I write a lot on this blog about tackling global warming and expanding green tech. So I wanted to shine a spotlight on a clean energy solution that is rising out of the New Mexican desert right now. Wired reported this week that construction began on a new manufacturing plant that will produce photovoltaic solar panels and receivers for solar thermal power plants.
The plant will be run by the German firm Schott AG. Germany is the world’s second largest producer of solar energy after China. If Germany -- not known for its sunny skies and warm weather--can make this kind of commitment to solar power, surely the U.S. Sun Belt can too.
This plant in New Mexico is a great contribution to our nascent efforts. So is the solar thermal plant outside of Las Vegas that was just featured in the New York Times -- and the 10 more in the works for Arizona, Nevada and California.
In these dusty, sunny outposts, we are seeing the future emerge: a future that is cleaner and creates more jobs on American soil. At the New Mexico plant, Schott expects to invest $500 million and employ up to 1,500 people.
The more examples we can point to of thriving wind farms, solar plants, and renewable manufacturers, the more Americans will be convinced that we can do this. We can create a cleaner energy future and solve global warming.
See it happening in the sunny plains just south of Albuquerque.