Why not make the US-Mexico wall an Energy Corridor?

Building an energy corridor along the border would create jobs, bring security, and become one of the biggest modern marvels of this century. Twenty eight prestigious engineers came up with this plan to get the two nations to work together and build a barrage of solar systems, wind turbines, natural gas pipelines, and desalination facilities which would create an industrial park along the border which has never been done before on this scale. These facilities need to be well protected so it would demand strong border security and at the same time would produce cheap electricity and water for mainly agricultural businesses that are attracted to these areas.

Ronald Adrian, Regent’s Professor at Arizona State University and a member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering says, “ At first blush the idea seems too big, too aggressive, but consider the Roman aqueducts or the transcontinental railroads — enormous undertakings that gave enormous benefits. The cost of providing basic, essential infrastructure to the border lands is tiny compared to the opportunities it creates,” he says. “I view this project as a means of creating wealth by turning unused land of little value along the border into valuable land that has power, water access and ultimately agriculture, industry, jobs, workers and communities. With only a wall, you still have unused land of little value.”

A lot of people are tired of hearing about how much a wall will cost and about how it will divide us more as neighboring countries but this plan gives us a powerful solution to these concerns. We can work together with Mexico on something that benefits both countries and has a huge upside. We can use our intelligence in creating an amazing solution to this problem instead of just putting a wall up. The times are changing ever faster and we must not settle for average solutions!

Chinese Solar Company Opens US Factory to Avoid Tariffs

This week JinkoSolar held an opening ceremony at its new manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Florida. The new plant made headlines when it was announced because the Chinese company decided to set up manufacturing in the U.S. in response to the new solar tariffs that are now put on solar panels imported from China. As of now Jinko is the only Chinese-owned solar company to set up shop in the US.

Pilot production at the Jinko manufacturing facility began in November 2018 and has since been steadily ramping up. It expects to be in full production in a couple of months. Once fully operational, the $50 million facility will employ 200 workers and manufacture 400 megawatts of high powered panels annually.

Pennsylvania Steps Up Electric Vehicle Game

Pennsylvania is introducing new policies in order to ramp up the amount of electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them in the state. They aim to create a consumer education program, connect with car dealers to boost electric vehicle (EV) production, and are crafting new legislation to encourage utilities to invest in transportation electrification. Time of use electric rate plans are also being encouraged so consumers charge trend towards charging their EV during the low demand night times.

Kevin Miller, the director of public policy at the electric vehicle charging company ChargePoint, is part of the Drive Electric Pennsylvania Coalition, a collaboration among state agencies, industry, community and academic leaders. He says, “Pennsylvania is in a leadership position around the country. Pulling together all the relevant stakeholders — staff at state agencies, municipal leaders, researchers, advocates — is a critical first step that many other states are just starting to contemplate doing.”

States need to work together to avoid duplicating efforts. Late last year Pennsylvania, along with eight Northeastern states and Washington, D.C., announced plans to create a new regional cap for vehicle emissions. The initiative is still taking shape but will likely include efforts to promote electric vehicles. As states plan together they need make sure the growth in vehicle sales and charging infrastructure does not remain confined to urban areas. Rural areas have been left out in early planning, and they have to be included or else EV drivers could get into trouble when going through areas with no EV chargers around. With all the coordination around the technology, widespread adoption is an exciting horizon that humanity can look and grow towards while leaving fossil fuels in the dust.