WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON BENEFITS OF WIND ENERGY

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
March 12, 2015
FACT SHEET: Wind Vision Report Highlights Long Term Benefits of Investing in America's Wind Energy Industry

As a key part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, the wind power industry supports more than 50,000 American jobs and supplies enough energy to power 16 million homes. Building on this momentum, today the Department of Energy released Wind Vision: A New Era for Wind Power in the United States, a highly anticipated analysis of America’s wind energy industry – charting the future of wind power through 2050 and underscoring the economic and environmental benefits that steady growth will make possible.

Today, the United States stands as a global leader in wind energy, ranking first in the world in wind power generation, providing affordable and renewable electricity to American families and businesses nationwide. With utility-scale wind plants installed in 39 states, growth in America’s wind energy industry has boosted the economy, spurring more than $400 million in exports in 2013 and supporting jobs related to development, siting, manufacturing, transportation and other industries. The report shows that with continuing technological advancements, cost reductions, and siting and transmission development, the nation can deploy wind power to economically provide 35% of our nation’s electricity and supply renewable power in all 50 states by 2050.

Since President Obama took office, the electricity we get from wind has increased by three fold. In fact, between 2009 and 2013, wind represented approximately 30% of new electricity generation in the United States. With economically competitive prices in many areas, the U.S. wind energy market currently remains strong as more utilities select wind as a cost-saving option, paving the way to a low-carbon future that protects our air and water and addresses climate change.

Growing the Clean Energy Economy

According to the report, the wind energy industry could support more than 600,000 jobs by 2050, including engineers, construction workers, truck drivers, factory workers, utility operators, maintenance technicians, electricians and other supporting services.

Key Points:

The United States could install up to 11 GW per year in new capacity through 2050, an ambitious but feasible deployment scenario comparable to the wind capacity installed in 2012.

This growth could lead to America operating and maintaining a fleet of more than 400 GW nationwide through 2050, enough to power more than 100 million homes.

The report also indicates that the United States could install a total of 86 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2050, creating clean energy jobs in coastal communities.

U.S. manufacturing supplies the majority of the blades and towers installed at U.S. wind farms.

With more than 500 U.S. manufacturing companies across 43 states, continued investment in America’s wind energy manufacturing sector could boost America’s competitiveness, help launch new businesses across the country, and secure the future of thousands of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

Total investment would reach $70 billion per year by 2050 under this growth path.

Today, average wind energy costs nationally are approaching cost-competitive levels. Backed by stable policies including the production tax credit and the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, costs will continue to drop as the industry scales up and innovates.

Wind is anticipated to provide nearly $280 billion consumer savings by 2050.
Wind generation agreements typically provide 20-year fixed pricing, helping reduce rate shocks caused by volatility in natural gas and coal fuel prices.
Unleashing Climate and Public Health Benefits

Researchers estimate that in 2013, wind energy in the United States reduced direct power-sector carbon dioxide emissions by 115 million metric tons, equivalent to eliminating the emissions of 20 million cars during the year.  They also estimate that wind power generation in 2013 reduced power-sector water consumption by 36.5 billion gallons, or about 116 gallons per person in the United States.

Key Findings:

Wind power could help America combat climate change by avoiding more than 12.3 billion metric tons of carbon pollution cumulatively by 2050, equivalent to avoiding one-third of global annual carbon emissions.

Wind energy could save approximately 260 billion gallons of water by 2050, by side-stepping the water-intensive processes of conventional energy production. At deployment levels examined in the report, the nation’s electric power sector could consume 23% less water.

This growth in wind power could lead to approximately $108 billion in savings in healthcare costs and economic damages.  This estimated saving is made possible through cumulative reductions in air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulates that could otherwise cause nearly 22,000 premature deaths from respiratory ailments and other diseases by 2050.
Widely deploying wind turbines, both on land and offshore, for U.S. electricity generation provides a domestic, sustainable and essentially zero-carbon, zero-pollution and zero-water use electricity resource.

Wind energy continues to be one of America’s best choices for low-cost, zero-pollution renewable energy, and in an increasing number of markets, may be the cheapest source of new energy available. Wind power is a key component of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above approach to American energy – a strategy that helps reduce climate-changing carbon emissions, enhances our energy security and supports good-paying American jobs.

WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON "SCALE UP INVESTMENT IN CLEAN ENERGY INNOVATION"

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE
February 10, 2015
FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Announces Initiative to Scale Up Investment in Clean Energy Innovation

President Obama is committed to addressing the impacts of climate change to protect future generations. As part of that effort, today, the Administration is launching a Clean Energy Investment Initiative and announcing a goal to catalyze $2 billion of expanded private sector investment in solutions to climate change, including innovative technologies with breakthrough potential to reduce carbon pollution.

