Will Green Technology Boost Manufacturing in the U.S.?

There is a characteristic of the green tech industry that one doesn’t hear about often, but it could have a profound effect on the future economy in North America.

Everything weighs a lot more.

The average turbine tips the scale approximately 200 to 400 short tons. In all, a turbine might incorporate 8,000 components.

A 64-watt solar panel, barely enough to power an incandescent bulb, can weigh 24 pounds.

With diesel and port fees steadily rising, that heft could translate directly into manufacturing jobs. To some degree, it’s happening already. Nine of the top ten wind companies have current or announced U.S. facilities for towers, blades, or nacelles. Foreign and domestic solar companies have erected module facilities in Oregon, California and Arizona.

The diesel tax applies in energy efficient building too. Over 90 percent of insulation and replacement windows and over 60 percent of energy efficient appliances destined for U.S. consumers are made here, according to Matt Golden, CEO of energy efficiency retrofitter Recurve. The margins are too thin to accommodate much travel, he adds.

Over the border, Samsung will invest $6.6 billion into wind and solar facilities in Ontario. Engineers, ideally, will get a boost from the influx too: approximately 9,000 engineers graduate from universities in the province annually, notes Sandra Pupatello, an Ontario Parliament member, and many need jobs.

Is this the start of an industrial Renaissance? Maybe, maybe not. Labor rates remain comparatively high in the U.S. Several nations also offer tax holidays, subsidized land and sparkling new industrial parks that often beat anything federal and state governments can put together. I recently asked a CEO contemplating a new facility how often overseas development agencies call.

“Weekly,” he estimated.

Then again, the U.S. remains a leader in intellectual property control, novel business models and often that elusive quantity of talent–i.e. employees that can take initiative or apply their experience to a new problem. Detroit, and later Silicon Valley, didn’t happen by accident. “Made in America” provisions can further enhance the appeal of domestic production.

But will it be enough? Or has the factory whistle already blown?