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Cutting oil use by 50 percent difficult but doable, experts say 0

solar roof

solar roof
State-of-the-art solar panels pick up the afternoon sun on the rooftop of DPR Construction in San Francisco, which has moved into the first “zero net energy” office building in the city. The building was renovated to produce as much energy as it uses over the course of a year.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s goal of cutting California’s oil use in half may sound like an impossible task in a state famous for freeways and sprawl.

But by one measure, we may be halfway there.

Similarly, Brown’s call for California to get half of its electricity from the sun, the wind and other renewable sources by the year 2030 seems daunting, except that we’re already at 25 percent. The state is widely expected to hit 33 percent by 2020, if not sooner.

Many experts consider the ambitious climate and energy goals spelled out by Brown in his inauguration speech Monday to be difficult but doable. Those goals would accelerate changes already under way in California’s economy, hastening the state’s move away from fossil fuels and toward lower-carbon sources of energy.

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