GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — It’s Clean Energy Week in North Carolina. For the Triad, clean energy is a year-round focus.
Governor Roy Cooper was in Greensboro on Tuesday to tout the state’s green goals at an electric battery manufacturer called Soelect and to promote the future of electric vehicles.
“North Carolina is the epicenter of clean energy,” Cooper said.
The state of North Carolina has ambitious clean energy goals, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, becoming neutral by 2050, modernizing the electric grid and offering green options for people like solar power.
“We know that clean energy is the future,” Cooper said.
Cooper says the Triad is in a unique position as the demand for electric vehicles grow.
“You talk to any CEO of any car company, truck company in the world, and they will tell you they are stumbling over themselves to get into the market first with affordable vehicles. This is coming,” Cooper said.
Soelect makes electric battery parts, working to reduce America’s dependence on China and working to make electric batteries last longer.
“We are working on the most advanced battery materials available called lithium metal,” Soelect founder Sung-Jin-Cho said.
The Greensboro area is host not only to Soelect but also Toyota’s megasite, which is a $2 billion project that is adding six electric battery production lines of their own.
Cooper also said having businesses already in place specializing in clean energy will help attract additional businesses to the state, and by proxy, more well-paying jobs.
“A lot of families can earn a lot of money because we have chosen to become a clean energy state and help push that industry along in North Carolina,” Cooper said.
Cooper is looking ahead to work across the aisle and bring other resources like offshore wind production to the state in the future.
North Carolina is also ranked in the top four states nationwide for expanding solar energy, and you can see solar panels across Greensboro at places like fire stations and bus stops as the city works to get ahead of the clean energy curve.
