievements. In my opinion the government grants is the best way to promote the success of the new power solutions of the future, furthermore there should be programs like seminars or marketing campaigns educating the people about the latest technology and how can it make our planet sustainable. The current work that is being conducted in the field is relatively in the smaller scale, but there are expectations that the future will bring new prospects, as the governments will continue to provide grants these technologies will have further advancements that will make them much more feasible to use by the general public and the corporate sector. The best way to promote the success in my opinion is to make sure that the general public is provided with the opportunity to incorporate the technological achievements in their own homes at the most affordable price possible, however it will take time to make the technology practical for the general public, hopefully the future will provide us with the solutions to our needs, but currently the technology is far beyond the reach and knowledge of the general public. The current grant status in this field is relatively limited, and to make things worst most of the people are not aware of the fact that such facilities are available at their disposal. Reference list Financial Close of FFC Energy Limited Wind Power Project, First in National (n.d.) In Alternative Energy Development Board. Retrieved from http://www.aedb.org/ffcfinclose.htm  Alternative Energy (n.d.) In Alternative Energy. Retrieved from http://www.altenergy.org/ U.S Ready to Issue Grants for Renewable Energy (2009) In Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/07/31/us-usa-renewables-grants-idUSTRE56U5HR20090731 Types of Financial Assistance (2011) In Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Retrieved from. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/financing/types_assistance.html Federal Information & news Dispatch (2011) In Ashford University Library Energy-Efficient Commercial Building Tax Reduction (2010) In Dsire. Retrieved from http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/incentive.cfm?Incentive_Code=US40F&re=1&ee=1 National Solar School Program Grant Information (n.d.) In Energy Matters. Retrieved From http://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-energy/solar-power/grid-connected-systems/school-solar-grant.php Read More