The World Bank has announced it will purchase renewable energy for all of its electricity usage at its Washington, D.C. office from WindCurrent, a Maryland-based company that sells wind power to the mid-Atlantic power grid.
This purchase will represent enough electricity to power almost 8,000 average homes for a year, and is equivalent to eliminating the carbon dioxide emissions of more than 10,000 cars for a year or planting roughly 15,000 acres of trees, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency figures. Produced using conventional electricity sources, including coal and gas, this would have generated an estimated almost 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
The bank will purchase 85,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy certificates (RECs) which are allocated for each unit of power from a renewable energy power plant (such as a wind farm).
"Wind power creates none of the hazardous emissions or mercury pollution that is associated with producing electricity from burning coal," said Jim Maguire, the founder of WindCurrent. "The World Bank is serving as a role model for other organizations who want to be environmentally responsible."
As a result of this investment, wind power from the mid-Atlantic region and the Midwest will be supplied to the power grid, replacing electricity generated from less environmentally friendly sources. Electricity from a wind turbine acts the same as electricity generated from any other source. Once the energy leaves the generator and goes into the grid (the "power pool"), it is all mixed together, earthvision.net reported.
This commitment to renewable energy is part of an overall "Greening Program" by the bank's General Services Department (GSD) to focus on sustainable development within the organization. The Greening Program was established to manage the environmental and social impacts of the bank's Washington, D.C., facilities which promote waste management, environmentally and socially responsible procurement practices and energy conservation.
"Our decision to support wind power with this purchase is consistent with our commitment to sustainability, both within our organization and through our operations. Using renewable power will reduce our office's environmental footprint, increase demand locally, and set an example for other institutions in the Washington area and globally that using alternative energy is a sound and important choice," said Van Pulley, director, GSD.
WindCurrent provides a way for mid-Atlantic organizations to support clean, renewable wind power. Each large wind turbine generates enough electrical power for hundreds of homes, or dozens of businesses. Leaders in the community are partnering with WindCurrent to encourage the creation of these new sources of alternative energy.
"With its investment in renewable energy certificates, the World Bank is demonstrating environmental leadership in the development of new renewable energy sources," said Kurt Johnson of the U.S. EPA. "The World Bank now qualifies for the Green Power Leadership Club and joins the top ranks of the U.S. EPA's Green Power Partnership, a voluntary program that supports and recognizes outstanding green power purchasers. Their commitment to renewable energy makes them the fourth largest purchaser in our program," he said.

After a bleak year in 2004, the North American market is expected to see record growth in 2005. That's according to a study released by Emerging Energy Research, a Cambridge-based independent research and advisory firm that asserts wind plants have become commercially viable sources of power for the US and Canada.
In fact, EER expects annual wind power investments in 2005 to surpass the $2 billion mark in the US for the first time.
"Wind plants are no longer the relics of environmental activism in the 1980s," says William Ambrose, president and founder of EER.
"Wind power has now become mainstream for US and Canadian utilities."
According to the study, state and provincial renewable-portfolio mandates in the US and Canada and the growing competitiveness of wind technology, particularly in light of rising natural gas prices, are prompting utilities to commit to long-term power purchasing agreements.
EER predicts that leaders in wind power in the US and Canada, including Rosemead-based Southern California Edison Co., Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in San Francisco, Dallas-based TXU Corp., and Montreal's Hydro-Quebec, will be joined in 2005 by a long list of utilities across the region, many of which will be securing large-scale wind power for the first time.
Austin-based Green Mountain Energy Co., one of the country's largest clean-energy providers, is making an effort to get more people thinking about wind-generated power, Austin.bizjournals.com reported.
The company recently announced a New Year's campaign titled Live Better Now, to encourage individuals to impact air cleanliness by signing up for cleaner energy.
Green Mountain, which has about 600,000 customers nationwide, offers electricity that's generated from sources such as wind, solar, water, geothermal, biomass and natural gas.
According to the EER study, North America will likely experience more than a three-fold increase in wind power capacity by 2010.
The research firm contends that new independent power producers are changing the nature of the electricity market, creating a more competitive environment.
But that could mean it may be more difficult for smaller independent wind producers and developers to compete.
"Many will become prime acquisition targets for the larger players looking in and consolidation will likely happen," says Godfrey Chua, research director of EER's global wind advisory services.
But the EER study shows that policies in the US have not been supportive of a renewable energy initiative, which could lead to a market spike in 2005, and a crash in 2006.
"Unfortunately US policies to date have discouraged local manufacturing," says Ambrose, adding that this has forced windfarm builders to consider expensive imports from Europe or Japan.
In May, the City of Austin announced it was looking for ways to entice companies that manufacture wind generation equipment.
Austin Energy, the city-owned utility, holds the key to attracting manufacturers, says Walt Hornaday, CEO of Austin-based Cielo Wind Power LLC. Cielo develops wind farms but doesn't manufacture the equipment.
Hornaday says a large long-term order for wind power from Austin Energy would be the best way to lure manufacturers here.
Austin Energy has one of the most aggressive clean energy plans in the country, promising to have 20 percent of its energy coming from wind, the sun and other natural sources by 2020. About 2 percent of Austin Energy's electricity currently is classified as renewable energy.
The key to bumping up business for wind turbine manufacturers lies in stabilizing the regulatory environment, Ambrose says.
If that happens, "the industry would scale dramatically, creating thousands of US jobs in manufacturing, engineering and construction; reducing our dependency on foreign and polluting energy; and ultimately rendering wind power as a low-cost energy source."

