They Make My Job Promoting Clean Energy So Easy And Necessary

"The U.S. Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Chesapeake Energy to stop work on a natural gas drilling well pad in Pennsylvania for failure to comply with regulations and contaminating a water source". according to a Reuters report. The Galeton Borough Water Authority serves a population of about 1,400 through about 600 metered connections. The authority has been now forced to use another permitted water source to serve its customers.The order to cease comes after Chesapeake did not respond to Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection's notice of violation for several violations of the Clean Streams Law and Oil and Gas Act. DEP met Chesapeake on March 10 after a routine site inspection on March 8. As reported on Reuters

Around the country there is a race for energy. Every where you look someone is working to make energy available to needy customers. The previous report by Reuters emphasizes the need for clean energy sources such as Ohio's first commercial wind farm – a project that will result in numerous jobs and a significant contribution to the local economy, as recently reported by Horizon Wind Energy, the company responsible for the project.

Horizon Wind Energy's
Kittitas Valley Wind Farm

The 99 megawatt Timber Road II Wind Farm currently employs over 200 construction workers and is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in landowner royalties and property tax payments over the life of the project. This is the first of three phases of this wind farm that Horizon plans to construct in northwestern Ohio.

Horizon has been working with over 100 local landowners since 2007 to develop the wind farm that consists of 55 wind turbines which will produce enough electricity to power more than 27,000 homes. The wind farm will bring cleaner, homegrown electricity to Ohio's power lines. Horizon has also made a $100,000 contribution to the Paulding County Soil & Water Conservation Office and the Agricultural Extension Office and plans on partnering with Vantage Career Center to educate and train employees for careers in the renewable energy industry.

These good and bad scenarios are playing out all around the country and the world. If we continue to keep score, the good vs. bad comparison will no longer be needed because the winner will undoubtedly be Clean Energy.

Make it Happen!

by George Lopez

There’s No Fallout from Clean Energy

The horrific news out of Japan continues to worsen and has put a spotlight on the downside of nuclear energy. For years we’ve been hearing that clean solar and wind energy is “not ready yet” but we know that’s not true. At this time, when there is growing concern about disasters --- natural and man-made -- that can come from oil and gas exploration and now, nuclear, we’re here to tell you, we ARE ready. Now is the time to increase demand for clean energy so that more is invested in research and costs will go down.

Proponents of clean energy need to educate the public about how this reliable power differs from fossil fuel and nuclear in that it poses no hardship to nearby communities. The danger from nuclear power is real. It’s not only Japanese authorities who are worried about the aftermath of the earthquake. Radiation can move with the wind. A US naval warship floating 100 miles from one of the Japanese nuclear power plants had to move because of radiation readings and is now in scrub-down mode.

The fish we eat, the air we breathe, the land we cultivate and our oceans are too important to leave to chance.

There is a wealth of information about the downside of nuclear. If the public truly knew some of the issues surrounding this form of power I think that the conversation would not even start and no more plants would be built. The thing about nuclear energy is that even if the plants are well-built and well-run and no disasters affect their safety, the waste will be a threat forever. No wonder Nevada and other states refuse to have that stuff dumped in their backyards. Even France, a country that claims to have perfected this form of energy, is actually dumping its radioactive waste in Siberia. As Linda Gunter of Beyond Nuclear put it, “You can actually see the Siberian nuclear waste site on Google Earth.”

The subject of capacity is always mentioned when comparing nuclear and fossil fuel energy to clean energy. Renewable energy has solar, wind, geothermal and hydro capabilities. If all of these were brought to their maximum capacity with today’s and tomorrow’s technologies, we would have more than enough to supply every household in America, especially if conservation took hold in the public’s consciousness. How about some out-of-the-box thinking? What if we treat electricity like a valuable commodity that should not be wasted? If we spent our money building efficient homes or retrofitting the existing housing stock with six- and eight-inch, properly insulated walls, better windows, and better insulated roofs, the amount of electricity needed would be much less.

