Alternative Energy/Give an overall picture of the AE field
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Answer the questions:
Give an overall picture of the field.
*How was this field born and how is it evolving?
- 1970 Oil Embargo raised interest in alternative energies for energy/economic security and resource and environmental sustainability.
- Before 1970, the predominant alternative energy in the US was hydropower
- After 1995 hydropower production stagnated due to lack of available water.
- Hydro facilities still account for the majority of alternative energy production in the US, but there has been no recent growth in hydropower capacity or production.
- Alternative energy technologies such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and tidal cost more than coal and natural gas power plants.
- Since the 1970's the US has used government run subsidy programs to give these technologies a competitive advantage in the US market.
- The Public Utilities and Regulatory Policy Act of 1978 (PURPA) was the first US policy to provide alternative energy with an edge.
- PURPA provided 20 year contracts at a guaranteed high price per kilowatt hour for
*What are the main business models?
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*What are the innovation dynamics in this field? (inputs/outputs, timing of innovation/ disruptive or incremental innovation?)
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*How does knowledge flow in this field?
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*Is this field replicating models from other fields?
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*How many companies?
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*How much money do they make or how much money do they “move” in the American economy?
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*How important is research from universities in this specific field?
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*How important is public funding in this field?
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*How important is private funding / venture capital in this field?
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*Are there any specific public policies (from agencies, federal or state policies) that give incentives for openness or enclosure?
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*What is the cost structure of the field?
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*Who are the producers, the buyers, and the users?
coming soon
*What is the structure of power from the production side and what is the structure of power in the demand side? E.g., who has the power to control production and demand? How is the control distributed?
coming soon