Florida

Florida's climate and terrain create unique opportunities for clean, locally generated energy. The most promising renewable energy source is spelled out in the state's nickname: the Sunshine State. Solar energy systems have tremendous potential for success here, even at the household level. Recognizing this opportunity, Governor Charlie Crist took an important step in 2008 by signing legislation authorizing the Florida Public Service Commission to develop a renewable portfolio standard by early 2009.(1) Florida's climate also bodes well for several fast-growing crops. Biofuel research in Florida focuses on feedstocks such as sugarcane and sweet sorghum, and with more than 40,000 farms Florida could eventually be a strong performer in this area.

The renewables map shows current and future Florida facilities generating energy from wind, biomass, solar power and biogas. In addition to land-based renewable energy, the Florida Straits Current and Gulf Stream Current -- located just a few miles offshore along the southern and eastern coastline -- hold the potential to invite development of near-shore tidal- and wave-energy capture facilities.(2)

Wind

Florida has relatively light winds, so large commercial wind farms are not currently viable. As turbine technology advances, small-scale wind installations might make sense for homeowners or small businesses in windy areas, and future developments might also make offshore wind farms more feasible.

Biomass Fuels and Cellulosic Ethanol

Florida is making significant investments in the research and development of biofuels, with Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson leading the state's Farm to Fuel program. Because it costs almost twice as much to grow high-yield corn on irrigated Florida land as it does in a prime corn-growing state, research on Florida biomass focuses primarily on sugarcane and sweet sorghum. Sugarcane is Florida's third-largest crop economically, behind only nursery and citrus.(3) Sugarcane ethanol can currently be produced for $2 per gallon, followed by sorghum at $2.18 per gallon.

A public-private consortium that includes the Common Purpose Institute, University of Florida, Florida Energy Office and several energy companies is experimenting with fast-growing trees as a renewable fuel source for electric utilities. So far about 250,000 trees have been planted, 60 percent of them non-invasive eucalyptus and 40 percent native cottonwood. Building on years of research by the University of Florida and Shell Energy, the project aims to cultivate "super trees" that can grow 20 feet a year, with an annual yield of 32 green tons and 16 dry tons of biomass per acre.(4)

Solar Power

It doesn't take much imagination to see great opportunities for solar capture in Florida. In 2004, researchers at the Florida Solar Energy Center studied the performance of small (2-kilowatt) photovoltaic systems in highly efficient homes around the country. They found the greatest solar potential in the desert Southwest, but the Sunshine State was close behind: Florida has 85 percent of the maximum photovoltaic potential of any place in the country, at 7.2 kilowatt-hours per day.(5)

Thanks to the proceeds of the Sunshine Energy Program, Florida Power & Light (FPL) opened the largest solar-power facility in Florida, and the second-largest in the Southeast, in February 2008 at Rothenbach Park in Sarasota County -- the site of a former landfill. Here, covering about half a football field at ground level, 1,200 photovoltaic panels convert sunlight into 250 kilowatts of clean energy each month.(6)  The project was developed for FPL by MMA Renewable Ventures, with support from Green Mountain Energy Company; the panels were manufactured by SunPower and installed by Sunbelt Electric of Sarasota.(7)

Launched by Governor Jeb Bush in 1999, Florida's Front Porch program has provided 150 solar water heaters to residents of 20 low-income communities to relieve the burden of energy costs -- the first program of its kind in the country. SunSmart Schools, a public-private partnership, is installing solar electric systems in twenty-nine schools throughout the state, with excess power flowing back to the local grid. And SunBuilt, a partnership of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Home Builders Association and Florida Solar Energy Research and Education Foundation, offers rebate checks to builders who install solar hot-water heaters in new homes.(8)

Biogas

Methane emissions account for 7 percent of Florida's greenhouse-gas emissions(9) and present a clear opportunity: every year, Florida livestock emit 19,000 tons of methane that could be captured to generate clean electricity. University of Florida specialists in anaerobic digestion have found that, among the biodigesters available, covered lagoons and fixed-film digesters are best suited to most Florida farms.(10) The state currently has only one operating anaerobic digester, a fixed-film facility at the University of Florida's Dairy Research Unit in Hague. Fed by 500 dairy cows,(11) the digester generates 237,000 kilowatt-hours of power -- enough to power about 20 homes for a year -- and its patented process reduces odors, flies and pathogens by as much as 95 percent from conventional waste-management techniques.(12)

