Assessment of Available Energy Resources in Louisiana, United States for Sustainable Energy Mix Design

As the world’s population grows, industrial, agricultural, transportation and other energy-intensive activities increase exponentially, leading to high energy demands. However, overreliance on fossil fuels as a primary energy source has posed a significant threat to the planet and its habitats because of high GHG emissions into the atmosphere, resulting in an unstable climate change. To mitigate this challenge, there is a need to balance energy demand with sustainability and social, economic, and environmental impacts associated with energy usage. Unfortunately, Louisiana depends excessively on non-sustainable forms of energy to meet its high energy demands with only 3.5% of its utility-scale electricity generated from renewable energy resources, despite being blessed with an abundance of sustainable energy resources. This project conducted a feasibility study on the energy resources available in Louisiana for different energy-efficient indicators, aiming at designing an energy portfolio that is sustainable, reliable, affordable, versatile, and meets the State’s high-energy demand. Based on the results obtained, a sustainable energy mix comprising 63% natural gas, less than 6% coal, 14% nuclear, 2% hydroelectric, 6% solar, 4% biomass, and 5% wind was proposed for Louisiana’s net utility-scale electricity production to help the State achieve minimal net emissions by 2035 and still fulfill its power requirements. Energy policies that can be implemented to catalyze the transition have also been suggested