I flagged an event to you recently, “The Climate for Renewable Energy,” cosponsored by the government of Navarra and NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. There were some excellent presentations made by the impressive group of panelists assembled for the evening.
The President of Navarra, Miguel Sanz Sesma, noted that his province has developed a “comprehensive model” for renewable energy that includes not only providing 100% of electricity from renewables in 2011 – more than 60% of it, nearly 1 GW, from wind; but also hosting CENER, the National Renewable Energy Center; CENÍFER, the Training Center for Renewable Energies; advancing microgrids and optimizing energy efficiency within the province; and creating a manufacturing hub, providing jobs and the training necessary for ongoing progress.
The head of CENER, José Javier Armendáriz, noted that Spain has 10.6% of the world’s installed capacity of wind power – 20 GW. He also noted the critical importance of energy storage for optimizing how we use renewables. His shop is doing research in several critical areas, including wind, PV, solar thermal, biomass, the grid, and “bioclimatic architecture.” (That’s a fancy way of saying “green building” – but I like it. It’s got a certain je ne sais quoi.) This is a world-class institution, doing critical cutting-edge research & development.
Gamesa, the Spanish-based international wind power giant, was represented by the head of their American operation, Luis Miguel Fernández González. He noted that their target is grid parity in the US by 2013. ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. He also noted the huge potential for offshore wind for the US.
Switching gears from Navarra to New York City, Con Edison’s Ombudsman for Distributed Generation, Margaret Jolly, talked about how cogeneration has been growing and even how we may be on the threshold of great things for solar in the Big Apple. (See my post from last week on NYU’s spectacular trigeneration facility.)
A recent graduate of the master’s degree program at the Center for Global Affairs (where I teach), Sam Lissner, is the business development manager for Power Grid Capital. He had some thoughts about financing projects and the overall shape of the regulatory framework in the US for renewables, but he also is very familiar with Navarra’s work and had this interesting insight: that the siting of wind farms in Navarra defied some of the common wisdom that NIMBY prevails and that you have to minimize the visual impact. Well, he reported, the locals took the bold step of putting their facilities right out in plain view of the public in Pamplona and have capitalized on the proximity of some of these wind farms by using them to illustrate the importance of sustainability to children. Acciona, one of the biggest developers in Spain, has had a vigorous education program for nearly 20 years. Some folks have the opposite feeling about wind farms than the moneyed interests (like the Kochs) that opposed Cape Wind – PIMBY is their attitude. “Put it in my backyard.” is an expression I first saw referenced in Lester Brown’s brilliant Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.
Toggling over to China, the evening’s last speaker, Stephen Hammer, had some fascinating commentary on how, in his work with mayors in the PRC, he’s been trying to harness the economic development potential of sustainable transportation and renewable energy to the message. The mayors want jobs and development while they’re building out and retrofitting their cities. That’s great because that’s precisely what clean tech can give you, along with all the other many co-benefits of lower energy costs, much lower pollution – rather a big concern in modern China, greater mobility and thus less productivity loss, and, as I think the case of Navarra very clearly illustrates, the sense that you have a stake in the shape of the future.
Navarra, New York City and China are all, in various ways and at various points along the development spectrum, showing the way forward. I’m gung ho about leaving “ego-nomics” behind and embracing the “technology-driven” economy.
P.S. There is an op-ed in today’s NY Times from Bill Ritter, Colorado’s Governor from 2007 to the beginning of this year: Re-energize the Economy. He has the same message for America that Navarra has for us and for the rest of the world: Pay attention to clean tech and renewables and economic development and jobs will come along, in short order and in spades. “…Colorado now ranks fourth among the 50 states in its number of clean energy workers per capita, and 1,500 clean energy companies call our state home … Wind- and solar-energy companies that have built factories and opened offices in Colorado have brought in thousands of new jobs.”
