(Great diary, Ivy! Yes we can! Virginia CAN meet that 25%! - promoted by Eileen)
 Congress is considering legislation that would create a federal renewable energy standard of 25% by 2025. Far from imposing a burden on Virginia, this proposed mandate would help us take advantage of the enormous wind resources just off our coast. And developing these resources would bring jobs to Virginia, help stabilize our energy prices, make our air and water cleaner, support the development of other renewable energy technologies here in the Commonwealth, and relieve the pressure on our energy transmission grid.
Virginia has one of the best sites in the world for offshore wind. A shallow outer continental shelf extending many miles out, combined with ample Class 5 (excellent) and 6 (outstanding) wind resources, means we could potentially meet 100% of our total energy demand from offshore wind turbines. Other Atlantic coast states-Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware--already have plans underway for offshore wind farms and expect to have power flowing in less than four years.
The Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium (VCERC), a consortium created by the General Assembly to study offshore wind and other renewable energy opportunities on our coast, has studied one area twelve miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. Just that single area, they concluded, could produce enough wind energy to meet 15-20% of the state's demand for electricity, using the same technology currently in use in Europe.
Better yet, VCERC estimates that the cost of electricity from a wind farm there would be competitive with the cost of electricity from the coal-fired plant that Dominion Virginia Power recently began building in Wise County. Wind turbines require a higher up-front cost for every watt produced, but when the price of coal is factored in over the life of the facility, energy from the wind farm is cheaper. (The "fuel" for a wind turbine is free, after all.)
Developing Virginia's offshore wind resources would bring other benefits to the Commonwealth. VCERC estimates it would bring thousands of permanent, high-paying jobs to the Hampton Roads area and elsewhere. Already one manufacturer has moved its base to Virginia Beach and plans to begin manufacturing wind turbines in anticipation of growing demand. (See Virginian-Pilot "Three companies to inject jobs, money into Beach economy".) Moreover, Virginia's deepwater port at Norfolk, and the shipbuilding industry there, positions the state to build the specialized ships needed for transportation, installation and maintenance of turbines all along the East Coast.
Development of wind energy off the Atlantic coast would also relieve pressure on the power grid and prevent the need for new transmission lines. Generating power at the coast, where much of the population lives, makes transmission easier, more efficient and cheaper. Developing offshore wind resources in Virginia and elsewhere on the East Coast means we would not need expensive and controversial new transmission lines (like the proposed PATH line through Northern Virginia) to bring wind energy-or coal energy--from the Great Plains and the Midwest.
Offshore wind is not our only renewable resource, of course. Other technologies are under intensive development and improving rapidly. Promising new technologies that would advance with the help of a Federal mandate include wave energy, biogas from algae, and second-generation bio-fuels from non-food crops, all of which could be produced here in the Commonwealth.
And then there is solar energy. Electricity from photovoltaic panels has not been price-competitive in Virginia in the past (in contrast to solar hot water, which is), but NREL projects it will achieve grid parity in the next six years. Solar is the perfect complement to wind; it produces power during the day when wind often drops off, and is most productive in the summer when winds are at their seasonal lows.
Finally, it almost goes without saying that a renewable energy mandate would be good for Virginia's environment. Renewable energy, combined with an aggressive approach to achieving greater energy efficiency, will help us meet our goal of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. But the benefits go much farther. Currently, several areas of the state are out of compliance with the Federal Clean Air Act, including a large portion of Northern Virginia, the Richmond area, and the Hampton Roads area. Moving away from heavily polluting fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy will improve our air quality, reduce the health care costs associated with air pollution, and reduce mercury contamination in our streams and rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
A Federal mandate for renewable energy, far from imposing a burden on Virginia, would bring us cleaner air and water, new businesses, thousands of good jobs, and price-stable electricity. That's a mandate we can love. |
