Procurement News Notice |
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| PNN | 5685 |
| Work Detail | There’s a global revolution underway in the world of energy generation and distribution. Change is happening at the speed of a wind turbine’s blade tip. If America wants to keep up, we’re going to have to pick up the pace. Here in Ohio we’ve spent the last two years running in place, with a freeze on policies that encourage more clean, renewable energy use. Other states have kept moving. Texas, for example, which is well known for its oil wells, is one of 12 states that generated 10% or more of its in-state electricity from wind in 2015. Ohioans look back with pride at our history as inventors and innovators. We frequently remind people of the words of one of our most famous favorite sons: “If I were giving a young man advice as to how he might succeed in life,” Wilbur Wright is said to have written, “I would say to him, pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio.” American schoolchildren in all 50 states learn of Wilbur, his younger brother, Orville, and the first airplane flight, but do they know Charles Kettering? His invention of the first automobile self-starter freed us from the back-breaking toil of cranking engines by hand. His company, the Dayton Electric Laboratory Co. (Delco), was an innovation leader for decades. Energy innovation in particular is a special part of Ohio’s heritage of invention. The “Delco Light” power plant, another Kettering invention, brought electricity to rural homes not on the grid in the early part of the 20th century. A few decades earlier, Cleveland engineer Charles F. Brush built what is today believed to be the first automatically operating wind turbine for making electricity. The first modern alkaline battery was patented by Union Carbine in Cleveland, by researchers who were building on the work by another inventor, Thomas Edison (who was, by the way, born in Ohio). You get the idea. Each of Ohio’s innovations made our lives better, created jobs, and strengthened our economy. Today, technological innovations are rapidly transforming the energy economy by making wind, solar and other renewable energy sources more efficient and less expensive. And without a particularly strong or coherent renewable energy policy on the federal level, state policies are driving advances. Some U.S. states — including Iowa, the Dakotas and Kansas — produce a greater percentage of their electricity by wind than some European nations like Spain and Ireland. Always on the lookout for opportunities to prosper from change, Ohio readied itself to reap the benefits of this changing economy. In 2008, our state Legislature passed a law that required utility companies to invest in the future by sourcing a greater share of their power from clean energy. Investments in renewables quickly ramped up, with $750 million invested in new solar and wind projects over the next few years. According to research by Ohio State University, Ohio’s renewable energy standards stimulated GDP by $160 million in 2012 and created more than 3,200 Ohio jobs over four years. But then Ohio marked a “first” for which we should not be proud. In 2014, we became the first state to reverse energy efficiency rules and renewable energy requirements, putting the brakes on renewable investment at the cost of 1,400 Ohio jobs. Companies and researchers are reinventing the ways we generate, transport and use electric power in the 21st century, and in a global economy, the next big idea can come from anywhere. Ohio can lead, or we can watch as others harvest the fruits of energy innovation. We know these standards attract investment and create jobs. It’s time to lift the freeze and restore the incentives for clean energy innovation, not just in Ohio, but throughout America. We find ourselves at a critical juncture on the road to clean and secure energy. We must choose the path that provides our children and grandchildren the brightest future. Josh Knights is the executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Ohio. |
| Country | United States , Northern America |
| Industry | Energy & Power |
| Entry Date | 15 Oct 2016 |
| Source | http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20160904/NEWS/160909940/personal-view-ohio-must-return-to-innovative-roots-to-develop-clean |
