25x’25

A series of recently released fact sheets and reports indicate that the Southeastern United States is well positioned to contribute to the 25x’25 Vision and the clean-energy economy and job growth the vision entails.

The Southeast Agriculture and Forestry Energy Resources Alliance (SAFER), a 25x’25 endorsing partner organization, recently released fact sheets that are a compilation of state-specific data that was presented in the Southern Bioenergy Roadmap. The fact sheets address current energy use, biomass resources, bioenergy commercial plant, research activity and fueling stations, among other information. States covered by the fact sheets are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The roadmap, a project of SAFER and the University of Florida, was released in February showing that the South has abundant natural resources and intellectual capital to produce electricity and automotive fuel from plants, trees, and waste, also known as biomass. For example, the report found that, in 2007, the South contained 30 percent of the nation’s bioenergy potential in its agricultural and forestry resources; produced 46 percent of the nation’s biomass generated electricity; produced 22 percent of the nation’s biodiesel, but only 6.4 percent of the nation’s ethanol; and hosted bioenergy research centers in every state.

Meanwhile, the World Resources Institute, together with 25x’25 endorsing partners, the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the sustainability advocacy group, Southface, compiled high-level Southeast energy policy briefs that provide overviews of regional opportunities to enhance energy efficiency, develop renewable electric power resources and manage water-energy relationships.

“The region is ripe for efficiency, which is the cheapest, cleanest, and most abundant power option,” says Elliot Metzger, a climate and energy associate with MRI. “Cost-effective energy savings in the region could conceivably reduce energy use by more than 10 percent by 2015 – about equal to the power produced by more than 30 coal-fired power plants. This would set the region well on its way to reducing energy demands by 20 percent or more by 2025.” (Efficiency is the option of first choice in the 25x’25 Action Plan, a roadmap to achieving the 25x’25 goal.)

Metzger also says, estimates that draw on studies from national laboratories, regional assessments and state energy commissions show a strong portfolio of renewable resources in the Southeast. Of that mix, he says, solar and biomass power (from forest residues, energy crops, and other sources) could each make up 10 percent or more of regional electric power sales within the next 15 years. The feasible onshore wind and low-impact hydro power could account for an additional 5 percent of total electric power, he says.

The 25x’25 Alliance stands ready to assist legislators and regulators in the development of policies, including a widely inclusive definition of woody biomass eligible for use as an energy feedstock, that will maximize the contributions that can be made by the Southeastern United States to a clean, sustainable energy future.

25x'25 Achieving the Goal, Research 25x'25 Vision, Biomass, Forestry, Partner Progress