Clean Energy

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Austin's made a commitment to clean energy. And to the environment.

Whether you're working with solar or wind power, fuel cells, biomass and geothermal resources, biofuels or sustainable energy-saving technologies, Austin is the right place, and now is the right time, to plug in to the clean energy industry.

As the capital of Texas, Austin offers unmatched access to the power players of the global energy industry. A community with a strong commitment to the environment, sustainability and quality of life, Austin is ready and willing to make its mark as the clean energy capital of the world. The private and public sectors, local utilities, major energy users, nonprofits and educational institutions are all working together to put Austin at the center of the clean energy map. In fact, Austin is No. 1 in both SustainLane Government's Cleantech incubation ranking and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's green power program ranking.

A recognized center of technology innovation, Austin has the infrastructure and talent to support pioneering clean energy efforts. From major manufacturing to services and start-ups, Austin is a proven location for the knowledge-based economy.

"We are committed to purchasing and generating renewable energy. We feel it's vital to our economy and our environment to develop and implement clean energy. We look forward to the opportunity to purchase plug-in hybrids for our transportation needs."
— Will Wynn, Mayor of Austin

"Austin's long time support of clean energy and conservation, along with the growing coordination of angel and regional venture groups across Texas, made it clear to us that Austin was the right spot to establish AccuWater. "
— Tom Watson, CEO of AccuWater

The State of Texas has for a century been the national and global leader in the energy industry. As the world looks forward to a future beyond fossil fuels, Texas is committed to leading the way in renewable energy.

• The state's $200 million Emerging Technology Fund establishes energy as a state funding priority.
• Texas is the largest generator of wind power in the nation and has enormous capacity to increase production from wind, solar and biomass sources. As of mid-2009, Texas installed enough wind generating capacity to power over 2.5 million homes.
• The state General Land Office, which manages Texas' vast public lands and offshore claims, has made developing more and better renewable resources a top priority.
• A 2005 law sets Texas' statewide goals for generating capacity from renewable energy at 5,880 MW by 2015 (already surpassed) and 10,000 MW by 2025, including 500 MW from a renewable source other than wind energy.

Austin Energy, the municipally-owned utility, is a recognized national leader in conservation and clean energy programs.

• GreenChoiceis the nation's largest and most successful retail renewable energy program delivering more than 750 million kWh of electricity annually to residential and commercial customers. Austin has more 100% green-powered businesses than any other city in America.
• Austin Energy has ranked first in the nation for its Green Power Program for seven consecutive years by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The ranking is based on total renewable energy sales.
• The city's Green Building Program, another nationally ranked program, raises the bar on sustainability and energy efficiency in new construction of all kinds.
• Austin Energy has plans to build the renewables' share of Austin's energy portfolio to 30 percent by 2020 and to build solar power's share to 100MW by 2020.
• Aggressive rebates are in place for consumers and businesses for energy saving appliances, photovoltaic systems, high efficiency lighting, solar hot water systems, energy miser products and radio frequency thermostats.

Pecan Street Project

Austin's landmark "Pecan Street Project" brings together City of Austin, Austin Energy, University of Texas, Austin Chamber, and the Environmental Defense Fund to design the energy system of the future. National corporate partnerships in the effort include Dell, GE Energy, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Freescale Semiconductor and GridPoint. Austin has the opportunity to play the same role in the evolution of America's energy economy that it did with the semiconductor boom in the ‘80s. The overarching mission is to design and implement an energy generation and management system that generates a power plant's worth of power from clean sources within the city limits and delivers it over an advanced delivery system that allows for unprecedented customer energy management and conservation. Because Texas has its own grid, and because the City Council is Austin Energy's board of directors, Austin is in a unique position to implement technology changes more quickly and offer its electric grid as a real-world proving ground for tomorrow's clean energy technology.

A public-private partnership has initiated the first Texas Clean Energy Park as an Austin-based clean energy campus dedicated to development and innovation in business, research, education, and training for the clean energy industry. The first phase of the development is a research park funded by a grant from the Texas Workforce Commission to the Texas Foundation for Innovative Communities. The second phase will be a business park for companies in fields such as solar power, renewable energy materials and energy-saving technologies. The 140-acre park will be a collaborative community for renewable energy companies, research and education facilities developing efficient new clean energy technologies side by side with innovative applications.

• Active Power's flywheel storage systems store kinetic energy for short-term backup power—providing efficient, reliable and green battery-free power supply solutions.
• Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) new Lone Star Campus in southwest Austin achieved for a Gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council through features such as one of the largest roof-based rainwater collection and recycling systems in the world, as well as using 100% renewable energy from the Austin Energy's GreenChoice program and recycling 75% of waste from construction.
• In early 2008, the Clean Technology & Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI), a not-for-profit industry trade organization committed to the commercialization and global adoption of clean technologies and sustainable industry practices, designated Austin as the organization's new global headquarters.
• CleanFUEL USA in Georgetown, Texas has established itself as the leading global manufacturer of certified and alternative fuel equipment for both propane and E-85.
• Green Mountain Energy, the nation's leading provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions, has been headquartered in Austin since 2000. Green Mountain offers consumers and businesses the choice of cleaner electricity products from renewable sources such as wind and water and carbon offset products through its BeGreen division. Green Mountain customers have collectively helped avoid over 4.9 million tons of CO2 emissions.
• HelioVolt, founded in Austin in 2001, raised venture funding for the development of solar-enabled power-generating building materials (BIPV), created by coating substrates such as metal roofing, architectural glass and polymeric membranes with thin film photovoltaic integrated circuits (PVICs). HelioVolt's first full-scale solar manufacturing plant, an investment of $80 million, will be in Austin, creating 150 jobs and occupying 125,000 square feet in southeast Austin.
• Xtreme Power, founded in 2004 and a 2007 recipient of the Texas ETF ($2,000,000), provides power systems to utilities and large energy users resulting in energy conservation.
• TECO-Westinghouse Motor Co. formed a partnership with California-based Composite Technology Corp., a wind turbine company, to produce next generation technology for wind turbines at TECO-Westinghouse's facility in Round Rock.
• Valence Technology has been at the forefront of energy storage design and development for 20 years. Valence's lithium iron magnesium phosphate is powering submarines, hybrid buses and electric vehicles. The company's lithium iron magnesium phosphate technology is breaking away from earlier lithium cobalt solutions to safely power applications where long-life, safety, reliability and high performance are a necessity.

