Idaho looks to eco-business for eventual recovery
Using a $1.25 million federal grant the state of Idaho is investigating the extent of our green economy. Officials from the Idaho Department of Labor are in the process of interviewing around 5000 large and small employers and asking them, basically, how many ‘green’ jobs they’re currently got and what their growth potential is for the coming years.
This survey is intended to guide the department in developing a training program to help workers with these emerging jobs, they’ll be working closely with industry and education officials in the process, which is intended to prepare the state’s economy for the demands of the future using a further $6 million federal grant.
Such efforts have paid off elsewhere in the country. In Colorado, the state legislature has played an active role in developing their green economy. A few years ago a law was passed requiring that 30% of the state’s energy needs be met through renewable energy by 2020, which created a market for green energy and led to the development of a solar panel field built and operated by Clean Energy Collective.
The solar panels, 400 for now, have been built over a disused landfill site and are connected to the state’s power grid, residents who by one of the panel’s have it maintained by the company and get a rebate off their power bill because they’re adding power to the grid.
This is just one example of the innovation that is possible in this as-yet under-explored industry. Now, as the state government begins to make moves in this direction, it seems that the private sector is too.
Transform Solar recently announced to Idaho news media their entry to the market in Idaho producing an extremely thin type of solar panel that is also far more efficient than many of its rivals on the market. The company is the product of a joint effort by Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc and Origin Energy, which is based in Australia.
The solar panels, called sliver solar cells, by Transform Solar are extremely thin, around two thousandths of an inch, which makes them cheaper than anything else on the market as they use only 10% of the silicon needed by most other solar panels. The deal between the two companies is based on Micron Technologies experience in producing ultra-thin semiconductors and Origin’s experience in energy markets.
The new solar panels are currently still in their developmental stage and are expected to be available on the market at some point next year.
Boise Airport will be the first site of a solar field to be built using solar panels from Transform Solar. The may of Boise told Idaho news media that another ‘green’ company, Sunergy World, had been given permission to develop a $45 million solar panel field near the airport which will be capable of generating around 10 megawatts.
This is meager in comparison to the approximately 1.5 million megawatts used by Idaho every hour, in fact it represents what ten resident uses in an hour on average, but the potential for growth is substantial, especially when one considers the size of Idaho and the amount of energy that is lost due to the long length of power lines connecting towns and cities that are often far removed from each other.
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Idaho Focus
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Idaho looks to eco-business for eventual recovery
Colorado has been leading the country in developing a sustainable, environmentally-friendly ‘green economy’ using $1 billion in federal grants over the last ten years or so, the efforts have paid off and now it seems that Idaho’s leadership may be looking to do something similar.
Using a $1.25 million federal grant the state of Idaho is investigating the extent of our green economy. Officials from the Idaho Department of Labor are in the process of interviewing around 5000 large and small employers and asking them, basically, how many ‘green’ jobs they’re currently got and what their growth potential is for the coming years. Read more
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