Further clean energy innovation to improve the cost, performance, and scalability of low-carbon energy technologies will be critical to taking action against climate change.  Substantial technological progress has been made in recent years in solar photovoltaics, wind power, advanced batteries, energy-efficient lighting, and fuel cells.  For example, the cost of solar energy systems has decreased 50 percent since 2010 alone. But additional investment is needed.

Mission-driven investors – such as foundations, university endowments, and institutional investors – can play a catalytic role in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.  A growing number of such organizations have committed to investing in clean energy innovation and solutions to climate change, in pursuit of both financial returns and mission-aligned impact.  Today’s announcements will help clean energy investors reduce transaction costs, spread promising investment models, and increase their climate mitigation impact.

That is why the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing that it will help catalyze philanthropic activity through the Clean Energy Investment Initiative by leading an effort to identify opportunities to leverage its world-class technical expertise, technologies, and programs to assist in understanding opportunities and needs that drive clean energy innovation – with a focus on mission-oriented investors seeking climate and environmental impact.  DOE will work to mobilize a broad range of philanthropists and impact investors to scale up investments throughout the energy innovation pipeline, from laboratory R&D to startup funding to growth-stage financing – supporting the kind of technology innovation that the ARPA-E Summit, where this initiative was announced, is all about.

To kick off this call to action, the White House will host a Clean Energy Investment Summit later this spring, as a forum for foundations, family offices, and institutional investors to scale up private sector investment in clean energy innovation.

Further, today philanthropic and private sector leaders are making initial announcements toward scaling up investment in clean energy innovation, including:

The University of California Board of Regents will build on its commitment to allocate at least $1 billion of its endowment and pension over five years for investments in solutions to climate change by developing an innovative vehicle that combines three complementary objectives:  First, to partner with philanthropists interested in de-risking early-stage technologies with high climate related impact potential. Second, to target, through the independently managed vehicle, for-profit investments in technologies with the potential to deliver both significant climate change mitigation and high investment returns. Third, to partner with the world's largest institutional investors in a follow-on facility that will offer proven technologies and companies an "on ramp" to commercial scale.  The Office of the Chief Investment Officer will engage with foundations, family offices, and institutional investors to strengthen this long-term innovation pipeline.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation will work to connect investors with early-stage clean energy companies, so that a growing number of foundations and other mission-driven organizations can efficiently and effectively finance innovative technologies with high impact potential. The Foundation has developed deep experience in building and sustaining multi-foundation alliances to limit the risks of climate change and advance clean energy.

The Schmidt Family Foundation has allocated a significant portion of its assets to impact investing, with the aim of filling market gaps to finance solutions that mitigate climate change. To help grow the community of practice alongside other institutions, the Foundation will share its expertise and ongoing findings in sourcing, vetting, and structuring impact investments, especially for pre-market technologies.

Wells Fargo will build on its commitment of $100 million in environmental grants by 2020 to accelerate the transition to a greener economy, which includes the $10 million Innovation Incubator (IN2) program to foster the development of early-stage energy efficiency technologies for commercial buildings.  Co-administered by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), this first-of-its-kind program will provide startups with grant funding, mentorship, research and testing support at NREL, and real-world field testing in Wells Fargo buildings to de-risk these technologies and accelerate their commercial adoption.  Having developed this unique expertise in collaborating with a National Laboratory and deploying foundation dollars to support energy startups, Wells Fargo will work to expand investment partnerships for these field-tested technologies and to rally other major companies to build complementary programs that support clean energy innovation.

TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT BUILDS ON EXISTING PROGRESS

Under the Obama Administration, the Department of Energy has already helped put in place many successful initiatives to develop or deploy advanced energy technologies.

ARPA-E has invested approximately $1.1 billion across more than 400 potentially transformational energy technology projects. The President’s FY16 Budget also called for $325 million for DOE’S ARPA-E to further support potentially transformative applied energy research.
DOE’s Solar Access to Public Capital working group has assembled over 300 leading organizations working together to increase public capital markets’ financing of solar energy projects.
DOE’s Loan Programs Office continues to support clean energy deployment and has made use of co-lending to bring new commercial lenders into the market to gain experience financing innovative projects.
The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, a new public-private consortium of 122 leading U.S. manufacturers, universities, and non-profits focused on advanced composites, is providing open access to a network of shared research, development and demonstration facilities at national laboratories and premier universities.

EX-IM BANK AUTHORIZES ALMOST $65 MILLION IN LOANS FOR WIND POWER PROJECTS IN PERU

FROM:  U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK 

Ex-Im Financing Supports the Export of Wind Turbines made in Kansas and Iowa to Peru

The sale will support approximately 800 jobs in those states

Washington, D.C. – The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has authorized a pair of direct loans to two wind power projects in Peru for the export of wind turbines manufactured in Hutchinson, Kan., and Fort Madison, Iowa, by Siemens Energy Inc.  

