CU should push hard to capture solar observatory

Now we’re talking.

While proposed technology centers for ConocoPhillips and the Aerospace Clean Energy Manufacturing and Innovation Center have garnered much of the region’s attention – with potential for 7,000 and 10,000 jobs respectively – we’re pleased to see efforts by the University of Colorado and local economic-development officials to land a smaller number of jobs: 60.

As Michael Davidson reports in this edition of the Boulder County Business Report, CU is attempting to become the new home for the National Solar Observatory, a project “intended to be one of the premier solar research institutions in the United States.” The NSO would consolidate some operations from other sites.

The center would be located in the university’s East Campus Research Park, which also houses the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. CU is competing against six other institutions in the South and West. At stake are 60 scientists and administrators for the NSO, with a decision expected in May.

While we hope the ConocoPhillips and ACE plans reach fruition, efforts to bring the NSO to Boulder could reap many benefits for the Boulder Valley – and represent a more-attainable goal in the near term.

The solar observatory meshes perfectly with other science institutions in the region, including the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, LASP and many others.

CU already boasts strong programs in solar research. The university is also part of the Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion, a research program of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory.

According to the NSO’s website, the organizations’ mission is to advance knowledge of the Sun, both as an astronomical object and as the dominant external influence on Earth, by providing forefront observational opportunities to the research community.”

Federal laboratories in the Boulder Valley and neighboring Golden represent an enormous driver for the Colorado economy. We know from past experience that other states covet these operations and the high-paying jobs that they create.

Landing the National Solar Observatory would be one more step in solidifying the region’s dominance in energy, space, atmospheric and solar research.

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