Technology: Clean Energy for South Carolina

Jennifer Rennicks and Colin Hagan

South Carolina need not wait for the federal government to create a national standard to promote clean-energy businesses in our state. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have already established such standards.

Although nearly two-thirds of South Carolina’s residents are native born, only trace amounts of the Palmetto State’s "native-born" electricity are generated from local power sources. Instead, South Carolina utilities burn coal mined in Kentucky and process uranium mined in Australia and Russia to light homes and power factories, since no coal or uranium deposits are found in South Carolina.¹

Our state’s continued dependence on these electricity sources is a significant economic and security risk. Our consumption of out-of-state energy resources perpetuates a steady flow of revenue out of South Carolina’s economy and into neighboring states and even distant nations.

According to the Energy Information Administration, South Carolina spends nearly $700 million annually importing coal.² Moreover, our reliance on nuclear power brings inherent security risks due to the volatile nature of the electricity source and the large quantities of high-level and low-level radioactive waste that remain in our state after electricity is produced.

Furthermore, electricity production at coal and nuclear power plants is negatively impacted by droughts and warming temperatures. In 2007, several coal and nuclear power plants in the Southeast were forced to temporarily halt operations due to the lack of adequate water reserves and/or unusually high water temperatures in reservoirs used for cooling towers.

Compounding these economic and security impacts is the fact that coal-fired power plants carry public health and environmental costs as well. Most importantly, coal-fired power plants are significant producers of the pollution that climate scientists say is the leading contributor to global climate change. Coal plants also emit toxic mercury, which contaminates South Carolina’s waterways and fisheries, and soot- and smog-forming air pollution that contribute to asthma and other respiratory diseases. These consequences add to coal’s bill of sale, take a toll on our quality of life, and increase costs to consumers.

Boosting South Carolina’s economy, reducing global warming pollution, and improving our state and national security all depend on reducing our fossil fuel consumption and increasing investments in our state’s own clean, renewable energy sources. Critics question whether South Carolina has adequate access to renewable sources of electricity. However, the data suggest the issue is not whether renewable electricity production is possible in South Carolina but which of our varied and abundant sources will best help us meet our growing electricity needs.

Energy efficiency should be South Carolina’s "first fuel." Currently, our state has the third highest per-capita electricity consumption in the nation. Increased efficiency can save South Carolina’s consumers money and keep our dollars in state. Energy efficiency is simultaneously the cleanest, cheapest, and fastest source of new electricity. In fact, a recent report from the South Carolina Electric Cooperatives shows that our state can generate 1700 MW of electricity in 10 years through energy efficiency and other renewable sources.

One of South Carolina’s most abundant sources of renewable energy is waste from forest, crop, and animal production. A recent Clemson University study indicates that 3 percent of South Carolina’s near-term electricity demand could be met by adding ("co-firing") forest and agricultural waste into coal-fired facilities.³ The same report reveals that these biomass sources could replace up to 15 percent of our state’s coal power with minimal loss of energy efficiency and with substantial environmental benefits including: fewer soot- and smog-forming pollutants, no new mercury emissions, and no net release of carbon into the atmosphere.

Other studies and analyses suggest that South Carolina has the long-term potential to meet as much as 8 percent of our current electricity demand⁴ through the use of biomass, which would mean additional revenue for farmers and producers throughout the state.

Offshore wind along our coast offers another abundant renewable energy resource. Researchers from Santee Cooper, the Belle W. Baruch Foundation, and Clemson University’s Restoration Institute are collecting data from test stations to determine the total potential offshore wind energy generation near Georgetown. Data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory suggest that South Carolina’s offshore wind energy potential might be as much as 70,000 MW. Our recent analysis indicates that fully exploiting this resource could generate 50,000 GWh, which represents two-thirds of South Carolina’s current annual electricity sales.⁵ Most of South Carolina’s wind resources are located on the Outer Continental Shelf—far enough away from shore to be barely visible on the horizon. This kind of offshore wind potential makes developing a limited number of coastal wind farms a viable electricity option for South Carolina’s fast-developing coastal regions.

