Renewable Energy and Emissions Reductions

Abstract

The influence of environmental legislation in many states has be-come common partners in creating a unique environment for renew-able energy to step up to the plate. This environment offers opportuni-ties that lead down many environmental paths and opens up economicconditions for marketplace advancement of renewable energy sources.Since 2000, more than 1100 MW of wind farm (WF) electrical powerhas been added or announced to be added to the Texas electrical grid.New Mexico is now experiencing the benefits of renewable energy,with more than 200 MW being installed by the end of 2003. NewMexico has even entered the marketplace with wind power crossingthe borders of ERCOT in a daring bid to power the U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency’s (EPA) own laboratory in Houston with Green-etagged blocks of renewable energy from Clovis, NM. Oklahoma willinstall more than 175 MW, finally opening its door to what could be amost notable crossroads in wind power development.Now, overlay major environmental issues of another kind in wa-ter pollution and air pollution issues in rural and metropolitan areascoupled with changes in the national emissions inventory. The effect isthat three new target areas come in the picture. These are concentratedanimal feeding operations (CAFO) with new rules as of March 2003,publicly owned treatment works (POTW) who must now report emis-sions in more detail, and municipal solid waste landfills (MSW-LF)with the 2004 changes in landfill design of “bioreactors.” These olderfacilities create more than 500 million tons of manure, more than 110million tons of municipal solid waste and more than 50 million tons ofhuman waste for treatment. With more than 650 million tons of waste,energy projects on small and large scales are possible. The logistics are straight forward, and management in the industry does not alwaysunderstand needs and methodology that must be followed to be a suc-cessful. The opportunities in developing resources lay in a shift inwhich regulations and recent shifts in environmental credits for renew-able energy and energy efficiency for environmental progress.