Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
Suitcase causes bomb scare at Akron bus terminal
Akron City Council OKs higher speed on I-77
Chapel Hill isn't rolling right along
Motorcyclist killed, wife injured in Stark County crash
New eateries expand menu of options
Man says he was punched, robbed by 3 people in parking lot
Patrick McManamon: Here's what the Browns should try the rest of the season
Louisville athlete commits to play for Boston College
Family found dead in Ohio home
Blogs:
Pets:
It Takes All Kinds
The Heldenfiles:
Tuesday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
An interesting thought from a reader
Akron Zips:
Akron vs. Mount Union — Liveblog
Tribe Matters:
Indians announce spring dates
Cleveland Browns:
Mangini doesn't name a quarterback
Kent State Sports:
Flashes interested in another Cincinnati player
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Shaq: It’s All About Winning Championships
Buckeye Blogging:
Buckeyes Roll 100-60 / Season Outlook
Varsity Letters:
Report: Walsh baseball player commits
All Da King's Men:
More On The Fort Hood Jihadist
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Simply Incapable of Telling The Truth
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (63) Commonwealth Fund Report on Primary Care
See Jane Style:
Muffle Your Muffler
Car Chase:
Clock Tender- Extending the Life of Collector Car Clocks
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Rumors: Akron Starbucks Closing
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Jack is looking for a trip to Southern Ohio the week of November 16.
Sound Check:
Aeromsith looking for new singer as Steven Tyler contemplates solo career
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why People Do Not Live in Northeast Ohio
Akron Gamer:
Video: 'Modern Warfare 2' hits the streets
Energy plan will bring an influx of jobs, money to state, advocates say
By John McCarthy
Associated Press
Published on Thursday, Apr 24, 2008
COLUMBUS: Environmental advocates are seeing dollar signs in the hundreds of windmills they envision sprouting on the Ohio landscape, thanks to the commitment to renewable resources in the state's new energy plan.
Gov. Ted Strickland proposed that Ohio utilities be required to have 12.5 percent of their power come from renewable resources, such as wind, solar and water, by 2025. The House version of Strickland's bill spells out the percentages each utility must achieve each year, beginning in 2009, when they must draw 0.25 percent from renewables.
The Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved changes the House made, sending it to Strickland, who probably will sign it next week.
The 12.5 percent requirement translates into an investment of at least $12 billion in wind energy installations, according to the American Wind Energy Association, an industry trade group. Most of the wind farms would be in Ohio, a key to Strickland's desire for homegrown power sources, the association said.
A study last year by the advocacy group Environment Ohio found that if the state's utilities' use of wind power
jumped to 20 percent by 2020, it would create the equivalent of 3,100 jobs and would put about $8.2 billion into Ohio's economy. Property owners also would profit by leasing their land for wind farms, the group said.
Renewable energy delivery systems could be made in abandoned factories, closed because of the slide in Ohio's manufacturing economy, Environment Ohio Director Erin Bowser said.
''We basically looked at what would happen if we met our need for electricity with wind energy rather than stay the course,'' Bowser said. ''There are already more than 100 companies based in Ohio that in some way, shape or form are creating (energy) jobs.''
Ohio currently has just one working wind farm, which consists of four turbines in Bowling Green. It generates enough electricity to power 3,000 homes, the city says.
However, wind is on the move. Ohio becomes the 25th state, along with the District of Columbia, to enact mandatory renewable energy policies. Last year, wind generation accounted for 30 percent of all new generating capacity, with an investment of $9 billion, the association said. Wind trailed only natural gas as the leading source of new capacity.
Wind power has a drawback in Ohio: a lack of steady winds outside the relatively flat northwest part of the state and Lake Erie. But solar power also is likely to take off, Bowser said. It's another fledgling industry in the United States but is flowering in such countries as Germany, she said.
''We may have more wind turbines going up, but the whole northwestern part of the state is in position to manufacture solar panels,'' Bowser said.
COLUMBUS: Environmental advocates are seeing dollar signs in the hundreds of windmills they envision sprouting on the Ohio landscape, thanks to the commitment to renewable resources in the state's new energy plan.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