Sky-high crude oil prices prod many governments from across the world to seek alternative energy sources other than petroleum, particularly in nuclear power.
This marks a major turnaround from the hitherto widespread anti-nuclear policies, which have been generally adopted after a series of disasters of the 1979 Three Mile Island accident and the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.
The United States now looks to license novel nuclear plants, putting an end to the nation's quarter-century moratorium on new nuclear facilities after the 1979 Three Mile Island debacle.
Other countries like France, Finland and China also follow the suit of the US and in related measures, some nations, including the Netherlands and Switzerland, watered down their original plans of scrapping nuclear power plants.
The Netherlands reversed its plan of closing down Borssele reactors and Switzerland voted down the draft of expelling nuclear plants on a phased basis.
In comparison, Korea is now suffering headwinds in expanding its dependence on nuclear power as amply demonstrated by its failure both in forging ahead with new reactors and finding a nuclear waste dump site.
Still the pros and cons continue to confront on nuclear power, which is efficient but has a potential detriment, with both sides not likely to find the same page any time soon.
Proponents point out the nuclear power technology emits virtually no airborne pollutants and overall far less waste material than fossil fuel-based power plants.
They also claim the controversial source of energy is much more cost-effective than other electricity-generating methods.
By contrast, opponents take issue with the radioactive products released by reactors into the environment and the irritatingly long period needed to decomposing the nuclear waste, hankooki.com reported.
Experts point out the spent nuclear fuel needs to be decayed for 10,000 years for it not pose a threat to health and safety. Nobody can ensure that the material can be safeguarded over such a long period of time.
All in all, anti-nuclear campaigners assert that both immediate and long-term safety concerns regarding the disposal of the nuclear wastes overwhelm any cost-related benefits.

Nuclear Power and Accidents
The world's first nuclear reactors were used to generate plutonium for weapons and the Soviet Union and western countries started to expand their nuclear research to non-military uses of atom from the mid-1950s.
In late 1951, electric power from a nuclear-powered generator was produced for the first time in the US, but the Soviet Union churned out nuclear power for commercial use first in 1954.
Other countries followed the Soviet Union and the US as relating technologies were further developed and the two-rounds of energy crises in the 1970s spurred a nuclear building boom across the world.
But On March 28, 1979 an accident took place, which moved the pendulum in disfavor of the nuclear power, at an American island called Three Mile Island (TMI) in Pennsylvania.
The TMI nuclear reactor suffered a partial core meltdown in early morning of the day and some scientists believe the radiation vented during the event.
Although no identifiable injuries due to radiation occurred (there is some opposition regarding the issue), it was a serious economic and public relations disaster and furthered a steep decline in popularity of nuclear power.

