MORE NEWS, 6-3 (NEW ENERGY TO ENRICH EU; MICHIGAN SITES WIND ZONES; KANSAS WILL BUILD HIGH VOLT WIRES FOR WIND)

NEW ENERGY TO ENRICH EU
Green energy goal to boost EU jobs, economy – study
Pete Harrison (w/Sue Thomas), June 2, 2009 (Reuters)

"The European Union will boost economies and create an additional 410,000 jobs if the bloc meets its target of getting one fifth of its energy from renewable sources by 2020…[and the EU] will boost gross domestic product (GDP) by a quarter of 1 percent in the process, the study prepared for the European Commission's energy department said…

"The executive Commission introduced its green energy plan last year, with the aim of combating climate change and reducing Europe's dependence on unreliable imports of gas and oil…But some member states fought bitterly against environmental policies, saying they were unaffordable and put jobs at risk at a time of economic turmoil…The study appears to change the landscape for renewables by showing the shift will create benefits on all three fronts -- economy, climate and energy security…"

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"Achieving the EU's green energy target will create a gross total of 2.8 million jobs in the sector, but the shift will hit jobs in traditional power plants and in industry due to higher power prices, yielding a lower net gain of around 410,000 jobs…About two thirds of these are envisaged in small- and medium-sized enterprises…

"GDP would have a net gain of 0.11-0.14 percent by 2020 under a business-as-usual scenario, but this can be boosted to a gain of 0.23-0.24 percent by pursuing the 2020 renewable energy goal…"

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"Germany currently experiences the biggest benefit from green energy, with nearly a quarter of the 1.4 million jobs in the EU renewables sector…Other big winners include Finland, Sweden and Latvia, with heavy use of energy from plant biomass waste from farming and forestry…Biomass energy creates over half the impact on jobs and economies…followed by onshore windpower and hydropower.

"The report assumes oil prices will increase to $100 per barrel by 2020 and carbon prices under the EU Emission Trading System will rise to 34 euros ($48.30) per tonne, from 15.30 today…[I]t does not take account of the economic benefit of slowing climate change or of averting the industrial closures that occur when suppliers such as Russia cut gas flows…"


MICHIGAN SITES WIND ZONES
West Michigan, Thumb best for wind energy, report says
Amy Lane, June 2, 2009 (Crain’s Detroit Business)

"Three regions in West Michigan and one region in the Thumb area have the state’s highest potential for wind energy projects…The Michigan Wind Energy Resource Zone Board issued preliminary findings in a report which looked at commercial or utility-scale wind energy projects on land…

"The 11-member board includes representatives from cities and villages, townships, the Michigan attorney general’s office, the Michigan Public Service Commission, the renewable energy industry, electric utilities, independent transmission companies, environmental organizations, alternative energy suppliers, and the public."

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"Of the regions, the Thumb area has the highest estimated generating capacity and annual energy production potential, involving an estimated 1,578 to 2,824 wind turbines. Northwest Michigan…is second, involving an estimated 435 to 778 turbines.

"The report [prepared by Public Sector Consultants Inc. and the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute] has been submitted to local governments in the regions for their comments, due by Aug. 4. Public hearings are scheduled Aug. 24…and Aug. 31…The board will issue a final report to the PSC, and transmission companies and utilities will assess transmission infrastructure that may be needed to deliver the estimated energy production in the regions."

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"The PSC will consider the findings in the board’s final report and other information before designating one or more areas as a “wind energy resource zone.”

"…[T]he board states that a zone designation 'will not guarantee that wind energy projects will be constructed within the zone; decisions on where to locate wind projects will continue to be left to market forces…A zone designation will also not abrogate the authority of local governments over the siting and approval of wind energy projects. It will, however, facilitate the [timely] planning, siting and construction of transmission lines…'"


KANSAS WILL BUILD HIGH VOLT WIRES FOR WIND
Kansas governor announces deal on transmission lines
June 1, 2009 (Kansas City Star)

"Two competing companies have reached a deal to share the building of high-voltage power lines from Wichita to Dodge City, Kan…[T]he settlement cleared the way for the project, worth up to $800 million, to proceed.

"The 765,000-volt lines, which will use cable bundles as thick as pickup tires, will bind the ever-more-productive wind fields of Kansas to outside markets. The companies, Prairie Wind Transmission LLC [a joint proposal of Westar Energy, American Electric Power and Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.] and ITC Great Plains [a subsidiary of a Michigan transmission company] each will get some of the work, which could have the lines up and running by 2013…"

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"Today, delivery of wind energy is cobbled together with various lower-voltage power lines that limit the number of new turbine farms in a state seen as the nation’s third-best wind location.

"Currently, most wind energy produced in Kansas is consumed in the immediate region, but as production increases, the southern and southeastern United States increasingly are viewed as the potential markets."

The route, (click to enlarge)

"Nearly 1,012 megawatts from wind turbines will be available by the end of 2009, but 7,000 megawatts are proposed for western Kansas by 2030.

"Kansans would not pay for all of the 765,000-volt line, since it would help improve the grid and utilities in other states can benefit. But how that cost is divided will be important for Kansas consumers, who would pick up at least part of the bill."