Vision 21: advanced energy plants for the 21st century

摘要

It is highly likely that the U.S. will need to rely on fossil fuels for the major share of its electricity and transportation fuel needs well into the 21st century. The wisest policy for the long-term may be to utilize a balanced mixture of energy resources, including fossil fuels and renewables, rather than any single resource. Currently, the U.S. electric power industry is undergoing a period of unprecedented change driven largely by electric utility restructuring, the availability of relatively low-cost natural gas, environmental regulation, and concerns about global climate change. The implications of these drivers on the future economic competitiveness and prosperity of the U.S. cannot be underestimated. Technological innovation may well be the best, and perhaps the only way, to address the coming challenges to our electric power and fuel supply infrastructure, and to ensure that we continue to have the plentiful supply of affordable energy upon which a robust economy depends.