Renewable Energy:

Just as Texas leads the nation in the production and consumption of existing fuel sources, Texas will lead the way as the emphasis shifts to alternative energy.

The Texas Energy Foundation fully supports the development of the next generation of energy technologies that have lower carbon emissions.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry makes the state’s position clear and underscores its commitment when he says, “No one agrees with the concept of fully developing all our domestic energy resources, including renewable energy, more than Texas.”

Texas has installed more wind generation than any other state and all but three other countries.

Texas was a finalist for the FutureGen clean coal project and we have more carbon-free nuclear plants under development than any other state.

Texas has aggressive energy efficiency goals and state incentive funds are available to promote the development of solar generation and other renewable energy technologies.

Wind

Texas leads the nation in renewable energy potential and has almost one-third of the nation’s total wind generation capacity, enough to power 1 million homes.

Texas wind capacity grew by almost 60 in 2007, while the national capacity rose just over 40 percent.

Texas is the largest producer of wind energy in the nation, surpassing California in 2006, and we account for almost one-third of new capacity installed nationwide.

Texas is home to the world’s largest onshore wind farm. It is in west Texas where all of utility-scale wind projects are located.

Solar

Texas’s solar energy potential is enormous.

We have an estimated 250 “quads” of solar energy accessible per year. One quad equals one quadrillion BTUs – enough energy to meet the annual needs of 3 million people.

Texas has the sunshine, manufacturing base and research institutions to become a global leader in the $10.6 billion solar energy market.

Biomass

Biomass energy is unique because unlike most renewables it is used primarily for heating instead of electricity generation.

As an agricultural state, Texas has numerous sources for biomass energy production, including cotton, corn, sorghum, soybeans, wood and feedlot biomass.

Texas is the nation’s largest biodiesel producer and biofuel use is expected to grow more rapidly than other forms of biomass energy.

We have two ethanol plants and 21 landfill gas energy projects and the potential for more of each.

Texas consumed 73 trillion BTUs of biomass energy from wood and waste, and 2.4 trillion BTUs from ethanol in 2005.