In the earlier phases of energy conservation, natural resources were considered to be the most sustainable source for renewable energy, without fear of depletion. Along with improvement to the environment, the benefits of renewable resources production boosted economics, while introducing cost effectiveness in highly populated areas. Overtime, one of the difficulties of using renewable energy resources such as electricity is the inability to produce the large amounts of power necessary to fuel our continuing population growth in comparison to the use of fossil fuels.
The focus has shifted from fossil fuels to natural sources of wind, solar and biomass. The difficulties with these technologies are that they are dependent on weather conditions. Further technology developments have improved containment and energy storage methods to mitigate the reliance on weather but resolution is not final. Another drawback of renewable energy sources is that these in particular are not useable in all locations, delivering impacts once again to the environment. These impacts have instigated additional costs in exchange for cleaner and friendlier energy resources, with budget concerns reaching priority levels. US leaders are pushing renewable energy standards in anticipation of our growing population and continued demand for electricity. Ultimately cost may decide the acceptable standards.