Climate and energy

By Nancy Jackson

Just before the snow hit Kansas, I was lucky enough to participate in the Midwest Ag Energy Network Summit in Chicago. The conference title: “Policies to Prosper in the New Carbon Economy.” I will write separately about my talk there, but first want to share a few highlights of the conference.

Doug Scott, Director of Illinois EPA, led off.

Illinois recently analyzed the likely effects of an Illinois-only cap on carbon – something few states would dare. The results? Far from projecting economic ruin, analysis showed that Illinois’s gross state product would actually grow under a carbon cap.

In Illinois, energy efficiency commitments alone are forecast to save citizens $3 billion each year by 2020, even as electric rates rise. (Illinois passed an Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard in 2007 that requires utilities to reduce by 0.2% of demand in 2008, escalating to 2% of demand by 2015.)

Worth noting here that Illinois – a coal producing state and the nation’s 16th windiest – passed a Renewable Portfolio Standard that requires 25% of power supply from renewable energy by 2025. ‘Clean energy’ was part of the goal, to be sure, but the real drivers were jobs, economic development, and a prominent place in the new energy economy.

That economy is global, as Paul Gipe, author of numerous books on wind power and a proponent of feed-in tariffs, reported, citing Germany’s notable success.

Germany, remember, is slightly smaller than Montana and as far north as Saskatoon, with roughly similar weather (not the sunniest locale). And yet…take a look at these numbers.

·         4,000 MW of solar photovoltaics are installed in Germany.
·         1,000 MW will be added next year.
·         500 MW of solar are installed on home rooftops each year.
·         700 MW of solar were added to barn rooftops in 2007.
·         22,000 MW total installed wind power as of 2007.
·         40,000 people are employed in the solar industry in Germany.
·         70,000 people are employed in the wind industry in Germany.
·         14% of German electricity comes from renewables today, with goals of 30% by 2020, 80% by 2050.

The U.S. once led in photovoltaic and wind technology – today as renewables take a prominent place in the global economy, Germany leads, thanks in large part to its policy foresight.

Numerous commentators, including our president-elect, have recently emphasized the importance of putting aside polarized politics on climate change and embracing the new energy economy. CEP couldn’t agree more.

Kansas has better wind and solar resources than Germany. With federal dollars likely to flow to the buildout of renewable energy infrastructure and development, we need to position ourselves as beneficiaries. It is time to put aside differences and pull together into the energy economy of the 21st century.