We’ve all heard the buzz about alternative energy; clean coal, wind power, tidal power, solar power, and nuclear power to name a few.  Traveling around Ireland last year, there was a noticeable increase in wind farms.  The talk around the county is to try to get most, if not all, of the power from the wind.  Everyone in Ireland and those who visit know that it is a windy country, surrounded by the North Sea, in an area of constantly changing weather patterns.  Power generation by wind is still in its infancy.  It may work in a small, unique area like Ireland, and generally on a smaller scale, we need to look to other alternatives for larger applications.

In today’s article in the Wall Street Journal On-line it states that, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), “Nuclear energy is one of the key low-carbon energy technologies that can contribute, alongside energy efficiency, renewable energies and carbon capture and storage, to the decarbonization of electricity supply by 2050, said IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka. I could provide as much as 25% of world-wide energy requirements by 2050. ” That would mean that “nuclear generating capacity to more than triple over the next 40 years.”

Nuclear energy is a proven technology, unlike some of the alternatives.  Director General Luis Echavarri of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) , a specialized agency within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, based in Paris, France, says  “Nuclear is already one of the main sources of low-carbon energy today. If we can address the challenges to its further expansion, nuclear has the potential to play a larger role in cutting CO2 emissions”.

To achieve these numbers, there will be a multitude of projects throughout the world requiring project managers.  Beside the project management jobs in the nuclear power plant construction industry, there will be PM jobs in support of nuclear power like plant design, accident prevention and development of safety features.  Just like the oil industry, there will be risks.  Who better to help manage risks than a project manager?

Because we are all interested in the “next best thing” in terms of what the future job market looks like, EarthPm will continue to identify those areas, whether the projects are green by definition, project impact, product impact, or green in general.  We’re not advocating one source of power generation over another, but we do believe that you must be aware of all the alternatives and where the potential future jobs may be.

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.

This is a followup to my post about whether or not nuclear power is considered green power and Vermont, the Green Mountain State’s issue with the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant license renewal.  I was channel surfing today and because of my “connection” with Vermont, the power plant in Vernon, and the refusal of by Vermont’s legislature to renew the plant’s license to operate, a segment on Varney & Company caught my ear.

On Monday Stuart Varney interviewed State Senator Peter Shumlin (D) Vermont, about the power plant license renewal.  A question asked by Mr. Varney was about what Vermont was going to do when the power plant was shutdown in 2012.  Where were they going to get their power?  Senator Shumlin’s answer was a little vague saying that they would buy some from Canada and encourage more renewable energy like solar, after all, “Germany was getting 30% of their power from solar energy”.

Well, after some research by Mr. Varney, and shared on Tuesday’s show, it was discovered that Germany’s solar power provides less than 1% of its power requirement, quite a difference, don’t you think.  Solar energy can help, but using it on a large scale is still quite a ways off, especially to replace 1/3 of the power requirements for Vermont now provided by the Vermont Yankee plant.  This kind of misstatement really hurts our cause and the lack of knowledge by people who are making these decisions is disconcerting to say the least.

I wish that politicians would concentrate on getting us a good, fair, and balanced energy policy, that will protect as well as efficiently utilize our resources and provide for alternative energies.  I want them to think, yes think hard about alternatives and consequences before they make a decision.  Maybe there should be more project managers running the country.  Risk management and contingency planning are part of our DNA.

Is a nuclear power plant a green way to provide energy?  There seems to be quite a division in thinking on this one.  President Obama thinks that nuclear power is a good thing and his administration is promising $8+ billion of federal loan guarantees to build two new plants.  But the 800 pound gorilla continues to lurk in the foreground.  The problem with nuclear waste plagues the industry.  After all these years, and billions of dollars, there still isn’t a good solution.  In spite of a good solution to the nuclear waste problem, our European counterparts are on-board with nuclear power.  France now generates 80% of its power that way.  We produce about 20% of our power.

I read recently that Vermont has voted to block the license renewal for the Vermont Yankee (VTY) plant in Vernon, Vermont.  That has some nostalgic significance to me because I worked for the “project managers” (utility engineers) during construction of the plant in 1970.  Commissioned in August 1966 and given its operating license in March 1972, Vermont Yankee is one of the older plants in the American inventory of 104 power reactors. The oldest still running is Oyster Creek, near Toms River, N.J., which is of a similar design and opened in December 1969.  I happened to have investigated a fish kill the Oyster River plant site in the mid-‘70’s when I was doing some reporting for a local paper.  They shut down the plant for maintenance in mid-winter without giving the fish life around the plant ample time to acclimate, a no-no, but that’s another story.

A couple of things stand out about my time at VTY.  Working in what amounted to a big freezer (a concrete enclosure) during one of the coldest Vermont winters is hard to forget.  But even harder to forget were the people I met during the construction.  We were basically the quality control group for the construction, X-raying welds, checking welder qualifications, inspecting critical welds, checking installation against design blueprints, etc.   The inspectors as well as the welders were top notch and realized, even then, the potential for disaster if things weren’t done well.  The protection of the environment, especially the water quality of the mighty Connecticut River, was considered very important by the regulators and the plant designers.

As of a couple of years ago, when I had some contact with plant engineers, the VTY plant is continually being upgraded with the latest safety measures and operating well and efficiently.  As a matter of fact, VTY sells power to Vermont utilities for about 4 cents/kWh, half the national average, making it one of the least expensive power alternatives.   I know, there is the little issue of tritium.  Recently, test wells around the VTY property showed unusually high quantities of tritium.  To find all the facts about tritium, see http://www.epa.gov/radiation/radionuclides/tritium.html .  The plant is located on the banks of the Connecticut River, so not only area wells could be affected, but also the river itself.  Whether or not they can find the leak, and whether or not finding and correcting the issue will placate the detractors is another story.  But I know that whether tritium is fuel (excuse the pun) for the fire, or the fire to abandon nuclear power is just too out of control; nuclear energy may be one of our best “green” alternatives.  You think?