A new study estimates that in 10 yearsKentucky could create over 28,000 jobs while lessening the growth of electricity bills by passing clean energy legislation currently in front of the General Assembly. Synapse Energy Economics produced the study, which is an analysis of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act (HB 167) introduced by RepresentativeMary Lou Marzian.

“This study confirms that legislation to diversify our electricity portfolio would be economically beneficial toKentucky,” said Justin Maxson, President of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). “The bill would allow the state to hedge against increasing rates by making homes and businesses more energy efficient. And it would spur the creation of clean energy jobs installing renewable energy projects and making energy efficiency upgrades.”

“The era of cheap energy is coming to an end,” said Maxson, “and it is really a question of whether we inKentucky take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the clean energy economy of the future.”

The Clean Energy Opportunity Act calls for the establishment of a renewable and efficiency portfolio standard (REPS). An REPS requires utilities to obtain a small but growing share of their electricity from clean renewable energy and increase their energy efficiency programs. The bill would require utilities to get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy and achieve 10.25 percent cumulative savings from energy efficiency efforts by 2022.

Synapse’s study is a high level analysis of the proposed legislation’s impacts on Kentucky’s electricity bills, jobs, and economy. The study concludes that making small but significant steps to begin diversifying Kentucky’s portfolio over the next ten years will lower the bills of Kentucky’s residents, business owners, and industrial facilities compared to their bills without a clean energy standard.

Synapse projects that, under the REPS, average annual electricity bills could be eight percent to 10 percent lower than under a do-nothing scenario. In addition to saving Kentuckians money, the REPS would lead to over 28,000 net new jobs over and above any jobs lost in fossil fuels and add $1.5 billion to gross state product once fully implemented in 2022.

“Efficiency and renewables are already the emerging trend in construction in the Commonwealth,” saidKentucky solar entrepreneur Matt Partymiller of Solar Energy Solutions in Lexington. “This report by Synapse captures what Kentucky engineers and contractors already know and what other states have already seen. Legislation like the Clean Energy Opportunity Act will provide the tools necessary forKentucky builders to create jobs while ensuring Kentucky energy costs stay low.”

The study’s findings are supported by what neighboring states that have passed similar legislation have experienced. North Carolina has seen tremendous growth in the number of clean energy firms operating in their state since passing an REPS in 2007. Ohio built on the strengths of its traditional manufacturing sector to start building clean energy equipment in state, and reap real economic benefits from their 2008 law.

Synapse carried out the study for the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, aBerea-based economic development organization, and the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, a coalition of over 50 businesses, affordable housing advocates, non-profit organizations and faith-based groups. MACED and KySEA wanted to understand the economic impacts of an REPS in Kentucky, and a comprehensive analysis of a bill like the Clean Energy Opportunity Act has not been part of the policy conversation until now.

The report can be accessed at www.maced.org/files/Potential_Impacts_of_REPS_in_KY.pdf.

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced more than $7 million to fund four projects in California, Washington, and Oregon to advance hydrogen storage technologies to be used in fuel cell electric vehicles. The 3-year projects will help lower the costs and increase the performance of hydrogen storage systems by developing innovative materials and advanced tanks for efficient and safe transportation. These investments are a part of the Department’s commitment to U.S. leadership in advanced fuel cell technology research to help domestic automakers bring more fuel cell electric vehicles into the mainstream market.

“Targeted investments in cutting-edge hydrogen storage technologies will spur American ingenuity, accelerate breakthroughs, and increase our competitiveness in the global clean energy economy,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “As we focus on energy security, strengthening our portfolio to include domestically-produced hydrogen and American-made fuel cells for transportation and energy storage applications will create new jobs and reduce carbon pollution.”

The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is providing more than $7 million to the selected organizations, which are in turn providing close to $2 million in cost share. The projects focus on lowering the cost of compressed hydrogen storage systems and developing advanced materials for hydrogen storage. Compressed hydrogen storage provides a near-term pathway to commercialization, and reducing the costs of compressed tank systems will accelerate their market availability and adoption. Advanced materials-based hydrogen storage technologies will enable more efficient storage at lower pressures than current compressed hydrogen tanks.

As part of DOE’s portfolio of zero-emission electric vehicle technologies that reduce dependence on foreign oil, the innovations achieved through these projects will address technical barriers to storing hydrogen onboard fuel cell electric vehicles. The research may also advance energy storage applications that could enable more efficient use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.

