TRANSITIONING TO A CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY NETWORK IN THE WEST

The United States consumes a full 25% of the world's energy, which causes great challenges for maintaining its current status as a world economic power. Violent political battles over energy sources and increasing awareness of the environmental impact of pollution are necessitating a transition to a renewableenergy network. However, many of the technologies currently available for renewable energy are cost prohibitive or cause negative externalities. Special interest groups, along with general consumer ignorance have slowed the transition to a renewable energy network, but with several clean and available technologiescurrently available, and a number of government incentive programs for renewable energies, it is fully possible for the U.S. to make a transition to renewable energy using a multi-source energy network. Since renewable energy production is dependent on local climates, it is helpful to divide the nation into western, eastern and southern regions when considering how the U.S. should effectuate a transition to renewable energy. Because much of the West has lower population densities and abundant renewable energy resources, it is likely that the transition to a renewable energy network could begin first in the Western States. In order to consider how the western United States might begin to implement a renewable energy power grid, it is necessary to survey (A) the current clean, renewable energy technologies suitable to the West; (B) the available incentives which could encourage the implementation of renewable energy technology; and(C) societal and political dynamics effecting the transition