Renewable Energy Meets Wildland and Wildlife Conservation

Certain sensitive lands -- such as parks, monuments and wildlife conservation areas -- and ecologically sensitive marine areas are not appropriate for energy development. In some of these places, energy development is prohibited or limited by law or policy, and in others it would be highly controversial. NRDC does not endorse locating energy facilities or transmission lines in such areas. Siting decisions must always be made extremely carefully, with impacts mitigated and operations conducted in an environmentally responsible manner.

For more information on the intersection between clean energy development and wildland and wildlife conservation in the American West, including locations of parks, wildlife refuges and other conservation areas, see this Google Earth-based feature.

Toolkit

Economic Incentives for Renewable Energy Projects in Florida

The Florida Renewable Energy Tax Incentives Program offers several financial incentives to producers of renewable energy. The Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit is a corporate tax credit of $0.01 per kilowatt-hour for electricity produced from renewable sources, including wind and biomass, between January 1, 2007, and June 30, 2010. The Renewable Energy Technologies Investment Tax Credit is a credit against the corporate income tax or franchise tax of 75 percent of all capital, operation, maintenance, and research costs incurred between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2010 (up to a limit of $ 6.5 million) in the production, storage and distribution of biodiesel and ethanol in Florida, including fuel-station retrofits.

The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency lists federal, state and local government incentives for renewable energy projects in Florida.

Biomass

In 2007, the Florida Legislature appropriated $25 million for the Farm to Fuel Grants Program, which awards matching grants for renewable energy projects based on Florida crops or biomass. Grants are available to Florida municipalities and county governments, utilities, existing companies doing business in Florida, colleges and universities, and nonprofit organizations. Check the program's website for updates, as the program depends on annually renewed funding. Projects that won 2008 grants include a demonstration plant that makes ethanol from citrus peels, and another that captures biogas from horse manure; a biorefinery for ethanol based on sweet sorghum, which requires less water and fertilizer than sugar or corn; research on making ethanol through hydrothermal saccharification of sugarcane; research on making biodiesel from microalgae, chicken fat, soybeans, peanuts and cottonseed; and research on a catalytic chemical reactor that converts woody biomass to biodiesel.

Florida has a number of incentives for the use of alternative fuels, the purchase of an alternative-fuel vehicle and the construction or purchase of an alternative-fuel refueling station or equipment. See the Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center at the U.S. Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Solar Power

The Florida Solar Energy Center outlines federal tax incentives for homeowners, business owners and home builders who install solar-energy systems. Homeowners and business owners are also eligible for state tax incentivesstate tax incentives.

Administered by the Department of Environmental Protection, Florida's popular Solar Energy System Incentives Program offers rebates to individuals, businesses, nonprofits and public organizations who install a photovoltaic system of at least two kilowatts, a solar water-heating system that provides at least 50 percent of a building's hot-water consumption, or a solar thermal pool heater.(13)

Several Florida cities, including Tallahassee, Gainesville and Orlando, have local incentive programs, including loans and rebates, for solar-energy systems and other green measures.

Progress Energy offers a rebate to residential customers who install a solar water heater.

Through SunBuilt, home builders who install solar hot-water heaters in new homes can apply for a rebate of $500 for each home and, with additional commitment, a free installed model heater for a model home.

Lakeland Electric is the first utility in the nation to offer solar-heated hot water to residential customers on a pay-as-you-go basis. The company installs its own solar water heaters in customers' homes.(14)

The website of the Florida Renewable Energy Association has more information on solar electric and thermal systems and links to local resources, including an annual Solar Tour in central Florida.

Biogas

The EPA's AgSTAR program has a comprehensive handbook on developing biogas technology. The site includes FarmWare, a free decision-making software package that can help you assess the feasibility of biogas on your farm.

The AgMRC (Agricultural Marketing Resources Center) has a rich list of links and resources on biodigestion.

The Northwest CHP (Combined Heat and Power) Application Center has a fact sheet that helps you ask all the right questions about installing a biodigester on your farm.