subject: Going Green With Solar, Wind, Or Biofuels is Not Easy [print this page] Going Green With Solar, Wind, Or Biofuels is Not Easy
A few years ago, and for the first time, the U.S. Senate included a "renewable energy" requirement for utilities in its energy bill. Unexciting as this may appear at first glance, the bill, after passing the House, required most utility companies that now generate power by burning fossil fuels to produce 10% of their power from "renewable," or "green" sources such as solar energy, wind, geothermal wells, methane gas from landfills, and biomass from farms by the year 2020. Hydro-electric and nuclear energy sources were not included.
To date, only 14 states have had enough foresight to adopt voluntary renewable energy requirements for utilities, ranging from 1% in Arizona to 30% in Maine. Those states should be given the recognition they deserve, because being "green" is not as easy as it sounds.
Consider JEA, the city-owned utility of Jacksonville, Florida that volunteered in 1998 to provide 7.5% of its power by "green" energy sources within 20 years. The utility's first foray into renewable energy began with Arundo donax, a bamboo-like plant. JEA contracted with Biomass Industries Inc. of Gulf Breeze, Florida to grow 12,000 acres of Arundo. The plan was to shred and compost the plant, producing methane gas that would be burned to provide very clean energy for consumers at a price competitive with coal.
The very organizations expected to support the Arundo project turned out to be its antagonists. Environmental groups were worried that Arundo, a fast-growing plant native to the Mediterranean, would endanger Florida's indigenous vegetation. Florida's Sierra Club chapter asked JEA not to cultivate any more of the plant.
One might think that Florida, with its abundance of sunshine, could rely on solar energy to provide a significant share of pollution-free energy. It would, if not for the fact that solar energy research and development has not been given the attention it deserves in the U.S., with the result that energy produced from solar technologies, even in sunny states like Florida, costs 10 times more to produce than energy from fossil fuel sources, preventing it from becoming a serious contender in the area of "green" energy.
Wind-power is also being considered by JEA, with the hope of building a wind-turbine farm along Florida's gusty topographies. But the utility may face opposition to this technology as well, believe it or not. In Massachusetts, for example, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is fighting the establishment of a 170-unit wind-turbine farm five miles off-shore, because they feel it would "industrialize" the area, and therefore degrade fishing, relaxation, and tourism. Senator Kennedy supported the ban on wind-turbines in Nantucket Sound, deeply disappointing vast numbers of his long-time supporters who felt bitterly betrayed by his position.
JEA is now looking into the possibility of planting trees on its own land, followed by fertilization with sewage. This program has the double advantage of cleaning up local rivers while developing a source of wood chips that could be used to produce power more cleanly than fossil fuel combustion.
Where wind is plentiful in coastal areas and Midwestern states, perhaps wind power will turn out to be the short-term winner in the race to produce clean energy. It is quiet, 100% pollution-free, and already able to compete with fossil fuels on a cost basis. Apparently, more people need to view high-tech wind turbines as an interesting and aesthetically pleasing technology. Once the costs have come down, solar energy may come into its own. If utilities can find suitable plants that don't offend local environmental groups, biomass may also make significant contributions to clean energy. There are many people who feel that the pieces of the clean-energy puzzle are here and that we need to figure out how to put them together. The biggest long-term winners will be the environment and the quality of life derived from cleaner air, water, and soil.
Dr. Lowell Parker received his Ph.D. in chemical physics from Polytechnic University and is currently a faculty member of Empire State College. He has been teaching and tutoring for more than 25 years, and has published extensively. Dr. Parker is the creator and owner of a homework help and online tutoring services company where students can register for free at 24HourAnswers.com to get high-quality homework help, online tutoring, and free academic prep materials, including a complete math SAT prep course.
