New installations of wind-powered generating plants will grow the most, from $8 billion in 2004 to $48.1 billion. Solar photovoltaic installations will grow from $7.2 billion to $39.2 billion, and investments in fuel cells and distributed hydrogen should jump from $900 million to $15.1 billion.

A 120-MW wind farm project, dubbed Pine Tree, will push Los Angeles toward its goal of 20% renewable energy by 2017. The city consumed 1,125,000 MWh of renewables in 2004, 5% of its total energy consumption.

The L.A. Dept. of Water and Power on April 19 approved an environmental impact report for the municipal project, budgeted at $255 million, but expected to cost less than that, according to John Schumann, director of power system planning and projects.

The installed cost of wind power is roughly equivalent to that of natural gas, Schumann says. After awarding the contract within the next month, LADWP expects to build a 10-mile spur and interconnections to existing high-voltage lines.

Initiatives promoting clean-energy investment in other California locations as well as New York, China and Germany highlight the geographic spread of the trend, notes San Francisco-based renewable-energy research firm Clean Edge Inc., in a report published last month. Production of fuels from biomass is another rapidly growing clean-energy market. Clean Edge forecasts that biodiesel sales in the U.S. will quadruple in 2005 from 2004 sales of $125 million, in part because of tax credits. The European Union’s ambitious goal to increase biofuel use to 5.75% of total fuel by 2010 will also drive the market. Biodiesel will be produced even in Saudi Arabia using jatropha, an unedible plant that produces oil for blending with petrodiesel.

Concentrating solar power, the "other" solar energy, has languished while PV dominated attention and investment. But this year a coalition of western states, the Dept. of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory proposed building 1,000 MW of CSP plants across the West. In Nevada, plans for a 50-MW solar-thermal plant are moving forward. DOE’s goal is to halve the price of CSP-generated electricity to 7¢ per KWh.

Churning activity in the hydrogen industry makes it hard to discern the shape of the ballyhooed "hydrogen economy." Questions about the sources, transport, storage and other aspects of the hydrogen infrastructure still linger. "Fuel cells remain an embryonic industry, with a mind-numbing array of technologies competing for prominence," the report observes. "Who wins, and who doesn’t, will determine what the hydrogen infrastructure will look like." Despite the confusion, interest remains strong, as shown by California’s Hydrogen Highway program, which aims to build 150 to 200 hydrogen-fueling stations by 2010.

"Green building is arguably the most exciting and significant development in construction in the past three decades, thanks in large part to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)," the report asserts. Citing results from a 2004 survey of building owners, developers, engineers and architects commissioned by Turner Construction Co., New York City, the report claims, "A driving force in green building is the bottom line." Eighty percent of the survey’s respondents said reductions in energy use and operating costs would recoup minimal additional costs of LEED buildings,

The report names "select companies to watch" in the green building arena. Besides Turner, they are DPR Construction Co., Redwood City, Calif.; Durra Building Materials, Wightwright, Texas; Swiss cement producer Holcim Ltd.; and Johnson Controls, Milwaukee.