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At
Energy Summit Sen. Salazar, Energy Secretary Bodman Highlight Colorado
as New Frontier in Renewable Energy, Leading National Efforts For a
Clean Energy Future
DENVER, CO
– America is too dependent on foreign oil, our economy is struggling,
climate change is a threat to our environmental security, and Colorado
--through its unique combination of renewable energy resource potential,
world-renowned research institutions and highly capable workforce--
is leading the national effort to create a new, clean energy future
for America.
These, and other energy-related
topics, were the focus of United States Senator Ken Salazar’s 3rd annual
energy summit, New Frontiers in Energy Summit 2008, which provided over
five-hundred of Colorado’s government, business and research leaders
with a forum to discuss how Colorado’s renewable energy revolution is
providing real solutions to the unique national, environmental and economic
security challenges of our time.
The New Frontiers in
Energy Summit 2008 featured a keynote speech from the United States
Secretary of Energy, Samuel W. Bodman. It also included presentations
from pioneers and trailblazers in the new energy frontier, including
Mitch Mandich, CEO, Range Fuels; Soren Bo Christensen, Vestas-American
Wind Technology; David Hiller, Executive Director, Colorado Renewable
Energy Collaboratory; Stephen Brand, Senior Vice President, Technology,
Conoco Phillips; and many others. In their remarks, each speaker highlighted
Colorado’s leadership in the new energy economy, and commended its forward-thinking
research, business and government communities for leading the charge.
“Our energy future
is bright, but only if we continue to commit ourselves to developing
our next frontier: a new energy economy,” said Senator Salazar.
“There is a clean energy revolution underway in Colorado. Anchored by
preeminent renewable energy research institutions such as NREL and the
Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, Colorado is quickly making
itself into the renewable energy capitol of the world. The simple fact
that Energy Secretary Bodman participated in this summit exemplifies
Colorado’s essential leadership towards meeting our Nation's energy
security challenges.”
“I am proud to host my third annual New Frontiers in Energy Summit to
highlight the great work that is being done here in Colorado, as we
continue to be a trailblazer in our Nation’s quest for a cleaner energy
future.”
“Putting clean
energy technologies to work is a key component of the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory's mission,” NREL Director Dan Arvizu said.
“Secretary Bodman's and Sen. Salazar's support for collaborations between
researchers and industry has given a huge boost to our efforts to move
renewable energy technologies from the laboratory to the marketplace.”
“We at the Collaboratory
are proud of our contribution to Colorado's leadership in renewable
energy, and we're honored to be a co-sponsor of Senator Salazar's third
energy summit,” said David Hiller, Executive Director of the
Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory. “I look forward to
our continued work together as we put Colorado on the map as home to
some of the world's most premier renewable energy research and development.”
With 300 days of sunshine in a year, strong winds sweeping the eastern
plains and plenty of biomass, plant and animal waste, Colorado has a
diversity of world-class renewable energy resources, and is home to
some of the world’s most renowned research facilities. Colorado has
thus quickly become a prime location for several renewable energy companies
from across the world and from an array of energy sectors that find
the state supportive of their efforts.
A few reasons why Colorado is the renewable energy capitol of the world:
Forward-thinking
Leadership
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The
State Renewable Electricity Standard: Colorado was the
first state to adopt a renewable electricity standard (RES) by ballot
initiative in 2004 (Amendment 37). The original RES required 10
percent of Colorado’s electric portfolio to be from renewable sources
of energy by 2015. Renewable energy development outpaced this standard
by such a wide margin that Colorado’s goal will be met seven years
early, in 2008. As such, Colorado’s state legislature doubled the
RES goal last year to 20 percent by 2020.
World Renowned Renewable Energy Research Institutions
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DOE’s
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden,
CO is the only federal laboratory whose primary mission is to conduct
research and development of renewable fuels and energy sources that
fundamentally change the way we power our homes, businesses, and
cars. The federal lab employs about 1,000 people and is currently
building a $100 million research center and preparing to start work
this year on a $55 million facility to expand its research into
renewable-energy technologies.
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The
Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory was launched in
2007, with the public signing of an agreement between the University
of Colorado at Boulder (CU), Colorado State University (CSU), the
Colorado School of Mines (CSM), and Midwest Research Institute,
manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL). The four Colorado-based institutions committed
to join forces to perform world class research, develop new energy
technologies in partnership with private industry, and transfer
these advances as rapidly as possible to the marketplace.
