Companies as disparate as coal developers and animal feed firms are developing renewable or clean energy, with the aim of powering business in Kentucky in the future.
The Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear has unveiled the states first ever comprehensive energy plan, which calls for reducing green house gas emissions and creating 40,000 jobs tied to energy production and conservation by 2025.
The governor wants to increase renewable energy, boost biofuels, develop a coal to gas industry and encourage carbon capture/sequestration.
In April 2009, the state, University of Kentucky (UK) and University of Louisville (UofL) announced a partnership with Argonne National Laboratory to establish a national Battery Manufacturing Research and Development Center in Central Kentucky.
The centers major goals will include supporting development of a viable U.S. battery manufacturing industry. It also will develop advanced manufacturing technology to reduce advanced battery production costs and accelerate the commercialization of technologies developed at national laboratories and universities. Such moves put Kentucky at the forefront on green technology job creation.
The four year development project allows Kentucky to leverage its abundance of coal while burning fuel cleanly. If approved, the project will take four years to build, create 1,200 construction jobs and 500 long term jobs, and produce nearly $100 million in regional economic benefits each year. Kentucky NewGas will produce emissions of less than 5 percent of the emissions of a comparably sized traditional coal plant.
Alltech, which is based in Central Kentucky, is proving that companies unrelated to energy have an opportunity to thrive in this sector. The company has been one of the worlds top animal health companies. Now it has identified new opportunities with its extensive knowledge of ethanol. Alltech has plans for a $70 million commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in Springfield, aided by a $30 million grant from the Department of Energy and $8 million from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority. The rural community biorefinery would be one of the nations first to use cellulose such as switch grass and corncobs as raw material at rates of up to 30 percent. This material is converted to ethanol.
The appealing aspect of using cellulosic materials is that it is considered a waste product by almost any estimation. The market is expanding, and the need to replace fossil fuels is becoming more apparent with the limited supply.