Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › Business › Energy

Corporate America embracing green power

By Jerd Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 27, 2008 at 12:07 p.m.
Updated October 28, 2008 at 12:46 a.m.

Text size  

More Energy

More stories »

Forget the family in Birkenstocks.

It is corporate America that is driving the renewable energy market, with such giants as Intel and Pepsico buying green energy to fuel entire divisions.

Green power sales in the U.S. soared 50 percent in 2007 and are on track to do the same in 2008, according to Lori Bird, senior energy analyst with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Bird's comments came Monday at the National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference in Denver.

In fact, Intel made the largest purchase of renewable power ever when it agreed to buy 1.3 billion kilowatt hours early this year, she said.

The surge in corporate interest has helped the renewable energy market develop critical mass, though it still has years of development ahead, experts said.

"Everyone always thought this would be strictly a residential thing," said Jan Hamrin, secretary general of the Environmental Tracking Network of North America.

But companies have found green power buying easier to embrace than complicated energy efficiency initiatives, and that has helped increase interest in such options as wind power, hydropower and solar, Hamrin said.

How growth in renewables will play out against the financial crisis and changes in Washington isn't clear yet.

But momentum in the fight to slow global warming using green power must continue, experts said.

Regardless of who wins the White House, the new president should quickly convene the nation's governors to establish a road map for a national renewable energy system, finding alternatives that work for each state and within each region, said Claudine Schneider, a former Rhode Island congresswoman and energy consultant.

The conference at the Marriott City Center in Denver, which runs through Wednesday, includes sessions on climate policies and renewable energy markets, financial barriers in new energy markets and regulation of carbon markets.

The gathering is sponsored by the Center for Resource Solutions, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Comments

  • October 27, 2008

    12:28 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    amaikovich writes:

    Energy independence has been a priority of Senator Obama since the very beginning of his campaign.

    Unlike the "drill, drill, drill!" mantra of his opponent, we can feel very comfortable that renewable energy will be front and center of an Obama presidency.

  • October 27, 2008

    1:06 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Diff writes:

    Energy independence has been a mantra of candidates for years, more or less since the '70s - but not much has been done!
    It has to start with each household, business and person using less!
    That is the one area we can make the largest immediate impact!
    Look what has happened to oil and gasoline prices in just the last 3 months...
    We need everything on the table tho - long term. Solar, wind, and yes nuclear too.
    I actually like T Boone Pickens plan - it has merrit although it is not the be all,end all answer he would like us all to believe.
    But it all starts at home, and in your garage!
    USE LESS!

  • October 27, 2008

    1:26 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Willy writes:

    Congress has poured $250 billion into the black hole of ethanol in order to buy votes while neglecting more viable research.

  • October 27, 2008

    1:26 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    B300 writes:

    Fossil fuels will run out! I personally do not see either candidate with a real sollution. Schneider is right! we need a CLEAR path for the future, not just talk! obama has a long roe to hoe!!! if he gets in, and he does not have a clear and solid solution.

  • October 27, 2008

    3:23 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mmannino writes:

    The new energy economy is a fraud. The new energy economy is just central planning with politicians deciding investment choices instead of private investors. Ethanol is a fraud, supported almost entirely by subsidies, mandates, and tarriffs. Biofuels are a fraud supported almost entirely by subsidies and mandates (perhaps tarriffs later). Renewable power is a fraud supported almost entirely by mandates and subsidies. In each case, subsidies and mandates are supporting non economically viable energy solutions. In cases when the massive subsidies and mandates are still not sufficient, the solution is to increase the cost of competitive solutions. Nuclear is driven into obscurity by endless litigation and obstruction on disposal and reprocessing. Coal will be driven into obscurity by sequestration requirements. Oil and natural gas will be driven into obscurity by restrictions on exploration, refineries, and windfall profits taxes.

    The result of the new energy economy will be energy shortages, high prices, and rationing. It will take 5 to 10 years but it is coming. There are currently proposals for more than 100 new coal plants and 50 nuclear power plants. I doubt that at most just a few will be built. We will be substituting energy solutions with a much higher cost and higher volatility. Energy shortages will lead to lower consumption. We can all feel good when the lights go out that the new energy economy is working as planned.

  • October 27, 2008

    3:50 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ekim writes:

    Natural Gas is the middle way to wean us off of coal and oil until renewables kick. Unfortunately Ritter hates natural gas and is doing everything in his power to destroy the industry in Colorado along with the jobs that it is generating. The reason is that there are alot of natural gas jobs that are located outside of his voting base on the front range. His agenda has been to tax and regulate natural gas drilling to death to fund wind energy jobs on the east slope. A better approach might be to support the development of both resources to fuel job growth on both sides of the state instead of promoting one at the expense of the other.