Energy

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable and cleaner options is imperative, and no region of the country has a more central role in this change than Ten Across. The economic ecosystem built around the extraction and burning of fossil fuels must give way to alternative energy sources and a more thoughtful approach to the built environment.

1st-4th

Ranked carbon- emitting states: CA, TX, LA, FL, all in the Ten Across region

Source State CO2 Emissions. U.S. Energy Information Administration, October 23, 2019.

As the fourth-largest city in the U.S., can Houston reinvent itself and the industry that enabled its rise?

Ecosystem of infrastructure: The Gulf Coast represents >50% of U.S. refining and processing capacity—highly vulnerable to increasingly extreme weather events.

A 14-year-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico verges on becoming one of the worst in U.S. history, The Washington Post, Oct. 21, 2018.

Energy Information Administration, Office of Oil & Gas, Natural Gas Division

The U.S. recently elevated its energy independence by becoming a net exporter of oil, in large part due to fracturing technology and the world’s top-producing oil field. The Permian Basin stands as a monument to the extraction economy, one based on discounting the future.

The Permian Basin Is Now The World’s Top Oil Producer. Forbes (Robert Rapier), Apr. 5, 2019.

75,000

Square miles: the size of the Permian Basin

Source Permian Basin oil production and resource assessments continue to increase. U.S. Energy Information Administration, April 26, 2017.

Photo: Paul V. Chaplo ©2020

The anticipated energy transition isn’t a distant goal – it is already here. Solar and wind power are now less expensive than fossil fuels in 2/3 of the world, a trend expected to be universal by 2030.

New electric generating capacity in 2020 will come primarily from wind and solar. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Jan. 14, 2020.

76%

Amount of newly installed U.S. renewable electricity generation in 2020

Source Setting the Record Straight About Renewable Energy. World Resources Institute (Susan Tierney and Lori Bird), May 12, 2020.

The Ten Across region, much of it synonymous with the oil and gas industry over the past century, is also the premier location for alternative energy sources including solar, wind, and geothermal.

36,666,431

Acres of solar power farms needed to supply next 100 million Americans

Source The 2100 Project: An Atlas for the Green New Deal. McHarg Center, University of Pennsylvania.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Billy J. Roberts, February 22, 2018

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