With apologies to Liza Minnelli and  Joel Grey,  I’ve have to agree.  And there is some great  news here for project managers.  In a recent article in the Springfield (Ohio)  News-Sun headline, Green Legislation Could Lure Projects to State.  ” The Ohio Senate went “green” in a bipartisan way on Tuesday, May 18, voting 28-4 for legislation aimed at attracting renewable energy projects such as wind farms and the jobs they create to the state.” The legislation provides tax incentives for renewable energy projects.  Ohio is lagging in their amount of renewable energy capacity and part of that problem may be that Ohio tax structure for renewable projects is up to 8 times higher than that of neighboring states.  It gives advantage to those other states competing for “green” projects.

The new incentives would apply to wind and solar projects, clean coal technology, advanced nuclear technology and cogeneration ( the simultaneous production of heat and power in a single thermodynamic process) projects.  It could mean upwards of 700 new jobs in this sector. For us, that’s what it is all about, planet, projects, and putting people back to work.  700 jobs don’t seem like a lot, but multiply that by the number of states who have similar or who will have similar incentives and it is an good start toward recovery of the job market.  Couple that with the indirect benefits of a job (the multiplier) and it could mean an additional 4 or more jobs in support of those workers.  After all, we all need to purchase a pair of Earthkeepers®

Of course, the point is, that every project should have a project manager.  Project managers can keep their ears to the ground and their eyes on EarthPM to see how this “Green Wave” is affecting and will affect the future of our discipline.

“Green Projects” are being implemented at breakneck speed.  It is hard to keep up with the sheer volume.  That’s exciting news for project managers embracing the “green wave”.  One particular project caught our attention, not only because it garnered national attention, Parade Magazine, April 18, 2010, but because it is local to Earthpm and my wife is an alum.  The University of New Hampshire (UNH), and Waste Management (WM), are powering the college with garbage.  Yes, garbage!  According to the recent article, Waste Management, the operators of a landfill a dozen or so miles from the campus of 15,000 students, was dealing with surplus gas containing 50% methane.  Most landfill operators are forced to burn the gas because it is a pollutant, but can be used as fuel.  WM realized that UNH could use methane, but how to get it there was a problem.  $49 million dollars and 12.7 miles of pipeline later, UNH has its methane.

We wondered how UNH will pay for the project.  The answer is from an article by the EcoLine Partnership.  UNH will sell the renewable energy certificates (RECs) generated by using landfill gas to help finance the overall cost of the project and to invest in additional energy efficiency projects on campus. In addition, UNH will sell power in excess of campus needs back to the electric grid. “By selling the RECs from EcoLine™, UNH will further fund its aggressive plan toward climate neutrality,” says Tom Kelly, UNH chief sustainability officer and director of the office of sustainability. “With this climate action plan, called WildCAP, UNH has committed to lowering its emissions by 50 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2080.”

Of course, WM cannot simply tap the landfill and send it down the pipeline.  The naturally occurring by-product of landfill decomposition is collected via a state-of-the-art collection system consisting of more than 300 extraction wells and miles of collection pipes.  The gas is purified and compressed at a new UNH processing plant at the Waste Management’s Turnkey Recycling and Environmental Enterprise (TREE) in Rochester, N.H.  It then travels through a 12.7-mile-pipeline from the landfill to UNH’s cogeneration plant, where it will replace commercial natural gas as the primary fuel source.

Just in these few paragraphs alone, there were three major projects identified; collection of the methane, the pipeline, power generation conversion at UNH.  While UNH is the first in the nation to do this, we are sure that more and more universities (and business/municipal complexes) will follow, especially those within close proximity to a landfill.  And these days, who isn’t!

“Clean tech is always in a boom-and-bust cycle,’’ said Matt Moscardi, manager of investor programs at Ceres, a green investment coalition based in Boston. “Without a price on carbon, or some other mechanism by which you measure pollutants and emissions, the playing field will not be level.’’ [Reference: Boston Globe article, 9-Mar10]

The ’tilted playing field’ or unfair advantage alluded to by Ceres is also referred to as clean energy’s “competitive conundrum”.  Since clean energy costs are higher than those available from conventional sources, what is going to convince a typical consumer to pay that higher price?  And, are those lower prices from conventional sources truly reflective of the true ‘price‘ of their service, including emissions?  It’s not easy or convenient for consumers to think of it this way, but when they ’save’ money on low energy costs, they’re paying for it later in tax dollars and cleanup efforts that result from the dirtier sources of power – not to mention the ‘intangible’ loss in ‘quality of life’ for this and future generations.  I know… it sounds a little preachy, but it’s true.