Renewable energy is the future. The science backs it, the economics back it and more and more people choose renewable energy each year. In Georgia we’ve got a growing industry in renewable energy and the potential it holds is incredible. Here are some facts that you may not have known about renewable energy in Georgia.
1. Over 250 solar companies are located in Georgia. That’s right, 250 companies are located in Georgia, including companies like Green Power EMC, Georgia’s first renewable energy program.
2. Georgia has a top ten clean energy economy with over 43,000 jobs and it was listed as the 7th largest cleantech economy in the country in 2017. With more investments being made in clean energy, this job list will undoubtedly rise over the decade.
3. Clean energy industries will add $5 billion to Georgia’s economy over the next decade. That might not sound like much but when it’s taken in perspective with the impact it has further down the stream, that becomes a massive investment into Georgia.
4. Georgia added more than 4,000 clean energy jobs in 2017. That number is only expected to grow in the coming years.
5. Georgia’s rural electric co-ops are doubling capacity with an addition of one gigawatt of renewable energy by 2021, enough to power 180,000 homes. That’s a lot of homes and a lot of families.
6. Atlanta ranks 3rd in LEED* Certification and Georgia ranks 8th nationally.
7. Georgia is 8th in the country for solar capacity (but SEIA puts Georgia at 10th overall nationally for solar installed). Imagine just how much more effective we could be if we invested deeper into renewables!
8. The City of Atlanta has a plan to be operating completely on renewable energy by 2035. Savannah, Athens-Clarke County, Augusta and Clarkston also have 100% clean energy commitments.
9. Georgia currently ranks 7th in the nation in solar capacity and added more solar jobs than any other state in the U.S. in 2017.
10. Large tracts of land with abundant sunlight have made the solar industry an increasing economic engine in rural Georgia. Georgia has lots of open areas that are ripe for solar panels!
11. In the last five years, Georgia’s solar residential usage has increased from 116 homes to over 175,000 homes, while seeing dramatically decreasing costs, dropping from 13 cents per kilo-watt hour to four cents during that same time period. This is a 1500% increase in solar residential usage,
12. Georgia Tech’s University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaics Research is one of only two of its kind in the United States. The center conducts groundbreaking research in partnership with the energy and agriculture industries to further innovation and renewable energy sustainability.
When you think about it, clean and renewable energy isn’t just a smart decision that will save our planet and make us more money. It should be the only logical decision for our energy dependent future.