By J.B. Smith

Tribune-Herald staff writer

At Baylor University, scientists are working to convert wood chips and switchgrass into ethanol. At Texas State Technical College, students are getting degrees in operating fuel cells, which generate electricity from natural gas or hydrogen without burning it.

Meanwhile, Waco companies are using recycled materials to make car insulation and quilt batting, rubber hoses and flowerpots. A pipe company is building a plant in McGregor to make wind towers for the West Texas wind energy boom.

These are just the first small steps as Waco joins the worldwide race to build a “green economy.”

The goal of the race: To find the most effective alternatives to fossil fuel and develop technologies that reduce the human impact on air, water and land. Whoever does it first and best gets the jobs and economic development benefits of the emerging green industrial revolution, experts say.

Texas, which led America’s fossil-fuel economy in the last century, has emerged as the early 21st-century leader in American wind energy. It has 5,300 megawatts of wind power online now, a figure that could more than triple under a $5 billion plan to build transmission lines from West Texas wind farms to Texas urban centers.

Meanwhile, Texas could create more than 120,000 jobs in solar photovoltaic energy by 2020, according to a study last year by the University of Texas at Austin’s IC2 Institute.

But Waco economic development leaders say renewable energy is only part of the green goal.

“When I think about the green economy, obviously I think about wind turbines and solar panels,” said Jim Vaughan, executive director of the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce. “But I also think almost every other business is looking at ways for the products and services to be greener, to reduce waste and to be sustainable.”

The chamber has been trying to put the spotlight on environmentally friendly development, starting with what they call the “first green chamber of commerce building in America.” Now chamber leaders hope to work with higher education officials and business owners to identify strategies for developing environmentally based businesses, says Scott Connell, vice president of economic development for the chamber.

“What we’re trying to show is that from a business point of view, we’re a green city,” he said. “Sustainability becomes a way we do business in the market.”

BU, TSTC keys to success

The key to success is to use Baylor University’s capacity for research and development and Texas State Technical College’s ability to train workers, Connell says.

Baylor is a willing partner, says Truell Hyde, the university’s vice provost for research.

Last year, the university created the Baylor Advanced Research Institute with the intention of finding industrial applications for scientific discoveries.

That scientific research involves alternative energy, fuel cells and power grid management. For example, Baylor recently won a $500,000 federal grant for its ongoing work in technologies to turn cellulose into ethanol.

“There’s economic development possibilities in everything we do,” Hyde said.

As part of the Baylor 2012 Vision, the university has bolstered its research infrastructure and staff. Now Baylor can offer research and development services to companies, along with guidance from the Baylor Business School in creating business plans.

“If some startup came to us with the best widget since sliced bread, and needed research and development support, we’re the best deal in town,” Hyde said. “Rather than a company having to go in and provide labs and equipment, they can come here and share our resources. That helps them avoid some huge startup costs that usually sink new startup businesses.”

TSTC Waco is also positioning itself for training workers in a green economy, said Sidney Bolfing, coordinator of the college’s renewable energy and fuel cell technology programs.

The college already has an associate degree for students wishing to become fuel cell technicians, and plans to offer a solar photovoltaic program starting next year, Bolfing said. One afternoon last week he gave a quick tour of the technology that he and students have installed at the electronics building at TSTC: a solar panel array on top of the building that helps runs the lights and several fuel cells of various sizes.

Both solar and fuel cells still face challenges in becoming reliable and affordable but are promising technologies, Bolfing said.

Companies are working to make solar photovoltaics cost-effective for mass application, possibly through printing them as circuits on thin film.

Meanwhile, fuel cells still remain too costly for widespread application, but major automakers say they’re planning to roll out fuel-cell cars in the next few years, and advocates see applications as big as power plants and as small as personal electronics.

Fuel cells aren’t a form of alternative energy but could help make it work. The cells use reactive chemicals to convert natural gas or hydrogen into electricity, with water and heat produced as useful byproducts. In theory, renewable energy sources such as solar, hydro or wind could generate electricity to produce hydrogen from water. The hydrogen could then be shipped and stored to be used in fuel cells when energy is needed.

Bolfing says breakthrough innovations in both solar and fuel cells seem to be just around the corner.

“I’m very excited about renewables,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge market. If we can get those companies in here, it can help the city grow tremendously.

