Jul 13 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Rocky Barker The Idaho Statesman, Boise


From wind power to tar sands to nuclear power and even tidal power, the Pacific Northwest has a bounty of energy sources the region can turn into industrial development and jobs, experts meeting this week in Boise say.

People from five U.S. states and three Canadian provinces and the Yukon will talk about how combining the region's energy resources can benefit the economies of both nations.

They are in town for the 19th annual summit of the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region, a public-private partnership chartered by the legislative bodies of the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan and the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

"We'll be talking about this region as the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy," said Matt Morrison, executive director of the group that brings the region's top experts together with lawmakers and leaders.

The region has more than 20 million people and generates $700 billion in gross regional product. It's one of the fastest growing regions in North America. The conference will focus on energy issues along with issues about water, trade, agriculture and the 2010 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Vancouver, B.C.

Monday, a panel of 16 university presidents from around the region will meet for the first time ever to discuss how they can work together.

When things are good, Idaho Lt. Gov Brad Little said, states and countries tend to compete for position. "When times are bad, they should cooperate and collaborate," he said.

Idaho sold more than a billion dollars in goods to Canada last year from microchips to farm products, Little said, so it pays for the state to work with its northern neighbor.

No opportunity is more important than energy.

Canada has a lot of natural gas and other fuels that will be critical in helping the two nations make the transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources like wind, solar geothermal and biofuels. The Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls is pioneering the development of hybrid systems that combine traditional fossil fuel sources with renewables that will be critical during the next 20 years.

Saskatchewan and Alberta have teamed up with the INL to develop new energy systems that would combine their tar sand oil deposits and natural gas sources with nuclear power and other technologies so they can develop industrial centers in the region instead of simply sending the fuels elsewhere.

"They want to use those resources to build clean energy clusters," said Mike Hagood, an INL program manager working with the two provinces.

Each part of the region has advantages that can help other parts. Idaho's canals, for instance, offer researchers a place to test tidal and ocean current power systems because there are no fish, Morrison said. But coordinating transmission lines, pipelines and even roads and other transportation options like rail will be critical to helping the region benefit from the doubling of growth expected in the next 50 years.

It will be especially challenging as the world phases out carbon-based energy systems at the same time the region grows, said Rep Walt Minnick, D-Idaho.

"That's going to take up to three times the energy," Minnick said. "I think that presents opportunity for those of us in the West."

Rocky Barker: 377-6484

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