“The report shows the incredible potential in Ohio for creating tens of thousands of new jobs,” said Amanda Wurst, spokesperson for NextGen Climate in Ohio. “We already have nearly 89,000 Ohioans working in the clean energy sector, and we need to continue this momentum. If we thawed the current freeze on Ohio’s renewable portfolio standards and created a plan to meet the Clean Power Plan, we would be stronger positioned to lead throughout the transition to a clean energy economy.”

Key findings of the report are that a clean energy economy will:

• Create up to 56,000 additional Ohio jobs by 2030 and 87,000 new jobs by 2050;
• Boost Ohio’s economy by $9.5 billion by 2030 and $15 billion by 2050;
• Increase Ohio families’ household disposable income by over $400 in 2030 and over $460 in 2050.

Based on data from E3’s Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States, the economic analysis confirms that transitioning to clean energy isn’t just good for the environment—it is also key to job creation and ensuring a prosperous economic future for Ohio. The analysis finds that transitioning to clean energy will grow the Buckeye State’s manufacturing sector, creating 21,500 new jobs by 2030 and 20,000 additional jobs by 2050. Building out the clean energy infrastructure and facilities needed to power Ohio’s economy will create more than 11,100 additional construction jobs by 2030 and 24,200 new jobs by 2050.

It is important to note that this report does not take into account the negative impacts that climate change will have on Ohio’s economy or the adverse health impacts climate change will have on Ohio families, and so it understates the economic benefits of a transition to clean energy.

This new analysis comes just a week after NextGen Climate America released a separate policy report showing that Low-Income Weatherization (a small but vital part of the overall transition to a clean energy economy) creates jobs, saves families money on energy bills and helps cleanup our energy system. Implementing a robust program of this kind can save participating Ohio families  $274 per year while creating 2,400 local, middle-class jobs. Both reports make clear that addressing the threat of climate change is a positive economic growth strategy for Ohio.

Ohio is already feeling the negative impacts of climate change. For instance, rising temperatures, combined with air stagnation, increase ground-level smog. Already, 31 counties in Ohio received an air quality grade of C or lower for ozone standards in American Lung Association’s 2015 State of the Air Report.  Left unchecked, climate change will make this worse. Increased levels of ozone smog will be detrimental to the nearly 2 million Ohioans suffering from asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases, including 13.7% of all Ohio children. Additionally, about 419,000 children have been diagnosed with asthma in Ohio.

Extreme rainfall events have become 49% more frequent in Ohio over the past 60 years, and this trend will only worsen if climate change is left unaddressed. This will increase flooding, contaminate drinking water, and contribute to disease outbreak. In August 2014, nearly 500,000 residents in Toledo, OH experienced a “do not drink” advisory because of an algal bloom in the water system.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by transitioning Ohio’s economy to clean energy is possible with existing technology, and it will create jobs, grow the economy, raise household incomes, and protect Ohio families against the worst impacts of climate change.

This report builds on NextGen Climate America’s analysis in November showing that meeting carbon emissions reduction goals at the national level will help grow the United States economy, create millions of jobs across the country, increase household disposable incomes, and lower energy bills.

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The report provides details of China’s power sector, with annualized data for installed capacity, power generation and consumption from 2000 to 2014, and forecast to 2025.

Cumulative installed capacity for renewables, excluding hydropower, in China will more than triple from 196.3 GW in 2015 to an estimated 608.9 GW by 2025, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 12%, driven primarily by ambitious government targets for onshore wind, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The report, titled:  China Power Market Outlook to 2025, Update 2015 – Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape  states that China has made considerable progress in renewable power over recent years, with cumulative installed capacity, excluding hydropower, burgeoning from just 9 GW in 2007 to 154.6 GW by 2014.

Chiradeep Chatterjee, GlobalData’s Analyst covering Power, says China’s National Energy Administration is targeting 150 GW of wind capacity by 2017, which will increase to 200 GW, 400 GW, and 1,000 GW by 2020, 2030, and 2050, respectively.

Chatterjee comments: “China’s renewable energy sources, especially wind power, will continue to grow thanks to the government’s supportive policies, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on coal-based thermal power.

