This may not turn out to be the most germane of diaries, as my head had an unfortunate encounter with a rather nasty rock while hiking the other day, but I do want to write a few lines about this, as it is big news for the renewable energy sector in the U.S.
On Tuesday, construction started on what will be the largest wind farm in the U.S., displacing the previous record holder, the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in West Texas.
Wind farm 'mega-project' underway in Mojave Desert
The Alta Wind Energy Center — with plans for thousands of acres of turbines to generate electricity for 600,000 Southern California homes — officially breaks ground Tuesday.
By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
July 27, 2010
It's being called the largest wind power project in the country, with plans for thousands of acres of towering turbines in the Mojave Desert foothills generating electricity for 600,000 homes in Southern California.
And now it's finally kicking into gear.
http://www.latimes.com/...
This is significant not just because of the massive amount of clean energy that will be generated there, but also because it demonstrates how the policy of renewable energy standards that was implemented in California is very effective. It furthermore shows just how important it was for the Democrats to add the long-term extension of renewable energy tax credits to the bank bailout in 2008:
Wind, Solar Tax Credits Extended in $700 Billion Bail-Out
WASHINGTON, DC, October 3, 2008 (ENS) - Renewable energy businesses are breathing a sigh of relief today as the extension of the production and investment tax credits that benefit their industries were approved by Congress as part of the $700 billion bail-out package for the financial industry.
The House of Representatives passed Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, this afternoon by a vote of 263 to 171, and less than two hours later, President George W. Bush signed it into law. The Senate passed it on Wednesday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said that she is "pleased that the bill includes an extension of tax cuts for clean renewable energy that will create and save half a million good-paying paying jobs in America immediately."
http://www.ens-newswire.com/...
Projects like the Alta Wind Energy Center would have a much harder time getting off the ground without the legislative successes of Democrats both in individual states and on a national level.
In addition to providing clean electricity for 600 thousand households in California, this project will be providing lots of construction and maintenance jobs in California, as well as manufacturing jobs in Colorado, where the Vestas wind turbines are built.
Known collectively as Alta Projects II-V, the Terra-Gen initiative will use 190 V90-3.0 MW turbines from the manufacturer Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc. This past March, Terra-Gen began construction on the first phase of its Alta Project, which features 150 MW turbines manufactured by General Electric.
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In a press release issued last Wednesday by Terra-Gen, company CEO Jim Pagano described how the expanded Alta project will positively impact California’s economy and local job markets. "The Alta projects I-V will create more than 1,500 domestic manufacturing, construction and operation and maintenance jobs, and inject more than $600 million into the local economy."
http://greenjobsready.com/...
Vestas recently opened three manufacturing plants in Colorado to supply turbines to North American customers -- a blades factory in Windsor, a nacelles assembly unit in Brighton, and a towers manufacturing facility in Pueblo. A second blades factory is planned for 2011 in Brighton, it said.
http://www.finanznachrichten.de/...
The large amount of jobs being created in the renewable energy sector are the best argument for a RES that can be made in this stagnating economy. Even Republican Senators from states where renewables can play a big role seem to be warming up to the idea of a RES:
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Sam Brownback called for bipartisan support in the Senate to include the renewable energy standard title from the American Clean Energy and Leadership Act of 2009, which was reported out the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last summer, in upcoming energy legislation.
"As we begin consideration of comprehensive energy legislation, it's essential we include ideas that will help drive our national energy production in the direction of more clean, renewable energy," stated Brownback. "The RES title passed out of the Energy Committee requires by 2020 that 15% of our country's energy be produced using agreed upon forms of renewable energy, such as wind, solar, and biomass. Under this proposal, utilities are allowed to meet up to 4% of the requirement through energy efficiency.
http://www.awea.org/...
If just a few Republican Senators would get on board with a renewable energy standard, then maybe it is time to create a RES stand-alone bill? It would provide huge momentum for U.S. renewables if a national RES were adopted, and voters in their states could see in black and white just where their Representatives and Senators stand on job creation in what is quickly shaping up to be the largest future jobs creator worldwide.