N.C.’S NEW ENERGY BUSINESS BOOM

NC 'clean energy' firms jump to 1,800 in less than a year
Rick Smith, June 22, 2011 (WRAL-TV)

"Passage of the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (REPS) law in 2007 by the North Carolina General Assembly and incentives from the federal government are helping create a growing ‘clean industry’ in the state…North Carolina is now home to 1,792 companies focused on renewable energy, and the state is the site for 1,829 renewable energy systems, according to [2011 North Carolina Clean Energy Data Book from the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association]…

"The number of companies jumped from 1,100 last fall to nearly 1,800…And these numbers [from the group’s first effort to catalog the state’s clean energy projects] could be low…[T]he Association has reported that the clean energy sector employs 12,000 people in 2010, up from 10,000 in 2009. A report on 2011 employment will be issued in November.

click to enlarge

"The existing renewable energy projects have the potential to generate more than 2,809 megawatts of power. That’s enough for 561,000 homes, based on 1 megawatt per 200 households…More projects are in the works…The data, which is broken down in the report for each of the state’s seven economic development zones, is conservative, according to Julie Robinson, a spokeswoman for the group…

"By category, the state has…[1] 33 biomass projects with a generating capacity of 551 megawatts…[2] 836 geothermal projects [megawatts not available]…[3] 67 hydroelectric projects with a generating capacity of nearly 1,900 megawatts…[4] 829 solar projects with just over 59 megawatts of generating capacity…[5] 64 wind energy projects with 300 megawatts of potential capacity…"

click to enlarge

"Some companies, governments and other institutions are also moving to embrace so-called ‘LEED’ standards (leadership in energy and environmental design) for energy efficiency buildings…770 LEED buildings covering just over 77 million square feet have been constructed…Another 770 Energy Star-rated buildings also have been built. They cover nearly 52.8 million square feet.

"The group calculated as well just how many homes and manufactured homes have the potential to be upgraded for energy efficiency. Nearly 1.2 million homes built before 1970 could be upgraded. The state has nearly 598,000 manufactured homes…"