The financing, almost $65 million in total, represents Ex-Im Bank’s first renewable-energy transactions in Peru and will support approximately 800 U.S. jobs in Kansas and Iowa, according to bank estimates derived from Departments of Commerce and Labor data and methodology. Additionally, 20 percent of each transaction should provide indirect support to small-business exporters.

“These transactions reflect our continued commitment to increasing U.S. renewable energy exports while supporting good-paying jobs here at home,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “During this fiscal year alone, Ex-Im Bank has approved financing for five wind farm projects, and we are looking to do more in the near future. This financing helps ensure that the turbines helping to power Peru are made here in the U.S. by American workers, rather than in a competing country.”

The wind turbines are destined for use in the Marcona wind project and the Tres Hermanas wind project, which are located in close proximity in the Ica region of southern Peru and are estimated to yield an aggregate 129 Mega Watts. Repayment terms are 17.3 years for the Marcona project and 16.6 years for the Tres Hermanas project, respectively.

Siemens Energy Inc. is a U.S. subsidiary of Siemens AG, an engineering company that operates in the industry, energy, healthcare, and infrastructure and cities sectors. The company reported revenue of $5.9 billion in exports and employs approximately 52,000 people throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

“In addition to manufacturing wind turbine blades in Iowa and assembling nacelles in Kansas for projects across the United States, we’ve been able to successfully export our equipment to Americas wind projects in Canada, Chile, Brazil and with Ex-Im Bank’s help, Peru, ” said Mark Albenze, CEO of Siemens’ Onshore Wind Americas business. “Being able to export our equipment has helped support more than 800 manufacturing jobs in the heartland of the U.S. at a time when the U.S. wind market continues to be beleaguered by policy uncertainty.”

In FY 2013 alone, Ex-Im Bank authorized $257 million to support renewable energy exports, primarily to Central and Latin America.

NIGHT-WARMING EFFECT NOTICED OVER LARGE WIND FARMS

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Photo:  USDA
Scientists Find Night-Warming Effect Over Large Wind Farms in Texas
April 29, 2012
Large wind farms in certain areas in the United States appear to affect local land surface temperatures, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The study, led by Liming Zhou, an atmospheric scientist at the State University of New York- (SUNY) Albany, provides insights about the possible effects of wind farms.
The results could be important for developing efficient adaptation and management strategies to ensure long-term sustainability of wind power.

"This study indicates that land surface temperatures have warmed in the vicinity of large wind farms in west-central Texas, especially at night," says Anjuli Bamzai, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, which funded the research.

"The observations and analyses are for a relatively short period, but raise important issues that deserve attention as we move toward an era of rapid growth in wind farms in our quest for alternate energy sources."

Considerable research has linked the carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels with rising global temperatures.

Consequently, many nations are moving toward cleaner sources of renewable energy such as wind turbines. Generating wind power creates no emissions, uses no water and is likely "green."

"We need to better understand the system with observations, and better describe and model the complex processes involved, to predict how wind farms may affect future weather and climate," said Zhou.

There have been a growing number of studies of wind farm effects on weather and climate, primarily using numerical models due to the lack of observations over wind farms.
As numerical models are computationally intensive and have uncertainties in simulating regional and local weather and climate, said Zhou, remote sensing is likely the most efficient and effective way to study wind farm effects over larger spatial and longer temporal scales.

To understand the potential impact of wind farms on local weather and climate, Zhou's team analyzed satellite-derived land surface temperatures from regions around large wind farms in Texas for the period 2003-2011.

The researchers found a night-time warming effect over wind farms of up to 0.72 degrees Celsius per decade over the nine-year-period in which data were collected.
Because the spatial pattern of warming mirrors the geographic distribution of wind turbines, the scientists attribute the warming primarily to wind farms.
The year-to-year land surface temperature over wind farms shows a persistent upward trend from 2003 to 2011, consistent with the increasing number of operational wind turbines with time.

"This warming effect is most likely caused by the turbulence in turbine wakes acting like fans to pull down warmer near-surface air from higher altitudes at night," said Somnath Baidya Roy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a co-author of the paper.
While the warming effect reported is local and small compared to the strong background year-to-year land surface temperature variation, the authors believe that this work draws attention to an important scientific issue that requires further investigation.
"The estimated warming trends only apply to the study region and to the study period, and thus should not be interpolated into other regions, globally or over longer periods," Zhou said. "For a given wind farm, once there are no new wind turbines added, the warming effect may reach a stable level."

The study represents a first step in exploring the potential of using satellite data to quantify the possible effects of the development of big wind farms on weather and climate, said Chris Thorncroft of SUNY-Albany, a co-author of the paper.
"We're expanding this approach to other wind farms," said Thorncroft, "and building models to understand the physical processes and mechanisms driving the interactions of wind turbines and the atmosphere boundary layer near the surface."