“However, connecting to the national grid represents a significant obstacle, as a number of renewable power projects have been revised or shelved due to the lack of offtake capacity. Laying new cables and creating an extensive smart grid network that would match supply with demand is necessary, but will require huge investment.”

GlobalData’s report also states that China’s cumulative installed hydropower capacity will almost double from 322.6 GW in 2015 to 600.5 GW by 2025, despite environmental concerns.

Chatterjee continues: “China has made significant strides in the development of hydropower, but there have been controversies surrounding its large-scale projects, such as the Three Gorges Dam project and the Jinsha River project.

“While opposition remains due to the environmental degradation caused by hydropower development, the government is currently pushing ahead with the announced projects,” the analyst concludes.

 The report provides details of China’s power sector, with annualized data for installed capacity, power generation and consumption from 2000 to 2014, and forecast to 2025. It includes information on China’s grid interconnectivity, transmission and distribution infrastructure and power exports and imports, as well as analysis of key players, including market share and SWOT analyses.

The report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData’s team of industry experts.

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U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz will keynote tomorrow morning on how technology advancements are accessing a major new energy resource for America which has previously gone undeveloped, opening up new areas for wind farms including the Southeastern U.S.

“As attendees and others will hear over the next few days, we continue to improve our technology and lower our costs, creating new opportunities for wind projects and job growth all across the country,” said AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan.

Florida is home to 15 factories building wind turbine parts and supplies. Siemens USA is based in Orlando, and leading wind energy producer NextEra Energy in Juno Beach. “It’s great to be here in Florida, a state with such a strong wind manufacturing presence and home to some of the major corporate headquarters in our industry,” Kiernan said. “We aim to bring operating turbines here soon.”

The AWEA Board elected Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Energy Group LP, its new chairman, succeeding Susan Reilly, President and CEO of RES Americas. Also elected today was 2016-17 Chair-Elect Chris Brown, President of Vestas American Wind Technology Inc.

Joining as new additions to AWEA’s Board of Directors are:

• Pete Duprey, President and CEO, Broadwind Energy, Inc.
• Jeff Grybowski, CEO, Deepwater Wind
• Borja Negro, CEO, Gamesa Technology Corporation
• Michael Skelly, CEO, Clean Line Energy Partners LLC
• Peter Wells, CEO, UpWind Solutions, Inc.
• Ray Wood, Managing Director, Head of U.S. Power & Renewables, Bank of America

Meeting for the first time ever in Florida, WINDPOWER 2015 attendees converge this week to lead panels, show off new technology, make deals, and witness major announcements about the latest technology advancements growing the industry. Wind power already supports 2,000 jobs in the Sunshine State, and the recent approval of Florida’s first contract for wind energy could save consumers up to $48 million over 20 years.

The conference comes as a near-record – 13,600 megawatts (MW) worth – of new wind energy capacity is under development across 100 projects in 23 states, creating a “wind rush” that is opening up new opportunities, job growth and $23 billion in private investment to the U.S. economy. The wind industry added 23,000 new jobs in 2014, bringing the national total to 73,000 jobs.

The falling cost of wind energy has attracted corporate and other non-utility purchasers, a topic likely to be on many conference-goers’ minds.

Major brands such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, the Mars Corporation, IKEA and Dow Chemical are buying wind energy because it helps their bottom-line – long-term, fixed price contracts for wind energy help shield these companies against fuel price volatility. Doug Greenholz, President of IKEA Property, Inc.will provide color to this emerging trend when he speaks during the Welcome and Opening General Session at WINDPOWER 2015. Last year, IKEA purchased two wind farms, including their biggest renewable energy investment so far – a 165 megawatt wind farm in Texas.

AWEA has partnered with the Clean the World Foundation at this year’s WINDPOWER. Clean the World is an organization that distributes basic hygiene products otherwise discarded by the hospitality industry. WINDPOWER attendees can stop by a special booth on the show floor to assemble hygiene kits, and AWEA aims to finish 9,000 of them by the end of the conference – diverting 1,687 pounds of hotel soap and 27,000 plastic bottled amenities equaling 4,987 pounds of total waste from landfills.

AWEA WINDPOWER 2015
www.windpowerexpo.org

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