Jim Rogers is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy. Duke Energy is the third largest consumer of coal in the U.S. and emits around 100 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Rogers has more than 20 years of experience as a chief executive officer in the electric utility industry. He was named president and chief executive officer of Duke Energy following the merger of Duke Energy and Cinergy in April 2006. Before the merger, Rogers served as Cinergy’s chairman and chief executive officer for more than 11 years. Prior to the formation of Cinergy, he joined PSI Energy in 1988 as the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.
So, when he speaks on an energy topic -- especially that America is not doing enough to develop clean renewable energy or failing to implement a national energy policy --the room should take heed and listen to his words and wisdom.
Rogers recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, 2009. Mr. Rogers offered some astonishing facts China and renewable energy that should make every red blooded American sit up and take notice.
Rogers said that China plans to invest $221 billion over the next two years to build a clean energy economy — everything from wind and solar development to high-speed rail. That’s almost double the current US investment of $112 in everything from wind to solar to advanced batteries. That is, China is investing twice the amount of money in clean energy than the U.S.
He added that China now has renewable energy, energy efficiency, and fuel economy standards that are all more aggressive than our own. President Obama’s recent mandate to raise fuel efficiency standards for U.S. automobiles to an average of 35.5 mpg by 2016 is commendable, but the U.S. is really playing catch-up if you consider that China’s 2008 standard was already at 36 mpg. These policies together are going to reduce China’s GHG emissions by 488 million tons of CO2 by 2030.
Turning to absence of a national energy policy in the U.S., Rogers noted that China’s Renewable Energy Law, which came into force in 2005, has set the world’s most aggressive renewable energy target. By 2020, 15 percent of all energy is to come from wind, biomass, solar and hydropower energy, compared to its current 7 percent. China projects that it will have 137 gigawatts of renewable power generation by then, plus vehicle fuels with at least 15 percent renewable energy content. Despite China's ambitious national energy goals, that the U.S. has yet to even establish a national renewable energy standard.
Turning to coal-fired utility plants, Rogers noted that although China is building coal-fired power plants a lot faster than the U.S., the New York Times reports that roughly 60% of its new plants use advanced technology that makes them more energy efficient and less polluting. China has also started to require power companies to retire one old polluting plant for every new efficient one they build.
Rogers also discussed renewable energy during his speech. Rogers said that this year, China is expected to become the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer. Until the late 1990’s, the U.S. dominated the global solar energy market. Now Japan, China and Germany are the leaders.
These other countries have policies that have created better markets for clean technologies, so the business opportunities have moved overseas. Rogers reported that according to recent research by Lazard, of the world’s top 10 solar, 10 wind, and 10 advanced battery manufacturing companies, only five of the 30 are American companies.
The question is whether anyone in Washington or the rest of the country is listening to Mr. Rogers. God bless him for having the courage to bring these issues to the forefront in the committee hearing. Let's all hope that someone was listening to him. If the committee raises an alarm at the lack of focus in America on clean renewable energy, we will know that Rogers' message hit its mark.
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