The Bluegrass State is Leading in the Green Movement and Old Line Industries are Paving the Way.
Companies as disparate as coal developers and animal feed firms are developing renewable or clean energy, with the aim of powering business in Kentucky in the future.
The Governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear has unveiled the states first ever comprehensive energy plan, which calls for reducing green house gas emissions and creating 40,000 jobs tied to energy production and conservation by 2025.
The governor wants to increase renewable energy, boost biofuels, develop a coal to gas industry and encourage carbon capture/sequestration.
In April 2009, the state, University of Kentucky (UK) and University of Louisville (UofL) announced a partnership with Argonne National Laboratory to establish a national Battery Manufacturing Research and Development Center in Central Kentucky.
The centers major goals will include supporting development of a viable U.S. battery manufacturing industry and making it easier for federal labs, universities, manufacturers, suppliers and end-users to collaborate. It also will develop advanced manufacturing technology to reduce advanced battery production costs and accelerate the commercialization of technologies developed at national laboratories and universities. The center is being located in Central Kentucky to leverage the expertise and research facilities at the two universities.
The four year development project allows Kentucky to leverage its abundance of coal while burning fuel cleanly. If approved, the project will take four years to build, create 1,200 construction jobs and 500 long term jobs, and produce nearly $100 million in regional economic benefits each year. Kentucky NewGas will produce emissions of less than 5 percent of the emissions of a comparably sized traditional coal plant. The plant aims to capture the carbon dioxide that could be permanently stored or used for enhanced oil recovery.
Alltech, which is based in Central Kentucky, is proving that companies unrelated to energy have an opportunity to thrive in this sector. For nearly three decades, the company has been one of the worlds top animal health companies. Now it has identified new opportunities with its extensive knowledge of ethanol. The rural community biorefinery would be one of the nations first to use cellulose such as switch grass and corncobs as raw material at rates of up to 30 percent. This material is converted to ethanol.
The appealing aspect of using cellulosic materials is that it is considered a waste product by almost any estimation. The market is expanding, and the need to replace fossil fuels is becoming more apparent with the limited supply, the vulnerability of foreign energy, national security, and the competition for grains for human and animal nutrition.