“It all depends on the attitude of our city administration. I think economic development efforts need to be very proactive in recruiting these companies. I think Waco would be an excellent place for them. We have a great resource of employees, we’re a hub between metro areas and we have rail and interstate highways. . . . I don’t know of a better place, with the technology training that TSTC has and the research ability that Baylor has.”

Higher education has been key to the city of Austin’s success in the alternative energy field. The city now has industries that make biofuels, high-performance rechargeable batteries and wind turbine motors. Heliovolt, a maker of an innovative solar photovoltaic thin film, is creating a manufacturing center that will employ 150 people.

“We want Austin, Texas, to be known as the clean energy capital of the world,” said Jose Beceiro, clean energy director at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

“I personally think it’s going to be the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century. In order for Texas to continue to be the leader in energy, we have to be on the cutting edge of biofuels, fuel cells, all areas of clean energy. Texas is suited for being a leader in the industry.”

He said Austin is ideally positioned in the clean energy industry because it has a city-owned electric utility, a major research university and a semiconductor industry that has the know-how for solar innovations.

The University of Texas at Austin, which has long been involved in Austin’s high-tech sector, has established a clean energy incubator with eight companies.

Building on local strengths

Waco would be wise to build on its own strengths, including Baylor and TSTC, he said.

“If you have a major university that has a major research component, like Baylor or UT-Austin, the biggest opportunity is in making sure the university is engaged in the economic development side,” he said.

Connell, the Waco economic development official, agrees that Waco needs to be pursuing research-based economic development, with Baylor and TSTC playing a key role. He said environmental innovations could strengthen Waco’s foothold in a variety of industries, including aerospace.

“That’s where everything is going now: Figuring out how to use less resources and do things with less impact,” he said.

Already, at least one Baylor researcher is working to commercialize some green technologies.

Larry Lear, a senior lecturer in environmental science at Baylor, is working on a project outside Baylor that involves turning urban and animal waste into biofuel. He says he’s not ready to announce it yet, but the project could create business startup opportunities in the Waco area.

Lear started an ethanol plant in the area in the 1980s, only to see fossil fuel prices plummet and scuttle the market for ethanol. Now high fuel prices are once again encouraging biofuels, and not just corn ethanol.

“Biofuels don’t have to be made from food commodities,” he said.

For example, he said one emerging feedstock for biofuel is algae, which can be grown rapidly in ponds and harvested for its oils.

Lear said Waco could become a “hub” for alternative fuels in Texas.

Meanwhile, greater Waco isn’t necessarily positioned to be a hub in the Texas wind generation industry — it’s too far east to pick up the strong West Texas winds. But that hasn’t stopped a local company from getting into the business.

RTLC, a sewer pipe company based in Kosse, has broken ground on a wind tower plant in McGregor that is expected to open in January. The factory will start out with 75 employees and could expand to 250.

Wind tower plant

The company plans to make the huge towers that are used to support the turbines and blades in West Texas wind farms. By shipping in raw steel by rail and transporting the towers by truck to West Texas via Highway 84, company officials believe they can undercut the Asian companies that dominate the wind tower field.

“It’s a competition between their shipping costs and our labor costs,” said Tim O’Neil, project manager for the factory.

O’Neil said the plan is to manufacture one 225-ton tower a day. While it might not seem a high-tech product, O’Neil said each tower is rigorously engineered and precision-manufactured to handle tremendous strain and vibration from the wind turbines.

O’Neil said the company chose McGregor because the city was willing to offer bargain land and rail service and because the greater Waco labor market offers skilled workers.

But the green economy isn’t just about alternative energy.

Even long-established companies, such as Hobbs Bonded Fibers of Waco, are finding ways to adjust to new trends.

The company at 200 S. Commerce Drive recycles fibers from chopped-up blue jeans, carpets and other used natural and synthetic materials to make a variety of products, including prison blankets, car insulation and rolls of fabric that soak up oil spills at sea.

Company vice president Larry Hobbs says the company has benefited as car manufacturers have moved toward the goal that all car parts should be recyclable. The company uses recycled fibers to make acoustic insulation and padding for Honda and Toyota, replacing the nonrecyclable Fiberglas that was once used.

The company is also well-known among quilters for making the batting used inside quilts. It’s made of virgin cotton, but lately the company has reached out to eco-conscious quilters with certified organic cotton batting.

But Hobbs says his company has been part of the green economy for decades, before the movement had a name.

“We’ve thought about changing our packaging to say, ‘Green since 1980,’ ” he said.

jbsmith@wacotrib.com

757-5752