As a world-class research institution, the University of Texas at Austin has annual research expenditures of more than $500 million, with engineering research dollars exceeding $156 million. UT-Austin's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department has ranked as one of the top 10 in the country for more than a decade, while the University ranks in the top 10 nationally for the number of science and engineering doctoral degrees.

• The university's Energy Institute is developing multi-disciplinary research programs and educational materials to overcome the scientific and technological barriers to a secure and sustainable energy future, while helping policy leaders make the informed decisions required to reach this goal.
• The university's Center for Electromechanics is leading the nation in hydrogen research by steam-refining natural gas to produce hydrogen, and along with Texas' State Energy Conservation Office, has organized an electric and hybrid-electric vehicle program in Texas - four interdependent projects to develop efficient low-cost homopolar electric vehicle traction motors, large and small flywheel batteries and hybrid electric railroad locomotives.
• The university's Bureau of Economic Geology leads the country's largest experiment in geological storage of carbon dioxide (carbon sequestration), which the U.S. Department of Energy foresees as a key technology for development of cleaner power plants from traditional energy sources.
• Biologists in the College of Natural Sciences have patented a new blue-green algae that produces cellulose that can be turned into ethanol and other biofuels. They are testing it now in production facilities, with the aim of growing them on non-agricultural lands using salty water unsuitable for human consumption or crops.
• Prof. Rod Ruoff and his group have shown that graphene, a one-atom thick structure, can be used to store electrical charge in ultracapacitor devices. That perhaps paves the way for the massive installation of renewable energies such as wind and solar power. The breakthrough has led to the formation of the company Graphene Energy.
• Prof. Surya Santoso is developing improved methods for determining the extent to which power from a wind farm can displace a conventional power plant, and how best to regulate varying wind power. The research will help power grid planners determine the most efficient way to incorporate cheap wind power into an existing grid.
• Prof. Brian Korgel is developing cheaper solar cells using nanoparticle “inks” which would be printed like newspaper or possibly even painted on buildings to absorb sunlight to be converted into energy. He hopes to reduce the cost to 1/10th of the current price and make solar-cell technology more widely adopted. He hopes to commercialize in as little as three years.
• Prof. Arumugam Manthiram is developing materials that will enable the next generation lithium ion battery technology. The Manthiram Laboratory's materials development work facilitates commercialization of other clean energy technologies including fuel cells, solar cells, and supercapacitors. Funders of this work include NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Office of Naval Research.
• The Renewable Energy Initiative in the Center for Electrochemistry in the College of Natural Sciences is devoted to developing new kinds of photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical materials that could eventually make solar power competitive with fossil fuels. Initiative scientists are performing basic research to create better batteries that can store energy over long periods of time.
• The Energy Frontier Research Center is one of 16 energy centers funded with $15 million by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This center in the College of Natural Sciences aims to create better solar cells and batteries by exploring the molecular processes that underlie innovative nanomaterials.

Austin Community College (ACC) offers an expanding array of renewable energy training and education programs.

• Industry certification courses include "Solar Electric Systems, Entry-Level" and "Advanced Solar Photovoltaic Installer," both of which prepare students for North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners certification exams.
• College credit certificate and degree programs include an associate of applied science degree in electronics and advanced technologies with renewable energy specialization.
• ACC is also currently developing a series of short professional continuing education courses designed to expand the skills and knowledge of individuals currently working in the renewable energy field.

July 14, 2010, 5:30pm – 8:30pm, West Pickle Research Center (formerly MCC Building), 3925 W Braker Ln., CleanTX Forum: Using Geothermal Energy to Power Texas

August 12, 2010, City Hall, CleanTX Forum: PSP Panel part II

August 26, 2010, 6pm-8:30pm, Long Center, Orchestra Lobby, 701 W Riverside Dr., Austin SEEN/CLEEN [Solar Energy Entrepreneurs Network/Clean Energy Entrepreneurs Network]

September 29-30, 2010, AT&T Conference Center, Clean Energy Venture Summit 2010: Re-Imagining the Built Environment.

October 13, 2010, West Pickle Research Building,CleanTX Forum: Transportation Bio Fuels

December 8, 2010, 1pm-8pm, AT&T Conference Center, CleanTX Forum: Legislative Mini Summit

Presentations (all are PDFs) from the May 12, 2009 Central Texas Green Building Symposium held at the AMD Lone Star Campus, Austin, TX:
– Green Building Symposium Introduction
– State of Green Building – Gail Vittori, Center for Maximum Building Systems
– Central Texas – Balcones Chapter, U.S. Green Building Council – Effie Brunson
– Build San Antonio Green – Anita Ledbetter
– Austin Energy Green Building Program –– Richard Morgan
– Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas Case Study
– LCRA Redbud Center Case Study
– AMD Lone Star Project Case Study
– AMD Lone Star Project White Paper