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SALT LAKE CITY -- A plan unveiled Tuesday claims Utah could meet its energy needs far into the future without coal or nuclear power.
The secret is solar, wind and geo-thermal power -- but what if the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow? The answer is at the heart of the plan.
Today, Utah gets nearly all of its electricity from coal-fired plants. Some lawmakers want a nuclear plant, but the new plan commissioned by HEAL Utah proposes wind farms, solar energy panels and geo-thermal energy supplemented by natural gas.
HEAL commissioned Dr. Arjun Makhijani to conduct an analysis and author the report. Makhijani is president of the Institute of Energy and Environmental Research.
"There's enough wind and solar in Utah to generate many, two, three, four, times the electricity generated today," he said.
Makhijani laid out the plan for state energy officials Tuesday.
Ted Wilson, Senior Environmental Advisor to Gov. Gary Herbert, said, "I think the governor will take it very seriously. He'll take this report seriously."
HEAL Utah -- which often squares off against nuclear waste -- says the state is ideally positioned to embrace a greater reliance on renewable energy, citing this groundbreaking study that shows even existing technology can make it cost-effective.
However, Makhijani said, "The thing we have to worry about is what happens when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow."
The report's answer to that problem is to store energy, possibly in underground salt deposits.
"When you have surplus wind and solar energy, you use the compressor to pump air and store it at high pressure in an underground cavern," Makhijani said.
When more electricity is needed, the compressed air is drawn out to spin turbines and generators. The report claims such a system would make renewable energy reliable, efficient and eventually cost-effective.
"That's the direction we have to move," Wilson said. "Whether their specific goals and objectives are all realistic is too far out to predict."
In the process, HEAL Utah said Tuesday, state policy leaders should steer clear of the proposed development of a nuclear power plant in Green River, Utah, and wean itself off coal.
Coal power is much cheaper now, but the report is based on the expectation that the cost of power from coal will go much higher if governments ever crack down on global warming.
The report also called on state leaders to push for better overall energy conservation, and it suggests that Utah export solar energy to Wyoming in return for that state's surplus of wind energy. In addition, HEAL Utah recommends officials tap the city of St. George, which is already in the midst of a progressive solar program. The proposal is to use the city as a laboratory of sorts for a move toward energy consumption that is nearly all solar.
Other priorities the group plans to push for include the development of a 200-megawatt geothermal plant and for the state to adopt new energy-efficient standards for residential homes.
That move is already on the radar of Utah Clean Energy, which met with lawmakers earlier this year to push adoption of the more stringent codes.
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Story compiled with contributions from John Hollenhorst and Amy Joi O'Donoghue.
