OxfordPress.com

COLUMBUS — When politicians talk about converting Ohio's disappearing auto manufacturing jobs into "green energy" jobs, they could point to Xunlight Corp. in Toledo.

The maker of ultra-thin, flexible solar panels expects to hire hundreds of skilled manufacturing workers as well as scientists in the next few years as it ramps up production, said Matt Longthorne, Xunlight vice president of corporate development and strategy.

Xunlight isn't the only green energy company that's expanding. Last month, First Solar Inc. announced plans to expand its Perrysburg facility by 500,000 square feet and 134 workers to the current 700 employees.

While Barack Obama and John McCain debate how to wean America from foreign oil and arrest global warming, Ohio is making some progress in positioning itself in the race to develop alternative fuel companies that could some could someday blossom into large employers.

"Energy independence is top of mind for everybody," Longthorne said. "I think it's the most important issue the country has to deal with."

Ohio took an important step earlier this year with the passage of a new energy bill that includes a requirement that 25 percent of electricity consumed in Ohio by 2025 must come from advanced energy sources and half of that has to come from renewable sources such as solar, wind or hydro.

"It creates a market for our products in Ohio, which is very attractive," Longthorne said.

The new energy bill, coupled with $150 million in state money for advance energy projects, will help position Ohio for green collar jobs, state officials said.

Ten years from now, Ohio will hopefully see more wind turbines and some use of solar panels to generate power, development of filling stations for alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas, a system for recharging plug-in electric hybrid vehicles beyond just home garages and a more vibrant "green" building industry where new offices, houses and plants are designed to be ultra energy efficient, said Mark Shanahan, Gov. Ted Strickland's energy advisor.

Tom Stewart of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, which represents 1,500 members who drill for oil and natural gas, said even with wind and solar power, alternative fuels and plug-in vehicles, Ohio will still need petroleum.

Stewart points to locally produced oil and natural gas as something that should be in the mix. He would like to see off-shore drilling to increase domestic production as well as state policy changes to allow for exploration in Lake Erie and on state-owned lands.

"Americans have finally connected the dots between what's in the ground, how to get it out and what it means when you pull into the gas station," Stewart said. "We can do more and the resources are there but we've gotten it all tied up in the political posturing and I think that's sad."

Although President Jimmy Carter got mocked for wearing a sweater and urging Americans to dial down their thermostats in the late 1970s, experts agree that conservation a cheap solution. But it often gets mentioned as an after thought.

"Squandering energy resources is uniquely American. We use up 25 percent of the resources but cough up less than 5 percent of the supply," Stewart said. "We're energy hogs and I think that mind set needs to change. But I think it's the marketplace that's going to change it, not dictates of social policy."

Shanahan said it's a challenge to convince people to carpool, take public transit, or even change their incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs.

"The individual action doesn't make much of a difference but if we get millions of Ohioans to do it, you get an aggregate impact," Shanahan said. "People feel powerless. They don't think what they do matters. People don't want to do stuff that doesn't count. That's our challenge — to convince people that on a one by one basis, they can have an impact."

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1624 or lbischoff@DaytonDailyNews.com.