The largest number of proposals for alternative energy in Ohio represent wind power followed by hydro and biomass, said Art Meyer, a DP&L senior vice president. Many are from out of state.

"Most of the proposals are still in the design or developmental phase," he said.

DP&L does not expect to forge an agreement for renewable power before 2011, but that won't stop new energy conservation initiatives starting in 2009.

Here's what the future looks like.

Bet on conservation first

On July 25, DP&L issued a request for proposals for a minimum of 38,000 megawatt hours of energy from renewable resources - the equivalent of demand from 3,167 households - by the end of 2009. (One megawatt hour equates to using 10,000 100-watt light bulbs for one hour.)

The energy could be purchased from outside Ohio. Realistically, DP&L will have to buy what are known as Renewable Energy Credits to meet this goal, Meyer said. The credits are traded on the open market and help fund the development of solar, wind and alternative energy schemes. The utility spent $1 million in 2009 for them and expects to pay $1.5 million in 2010.

By 2015, DP&L wants to have 552,000 megawatts of renewable energy. It's a big step in a state that ranks among the top four in coal use.

A key component in reworking the energy equation is energy conservation, according to DP&L. It would like conservation programs to count toward its state mandate. "We have a pretty aggressive proposal here," Meyer said. "It's something we know we can do and get up and running quickly."

Ratepayers in the Dayton region could see a host of conservation programs in the next two years including rebates for using energy efficient light bulbs, having air conditioning units tuned, and upgrading appliances. Assuming regulatory approval, there would also be programs for weatherizing low-income households and trimming demand. Through conservation, the utility wants to cut energy demand by 25 percent when 2025 rolls around.

Long before then, assuming the nation's financial situation steadies, the Miami Valley should see many new energy alternatives on the horizon - within short drives of Dayton.

Interest in wind power surpasses that of all other alternative sources in Ohio, judging by the bulk of proposed projects registered with the two electric grid operators that move power around the state - PJM Interconnection and Midwest ISO.

Energy companies must register with the two transmission providers before they can connect to the grid, among the first steps to determine the feasibility of a power project. Registration does not mean a project will get built; it triggers studies that show how a project will connect to the grid and supply power to public utilities.

Green Energy Ohio Executive Director Bill Spratley said that up to 20 percent of Ohio's power needs could come from wind power without locating turbines in windy Lake Erie. The Columbus nonprofit, which has ongoing studies of wind in Ohio, lobbied for the state renewable energy standards.

Windy future

In Darke County near New Madison, close to the Indiana border, Scott Downing, owner of Downing Fruit Farms, casts a hopeful eye on a far horizon.

The same reasons that brought the Downing family to settle in this corner of the world in 1838 make his 250-acre apple, peach and plum farm a prime wind power site. Higher ground along a ridge reaches 1,200 feet above sea level. The elevation protects fruit from freezes and catches the wind.

Wesco Wind LLC., of Markle, Ind., has signed up Downing and adjacent farmers in its bid to create a 5,000- to 10,000-acre wind farm costing about $220 million, capable of producing 100 megawatts of wind power.

"We're pretty windy here," Downing said. "Seven generations of Downings have been fruit farmers."

Wesco Wind said that initial plans are for 67 turbines, each generating 1.5 megawatts. A turbine would be placed on every 40-acre parcel.

Wesco is offering an annual lease payment of at least $5,000 per turbine, plus a lease of land for the turbine base and road easement to service equipment. The farm should create six to 10 permanent turbine maintenance jobs with an average annual salary of $40,000 to $70,000, according to Wesco.

The wind farm is still some distance away. It will take 12 months of wind monitoring, using a meteorological tower, to gather the necessary data to show that the farm would be productive, said Susie Mallory, vice president of project coordination.

The monitor should be erected in the first quarter of 2009, she said, noting that there are also mandatory wildlife and environmental studies that the company will have to conduct.

Wesco has 16 exploratory projects in Indiana and Ohio. In the Buckeye State, Wesco is checking out conditions in Huron, Mercer, Seneca and Miami counties, Mallory said. The company hopes to erect six meteorological test towers in 2009 - three in Ohio and three in Indiana.

"Although the economy has changed in the last six months with the credit crisis, election, and economic issues, we continue to be excited about the potential in Darke County and are excited for 2009," Mallory said.

Other wind companies are checking out Darke County. One undisclosed company has registered with electrical grid operator PJM Interconnection for a 188-megawatt project that would be operational in 2010.

In October 2007, Champaign County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution backing renewable energy development and urging Gov. Ted Strickland to set the alternative energy standards that were ultimately adopted.

The governor announced in August 2007 that EverPower Renewables - a New York City-based privately owned energy developer - would receive as much as $3 million in grant money for the Buckeye Wind Project, a proposal to place at least 75 wind turbines - each about 330 feet tall - in Champaign and Logan counties. The state money kicks in once energy begins to be generated. Federal tax credit incentives for energy production could also help offset costs.

EverPower, which appears to be the furthest along in the state for a large scale wind project, plans to submit an application to the Ohio Power Siting Board by early 2009. The application includes turbine layout, access roads, transmission line locations, site selection process, noise assessment, and environmental studies. Approval could take nine months, according to the company, which has negotiated 100 or so leases with landowners.

EverPower's location coincides with the highest elevation in Ohio - the Bellefontaine Outlier - a plateau that hits 1,549 feet above sea level that tests show is good wind territory.