Mushrooming Nuclear Power Plants
However, things started to change in favor of the nuclear power as the crude oil prices sky rocket and the global regulations on green house gas emission become strict.
Oil prices have surged of late, threatening the energy security by cranking up the economic vulnerability to an oil price shock to many oil-importing countries like Korea.
The emission problems of fossil fuels are another stumbling block in sticking to the hitherto mainstream electricity source of the steam power generation.
Haunted by a scenario of extreme crude oil price volatility and the restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector, the world started to tilt toward nuclear power again.
The US Department of Energy disclosed last November a pair of nuclear reactors would be established at North Anna, Virginia and also the Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommended a month later that the permit should be issued.
France where the nuclear energy source supplies up to 80 percent of the country's electricity recently said its state-owned utility would build a prototype next-generation nuclear plants.
France opted to pour three billion euros for the project, which will go ahead with the European Pressurized Water Reactor for 1,600-megawatt model by 2010.
The decision triggers Britain to rethink its nuclear option in the face of soaring oil prices, dwindling North Sea oil and gas reserves as well as setbacks in developing renewables.
The third nuclear plant is now under construction in the Olikiluoto region of Finland and China also plans to establish more than 20 nuclear reactors by 2020.
The Netherlands shelved its original plan of closing down Borssele plant and Switzerland reversed the draft of winding down nuclear power stations on a phased basis.
In a nutshell, economic benefits start to outweigh safety concerns of nuclear power plants in the above-mentioned situation change and the ripple effect is now being felt.

Korean Option
In the wake of the energy crises in the 1970s, Korea has desperately sought energy security policy to reduce its lopsided dependence on oils.
As the sixth-biggest nuclear power producing country in the planet, Korea today operates a total of 19 nuclear reactors, which combine to provide 40 percent of the nation's total electricity requirement.
According to the MOCIE, the country plans to install nine more reactors by 2015 with the aim of increasing the role of nuclear fission.

Iraq plans an investment of approximately $3.75 billion in its oil sector, according to a strategy paper prepared by the Iraqi government.
The investment for the country's reconstruction has been estimated at $36 billion through 2007, said the Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation, and chairman of the Iraqi Strategic Review Board (ISRB).
"Available internal resources can only finance roughly half of the stated amount in the budget for the period 2005-07. However, the needs are greater than what Iraq can provide for itself," Dr Mehdi Hafedh, Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation, and chairman of the Iraqi Strategic Review Board (ISRB) said, according to a report in the Gulf News.
He said that the government is currently not collecting any revenues for the crude oil being supplied to the refineries, which alone is estimated at approximately $5.2 billion annually, tradearabia.com reported.
Furthermore, the strategy paper said imports of gasoline made necessary by the shortage of refining capacity are projected to cost the country $2.4 billion (Dh8.8 billion) during 2005, said the report.
Therefore, the total budget cost arising from the lack of proper refining capacity is close to $8 billion annually - more than 40 per cent of the country's total revenue. "For this reason, the rehabilitation and creation of new refining capacity should take first priority during 2005, in order to reduce the budgetary cost," the minister added.
Noting that during 2007 the banking and financial sector and the oil refining sector are expected to generate more than $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion), forming at least 3.6 per cent of government revenues in 2007, the strategy paper pointed out that the introduction of new taxes and the revival of the economy with the key participation of the private sector should expand the revenue base further.
The IMF has estimated Iraq's external debt at $125 billion (Dh458.75 billion) of which about one-third ($42 billion, or Dh154 billion) is owed to Paris Club creditors, with Japan, Russia, France, Germany and the United States being the largest creditors.
Only 12 per cent of the debt, mostly short term, is owed to commercial creditors. The IMF has found that Iraq's external debt burden is highly unsustainable and that its reduction by anything less than 95 per cent is bound to leave a financing gap, the report said.
An amount of $29.8 billion (Dh109.36 billion) has been budgeted for the period 2005-07, to be financed roughly equally from the resources of Iraq and from grants and preferential long-term loans from donor countries."
It is estimated that the revenues of the budget during the next three years (2005-07) will be $73.8 billion (Dh270.85 billion), with an yearly average of $24.6 billion (Dh90.28 billion), constituting nearly 97.9 percent of the expected GDP.