Study: Renewable energy may be job boon for Kansas

Sedgwick and Saline are among the Kansas counties that could potentially gain thousands of jobs from alternative energy business, according to a report from the Renewable Energy Policy Project.

The findings were released Thursday in Wichita at a news conference announcing the formation of the Kansas Blue Green Alliance, a coalition of state labor, environmental and farm groups.

The study said Kansas could create 11,500 jobs and draw $2 billion in investment in renewable energy. Besides Sedgwick and Saline, other Kansas counties with large potential to profit are Johnson, Ellis and Wyandotte.

"This analysis is not a prediction," said George Sterzinger, who is with the Washington, D.C.-based Renewable Energy Policy Project and was one of the principal authors of the report. "It is really an attempt to illuminate the potential (of renewable energy)."

The report says Sedgwick County could gain more than 1,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in business making equipment for wind turbines and other alternative energy technologies.

It estimates that Saline County could see as many as 2,300 jobs and $430 million in investments, with the most potential coming from solar energy business and the large Exide Technologies battery plant in Salina.

For the report, Sterzinger looked at components used in making wind turbines, photovoltaic cell solar power plants, biomass plants and geothermal plants. He then compared that to a list of Kansas companies that make similar products or use similar production techniques, with the connection being that they could easily convert their operations to make components of wind turbines or other alternative energy technologies.

Most of the discussion about renewable energy in Kansas in recent months has focused on wind.

Nancy Jackson, executive director of the Climate and Energy Project, a member of the Blue Green Alliance, said Kansas would become a magnet for wind energy developers if the federal government required utilities nationwide to buy alternative energy.

"If that occurs, Kansas will have an opportunity to very quickly become a major wind energy exporter," Jackson said. "I think that if Kansas could see its way clear to provide a definitive statement of support and investment in a renewable energy economy, we would see both developers and manufacturers flock to our state."