The company is tapping $55 million in funds from European venture capital firm Good Energies. A 100-megawatt or larger project could be under construction in 2010, said Michael Speerschneider, the company's Ohio project manager.

If the project expands, the company could ultimately spend $300 million in the area for 150 turbines. EverPower now has 25 wind projects under development from Vermont to the Pacific Northwest, Speerschneider said. One, consisting of 25 turbines, is under construction outside of Johnstown, Pa., and is due for completion in 2009.

Another wind energy developer, Chicago-based Invenergy, was also vying for land to build turbines in the area.

Biomass could spell big business

Green Energy's Spratley estimates that Ohio's alternative energy goals could make it the third greenest state in the nation. Ohio has vast, untapped potential in biomass resources from agricultural production.

"Solar and wind is more attractive to the average consumer, but biomass is our biggest renewable resource," he said.

The science is still under development, but biomass energy has the dual potential to reduce greenhouse gases and make use of the nation's gigantic waste stream. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Ohio's farm belt location assures a reliable supply of raw materials.

Major sources for biomass are paper mill residue, lumber mill scrap, and municipal waste. Additionally, the lab said, unused agricultural residues such as corn stalks, leaves, and husks could be used once the technology advances. Using manure from controversial, industrial-size factory farms could redirect polluting and smelly waste.

Biomass combustion releases carbon dioxide as does burning fossil fuels, but burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide captured over millions of years back into the atmosphere, potentially taking the planet back to an era that is not very hospitable to life as we know it. Biomass releases carbon dioxide captured during a plant's recent growth.

According to rural electric cooperative power supplier Buckeye Power Inc., Bridgewater Dairy, a 3,900-cow operation in Williams County, became the first farm in Ohio to sell electricity produced from animal waste. It began Aug. 28. Wenning Poultry in Mercer County went on-line Oct. 2 with a biogas generation system that was three years in development. There, Buckeye said, 600,000 laying hens produce 25 tons of waste daily - the power source.

The dairy can produce enough power for 400 homes. Federal funding from the USDA helped both projects. Both farms use methane digesters that capture methane in the manure, which is then converted into electricity.

Steve Oden, spokesman for Buckeye, said, "we're very interested in any of these types of projects," but for now, only farm operations with a tremendous amount of manure are the ones that stand to benefit. Other producers are waiting to see how successful these operations will be, Oden said. The potential is very appealing.

"They have created a brand new revenue stream and reduced their greenhouse gas emissions," he said. Buckeye in November said it signed an agreement for power from an Iowa wind farm.

Ohio State University professor emeritus Fred Hitzhusen has assembled a county-by-county inventory of Ohio biomass resources. He said biomass could meet 7 percent of Ohio's energy demands. "It's not trivial," he said. "It's significant."

Hitzhusen said efforts to bring biomass to market would start first where waste is already collected or concentrated: livestock manure in large animal operations, solid waste in landfills and waste at Ohio's food processing plants. Other sources are unused sawdust and wood waste at sawmills, paper plants, furniture plants, and construction sites.

Research is still needed on converting the waste stream to create power, however. And it's likely that federal or state funds will continue to be needed to create larger demonstration projects, Hitzhusen said.

Ohio is behind states that have moved forward with biomass projects early. European nations, too, where fossil fuel taxes make alternatives more attractive, have forged ahead. Still, Ohio could be a leader in biomass because of the size of the resources here, Hitzhusen said, "Ohio is in a pretty strong position."

He said that the U.S. shouldn't slow down developing green energy, as happened after the Carter administration pushed alternatives in the 1970s, leaving Americans trailing the world.

"Europe has gone much further on biomass," he said. "The Germans have 20 percent of their energy from wind. I'm hopeful that despite the preoccupation with recession, we won't drop the ball."

A $6 billion project that marries old with new energy sources has recently cleared regulatory hurdles and secured permits from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps. It's from Baard Energy of Vancouver, Wash.

The Ohio Clear Rivers Fuel project in Wellsville, Columbiana County, seeks to convert coal and biomass to fuel on a site along the Ohio River. Millions of gallons of water would be pumped daily from the river for the project.

The goal is a 53,000 barrel per day fuel production facility that would also produce energy for the grid. The company, which would employ hundreds at the plant and possibly break ground by next spring, said the facility would capture and sequester at least 85 percent of all carbon dioxide produced while producing synthetic jet fuel for use by the military as well as diesel fuel. The carbon dioxide would be piped as a fluid 5,000 feet deep into an oil field 30 miles west of the site in Stark County, said John Baardson, president and owner. There it should stay put for 100 million years. Despite the credit crunch, Baardson is confident the project will be funded.

There are other alternative energy projects underway, including one at AK Steel in Middletown that could be operational by the end of 2009, spokesman Alan McCoy said. The energy would come via a new coke oven plant that would also spin off energy by capturing waste steam and heat. The project would cost about $340 million. AK Steel has agreed to a 20-year coke supply from SunCoke, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based unit of Sunoco Inc.

AK Steel called the proposed plant a "state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly, heat-recovery coke battery capable of producing about 550,000 tons of coke, and 50 megawatts of electrical power annually."

The 50 megawatts of power represents a quarter of AK Steel's electric needs, but the power will be sold on the electric grid because it's more cost-effective that way, McCoy said.

The Ohio EPA has issued a permit for the project, but the U.S. EPA has indicated it will examine the project further.