The Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) has driven the growth of renewables in the United States. But a new report by Business Insights on the American electricity market suggests that the RPS faces resistance in states concerned over the negative impact renewables could have on the local coal industry where has not been embraced in regions concerned that over adversely affecting the coal industry.

According to The US State by State Electricity Market Outlook, when adhered to, the RPS creates a mandate for renewable electricity share in power generation. An RPS is a regulation that requires an increased share of energy from renewable sources, such as wind, to be achieved by a specific time.  In the United States, individual states decide whether to adhere to the RPS and build a share of the total national renewable power generation.

Paul Marshall, energy analyst at Business Insights, says, comments: “Renewables have experienced the exponential growth in states which have adopted the RPS, particularly being very successful when coupled with the federal production Tax Credits.

The number of states adhering to the RPS is increasing, resulting in the growth of renewables, Marshall explains. “Because of the success of the state-level RPS, the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources promised to consider a federal level RPS mechanism to promote renewables across the nation. However, work must be done to deliver state-level political support to make this a reality.”

The RPS has not been adopted in Idaho, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and Georgia primarily because it lacks political support. Wyoming, Indiana, and Kentucky are hesitant to follow the RPS because of the states’ strong coal lobbies.

Other studies investigate different aspects of the United States power market. The Power Storage Technologies Market Outlook concludes that the power storage market is gaining investor interest globally because of its potential for using power generation capacities more efficiently. The International Energy Agency (IEA) identifies four prominent types of grid-scale power storage applications based on the duration of stored power: power quality management, loadshifting, power bridging, and bulk power management.

The US Electricity Transmission and Distribution Market Outlook reports that power generation from renewables in the United States grew from 351,485GWh in 2004 to 381,044GWh in 2008, a two percent increase driven mostly by growth in Washington and California. The top 10 states in the Unites States contribute nearly 70 percent of the total renewable power generation in the country.

http://www.smartmeters.com/the-news/1492-new-study-looks-at-states-electric-markets.html

01/24/2011

Indiana Senator Richard G. Lugar, the Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today called on the Obama Administration to shift its attention from the divisive issue of reducing carbon emissions to a comprehensive campaign to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. “The President should say unequivocally that the United States is going to achieve a particular goal or goals related to overcoming our oil dependence,” Lugar told the 1st Annual Clean Energy Summit in Washington sponsored by the Clean Economy Network Education Fund.

Lugar said President Obama “can acknowledge that others may want something more or something different, but he should pick goals that, if achieved, would constitute irrefutable and irreversible progress that would be noticed by our enemies and allies. The President should promise that he will devote time to these goals every week. He should welcome the help of both parties and share credit along the way.”

“Prospects for success would be enhanced if the goals are well-publicized, measurable, and understandable to the broad public” Lugar explained. “For example, the President could establish the national goal of making competitively-priced biofuels available to every motorist in America or increasing the gasoline and diesel mileage of America’s auto fleet far more rapidly than is currently required by law. In the power sector, the President could establish the national goal of making the U.S. economy the most energy efficient in world. Reducing energy intensity would increase the productivity of our nation’s businesses and propel U.S. global competitiveness.”

Lugar said it’s been five years since President Georg W. Bush said in his 2006 State of the Union Address, that the United States was addicted to oil. “This was an extraordinary statement from a President who was so closely associated with the oil industry,” Lugar said. “But in 2007, I noted that despite the elevation of the energy theme, the President’s energy activities were barely registering in the American consciousness.”

“Ironically, President Obama has the same problem,” Lugar explained, “but for very different reasons. From the beginning, the Obama energy security message was subordinated to his campaign on climate change. The Administration bet that it could address U.S. energy security through the mechanism of cap and trade and other policy actions primarily undertaken to reduce carbon. But it vastly overestimated support for comprehensive climate change legislation, and it underestimated the obstacles that its climate change focus would present for reaching agreement on shared energy security objectives.”

