The United States has not joined the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gases, but the pact nevertheless is boosting sales for American companies that market "clean" energy technologies.
The spread of renewable-energy standards -- particularly in Europe -- propelled by the treaty, along with a surge in oil and gas prices, has triggered a boom in business for solar and wind energy companies.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday December 20, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 62 words Type of Material: Correction
Renewable energy -- An article in Monday's Business section about sales of "clean" energy products by American companies used incorrect terminology to describe the cost of electricity. Wind turbines can produce electricity for 4.5 cents to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour, not per kilowatt, and a new natural gas turbine project can generate electricity for 9 cents to 9.5 cents, also per kilowatt-hour.
When Solar Integrated Technologies Inc. opened an office in Germany last spring, for example, the salespeople were allocated enough solar roofing material to provide one megawatt of power. In six weeks, they were sold out. Within a month, they had orders for 16 megawatts more.
"It's a no-brainer to do business in solar in Europe," said Jon Slangerup, chief executive of Solar Integrated, whose 120 employees are producing about one mile of solar roofing panels a week at a plant in South Los Angeles. "The only question is: How much can you allocate and how fast can you install it?"
In Germany, the world's leading solar energy market, farmers are replacing crops with fields of solar panels, thanks to a government buyback program for renewable energy that spurred 150% growth in solar installations in 2004.
Britain, France and Spain also have introduced aggressive plans to reduce their production of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases over the next decade.
"Every available [solar] module is going to Germany," said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Assn. in Washington. "It's Google-like growth."
A world leader in renewable energy less than a decade ago, the United States is now viewed as a laggard. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal this month, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin accused the U.S. of lacking a "global conscience" for refusing to sign the Kyoto treaty, which requires developed countries to slash their greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2012.
Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy, said the Bush administration recognized that climate change was a "serious long-term issue."
But he said the best way to address that concern was by developing cleaner, more environmentally friendly forms of fossil-fuel-generated energy and nuclear power.
Stevens said renewable energy would also be an "important part" of the nation's energy mix, which was why the government was planning to invest $391 million next year in solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal energy projects.
