June 25, 2008

Record high gas prices are firing up new research. The goal is to commercialize electric vehicles capable of going long distances before they would need fuel.

Hybrid vehicles that run on both electricity and gasoline are now a reality. If the price of gas remains historically high and with the appropriate government incentives, such transportation could become a lot more pervasive and lead to a possible reduction in carbon emissions. Clearly, soaring energy demand and technological advancements have given the all-electric vehicle added potential.

HULL, Mass. -- A recent Energy Department report said wind power could supply 20% of the country's energy needs by 2030. Community leaders in this blue-collar town of 11,000 think they might be able to top that by building an offshore wind farm that would supply all of their town's power.

That would be a first.

There are already more than 20 offshore wind farms producing electricity in Europe but, in this country, such proposals have sparked opposition from the Great Lakes states to Long Island. Opponents, including seafront homeowners, say such installations would threaten avian and aquatic life and ruin scenic vistas. With such environmental concerns pitted against the demand for clean energy, there is not a single offshore turbine anywhere in the United States.

Wind power is one of the fastest-growing forms of new power generation in the United States. Industry growth in 2007 was an astounding 45%. New wind power installations constituted 35% of all new electric power installations.

May 30, 2008

When Al Zeits started a wind energy technology program at an Iowa community college in 2004, he optimistically expected 12 to 15 students per year to supply trained workers for a burgeoning local industry. He was off. In the current term, 60 students are enrolled and for fall 2008, he's expecting 90 students in the two-year program. Even so, the wind industry is still wondering if it will have enough qualified workers to operate and maintain -- let alone build -- dozens of projects from coast to coast.

And that's just one sliver of the overall utility industry that many characterize as in crisis mode because of its rapidly aging workforce. Utilities are trying to replace a workforce that could shrink by half through retirements over the next decade while simultaneously entering a boom phase in building needed generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. The acute labor shortage is recognized throughout the industry, which has led to innovative training and recruitment programs that enlist not just utilities and community colleges, but labor unions, government agencies and community-based organizations from coast-to-coast.

May 14, 2008

Detractors of ethanol are trying to decelerate its take off. Ethanol production is ramping up to meet federal mandates, which critics say has created global food shortages and potentially more greenhouse gas emissions.

Federal policies have favored ethanol production as a way to lessen the dependence on foreign oil and as an innovative to way to clean the air. But critics say that this country's strategy is not working, pointing out that ethanol is made mostly from corn. That has diverted about a quarter of the nation's corn crop away from food production and into ethanol use -- an amount that will grow to 30-35 percent this year.