While most of South Carolina’s renewable energy potential comes from biomass and offshore wind, other options for renewable electricity include additional hydroelectric and solar generation. Modern hydroelectric designs offer small-scale, "run-of-the-river" generation without constructing dams. These new hydroelectric projects could generate a small percentage of South Carolina’s electricity demand. While large-scale solar projects, such as the 300 MW solar generation plant⁶ recently proposed by Florida Power and Light in Florida, may not have the same potential in South Carolina, small-scale projects will continue to provide a small percentage of electricity in our state while supporting a profitable and growing industry for manufacturers and installers.

Developing our own homegrown, renewable electricity sources will do more than just prevent us from sending hundreds of millions of dollars out of state to pay for our electricity needs. South Carolina’s renewable electricity sector can also create thousands of new manufacturing jobs. For example, in addition to the electricity that offshore wind can generate in the Lowcountry, a steady demand for wind-turbine equipment could mean increased turbine production in the Upstate. GE Energy’s wind- and gas- turbine production facility in Greenville currently employs more than 2,700 workers.

If South Carolina and neighboring states were to meet just 10 percent of electricity demand through wind power, GE and other companies would have an incentive to add more manufacturing jobs here in South Carolina to keep up with demand for new equipment.

A recent study published by the Blue-Green Alliance⁷ reveals that nearly 500 companies in South Carolina already (or could easily) manufacture many of the components needed to develop the state’s renewable energy sector. South Carolina’s wind energy potential alone could create more than 10,000 new manufacturing jobs. Altogether, the state’s renewable energy sector could provide more than 20,000 new jobs in South Carolina.

South Carolina can capitalize on these renewable energy opportunities, breaking our state’s costly and dangerous dependence on high-risk fossil fuels, by enacting standards to incentivize renewable energy production and business expansion throughout the state. A renewable energy standard (RES) or renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires utilities to generate a certain percentage of electricity from renewable sources by a given date, would provide a clear path to an energy-independent future for South Carolina.

In 2007, Congress considered a national RES requiring up to 15 percent of our electricity to come from clean sources by 2020, with 4 percent of the standard met through efficiency measures. Despite the abundant renewable energy potential in our region and around the country, the final energy bill did not include this critical provision.

But South Carolina need not wait for the federal government to create a national standard to promote clean-energy businesses in our state. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have already established such standards. While these standards range from modest to ambitious, and while the definitions of renewable energy vary slightly from state to state, each of the states pictured in the map (on page 27) have taken definitive steps to reduce fossil-fuel consumption and create entrepreneurial opportunities for clean energy businesses that use homegrown energy resources.

In 2007, our neighbor North Carolina passed a 12.5 percent Renewable and Efficiency Portfolio Standard to be met by 2021, with up to 40 percent of the standard being met through efficiency.

Embracing a clean energy future is critical for South Carolina. Our state cannot afford to continue sending hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase out-of-state energy resources. Instead, South Carolina can lead the effort to reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean and renewable energy economy. Governor Mark Sanford has heeded that call by creating the state’s Climate, Energy and Commerce Advisory Committee, a group tasked with reviewing possible climate change impacts in South Carolina and formulating strategies to address those changes going forward. Other elected officials should seek opportunities to create additional clean energy solutions for the state.

Like the majority of our state’s residents, the majority of our energy sources can be native born. South Carolina’s energy future is not waiting under the soil or sands of a distant state or nation. South Carolina’s energy future is right here: in the fields and forests of our state, in the winds off our coast, and shining down upon us from the skies above. ¨

Endnote

Click on note number to return to text.

1  http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=SC.

² http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=SC.

³ Potential for Biomass Energy Development in South Carolina, Clemson University (2006).

⁴ Bringing Clean Energy to the Southeastern United States: Achieving the Federal Renewable Energy Standard, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (published October 2007; revised January 2008).

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ausra, Inc., "Ausra, Leading Utilities Commit to Large-Scale Solar Thermal Electric Power" (September 2007).

⁷ Blue-Green Alliance, "South Carolina’s Road to Energy Independence" (2007).