It’s a shame that the public needs constant reminders like the oil spill in the Gulf and the earthquake in Japan to remember that clean energy is the real deal. Those reminders almost always cost pain and agony for someone. It’s up to us to continue to do our part to expand the market for clean energy so cost will not be an issue anymore and to lobby our elected officials to increase research money and provide financial incentives to producers and consumers. If politics runs on money, then clean energy needs to be the highest bidder.

It is unfair to judge renewable energy by today’s standards when we have yet to make the proper investments in the technology. Fossil fuels have had a 100-year run. And we still feel as though we are still living in the past. Efficiency hasn’t increased enough to make the good outweigh the damage it’s done to our environment and our foreign policy. With renewable energy the conversation is about capacity, not about where to get it, or about balancing energy against the environment. In fact, developing nations will benefit by being able to power themselves to same extent as developed nations. Clean energy is a key component to taking us out of the current economic downturn while helping create economic equality and political stability.

To me, clean energy is good energy and the time for it is now. We can make it happen!

by George Lopez
http://www.theslarandwindexpo.com/

Baltimore vet cuts energy bills with solar

On a ‘green’ mission last spring, a 62 year-old retiree living on a modest income in Baltimore found himself at the Solar and Wind Expo at the Timonium Fairgrounds in Maryland.

A disabled veteran, Paul Bennett was there searching for alternatives to deal with his increasing energy costs. His 125 year-old historic row home with three floors and 40 windows isn’t exactly cheap to heat and cool.

“It more than doubled over the last 15 years,” he says. “I realized I needed to be as energy efficient as possible.”

Baltimore resident Paul Bennett installed 14 solar panels

such as these on his historic row home with the help of a

state solar grant and federal tax credit through the Recovery Act.

 
Bennett and dozens of residents roamed the fairgrounds to learn as much as they could about installation costs and, more importantly, how much it would save them on their utility bills. The first-of-its kind event hosted scores of energy companies and the Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) offering up information on incentives for renewable technologies.

There Bennett found out about the MEA residential Solar Energy Grant Program and a renewable energy federal tax credit through the Recovery Act.

Three months later—and after his reverse mortgage was approved—Bennett had 14, 175-watt solar panels installed atop his Mount Royal neighborhood home.

Solar saves green

The $2,860 solar grant from the MEA and a $1,500 federal tax credit helped Bennett pay for the installation, which took place in late July. The solar energy system cost him about $21,000 out of pocket. Already the retiree has saved almost $100 off both his August and his September electric bills.

“It was worth it,” he says. “It’s like I am doing something good for something larger than me, and I am reaping the benefits.”

The payback for his system, Bennett says, will be about 10 years. This is because he plans sell back some of the energy produced by the solar panels to the utility company via renewable energy credits, which could end up being about $1,000 in his pocket a year.

Recovering solar

Bennett is one of about 820 people or families in Maryland who have received a solar grant through the MEA’s renewable energy grant program—which includes solar, geothermal and wind— since fiscal year 2008, when its budget went from $600,000 to $2 million.

A year later, with support from the Recovery Act, that number jumped to $7 million.

“In terms of the residential side of things, it’s helped tremendously,” says Joe Cohen, a MEA clean energy research assistant who oversees the solar grant program. “We’ve gotten more applications because of the Recovery Act—and kilowatts installed.”

Residents can get up a $10,000 grant to install solar panels, but the average grant is about $4,000, Cohen says.

About $4 million of Recovery Act funds have been used so far for solar and about 3.7 MW of clean, solar energy have been placed on the grid, saving 4,440 MWh annually in the state.

“It s certainly helping the state meet it energy goals,” says Cohen, citing Maryland’s objective to have 20 percent renewable energy by 2022.

“And it’s keeping the resident solar sector healthy…We have seen quite few solar companies start up because of this program,” he adds.

Originally posted here http://www.energyempowers.gov/post/solar-energy-maryland.aspx
 "Make green a reality"
visit http://www.thesolarandwindexpo.com/