Lugar said “energy security was a subject that was ripe for bipartisan cooperation when President Obama entered office in 2009. Instead, it became one of the most polarizing areas of domestic policy. The Obama Administration’s focus on carbon reductions caused almost any energy security proposal to be viewed through the prism of climate change. The theological adherence to climate orthodoxy among some and absolutist denial by others left little room for a serious debate on energy questions.”

“The result has been that although the Obama Administration has worked on a broad front of energy issues and the President clearly favors rapid progress on research and deployment of renewable energy options,” Lugar said, “the President is not associated in the public’s mind with energy security objectives, let alone accomplishments. Instead, in the energy realm the Administration is associated with the Gulf oil spill and a foundering attempt to impose a complicated cap and trade bill on a skeptical public during a recession.”

“It is hard to imagine a goal that is less inspiring or less tangible than the Obama Administration’s target of achieving a 17 percent reduction in carbon emissions, “ Lugar explained. “In the best case, progress toward oil-independence goals could stimulate a degree of American pride. Clearly, Brazil’s achievement of large scale deployment of ethanol as a national transportation fuel became a source of public pride in that country.”

Lugar said “it is possible to revitalize energy security as a bipartisan issue.   To do this, the President and leaders in Congress should explore the most fertile ground for cooperation – overcoming U.S. oil dependence. There is little disagreement that our oil dependence is a major threat to our economy and security. A disruption of oil supplies due to war, political instability, terrorism, embargo or other causes is one of the most troubling and likely short-term threats to our economy. Rising gasoline prices give Americans a visible reminder of this on a weekly basis.”

“A highly-visible campaign toward a measurable oil independence goal would focus Americans and their government on achieving results and create confidence that other energy objectives could be reached,” Lugar said.”It also could yield collateral economic benefits. U.S. energy policy is not happening in a vacuum. Nations around the world are looking for solutions to the same problems. Alternative energy and energy efficiency technologies have the potential to be major export industries that would benefit the American economy for generations. The economic benefits of these technologies will flow to nations that win the race to develop and deploy them.”

Lugar said he would re-introduce his Practical Energy Plan that will:

* Reduce the need for imported oil by 40 percent by 2030;
* Cut the average American household‘s energy bill by 15 percent; and
* Cut overall U.S. power demand by 11 percent.

January 30, 2011

Richmond and the Whitewater Valley can no longer count on major manufacturing jobs to keep the local economy afloat, say local economic experts.

For many long-term unemployed, the job market has changed significantly — and likely forever.

“Because of globalization, the U.S. is focusing on highly capital-intensive jobs and the rest of the world is specializing in low-skill jobs,” said Ashton Veramallay, professor emeritus of economics at Indiana University East. “That has meant an exodus of jobs from Wayne County and the U.S. to foreign countries.”

The Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County last year hired a Phoenix, Ariz., consulting group to research four areas of industry that would be best suited to locate in the region.

According to the EDC, Foote Consulting Group was contracted to conduct industry specific research and personal interviews with local companies in each of four targeted areas — transportation equipment/metal fabrication, logistics and distribution, food processing, and renewable energy systems industries — to determine Richmond and Wayne County’s key advantages. The reports — which compare Richmond to St. Louis, Mo.; Davenport, Iowa; and Dayton, Ohio — focus on detailed cost factors including freight, salary and wages, fringe benefits, build-to-suit costs, select taxes, utilities, and cost of living for a hypothetical site selection project.

“The target reports are our way to demonstrate to consultants and potential end users what the costs of doing business are in Wayne County compared to the three other areas,” said EDC President and CEO Tim Rogers. “The costs are based on ’sample’ projects so the cost areas can be developed on data that a site consultant might actually compile for an actual client.

“The EDC will take these scenarios to site location consultants, brokers and potential end users to educate them about the operating costs for our area.”

DOT Foods is one Wayne County employer who already operates in the logistics and distribution
industry from its location in Cambridge City’s Gateway Industrial Park.

According to General Manager Tim Loyd, the company has been happy with its decision to locate
in the region.

