Nonrenewable vs. Renewable Energy: The SBSP Imperative?

Robert L. Frantz, Claire Walker and James Snead

Abstract

Preliminary research suggests that the United States will deplete its nonrenewable resources (oil and natural gas) within approximately 25 years (40 years in the case of the E.U.) and global nonrenewable energy will be depleted in approximately 90 years. Additionally, it is hypothesized that the U.S. will only close the energy gap to less than 50 percent using renewable alternative energy (ground solar, space based solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal) resulting in a period of total reliance of foreign imports of fossil fuels. Instabilities in the Middle East and Africa could put the U.S. and E.U. at risk of becoming "energy hostages" to hostile foreign national actors for the purpose of achieving political advantages in their region of the world.

This project will be using an interdisciplinary and pragmatic world view towards the pending dilemma and assumptions will be validated using both secondary and primary data from existing resources. Constructs will include policy alternatives, public sentiment, political will, and failure forecasts. Additional independent variables will include cost benefit analysis from a policy science perspective; return on investment from a business perspective; and risk analysis of feasibility using probabilistic modeling.

Besides standard quantitative tools for research methodology this project will use the powerful software package Nvivo9 for conducting leading edge qualitative content analysis for the identification of relationships and patterns suggesting additional hypotheses for future empirical research. Results will be used for the initial development of a strategy map for both U.S and E.U. policy leading both regions to achieve their respective alternative energy independence.

Presented at ISDC 2011 - Huntsville. Paper and presentation charts are not available.