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Cheryl Richards of PPG, Pete Emrich of MFG, Bob Lindyberg of the University of Maine, took part in ACMA's Composites Caucus event.
On Capitol Hill last week, the composites community met with congressional staffers for its third consecutive Composites Caucus. Staffers were educated specifically on the impact and potential of composites within the wind energy industry. The ACMA briefing was made at the invitation of Representatives Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Rick Boucher (D-VA), co-chairs of the American Composites Manufacturers Association’s (ACMA) Congressional Composites Caucus.
During the Caucus, Cheryl Richards of PPG, Pete Emrich of MFG, Bob Lindyberg of the University of Maine, and John Busel of ACMA explained the important role that composites play in developing our nation’s wind energy-generating capability. “The U.S. initiated the wind industry and we let it go. Now, Europe is the leader in installed capacity and Asia is on its way,” Richards says. “Currently PPG has 28,000 employees in the Carolinas alone making turbine products, but once we make it we need a place to put it, and that’s where Congress comes in. Europe and Asia both have policies behind the growth of wind energy, but the U.S. does not and we need it.”
Emrich further emphasized the many benefits for increased support of domestic manufacturing, especially composites, within the wind energy market. “Composites allow parts consolidation, which equates to low costs on manufacturing. And locally-produced parts cut down on transportation costs to installation sites,” he says. Emrich and Lindyberg also expressed concern about overseas competition. “If we want to compete we need to innovate,” said Lindyberg. “In the U.S. we’re known for being innovative, but if we fail to meet our own needs, pretty soon people will be doing it for us. We need investment and collaboration between universities, the industry, labs and government.”
With a national goal of 300,000 megawatt (MW) installed capacity by 2030, that’s over 7,500 installed per year for the next 20 years. “If you multiply that by three (the number of blades per turbine) that’s a lot of potential for U.S. ingenuity, jobs and progress,” Lindyberg said. That’s a fact the Caucus hopes Congress will take seriously.