“Location is the No. 1 advantage — the proximity to Interstate 70, Interstate 65 and Interstate 75 was fairly significant to us,” Loyd said. “Another big advantage is that as a large family owned business, we like small towns. Cambridge City reminded us a lot of where our headquarters are in Mt. Sterling, Ill. We like working with our neighbors and friends.”

Location and infrastructure are two of the main selling points the area should be promoting to
potential businesses, said Veramallay.

“We are strategically located in Indiana. We have a potential market of at least 10 million people within a few hours of Richmond,” Veramallay said. “We need to exploit that location advantage.”

Jobs in ever-evolving fields such as green technology, health care, information technology,
customer service, engineering, technology and research/development are expected to open up to those in need of employment in the not-so-distant future.

Experts say ensuring employment in these fields might require some additional training and possibly more school.

“It’s not a bad thing that jobs are disappearing and new ones are coming in, but it’s the flexibility that remains important,” said Roger E.A. Farmer, department chair and distinguished professor of economics at University of California, Los Angeles. “Growth relies on the development of new technology and new ideas and they require workers trained in different ways.”

Veramallay sees the need for the United States to open its arms to growing economic powers China, India and Brazil as a way to grow some of these new ideas and attract budding industries to the area.

“Have we made efforts to attract business from China?” Veramallay said. “China is going global, and that includes Indiana. We need to use the education opportunities we have here to attract students from China, India, Brazil. Build exchange programs with students from those countries.

“What you are trying to do is create an environment of economic development that is multidimensional and long term. But it takes time to plant the seeds for that, and our education infrastructure is a vital pillar to enhance economic development.”

Rogers said the EDC will continue to try to locate businesses interested in growing or expanding into the region by making visits and contacts with established businesses who might be looking for a new location that offers some of the benefits identified by the reports by Foote Consulting Group.

“There is no ‘place’ to go to find potential projects. There is no list,” Rogers said. “That is why the EDC staff travels to these people who may know of the projects that may be under consideration. The more we can demonstrate our understanding of their business and operating costs, the better chance we may have to be considered when a project develops.

“This is just one step in the process. There are many other areas that come into play such as availability of appropriate land/buildings, access to their market, access to raw materials, the availability of excess capacity in water and sewer, proximity of electricity and natural gas to a specific site, education cost and productivity of local labor and many, many other issues — all of which can be an elimination factor for a community.”

http://www.pal-item.com/article/20110130/NEWS01/101300324/1008

The project of the university, Purdue Research Foundation, General Electric Co. and Performance Services Inc. is proposed for Purdue’s Animal Sciences Research and Education Center (ASREC) and adjacent private property. The location was selected for its ideal wind conditions.

Performance Services would develop the Purdue Energy Park at ASREC as a commercial venture, leasing the property from the foundation. The operation would be available to Purdue for research and education.

“Renewable energy has been a focus of the College of Agriculture for many years,” said Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Purdue Agriculture. “This project presents an excellent opportunity to explore bringing wind energy to our animal sciences farm, and we look forward to investigating the research and education activities this new park would make possible.”

The Purdue Energy Park at ASREC would be powered by GE’s 1.5 Series wind turbines, the most widely deployed wind turbines in the world. The 100 megawatts of electricity the total operation could produce – enough to power 25,000 U.S. homes for a year – would be sold to a utility. Some of the power would be a potential additional energy source for the university.

GE and Purdue, which would collaborate on research and development programs to advance wind turbine technology, have a strong history of working together on projects that support innovation, education and industry, said Jim Suciu, vice president of sales and marketing for GE Energy.

“We are excited about this partnership and the potential it holds not only for Purdue students interested in careers in renewable energy but also for the real-time testing and development of our wind turbine technology in a wind park setting,” Suciu said.

Development of the energy park is contingent, in part, on replacing ASREC’s animal-waste management system – center pivot irrigation – with a state-of-the-art animal waste treatment facility that would have potential for a methane digester to generate electricity. The energy park could create research opportunities into animal waste management systems for Indiana farms.

