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, 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 indicators, aiming at designing an energy portfolio that is sustainable, reliable, affordable, versatile, and meets 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 achieve minimal net emissions by 2035. Energy policies that can be implemented to catalyze the transition have also been suggested.