"Fishbone" Results on Impediments to Renewable Energy
Participants were asked to look at the following question, "What is stopping renewable energy from being more utilized?"
Participants were then asked to determine categories of issues around the question. From that discussion the following headings were developed.
Participants were asked to look at the results and make a determination on which were the "vital few" that the group might be able to address through recommendations and actions with City staff.
| Category | Impediment | Comments |
| Physics | Variability of supply | Solar and wind power dependent on climatic and environmental conditions |
| Density | Large scale solar arrays and windmills require dense concentration of equipment | |
| Maintenance | Windmill towers difficult to maintain because of height | |
| Education | Need to educate designers on renewable options | |
| Need to educate legislators and regulators on options and environmental impact | ||
| Need to teach energy use and options in schools | ||
| Need to educate all about dollar costs verses social costs of not using renewable energy | ||
| Inability to connect energy usage to environmental impact with average consumer | ||
| Lack of demonstration sites that highlight effective use of renewable energy | Not enough success stories | |
| Infrastructure | Existing structure | Distributed generation, centralized generation, transmission lines |
| Energy lulls | Renewable prone to climatic factors | |
| Instantaneous generation | Renewable may not allow for instantaneous generation on-demand | |
| Economics | Consumer focus | Products currently small scale consumer oriented vs. commercial/industrial user oriented. |
| Start-up costs | Start-up costs high and long-term savings not readily apparent | |
| Insurance cost on some equipment | ||
| High end users | ||
| Perceptions | Politics | Some perceived difficulty in getting political support |
| Expectations of use | Energy should be readily available whenever I need it | |
| High up-front costs | Renewable start-up costs are high | |
| Not enough energy available | Renewable won’t give us all the energy we need | |
| Pricing | Cost/benefit analysis not readily apparent | |
| Ecological impacts | Concerns that windmills hurt birds and bats | |
| "Not in my back yard" | Renewable good, but not in my area | |
| Aesthetics | Equipment not attractive | |
| Utility Company attitudes | Variation in support of renewable energy by utilities | |
| Institutional Processes | Interconnection to grid | Private and homeowners have difficulty connecting to grid |
| Restrictive Zoning | Zoning doesn’t allow some alternative options in neighborhoods | |
| Insurance costs | Liability costs too high | |
| Political pressures | Funding and regulations support status quo of traditional energy use and generation | |
| Incentives | Both positive and negative incentives not fully supportive of renewable useage |