By Bart King
I’m tired of hearing that the Southeast doesn’t have the same wealth of renewable energy resources other parts of the country have. I’ve lived in Georgia most of my life and traveled enough to know this statement is just ridiculous.
The first time I heard it, I thought: you’ve got to be kidding. Even when we’re not in the middle of a drought–which may soon be our permanent condition thanks to climate change–the sun can be relentless here.
I thought maybe I was missing something–that perhaps our percentage of cloudy days or high humidity made solar power ineffective. This seems plausible when you consider that the top two solar states are California and Nevada. But number three on the list is New Jersey, which can’t possibly be any sunnier or drier than Georgia.
And it isn’t. We have data to go on. A simple Internet search brings up numerous maps of U.S. solar potential, and they all show that the Southeast is second only to the Southwest. Florida and North Carolina apparently have found this information, because they are both actively pursuing the development of solar power.
And if that isn’t proof enough, a little more research digs up this info-nugget: Georgia has solar resources that are 60% better than Germany, which is the current global leader in installed solar capacity. Some projections suggest that rooftop solar installations alone could provide more than 20% of Georgia’s electricity needs. So what gives?
Even if we take solar out of the equation, what does that leave us? Oh yeah, how about 190 miles of coastline. Pull up another of those resource maps (try Googling: "wind map U.S."), and it’s obvious that some offshore wind turbines might be a good place to start.
The wind doesn’t blow as strongly here as it does farther north, but thousands of megawatts (MW) worth of wind power are still at our disposal. The Southeastern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) believes offshore wind power could provide 17,000 MW of electricity by 2025. In comparison, the two new nuclear reactors Georgia Power wants to build would add 1100 MW each at an estimated cost of $14 billion-and a bunch of nuclear waste.
Also, let’s not forget that where there’s an ocean, there are waves and currents. The technology hasn’t been perfected yet, but we’ve got a far better chance of harnessing wave and tidal power than the 13 landlocked states. And we shouldn’t overlook advances being made in low-impact hydrokinetic power, which would allow us to gather energy from our rivers without needing to build dams or divert flow.
I’ll admit that we don’t have much hope of tapping geothermal heat,
which is apparently deeper beneath Georgia than just about anywhere
else in the country (Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, though, have
some good hot spots). So, let’s move on to our best-known renewable
resource, the one even naysayers acknowledge–biomass. Things grow
really, really well here–especially pine trees.
The state’s utilities know this. Georgia Power is seeking regulatory
approval to convert a coal-fired power plant into a biomass power plant
that will produce 96 MW of electricity by burning waste wood from the
timber industry. Oglethorpe Power is currently planning at least two such plants. And this doesn’t even take into account crops that could
be grown specifically for energy.
U.S. Congressman John Barrow, a Democrat from Savannah, Georgia,
showed how narrow-minded our elected officials can be when he said
last week: "We could pick the state clean (of trees) and not be
able to meet the mandates being proposed by some."
I don’t know who these "some" are, but President Obama has
suggested a goal of 25% renewable energy by the year 2025. According to
government-led research compiled by SACE, this is easily achievable in
Georgia, even taking into account increasing demand over the next 17
years. It can be done not just with trees, but also with the
market’s pick of widely distributed resources including solar, wind,
biomass crops and hydro power.
Georgia Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise told the U.S.
Congress last week a renewable energy mandate would cause our
electricity bills to rise as much as 25 percent, transfer our wealth to
states with renewable power to sell, and cost us jobs.
What he didn’t mention is that Georgian’s already transfer almost $2
billion a year to states producing the coal we burn for 70% of our
electricity. He also probably hasn’t read the recent report by the
Union of Concerned Scientists, which found that we could actually
create almost 4,000 jobs and attract $1.4 billion in new investment by
2030, if we got serious about developing the renewable resources we have.
So let’s quit the poor-mouthing and stop begging for special
considerations we don’t deserve, because no one’s buying it. Let’s pull
ourselves up by the ol’ boot straps and get to work making use of what
we do have. And while we’re at it, let’s be honest about what is really
going on: We pay the cheapest energy prices in the country, primarily
as a result of coal mining operations that are leveling our Appalachian
Mountains. Yes, switching to cleaner sources will probably cost more,
but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
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Editor’s Note: To see a breakdown by state of renewable energy potential in the Southeast check out "Yes We Can: Southern Solutions for a National RES" by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Bart King is News Editor of SustainableBusiness.com. This column is available for syndication.
Contact bart@sustainablebusiness.com.
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