Renewable energy good for environment, economy

Apr 29 - McClatchy-Tribune Content Agency, LLC - Frank Witsil Detroit Free Press

 

At lot of ground was covered at the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council's one-day annual meeting earlier this month near the state capitol, but one topic seemed to dominate: renewable energy.

"Renewable energy and gas, that's where the future is," Michael Polsky, an energy company executive and the keynote speaker, declared.

The council isn't the only business group talking about renewable energy these days. The shift to it -- and industry voices advocating for its use -- has picked up in the past few years as the costs to generate it have fallen and environmental regulations have risen.

Their point: Renewable energy maybe good for the environment, but it's also very good for the economy, and that's why, their are so interested in it -- and want to talk about it.

"Historically, the voices in the renewable energy and energy efficiency debate have been environmental voices," council president Dan Scripps said. "But, this is a business, and it's an industry sector that's growing in Michigan. It's a chance for businesses to come together."

Energy manufacturing adds $7.2 billion to the Michigan economy each year, according to the council.

Energy from the wind and sun have created new companies and new jobs in Michigan. Ventower Industries, for example, manufactures wind turbine towers in Monroe, and Norcross, Ga.-based Suniva opened a factory to make solar cells in Saginaw.

And it's created opportunity for smaller companies, such as solar installation company Srinergy, to emerge.

"Renewable energy not something new, but it's becoming more and more economical," said Robert Jackson, director of the Michigan Energy Office. "It's a clean technology that doesn't have a large environmental impact. What we generate, we can put on the grid and consume. It makes economic sense."

Businesses are increasingly interested in renewable energy -- especially wind and solar -- because it can reduce the cost of making goods, and it also opens opportunities for more investment in Michigan's energy sector profile of about 83,000 workers.

One study last year concluded investment in renewable energy could support nearly 21,000 jobs within a year.

It's now about half as expensive to produce energy from wind, for example, than utility companies initially expected, down to as little as $50 a megawatt hour last year from more than $100 a megawatt hour in 2009.

With solar, Prasad Gullapalli, who founded Srinergy in 2010, said the price to add both commercial and residential solar energy systems has fallen dramatically, by about half or more, in the past five few years.

The change has helped his small Novi company with six employees steadily grow.

Suniva, which makes photovoltaic solar cells and modules, employs about 140 people in Saginaw. Last year, it announced it is building a manufacturing facility, about 129,000 square feet, and adding up to 300 jobs as the plant production ramps up.

The United States is one of the top three markets for the global solar industry, and Michigan -- with it's manufacturing history, skilled workforce, abundant suppliers, and logistics infrastructure -- is an ideal location for a factory, Suniva vice president Matt Card said.

Solar power, he said, makes sense for companies in Michigan and globally.

"It's a win for them economically, but also socially and environmentally," he added. "There's not a down side."

Polsky, president and CEO of Invenergy, predicts the trend toward renewable is likely to continue -- and accelerate.

His company, based in Chicago, is one of North America's largest independent wind power producers. It owns and operates power generation and storage facilities, including a 30,000-acre wind energy project in Gratiot County in central Michigan.

The bottom line, he said, is what is helping to drive the trend.

"I am here speaking as a businessman," he said during his speech. "My job is not really to save the world. My job is to run the company and to make sure that the company is run profitably for a long time. If it happens that we save the world in the process, that's even better."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com

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