The U.S. manufacturing industry is in the midst of a long and sometimes difficult transition. As globalization leads to lower-cost production of mainstream products, American manufacturers must re-apply their world-class expertise in old-line processes to emerging technologies. This process is rapidly accelerating in the advanced energy supply chain, which promises to lessen U.S. dependence on unstable foreign energy markets while establishing a foundation for a thriving domestic clean-energy industry.
Nowhere is this transition more apparent than in traditional manufacturing states like Ohio. Here, state leaders are leveraging key assets such as Ohio's manufacturing infrastructure, skilled workforce and advantageous location to support a growing advanced energy industry. Ohio-based companies are producing an increasing array of solar panels, wind turbines and component parts, biomass products, fuel cells, hydroelectric components, geothermal parts and storage facilities that promote better utilization of advanced energy resources.
A 2008 report, released by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, notes that many of Ohio's manufacturing workers can easily transition to green manufacturing jobs. As a result, 551,000 workers in Ohio could see new job opportunities and wage increases from the growth of environmentally friendly industries.
The way Ohio-based manufacturers have successfully reinvented themselves as leading suppliers to the technologies of the future serves as a model for other struggling states and cities with economies reliant upon manufacturing.
State Support in Building a New Supply Chain
Ohio-based manufacturers have maximized the state's strong manufacturing history to successfully shift from past inventions to tomorrow's innovations. State government can be a key supporter of old school manufacturers' growth into the advanced energy industry. Sometimes, a large statewide investment can help jumpstart a plagued economy. The necessary capital and incentive must also be present for local manufacturers to successfully transform from a traditional manufacturing operation.
In Ohio, traditional manufacturers were able to make such a transition, a result of state funding initiatives like the Ohio Third Frontier, a 10-year, $1.6 billion research and development funding program, which has leveraged an additional $6 billion in federal and private sector support for emerging industries and technologies. Since 2002, Ohio Third Frontier has invested more than $71 million for energy related research, development and product commercialization.
Ohio's Advanced Energy and Fuel Cell Programs also encourage commercialization of solar, wind, bio-fuels, energy storage and energy efficiency products. Another force behind Ohio's current wind and solar manufacturing boom is the state's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard. By 2025, Ohio will require at least 25% of the electricity sold in Ohio to be generated from advanced energy technology -- with a minimum of 12.5% from renewable sources. To help meet this requirement, Ohio created a $150 million bipartisan Advanced Energy Job Stimulus Fund to support grants for clean energy development.
View article on one page