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USA Energy companies waking up to the renewable energy future

Another Wake-Up Call For Energy Companies  CleanTechnica December 30th, 2014 by Tina Casey  “…Electricity generated by solar, wind, or geothermal offers a more solid fiscal footing, since once the equipment is up and running the fuel is virtually free.

Consumers have been getting the message about prices as well as community benefits. According to the latest Pew energy poll (h/t to fuelfix.com), Americans favor alternative energy by a whopping 60 percent to 30 percent margin.

Speaking of Republicans, that figure includes self-identified Republicans, which is the only demographic group in the survey to favor fossil energy over renewables. Did I say Republicans too many times in this article?

Where was I? Oh, right. Utility companies such as Duke Energy have been taking that message to heart and are rapidly increasing their renewable energy portfolios, as chronicled endlessly here at CleanTechnica and our sister site PlanetSave.

As for energy extraction companies, earlier this week we made the point that energy is fungible. If you think of energy to the energy industry as mobility to the auto industry, you can see why the reality is that the transition to a more safe and sustainable business model can be painful, it is doable.

Some extraction companies are doing it faster than others. For example Chevron (yes, that Chevron) is heavily invested in solar energy, and Saudi Aramco is busily transitioning its host nation’s domestic energy profile into renewables.

On the other side of the coin, there are still plenty of fossil-invested companies that don’t seem to be interested in any kind of transition at all, and that have been aggressively lobbying against renewables.

That would be Koch Industries and Exxon, for starters. If you can think of some other examples, drop us a note in the comment thread.

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December 31, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, renewable, USA