Maine has potential for renewable energy, report says Wind, solar power seen as good for jobs

ORLAND – Maine could generate 95 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

“There is really good potential here in Maine,” said Matthew Davis, the New England field organizer for USPIRG, a Washington, D.C., watchdog group. Davis announced the report’s results at the G.M. Allen & Sons blueberry factory on Route 15.

The announcement came on the anniversary of the installation of a wind turbine at Allen’s that helps to meet the company’s energy needs. The turbine is cited in the Maine section of the report as one of the state’s renewable energy success stories, which also notes that Maine generates more electricity from renewable sources than any other state, about 29 percent.

“Maine deserves a safe, clean, affordable energy future,” Davis said. “The good news is that renewable energy is coming on line in Maine. The bad news is that 42 percent of our electricity still comes from fossil fuels – from dirty fossil fuels.

“We must ensure that we expand our current energy mix to include nonhydro renewables such as clean biomass, wind and solar.”

The study looked at 20 states and calculated their potential to generate energy from renewable sources using data compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists from government agencies and laboratories.

Based on the data, the report states Maine could generate 33 percent more electricity from wind and clean biomass than it currently does from dirty energy sources. “Clean biomass” refers to living plant matter including plants, grasses and agricultural crops, but does not include municipal solid waste incineration.

Maine’s potential for electricity generation from these renewable sources is 12.5 billion kilowatt hours, according to the report, enough to power 1.2 million homes.The report also claims that developing renewable energy would create jobs and bolster the state’s economy. Citing a report from the Tellus Institute, a Boston-based nonprofit research and consulting group, the report states that investment in renewable energy combined with energy efficiency could create 3,700 jobs in Maine by 2010 and as many as 6,600 by 2020. It does not, however, detail what types of jobs would be created.

The report calls for establishment of a national renewable standard of 20 percent of power generation by 2020. The U.S. Senate is preparing to begin debate on an energy bill, which, Davis said, includes a national renewable energy standard of just 10 percent, half the level considered cost-effective by the Energy Information Administration, the official government source for energy statistics.

Pamela Person of Orland, co-chairwoman of Maine Global Climate Change Inc., a nonprofit, volunteer organization that educates on climate changes, cited development of renewable energy as a key element in fighting the greenhouse effect and said the goal of 20 percent by 2020 is not only attainable, but also “economically and environmentally essential. It will provide a clean as well as job-creating way to decrease our reliance on oil from the Middle East.”

In a prepared statement, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe touted the potential that renewable energy has to benefit the state and the country.

“An increased focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources can help our nation realize significant gains for the environment, public health and the American economy, as this report demonstrates,” Snowe said. “Investments in renewables can also assist low-income households in meeting their energy needs.”

Snowe is the co-sponsor with U.S. Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiencies Investment Act, which she said will give consumers the information they need to choose clean power, encourage research and development of renewables, promote fair treatment for households that produce their own electricity, and would reduce carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that is blamed for the current climate change, by 18 percent.

Ralph Chapman, a consultant for Endless Energy Corp. of Yarmouth, which developed the wind turbine project at Allen’s blueberry factory, said the commercial use of wind power is becoming more and more feasible in Maine.

“Wind power is sustainable – we use it, but we don’t use it up,” Chapman said. “It is environmentally friendly, avoiding more than a pound of air pollution emission for every kilowatt hour or electricity generated. And it is now economically viable, providing competitive, stable, long-term pricing for clean electricity.”

Chapman said the Orland wind turbine generated 27,000 kilowatt hours of energy in the year that it has been running, which eliminated the creation of about 15 tons of emission pollution. Although that is less energy production than originally anticipated, Paul Allen of G.M. Allen’s said he is positive about the operation.

“We wanted to do something in an environmentally responsible way by supporting this project,” Allen said. “It’s contributing to the environment; it’s doing something in that respect.”