Colorado Emerging as Top Leader in Renewable Energy

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Since the early 2000’s, when technological advancements allowed wind to be used as a viable source of energy, the United States has emerged as one of the leading nations in renewable energy research and job creation. According to the American Wind Energy Association, 769,000 renewable energy jobs have been created in the United States, designating 88,000 jobs in the renewable wind sector alone. In an effort to remain competitive among other renewable sources of energy and fossil fuels, significant investments in wind energy are now being made all across the United States. So who is leading the charge in wind research and development? The answer may come as a surprise to some – it’s Colorado.

But Colorado’s emergence as a leader in renewable wind energy really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Since passing the nation’s first voter-led Renewable Energy Standard in 2004 – requiring electrical utilities to obtain a percentage of it’s power from renewable sources – Colorado’s investments in wind, solar and other renewable energy’s have ignited several projects all across the state. Now looking to grow it’s already diverse renewable energy portfolio, Colorado aims to tackle the wind energy’s most pressing technological challenges associated with cost and manufacturing while simultaneously creating an abundance of jobs. Until now, Colorado’s presence as an emerging leader has gone largely unnoticed. However with its latest $1.6 million investment in the National Wind Technology Center, Colorado has now solidified it’s presence on the wind industry map and has distinguished itself as a top leader.

The total $1.6 million investment coming from the state of Colorado in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a member of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, will be used to shape the future of composite manufacturing. Perhaps you recall the announcement of the creation of the IACMI, a partnership consisting of 122 corporations, nonprofits, universities, and the Department of Energy, in an effort from the Obama Administration to bridge the gap between industrial and advanced research institutions. The objective is to create cutting edge manufacturing technologies of advanced polymer composites.

In this joint effort to further advance the wind renewable energy sector, the $1.6 million investment will go towards “Structural upgrades, like insulation and exhaust vents, along with manufacturing improvements including the installation of a gantry crane to move and support large objects,” according to project engineers. The investment was also made in an effort to turn the National Wind Technology Center into an innovation catalyst center while attracting the state’s top renewable energy innovators and leaders to simultaneously support the work force.

The project also calls for the completion of a Wind Blade Component Manufacturing Facility, which will serve as an R&D site for the renewable energy industry. The specific R&D projects are likely to include automated production and 3D printing to produce a more durable, inexpensive wind blade.

For a more in-depth look at how Federal R&D Tax Credits have helped to spur developments in Colorado, we at Swanson Reed encourage you to speak with our highly specialized team consisting of Certified Public Accountants, Engineers or PhD qualified chemists, who manage all facets of the R&D tax credit claim process.

For an unbiased guide to everything you need to know to get started with Solar: The National Council for Solar Growth

Are you and your business eligible for an R&D Credit? Find out here.

Illinois Manufacturing Industry and R&D Update

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The manufacturing industry is the highest claimant of the R&D Tax Credit, claiming more than 60% of Illinois State R&D Credits. The month of October saw a net gain of 1,600 jobs, the majority of impact has been on the manufacturing industry. 

Unfortunately, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) has reported the net loss of 10,000 jobs during 2016. 

During October, 429 of the 812 layoffs of the month were manufacturing positions. Director of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Sean McCarthy, stated that several manufacturers had moved into Wisconsin to take advantage of competitive prices causing the high rate of job loss which averaged 200 jobs per week in 2016.

Why Are Manufacturers Crossing Borders?

Reportedly high rates of workers’ insurance and workers’ compensation make neighboring states increasingly attractive for manufacturing companies as Illinois has had a tough and long recovery from the Great Recession.

The addition of manufacturing technology has also improved to replace workers. This is a trend that has been increasing and is only expected to increase greatly.

During 2015 the loss of research and development (R&D) tax credits caused a massive shift in manufacturing. The four years prior to to the cuts, the manufacturing industry claimed 60% of Illinois state R&D credits. The generation of new processes and products, supported

directly by research and development, were lost as well.

The Importance of R&D

The Research and Development Tax Incentive is popularly supported as it directly influences the creation and adoption of new ideas, products and processes into local and global markets. The incentive provides SME’s the capability to develop products before receiving revenue and continues to support larger successful companies, in turn stimulating the economy.

If  you would like to discuss the R&D Tax Incentive further, please do not hesitate to contact one of Swanson Reed’s offices today.

Worldwide Innovation Leaders Come Together Over AI

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Tech leaders Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon and IBM have joined forces to form the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence to Benefit People and Society (Partnership on AI) announced in September.

Just as the name suggests the organization will carry out research and development on artificial intelligence with the fundamental purpose of identifying potential AI challenges for people and society. The partnership hopes that their discoveries will effectively self-regulate the industry independent of government intervention.

