According to the National Renewable Energy Lab, if only one-half of one percent of the state were covered in PVs, it would generate enough electricity for all of Ohio’s residents while drastically reducing the state’s CO2 emissions. For now, however, the group isn’t producing the PV, they are selling the technology internationally where the demand is higher as well as working with the Department of Defense to install the systems on some of the 30 million acres of unused military land in the U.S.
NOAE’s synergistic business alliance has enabled the group to be innovative beyond their individual abilities alone. This model is being used across the country to further research on renewables and other green business initiatives. It can be used on all scales of business development—from local to international.
US Representative Marcy Kaptur says, “The [NOAE] partnership will allow Northwest Ohio to emerge as a national leader in the development of alternative energy and technologies.” And U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown, who is vying for a Senate seat this election cycle, has vowed to make Ohio “the Silicon Valley for alternative energy development.”
If this aspiration comes true, it will no doubt be due in large part to the pioneering, collaborative efforts of the NOAE.
Vanessa Crossgrove Fry is an MBA candidate (2007) in the Sustainable Management program at Presidio School of Management and Director of Development for the Snake River Alliance, Idaho’s nuclear watchdog. A native of Ohio, now residing in Idaho, Vanessa’s love for the environment has led her to work with Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, research Lyme disease with the Institute of Environmental Studies, teach coral reef ecology in Key West, FL and lead wilderness therapy groups in Southern Utah.