 The four projects selected for award are:

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – Richland, Washington – Up to $2.1 million

DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in collaboration with Ford Motor Company, Lincoln Composites, Toray Carbon Fibers America, Inc. and AOC Inc., will use a coordinated approach to reduce the costs associated with compressed hydrogen storage systems. The project will focus on improving carbon fiber composite materials and the design and manufacture of hydrogen storage tanks. Through these advances, the team expects to lower the cost of manufacturing high-pressure hydrogen storage vessels by more than a third relative to current projections.

HRL Laboratories, LLC – Malibu, California – Up to $1.2 million

HRL Laboratories will investigate an innovative approach to hydrogen storage using engineered liquids that can efficiently absorb and release hydrogen gas. Liquids confined in porous structures have been shown to absorb significantly more gas and could create sites for hydrogen molecules that did not exist in the bulk liquid alone. HRL will use this concept to develop composite materials capable of dissolving up to 50 times greater quantities of hydrogen than in the bulk liquid, with the goal of enabling a high density, compact hydrogen storage option.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – Berkeley, California – Up to $2.1 million

DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, partnering with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and General Motors, will use a theory-guided approach to synthesize novel materials with high hydrogen adsorption capacities. The team will develop and test “metal-organic framework” materials that have surfaces allowing high density of hydrogen, as well as materials with pores engineered to enable hydrogen storage at near-ambient temperatures.

University of Oregon – Eugene, Oregon – Up to $2.0 million

The University of Oregon, along with The University of Alabama, DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Protonex Technology Corporation, will develop and test promising new materials for hydrogen storage. The proposed chemical hydrogen storage materials could enable liquid refueling, and regeneration of the hydrogen storage material, within temperature and pressure ranges suitable for both onboard mobile and stationary fuel cell applications.

The public, replacement school is being built on Fort Huachuca, the Army’s leading intelligence training facility at 155 Carter Avenue, Fort Huachuca, Arizona 85670. The new Colonel Smith Middle School will be the first Net Zero Energy Building in Arizona and 12th in the nation. The $17M school will generate more energy than it consumes on an annual basis through its energy-efficient design, solar potable water heating, photovoltaic panels, and wind machines.

Monday’s topping out ceremony attendees included: School Superintendent, Dr. Ronda Fruehauf; five Fort Huachuca School District Board Members; Army Post Commander, Colonel Faulkner; District Project Manager, Tony Wall with 3W Management; representatives from Emc2 Group Architects Planners; and representatives from Fanning/Howey Architects. The event included a speaking presentation, and a signing and raising of the final beam.

With an instructional focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), planners of Colonel Smith Middle School complex re-thought the traditional design of educational buildings. Facilities will support a project-based learning model with flexible common and collaboration spaces, and facilitate learning both indoors and outdoors. The 88,693 square foot school will accommodate approximately 350 students in grades 6, 7, and 8.

Shawn Rosenberger, General Manager of Turner Construction Company,Arizona, states, “Colonel Smith Middle School defines innovation. Not only is this one of the few Net Zero buildings in the country, the design is a total transformation from the typical classrooms where most of us went to school. Turner is proud to be a part of this stellar team and this remarkable project.”

Lake Mills Middle School

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools, working in conjunction with its founding sponsor, United Technologies Corp., today released its inaugural Best of Green Schools 2011 list recognizing school administrators and government leaders in 10 categories for their efforts to create sustainable learning environments.

Recipient schools and regions from across the nation – from K-12 to higher education – were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED® certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure. Their commitments to measurable and innovative sustainable building goals serve as models for schools and campuses everywhere.

“The Best of Green Schools 2011 recipients represent high notes for the green schools movement over the past year and were selected from the thousands of examples of leadership we have seen from schools, districts, campuses, cities and states,” said Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools at USGBC. “Tomorrow’s future leaders are in school today. This year’s designees recognize the importance of educating high-performing, 21st century leaders in high-performing, 21st century classrooms. Why green our schools? Three words: education, sustainability and jobs.”