Why Be Apprehensive of AI?

Artificial intelligence has enabled major improvements in areas such as manufacturing and transportation, as well as education and healthcare. Despite these developments many people are increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of increasing intelligence in machines designed to think and problem solve independently.

Among experts in the industry, the concern is that these intelligent machines will continue to learn from their environment, eventually outsmarting humans. Two of these people are Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking – both who have warned of the destruction of the human race. Nick Bostrom, a professor at Oxford, believes these machines will supersede humans within decades.

Goals of the Partnership on AI

LeCun, Facebook’s AI research director, has said, “We aim to push new boundaries every day, not only within Facebook, but across the entire research community. To do so in partnership with these companies who share our vision will help propel the entire field forward in a thoughtful responsible way.”

Designated areas of research highlighted in Business Insider include;

  • Ethics, fairness and inclusivity;
  • Transparency , privacy and interoperability;
  • Collaboration between people and AI; and
  • Trustworthiness, reliability and robustness of technology.

The interview also included an eight point plan to benefit and empower as many people as possible, actively engage stakeholders and the public, open research to dialog, address challenges and maximize benefits, allow information to be interpretable and accessible, and to create a beneficial culture of openness.

The partnership has agreed to include academics, non-profits and other organizations such as Open AI, AAAI and AI2 in their research and findings.

Research and Development Tax Incentive

While we know many of our readers are most likely not performing research and development with Elon Musk or developing dogs with artificial intelligence, you may still be eligible to receive benefits from the R&D tax incentive.

Many companies deem themselves ineligible before reading the requirements.

If  you would like to discuss the R&D Tax Incentive further, please do not hesitate to contact one of Swanson Reed’s offices today.

U.S. R&D Employment

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Research conducted by the National Science Foundation discovered that in 2013, 1.5 million workers inside the U.S. were employed for R&D (research and development) purposes meaning they provided direct support or worked directly on R&D. Those 1.5 million constituted 1% of the U.S. workforce.

The research also found that smaller companies were more likely to support a greater percentage of R&D staff than larger companies. This is due to the innovation, startup and small business atmosphere that is fundamental to the structure and success of these small companies. Larger companies employ roughly 6.5% R&D members where small businesses employ almost double at about 11.7%.

The largest R&D employment industries in 2013 were:

  • Semiconductor and other electronic components (32.4%);
  • Software publishers (25.4%); and
  • Pharmaceuticals and medicines (18.8%).

Within these industries alone the R&D workforce was calculated as two-thirds of the 1.5 million U.S. research and development employment population.

Despite the large scale research and development performed within the U.S., many companies are still foregoing the opportunity to receive the tax break provided through the R&D Tax Incentive, which was created to support innovation and development. In many cases companies do not claim due to a lack of knowledge regarding eligibility.

If  you would like to discuss the R&D Tax Incentive further, please do not hesitate to contact one of Swanson Reed’s offices today.

New Study Says Solar Energy Is the Answer to Climate Change, but Requires Improvements in the R&D World

Solar energy may be the one and only answer to climate change.

According to a new study from MIT, “The Future of Solar Energy,” solar has the ability to reverse the effects of climate change by mid-century, but it comes with major obstacles.

“It is going to have to be solar,” explained MIT Economics and Management Professor Emeritus and study chair Richard Schmalensee. “That leads to the question of whether today’s technology, with incremental improvements, can do it. We have serious doubts.”

There will have to be powerful advances in solar technology before solar energy can become the leading universal electricity provider.

“It will take increasing solar by a factor of 65. Not doubling, but a factor of 65,” Schmalensee said, describing how solar could prevent the world from enduring the worst consequences of climate change. “And it has to be done globally, in China and India and sub-Saharan Africa. That means it has to be cheap.”

The researchers at MIT are saying that this change will be difficult, but not impossible. There are policy changes that need to happen immediately in order to get where we need to be.

Schmalensee emphasized that we need to “get R&D right,” because “it is not automatic that there will be new technologies.” There will be many hurdles that will require major R&D spending.

He also stressed the importance of fixing the subsidies “so we are getting more solar per dollar.”

The study states that, “policies that reward production are generally superior in terms of return per dollar spent to policies that subsidize investment in solar generation.”

The study’s suggestion on the issue: “Subsidies for solar and other renewable technologies should reward generation, not investment, and should reward generation more when it is more valuable…Tax credits should be replaced by direct grants, which are more transparent and more effective. If this is not possible, steps should be taken to avoid dependence on the tax equity market.”

Click here for the full study.

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