Annual/Termination Reports:

[07/07/2011]

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Brief Summary of Minutes

WERA 1005 Annual Report

The WERA 1005 project met at the Clark County Extension Building in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 9-10, 2011. Several group members also met in Seattle, Washington on June 1-2 as part of the CREW (Consortium for Renewable Energy in the West) meeting. Persons in attendance included:
Don Albrecht  Western Rural Development Center
Tom Harris  University of Nevada  Reno
Buddy Borden  University of Nevada  Reno
Linda Cox  University of Hawaii
Michael Patrick  New Mexico State University
Roger Coupal  University of Wyoming
Ruby Ward  Utah State University
Mimi Kobayashi  University of Nevada  Reno
Valerie Barber  University of Alaska  Fairbanks
Malieka Landis  University of Nevada  Reno
Rod Davis  Lander County, Nevada Extension Educator

We discussed approaches to better understand the issues confronting the rural west, and then ways of getting relevant information to policy makers, local leaders and other who could use this information. The issues discussed included:
-Providing 2010 Census updates
-Determining the value of advanced education and conduct education needs projections
-Understand the socioeconomic implications of renewable energy development
-Understand what are the critical economic indicators
-Examine the retail sales gap and help people understand the value of shopping local
-Determine the multiplier of various economic segments and the implications
-Understand the implications of the redistribution of disposable income
Additionally, at our Consortium for Renewable Energy in the West, or CREW 2011 meeting in Seattle, Washington, the Socio-Economic Team suggested the Western Extension Research Activity Project 1005 (WERA 1005), Addressing the Rural Development Concerns of the Rural West, be modified to include analysis of renewable energy on rural economics. Below are some objectives:

Objectives:
The primary objective of the renewable energy addendum to WERA 1005 is to develop procedures to analyze the economic, employment, and household income impacts of renewable energy in rural economies. Specific objectives are:
a. To list potential research and outreach partners for this addendum,
b. To develop procedures for development of budgets of potential renewable energy projects,
c. To implement procedures to incorporate renewable energy budgets into county or multi-county input-output models, and
d. To develop procedures to analyze potential occupational demands of renewable energy projects.

Procedures:
Below are enumerated procedures to address the listed specific objectives:
1. To address objective a, a list of land grant university professionals will be enumerated for potential inclusion to WERA 1005. Current participants are:
" Don Albrecht, Utah State University
" Buddy Borden, University of Nevada, Reno
" Tom Harris, University of Nevada, Reno
" Roger Coupal, University of Wyoming
" Tex Taylor, University of Wyoming
" Tom Folke, University of Wyoming
Suggested members:
" Tom Johnson from the University of Missouri. Tom has completed a biomass fuel model for estimation of economic impacts as well as biopower impact calculator.
" James Richardson and Joe Outlaw at the Agricultural Food and Policy Center at Texas A&M have completed several clean energy studies. One is a risk assessment of ethanol production in Texas, another publication estimates the effects of ethanol on Texas food and food prices, and an algae production conversion calculator.
These three faculty members could be valuable additions as well as others.

2. To achieve objective b, the JEDI model (2004), as well as products developed by Orr, Johnson, and Badger (2004), Johnson (2004), and Agricultural and Food Policy (2011) need to be reviewed in order to determine their applicability in developing clean energy budgets. Also, construction cost budgets for constructing those clean energy projects need to be formulated.

3. To achieve objective c, the procedures outlined by Coupal and Holland (1995) will be used. Coupal and Holland showed that agricultural enterprise budgets can be incorporated into input-output accounts. These same procedures will be employed to derive input-output sectors for various clean energy sources. From these input-output models, total economic, employment, and household income impacts can be determined from clean energy operations. Also, construction costs of these clean energy projects will be developed to estimate construction impacts.

4. To achieve objective d, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is currently developing data to provide an industry by occupation matrix for the clean energy sector. Applying the industry by occupation matrix and the O*Net database for employment skills, potential occupational mismatches for clean energy projects can be estimated for county level analysis.

References:
Agricultural and Food Policy Center. Algae Production Conversion Calculator, Texas A&M University, 2011.

Anderson, David P., Joe L. Outlaw, Henry L. Bryant, James W. Richardson, David P. Ernstes, J. Marc Raulston, J. Mark Welch, George M. Knapek, Brian K. Herbst, and Marc S. Allison. The Effects of Ethanol on Texas Food and Fuel. Agricultural and Food Policy Center, College Station, Texas, Texas A&M University, 2008.

Coupal, Roger and David Holland. From Enterprise Budgets to Input-Output Accounts. Staff Paper. Department of Agricultural Economics, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 1992.

Johnson, Thomas G. Users Guide for the Biopower Impact Calculator: University of Missouri, 2004.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Job and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) Model: A User-Friendly Tool to Calculate Economic Impacts from Wind Projects. Golden, CO, 2004.

Orr, Samuel, Thomas G. Johnson, and Phillip C. Badger. Prefeasibility of Biomass-Fueled Boiler for Unit 1 at the Chamois Power Station. National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 2004.

Richardson, James W., Brian K. Herbst, Joe L. Outlaw, David P. Anderson, Steven L. Klose, and R. Chope Gill II. Risk Assessment in Economic Feasibility Analysis: The Case of Ethanol Production in Texas. Agricultural and Food Policy Center, College Station, TX: Texas A&M University, 2006.

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