Abundant
Renewable Energy Resource Potential
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Wind
Energy: With strong winds sweeping Colorado’s eastern
plains, Colorado offers exceptional wind power potential and is
a prime location for wind energy development.
-
Colorado’s installed wind power capacity jumped from 250 MW
at end of 2003 to more than 1,000 MW by end of 2007.
-
Currently, Colorado has two on-line utility size wind farms
generating 60MW and 162MW. Xcel Energy's Windsource program,
which offers consumers the choice of paying a modest premium
for clean energy, is the most successful program of its type
in the US. The power plant, rated at 162 megawatts (MW) will
be built in southeast Colorado near Lamar. It will be the
largest wind power plant in the Rocky Mountains, and the first
to be included in a utility's "rate base" or its
standard portfolio of power generation.
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Solar
Energy:
Colorado’s San Luis Valley and Eastern Plains are home to some
of the U.S.’s best concentrated solar power potential.
-
SunEdison’s 8.22 MW Alamosa, CO plant completed in December
2007 is the second largest Solar Photovoltaic plant in the
world. It is smaller than only Nellis Air Force Base’s new
14 MW plant in Nevada.
-
Fort Carson, in Colorado Springs, is Colorado’s largest military
base and is also taking steps to integrate solar energy. The
Mountain Post’s award-winning Solar Energy Array is a 2-megawatt
ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system that has the potential
to produce energy for over five hundred homes.
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Biofuels
- In 2004, there
were no ethanol plants in Colorado. Today, there are four plants
producing over 125 million gallons per year.
- Range
Fuels, based in Adams County, Colorado, will soon be
the first company in the country to have an operational commercial-scale
cellulosic ethanol plant (currently under construction near
Soperton, Georgia).
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Xcel
Energy: Colorado's biggest utility, which serves 1.7 million
gas and electric customers - has been expanding wind and solar farms
since voters passed Amendment 37, the original renewable-energy
goal, in November 2004. In March 2008, Xcel announced that it would
make Boulder the first full-scale “smart grid city.” With this move
Xcel will transform Boulder into an important test bed for emerging
smart grid technologies and will bring up to $100 million in investment
from a consortium of five companies that will install smart gird
components throughout the city’s electric infrastructure. The smart
grid will make the electric grid more efficient and reliable, and
will provide an important means for consumers to become aware of
the real-time costs of electricity, enabling them to understand
and manage their own energy usage and change consumption habits.
Renewable
Energy Companies are Choosing Colorado
With plenty
of sunshine and wind, tons of biomass and world class research institutions,
Colorado is an attractive option for renewable energy companies from
all over the world.
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According
the Denver Metro Economic Development Council, direct employment
in the renewable-energy sector in the metro area more than doubled
to 13,940 in 2007 from 5,760 in 2004.
-
Colorado
ranked 10th in the country in renewable-energy employment with 15,400
workers in 2007 employed in the renewable energy sector.
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There
were about 104 renewable-energy companies in the seven-county metro
area in 2004. Last year, that number jumped to 1,010, (including
Weld and Larimer counties).
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Vestas,
a world-leading Danish wind turbine manufacturer, opened its
first North American manufacturing facility in Windsor, CO in
March 2008. The plant will employ 600 people locally and will
construct blades for wind turbines that will
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ConocoPhillips
recently announced plans to locate their new Global Technology
and Corporate Learning centers in Louisville, CO. The center
will be the company's hub for research and development of renewable
energy and high-tech carbon fuels recovery.
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Abengoa
Solar, a world-leading Spanish concentrated solar power
company, established its U.S. headquarters in Lakewood, CO in
2007. They currently employ 20 people but plan to triple its
size in Colorado as it begins to work on utility-scale solar
projects in the state and nationwide.
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Camco
International has based its U.S. headquarters in Douglas
County. The company, which develops and aggregates carbon credits
worldwide, plans to work on local projects and expand its staffing
level in the coming months
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Ascent
Solar Technologies is headquartered in Jefferson County
is a developer of thin-film photovoltaic modules. The company
currently employs over 30 people and Hydro, a Fortune Global
500 based in Norway, owns a 23 percent stake in the company.
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