Coal, oil and nuclear energy are unnecessary in order to have a reliable energy system, said Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research.
Makhijani will be speaking at Intellectual Property Book Co. on Monday at 5 p.m. about his study on renewable energy sources.
In his book "Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy," Makhijani concludes that it is technologically and economically feasible to shift to an energy system that uses no fossil fuels.
Texas has tremendous potential for producing renewable energy, he said. The advantage for Texas is that it is a dry area ideal for solar energy. Solar panels that cover the tops of commercial buildings and shade parking lots have huge energy generating potential, Makhijani said. Solar energy provides a solution at the peak usage times in Texas - hot days when air conditioning is in high demand, he said.
"In the state of Texas, just the wind power potential is greater than all of the nuclear power plants in the United States put together," Makhijani said.
Makhijani said he does not believe nuclear energy is a viable alternative to fossil fuels because of the great amount of risk it entails. Increasing the number of nations that use nuclear power as an energy source increases the number of nations with nuclear weapons capabilities.
"There is no solution to the problem of nuclear waste, and it is made much worse by the fact that the government has defaulted on its promise to dispose of the waste," Makhijani said. "There are also terrorism risks, and wind and solar energy don't have any of those risks, so why deal with the headache?"
Robert Ray, nuclear physics research scientist at UT, said he also believes nuclear waste is a problem when using nuclear power. Problems with nuclear power include safely storing radioactive material and the time required for the materials to decay.
"In the foreseeable future, nuclear power can be done better than it was in the 20th century, but waste is still a problem," Ray said.
The biggest challenge in the move toward renewable energy would be securing investments in new technology. As stricter caps are placed on carbon emission, large companies will be forced to invest in clean energy. The unit cost of energy will go up, but the overall cost will stay about the same, Makhijani said.
He does not expect a transition to be difficult.
"The government should wisely spend 40 billion dollars - that could be the hardest part," Makhijani said.
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