If such measures are put in place, the U.S. could see as many as one out of every four workers employed by a renewable-energy or energy-efficiency industry by 2030, according to a new report from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). That’s promising for both U.S. employees and for anyone concerned about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels. But it will happen only, as the ASES report says, under “an aggressive deployment forecast scenario.”

That means we, as citizens and consumers, are going to have to apply strong and steady pressure on legislators — local, state and national — to do the right thing. And that, we all know, isn’t easy.

Still, if — as the saying goes — money walks, green-collar types might see Beltway support grow as green industries expand their economic muscle, which means more dollars for lobbying and campaign financing. And, in that regard, the future looks bright.

In the U.S., renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries are already generating 8.5 million jobs and nearly $970 billion in annual revenues, according to the ASES report. “To put this in perspective,” the report states, “(t)otal sales for Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobil and General Motors in 2006 were $905 billion.”

While companies on the energy-efficiency side — things like better windows, efficient appliances and insulation — are making more of the money right now, the renewables side is growing more rapidly.

The ASES predicts the hottest, fastest-growing industries will involve solar power, wind energy, ethanol and fuel-cell technologies. With the right level of public support, it says, we could see up to 40 million people employed — as everything from accountants and biochemists to engineers, mechanics and truck drivers — in the renewable-energy and energy-efficiency sectors by 2030, with annual green-industry revenues of $4.5 trillion.

Getting there, though, will require much more than a business-as-usual approach, the ASES report warns.

“This scenario requires appropriate, aggressive, sustained public policies at the federal and state level during next two decades,” it states. Getting decision-makers to come on board might take oil shortages, fossil-fuel price increases, growing security concerns or a greater awareness of the impact of climate change. The fear of suffering economically at a global level might also be a motivator.

“If we fail to invest in (renewable energy and energy efficiency), the United States runs the risk of losing ground to international … programs and industries,” the report concludes. “For the United States to be competitive in a carbon-constrained world, the (renewable energy and energy efficiency) industry will be a critical economic driver.”

This week, though, IBM announced a new potential source for much-needed silicon: waste silicon wafers used to make semiconductor chips for computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices. By erasing the layers of intellectual property that previously prevented those chips from being sold for other uses, IBM can now sell its scrap silicon wafers directly to companies that manufacture solar panels.

IBM and other companies in the industry use silicon wafers to imprint the patterns on semiconductor chips. Once scrapped, these product silicon wafers have typically been crushed and sent to landfills, or melted down for resale. That’s because the proprietary information encoded on the wafers has prevented them from being resold.

Using a process developed by engineer Eric White, though, IBM has found a way to erase the intellectual property from wafers so they can be reused or resold. IBM has introduced the process to turn old product wafers into monitor wafers to help manage the chip-manufacturing process. Wafers of either kind that reach the end of their lives can now be marketed to solar cell makers rather than being trashed.

IBM says up to 3.3 percent of the new silicon wafers made in the industry each day are currently scrapped. While that might not sound like much, when you consider that, worldwide, semiconductor manufacturers create 250,000 new wafers per day, the numbers start adding up. Using stats from the Semiconductor Industry Association, IBM estimates that could mean annual waste of up to three million silicon wafers — enough, according to IBM, to cover an area of 22.5 acres, or to provide solar power to 6,000 homes.

IBM says the new reclamation process helped it save more than a half-million dollars at its Burlingont, Vermont, facility last year; it expects to save nearly $1.5 million this year. It says it’s also getting ready to use the process at its plant in East Fishkill, New York, and will provide working details to others in the semiconductor-making industry.

ReneSola, one of China’s fastest-growing solar energy companies, has already begun to use the reclaimed silicon wafers to make its solar panels. And the IBM process recently won the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s "2007 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention Award."

Pretty big props for something that starts out so small.

With sunny skies one reason people love San Diego, the city is using this natural renewable resource to green several facilities over the coming years. Eventually, multiple installations will provide almost 5 megawatts of solar power and, according to The Sietch, "will become the largest municipal system in California, surpassing Google’s planned 1.6 megawatt solar system in Mountain View, California." How's that for ambitious?

Such goals are minor compared to San Diego's big picture for the year 2013. “Installing 5 megawatts of solar panels on City-operated property is a major step toward meeting the City’s target of providing 50 megawatts of renewable fueled power generation by 2013,” said Mayor Jerry Sanders.

The Alvarado installation has 6,128 photovoltaic solar panels which will reduce annual carbon emissions equal to 219 cars driving 12,500 miles. In addition to this new project, San Diego also currently generates 18 megawatts of renewable power from sources such as methane and hydropower.

Source: The Sietch