Report on Energy Self-Reliant States Published

The Institute for Self Reliance, which has led the nation's energy localization movement for a quarter century, has published an excellent new expanded edition of its "Energy Self-Reliant States," a national, state-by-state survey of the feasibility of local renewable resources as a commercially feasible basis for replacing electricity supply today. "The ubiquitous nature of renewable energy argues for a decentralist energy approach." This new report, written by David Morris and John Farrell, examines the renewable electricity potential for each state, concluding that all 36 states with either renewable energy goals or renewable energy mandates could meet them by relying on in-state renewable fuels. Sixty-four percent could be self-sufficient in electricity from in-state renewables; another 14 percent could generate 75 percent of their electricity from homegrown fuels. "Indeed, the nation may be able to achieve a significant degree of energy independence by harnessing the most decentralized of all renewable resources: solar energy. More than 40 states plus the District of Columbia could generate 25 percent of their electricity just with rooftop PV." This is must reading for those facing the conventional power industry's claim that massive new "transmission superhighways" are essential to connect urban centers to remote renewable resources, or the hackneyed bark that a "natural gas transition to renewables" are more "realistic" than a concerted shift to energy localization. To read this report, visit the ILSR site's download page.