Iowa's future in the Green Economy
Across the region ethanol plants are being built with overseas investment. In California, a company called Nanosolar is manufacturing state-of-the-art solar panels but orders are backed up until 2009 due to demand from Germany, a country that receives less sunlight than Iowa. Nanosolar is currently building the world's largest panel-assembly factory... also in Germany.
2007 year was the first year in Iowa's history that we were able to generate enough power to have a surplus of energy that we exported to neighboring states. This was possible because Governor Culver and the Iowa State Legislature created the Office of Energy Independence and the Iowa Power Fund as a tool to offset the cost of innovation for utility companies to make the move towards green energy. Our current representative voted against that creation (last paragraph), yet ironically, now occupies a seat on the board. It seems nonsensical for him to cast such a vote, until you realize that the parent company of his employer also owns coal and gas mining companies. This goes far in explaining his aversion to addressing green energy at all.
We need leadership that will continue the momentum put forth by the House Democrats and Governor Culver. As your representative, I will remove obstacles and help to create incentives for the utility companies to take advantage of the Iowa Power Fund so that all Iowans can benefit.
The German model: Solar
Germany leads the world in solar development, yet the nation receives less relative sunlight than Iowa. In the little German town Stadtsteinach about every third house has their roof covered with solar panels. How did they do it? The government passed a law that says that the bank has to offer a a ten year (guaranteed by the government) mortgage, on installation of solar power. And if you put solar panels on your house, the power company has to buy the electricity back at 8 times market rate. Now, 8 times market rate is about what it would cost if the power company was going to build a new nuclear reactor or a new coal-fired reactor. In other words, this is the investment part of building a new plant. So they're investing in power infrastructure and at the end of 10 years the power company then has to buy it back at one time, in other words, at parity. But for the 10 years the homeowner is making about $100 a month in profit on the electricity that they are selling to the power company after they've paid the mortgage. So at the end of 10 years the homeowner completely owns the solar power system, it's enough to power his house and provide power to the community, and it was all done by this kind of public/private partnership. In other words, no government dollars are being involved in this and there's an explosion of solar power all across Germany and they don't have to build more power plants because every home has become a power plant.
Paving the path for this innovation
We currently lack the necessary infrastructure to accommodate such a plan and our rural electrical coops (RECs) lack the financial resources to accommodate incoming electricity purchase. This is a prime opportunity to put the Iowa Power Fund to use.
The Pennsylvania model: Wind
In 2006 Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and state legislators began offering municipalities and school districts wind turbines to demonstrate the value of wind power. I would propose a similar plan through the use of government loans and grants to offset the cost of purchase and installation.
Currently there are companies in the United States that manufacture small wind turbines designed for domestic use atop home rooftops. Two such companies are Pacwind and Southwest Windpower. Southwest Windpower turbines are already available from a dealership just outside of Newton, Iowa.
My plan: Subsidized wind turbines for home and business owners
Imagine if the purchase of wind turbines for domestic use, purchased from an Iowa dealership, were subsidized by the government through fixed-rate low-interest loans. A consumer would purchase the turbine through the loan and the energy savings (based on average annual energy costs)from the wind power would would go towards the repayment of the loan until the loan was paid off. The consumer would thereby avoid the initial financial pinch of purchase and installation while at the same time increasing the value of their home, reducing their energy costs, and lessening their environmental impact through the use of clean renewable energy. When the loan is paid off, the consumer would reap the financial benefit of free wind power.
Renewable Fuels: Ethanol
The increase in corn prices due to ethanol development has been a boon for our farmers but also poses problems for the consumer. This fact, coupled with the reality that one gallon of ethanol requires 5,000 gallons of water to create demonstrates the need to responsibly manage the growth and development of ethanol technology. I fully support the plan to make all gas pumps in Iowa deliver 10% ethanol, however I also support the expansion of ethanol research to explore more environmentally sound ethanol alternatives such as Cellulosic ethanol.
