Congress is being urged to make more money available for wind-energy research.
This story from the Abilene Reporter News says that Andrew Swift, director of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech, made the case for a federal proposal to pump $200 million a year into research and development for wind power:
“I believe if research and education investments are made on the scale proposed that this industry can provide 20 percent of the nation’s electrical power by 2030,” the Lubbock professor said in testimony.
The Department of Energy came up with the 20 percent projection, estimating reaching it would create 180,000 wind-industry jobs.
A panel of the House Science and Technology Committee explored needs in wind and solar research Tuesday. The Energy and Environment Subcommittee also took up the 2009 Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2009.
Authored by Rep. Paul Tonko, a New York Democrat, the bill would provide $200 million a year for wind-energy related research through 2014.
Wind energy experts point out that while unemployment has climbed and energy supplies have tightened, the wind industry has added 35,000 jobs and put out enough power for more than 2.5 million homes.