Houston as a Model City: Meeting the challenges of an environmental crisis
Energy Outlook
by Vicki Wolf, July 2006

The outlook, at first glance, seems bleak. Oil and gas production has peaked in Texas, and global warming is now impacting weather patterns. Many people are recent victims of natural disasters including extreme heat, hurricanes, floods and droughts. Dallas and Houston are suffering from a record number of high ozone days, and other air pollution related to the burning of fossil fuels. TXU Corp. and other companies have proposed building or expanding at least 16 coal-fired power plants. The emissions of these plants would be equal to adding the emissions of 20 million more cars to the atmosphere (www.stopthecoalplant.org).

The time for a shift from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy is here. According to Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen, it is a solution that eliminates the mercury and greenhouse gas emissions and is now cost-effective. “The cost of wind power has plummeted and is now less costly than other ways of generating energy,” he says. “There are breakthroughs in geothermal and solar energy.” He adds that new plants in Austin are manufacturing spray-on solar film, and within five years there will be a significant decline in the cost of solar energy.

This shift can mean a brighter future for Texas, with the highest potential for renewable energy of any state in the U.S.

Houston, as the energy capital of the world, can lead the nation in this shift away from burning fossil fuels by implementing more energy conservation projects, and developing renewable energy sources.

Real signs that a shift was coming began to appear in the 1970s. Texas oil and gas production peaked in 1972, according to the State Energy Conservation Office (SECA), and since 1993 the state has been a net energy importer. With 22 million people and about 19 million automobiles, Texas is the fifth largest energy user in the world, accounting for about 12 percent of U.S. energy consumption. Texas has 437 electric generating plants: 49 percent of the state’s electricity comes from natural gas; 39 percent from coal; and 10 percent from nuclear energy.

Only 3 percent of the state’s electricity is from renewable sources, even though Texas leads the country in renewable energy potential. There’s wind in the panhandle, lots of sun in the southwest and biomass in the east.

Texas and Houston stand to prosper if this renewable energy resource is developed in a timely and effective manner. Projected growth from 2005 to 2015 for the U.S. renewable energy industry is: from $11.8 to $48.5 billion for wind power; from $11.2 to $51.1 billion for solar; from $15.7 to $52.5 billion for biofuels; and from $1.2 billion to $15.1 billion for fuel cells.

Texas recently passed California as the No. 1 wind power producing state in the country. Wind is the fastest growing renewable energy source for electricity in Texas. In Houston, residents have wind power as a clean option for their electricity through Green Mountain Energy. Mayor Bill White says his household has switched to “green power” and recently unveiled the Houston Consumer Choice website to let residents know all their options for electricity www.houstonconsumerchoice.com.

The efforts in Houston and Texas toward wind power look like baby steps when compared with China. According to Dr. Y.H. Michael Pao, pioneer in large scale wind farms, China envisions supplying half of its electricity needs from wind power on a cost-effective basis by 2015. He adds that the government is very supportive of this initiative. “This, when implemented, will not only enable China to meet its increasing demand in electricity, but also greatly reduce its air pollution problems and emissions of mercury and greenhouse gases from its coal-fired power plants; its consumptions of fossil fuel; its railroad congestions from the transportation of coal; its deaths of coal miners; and its dependence on oil and gas imports,” says Pao, who received the top national award for energy innovation from the U.S. Department of Energy in 1984. (www.harc.edu/energydocs)

The U.S. government offers more good news for companies willing to invest in renewable energy with the Texas Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) enacted with Senate Bill (SB) 7 in 1999 and expanded in 2005 with SB 20. The RPS for Texas calls for 5,000 new megawatts (MW) from renewable energy to be developed by 2015 with 500 MW from non-wind sources.

One of the drawbacks to renewable energy has been how to distribute wind energy from the panhandle or solar from southwest Texas to the more populated areas where it is needed. SB20 includes support for transmission of energy from the source where it is created. This is how it works: The Public Utility Commission designates best energy development zones; transmission will be built to the zones for energy distribution where it is needed; and cost recovery for transmission owners is assured. The net economic benefit is projected to be $3.5 billion. (www.harc.edu/energydocs)

Another incentive for investing in renewable energy is in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which extends through 2007 the 1.9 cent-per-kilowatt-hour (KWh) production tax credit. This credit applies to electricity generated with wind turbines over the first 10 years of a projects operation. (www.awea.org/news/energy_bill_extends_wind_power_072905.html) The City of Houston is considering taking advantage of this tax credit by building wind farms in the gulf coast area where wind is more abundant than on land and closer to large population centers.

Reducing energy consumption is another way to reduce use of fossil fuels. Houston's urban areas are hotter than surrounding rural areas by 6° F to 8° F. This is called the Urban Heat Island effect. Roads, buildings, and other hard surfaces absorb and retain heat leading to surface temperatures 50° to 70° hotter. The removal of trees as the region develops also removes the cooling effects that vegetation provides. Cool Houston! is a program designed to reduce urban temperatures through use of cool technologies - reflective and green roofing, paving with light colored or porous materials, and a greatly expanded forest canopy. ( www.harc.edu/OurWork/AirClimate)

Other projects now changing the consumption of energy in the Houston area include weatherizing homes for low-income families in Pleasantville to reduce waste of energy and lower utility bills. “Poorer homes lack energy efficiency,” says Daniel Bullock, Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) program manager. “The highest electric bills are paid by people who can afford it least.” The project has been successful and similar projects are being considered for other communities.

Using the heat that is normally dumped into lakes and wasted at power plants is another way to conserve and make better use of energy. Combined heat and power (CHP) involves a set of technologies that produces both electricity and steam from a single fuel at a facility located near the consumption point.

The advantages of CHP are continuous electrical and thermal energy to all or part of the facility; lower operating costs through more efficient fuel use; enhanced readiness of a facility to operate during grid outages and emergencies; and environmental benefits, such as reduced nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. By obtaining their heat and power needs together, CHP users conserve more energy and save more money than they would by obtaining gas and electrical service separately. ( www.harc.edu/OurWork/CleanEnergy)

The array of possibilities for conserving energy and using renewable sources of energy is growing. But this shift can’t happen too fast. Global warming is a top concern for the life of the planet. Moving from fossil fuel based energy to clean renewal energy can help cool it down. Oil and gas reserves are diminishing, and these fuels are vulnerable to natural disasters, wars and terrorism. Developing energy sources that are cleaner, cooler and renewable can improve the quality of life for all people.

For more information on the proposed coal-fired power plants and what you can do to encourage state leaders to look at clean, renewable energy alternatives, go to http://www.stopthecoalplant.org/news_aas_071406.html.