According to published reports, green schools save on average $100,000 per year on operating costs — enough to hire two new teachers, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 5,000 textbooks. On average, green schools use 33 percent less energy and 32 percent less water than conventionally constructed schools, and if all new U.S. school construction and renovation went green today, the total energy savings alone would be $20 billion over the next 10 years.

“Our commitment to green schools is a reflection of our belief in the importance of energy efficiency, sustainability and education,” said Sandy Diehl, Vice President, Integrated Building Solutions, United Technologies Corp., and a Center for Green Schools advisory board member. “These leaders are taking action today to help improve our schools by saving energy and tax dollars and by creating healthier environments for students and teachers.”

 The recipients include:

 Moment for the Movement – U.S. Department of Education, Green Ribbon Schools: Green Ribbon Schools is the first comprehensive and coordinated federal initiative to focus on the intersection of environment, health and education.

 Region – Sacramento area: Mayor Kevin Johnson has led the charge to bring together mayors and superintendents from across the Northern California region to create a $100 million revolving loan fund for green school retrofits.

State – Ohio : With 315 LEED registered and certified projects, including 19 schools registered in 2011, Ohio leads the nation with more green school projects underway than any other state.

City – Philadelphia : The School District of Philadelphia made significant steps in 2011 toward the greening of the city’s 291 public schools.

School – Lake Mills Middle School (Lake Mills, WI): In March 2011, Lake Mills Middle School became the first public school in the nation to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

 Higher Ed Innovator – University of Texas at Dallas : The University’s new LEED Platinum Student Services Building, which was the recipient of this year’s Innovation in Green Building Award, was designed to improve departmental efficiency and interaction, includes terra-cotta shades on the building’s exterior to provide a unique energy efficient shading strategy and was built $1.1 million under budget.

 Collaborators – Kentucky Reps. Jim DeCesare (R) and Mary Lou Marzian (D): This bipartisan team has led Kentucky’s green school efforts and is a model for teaming on green school collaboration. Together, they’ve worked with their colleagues in the Kentucky General Assembly to unanimously adopt resolutions in support of green schools, and have encouraged other states to work across party lines on similar efforts.

Convener – Boston: In September 2011, Mayor Menino hosted the Research Summit on Childhood Health and School Buildings, which brought together a team of interdisciplinary researchers to explore the connection between school facilities and student health. Boston’s public school district is also home to one of the first Center for Green Schools Fellows – a sustainability coordinator who will work within the school district for three years, bringing together faculty, administration, facilities staff, teachers and students to advance whole-district sustainability initiatives.

 Policy makers – District of Columbia City Council: In May 2010, the Washington, D.C. council unanimously passed the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, building upon the District’s existing LEED Silver requirement and encouraging schools to achieve LEED Gold certification. 2011 updates to the bill included participation in the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools program, making D.C. the first – before any state – to sign up for the voluntary federal program.

 K-12 Innovation – Public-Private partnership in Illinois : A report outlining a plan to green all K-12 schools in Illinois was released in March 2011 as a result of a public-private partnership commissioned by the Illinois’ General Assembly’s October 2009 adoption of House Joint Resolution 45.

Source: USGBC press release

Canadian Pacific Logistics Solutions (CPLS) has developed a new wind energy supply chain connecting manufacturers in Quebec and Florida with a new clean energy transload facility in upper New York State. CPLS is an industry leader in wind energy logistics.

“CPLS has demonstrated competence and expertise in the movement of these super-sized dimensional wind energy components,” said Stephen Whitney, VP Market Development. “Our end-to-end logistics solution creates value and drives service to new levels for these specialized customers.”

The new supply chain connects wind tower sections produced in Trois Rivière, Québec and machine heads produced in Pensacola, Florida move in dedicated unit trains or multiple car blocks using specialized railcars to a dedicated transload facility in Plattsburgh, NY. The components will then travel by truck to the wind project site in Pennsylvania. CPLS coordinates the entire logistics process, including permitting, scheduling, transloading, trucking and freight rail movements.

Since 2005, CP has handled over 3,400 carload of wind energy components.

About Canadian PacificCanadian Pacific (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP) operates a North American transcontinental railway providing freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Incorporating best-in-class technology and environmental practices, CP is re-defining itself as a modern 21st century transportation company built on safety, service reliability and operational efficiency. Visit cpr.ca and see how Canadian Pacific is Driving the Digital Railway.

SOURCE Canadian Pacific