Gov. Bredesen urges promotion of green energy projects

By Chas Sisk, The Tennessean

Gov. Phil Bredesen said Tuesday that Tennesseans should expect many of his administration's investments in green energy to fail, but he urged economic development officials to promote the state's efforts, saying those that work will lay the foundation for future growth.

Speaking to a conference on solar energy nearly a week after one of his initiatives was maligned before the legislature, Bredesen said his administration has approached green energy like venture capital investments - placing bets on enough technologies that a few will pay off long-term.

"I don't think there's anyone in the world smart enough to know, exactly what aspects of renewable energy are going to prevail 10, 20 and 30 years from now," Bredesen said. "You make 10 bets, and you hope that one of them pays off great and four of them pay off and three or four others, you just sort of wave goodbye to after a couple of years."

Though many of the state's ideas will fail, Bredesen told attendees at the Tennessee Solar Symposium, an event for local corporate recruiters designed to promote solar and other green technologies, that they should try to build on those ventures.

"Treat this as serious," he said. "The way you develop anything is to find some anchors."

Efforts are under way

Bredesen cited the federally funded $62 million effort to build a solar farm in West Tennessee and a solar technology research institute in East Tennessee as a pair of ventures that could pay off later. He also mentioned the $70 million endeavor by the state to make ethanol from switchgrass, a prairie grass common in the state.

Last week, several members of the legislature's Fiscal Review Committee questioned whether the state should continue funding that project after being told of several changes, most notably an agreement with partner DuPont to run an experimental refinery on corn cobs, not switchgrass, at the outset.

Bredesen said last week that a legislative staffer misled lawmakers on the significance of that change and that the committee's questions had spooked a company that may soon announce an investment in the field.

Tuesday, Bredesen said that the investments were back on track after the panel's chairman, Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, spoke to company officials.

"I think we've got this all straightened out," Ketron told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "We see the opportunity for the citizens of Tennessee, and we'll move forward in this."