Other key provisions necessary for the project to move forward include obtaining state approval for leasing Purdue property and ensuring there is only minimal disruption of existing research.

The project would require final board approval.

The wind park aligns with Purdue’s “New Synergies” strategic plan to provide field-defining research opportunities and partnerships to address global needs.

The partnership represents an unprecedented opportunity to improve the energy capture and reliability of wind turbines while simultaneously researching how wind energy affects the environment and agriculture, said Douglas Adams, Kenninger Professor of Renewable Energy and Power Systems in Purdue’s College of Engineering.

“We as researchers hardly ever get to do tests on an entire system, in this case, an entire wind farm that is connected to the power grid. And that is what this opportunity will allow us to do,” Adams said. “Imagine how much we could learn inside of a commercial wind farm operation. We could take data we’ve never even dreamed of taking before for days, months, even years.”

Purdue Research Foundation would handle leasing arrangements for about 1,600 acres of Purdue land 10 miles northwest of campus off U.S. 231 in northern Tippecanoe County, where half of the turbines would be built. The other half would be erected on more than 2,400 acres of private property north of ASREC known as Performance Park, a proposed Performance Services wind farm.

The combined operation would be among the first large-scale commercial wind parks with a focus on research and education.

Performance Services would serve as the design-builder on both properties. It is conducting negotiations with a major financial investor for the commercial venture.

Construction requiring about 200 workers would begin in April 2012, and the wind park would be in operation by the end of that year. There would be six full-time, permanent jobs for ongoing operations and maintenance.

An important component would be a Welcome and Innovation Center, with a focus on graduate, undergraduate and kindergarten through 12th-grade education. Students, for example, could read live wind data and engage in other educational activities there. Such outreach conforms to Purdue’s land-grant mission to serve the public through discovery, extension and learning.

The wind park is a landmark project for Indiana public education, said Tim Thoman, Performance Services president and founder.

“We have a unique opportunity to create relevant and engaging learning experiences about renewable energy for generations,” he said.

The project helps place Indiana as a leader in addressing global challenges, said Joseph B. Hornett, senior vice president, treasurer and chief operating officer of Purdue Research Foundation.

“What’s significant about the partnership is that it breaks new ground in developing collaborations between higher education and industry with common goals of supporting current and future research, creating jobs, and enhancing education,” he said.

About General Electric:

GE serves the energy sector by developing and deploying technology that helps make efficient use of natural resources. With nearly 85,000 global employees and 2009 revenues of $37 billion, GE Energy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies. The businesses that comprise GE Energy – GE Power & Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gas – work together to provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the energy industry, including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels.

About Performance Services Inc.:

Performance Services is an Indianapolis-based design-build engineering company that specializes in constructing and renovating schools, universities and health-care facilities to deliver optimal environments through both the Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract and Design-Build procurement methods. Innovative wind power and geothermal systems are integral to the energy services portfolio. The company has provided energy solutions to schools since 1998 and is the leading service provider of guaranteed energy savings projects and Energy Star labeled schools in Indiana.

About Purdue Research Foundation:

The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds research, scholarships and grants; acquires property; and negotiates research contracts on behalf of Purdue. In the 1990s, the foundation was charged with helping the university in the realm of economic development. The Purdue Research Foundation oversees the Purdue Research Park, which is the largest university-affiliated business incubator in the country.

Writer: Keith Robinson, 765-494-2272, robins89@purdue.edu

Sources: Chris Sigurdson, Purdue assistant vice president/external relations, 765-496-2644, sig@purdue.edu
Jay Akridge, 765-494-48391, akridge@purdue.edu
Douglas Adams, 765-496-6033, deadams@purdue.edu
Milissa Rocker, global communications manager for GE’s renewable energy business, 518-385-2381, milissa.rocker@ge.com
Tim Thoman, 317-819-1329, tthoman@performanceservices.com
Joseph B. Hornett, 765-588-1040, jbhornett@prf.org