SwampFox

Clean energy could provide S.C. job boost

Originally published in the Post and Courier

By Nick Rigas, director of Clemson's Renewable Energy Program at the university's Restoration Institute, and Rick Stanley, vice president, engineering, at GE Energy.

Here in South Carolina, we have long relied on our natural resources to fuel our economy. From our agricultural roots and the boom in textiles in the early 20th century, South Carolinians have depended on our state's unique natural assets to create jobs and industries that have fed and clothed America.

The Aug. 23 article on wind power by Tony Bartelme titled "S.C. easing into wind power," highlights another plentiful natural resource that could be at the center of South Carolina's next job-creating industry, which will also benefit all Americans.

As Mr. Bartelme wrote in his article, wind power is "expected to create thousands of new jobs while capturing enormous amounts of locally generated electricity," but ominously asks, "Is South Carolina doing enough?"

The first point is definitely accurate; South Carolina is already seeing the job-creating effects of wind power and other clean energies. According to the Pew Center on the States, in 2007, South Carolina had almost 900 clean energy businesses and well over 11,000 clean energy jobs. In the decade leading up to 2007, the growth in clean energy jobs outpaced all job growth by 34 percent. However, are we in South Carolina and the United States doing enough to keep and grow these jobs?

Although there is great potential in the proposed wind farm off the Grand Strand, for example, there's no national energy policy that truly encourages projects like this one to move from the drawing board to the assembly line.

While the U.S. struggles to determine how to best incorporate clean energy into its future energy portfolio, other countries -- mainly China and those in the European Union -- are setting aggressive near-term and long-term standards and incentives to create large domestic markets for renewable energy, driving growth in manufacturing.

A federal standard for clean energy is now under debate in Congress. A renewable energy standard will send the signal that America is serious about clean energy and would stimulate long-term investments and economic development. As do our global competitors, we must provide win-win incentives for the stakeholders to encourage the development of new jobs, a cleaner more sustainable environment and establish an energy secure future backed by advanced research. Such a standard would promote the development of new jobs, a cleaner, more sustainable environment and an energy secure future. But such a standard has long-term implications that challenge the traditional methodology of providing low-cost secure energy.

Renewable energy like wind, solar and biomass is not the "silver bullet" that will reshape our nation's energy future, but is part of a future energy mix that includes energy conservation, improved energy efficiency, cleaner use of traditional fossil fuel technologies, energy storage and the safe use of new nuclear technology. All these technologies require innovation, manufacturing, engineering, construction, operations and maintenance services all of which lead to economic development.

Clemson University's Restoration Institute, Clemson University, and GE Energy work in cooperation with industry leaders to conduct research in bio-energy and wind energy.

But without sound federal energy policy or state energy policy that balances the need for renewable energy with other technologies to provide a more diversified energy portfolio in the future, we will lack the necessary investment to turn research into reality.

Potential jobs built around a sustainable and inexhaustible resource, such as off-shore wind power will vanish before they ever appear.

We want South Carolina to be a leader in renewable energy including offshore wind power, just as it was with agriculture and textiles. However, without proper policies in place, job-creating off-shore wind farms will remain newspaper stories and nothing more.