Category Archives: energy conservation

Birmingham U.K. municipal solar didn’t wait for larger governments

Banks and power companies can fund municipal solar projects; cities and counties don’t have to wait for state or federal governments to provide them grants. Or at least Birmingham, U.K. has done it for public housing. And Quitman, Georgia did it last year, too.

According to Larry Elliott in the Guardian, 3 October 2010, 10,000 Birmingham council homes to get solar panels: City agrees £100m scheme, partly funded by banks and energy suppliers, to meet target for cutting carbon emissions

Plans to fit power generating solar panels to council-owned properties in Birmingham will be pushed forward this week after the council agreed a “green new deal” scheme covering 10,000 homes.
In the biggest proposal for retrofitting houses through an energy efficiency upgrade yet seen in the UK, the council agreed a £100m proposal last week designed to create jobs and meet the city’s ambitious targets for reducing carbon emissions.
The plan – Birmingham Energy Savers – will be jointly funded by Birmingham council and investment from energy suppliers and commercial banks, and follows two successful pilot schemes conducted in Europe’s biggest local authority.

Energy efficiency and solar power to create jobs!

We have local proof of concept right next door Continue reading →

Renewable Sustainable Energy Network —VLCoC

Had a chat today with Myrna Ballard, President of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, and ReKasa Deen, Business Development Director,

about the Renewable Sustainable Energy Network. Note that word Sustainable that they’ve added since last I spoke with them. They’re moving along the idea of a series of meetings or workshops of Chamber members together with an online forum. The next step is for the Chamber Board of Directors to decide whether to approve the project or not. They’re talking to various people and organizations around the community; if you want to get involved, please contact ReKasa Deen.

-jsq

Trash and biomass —Dr. Noll

This comment by Dr. Noll came in today on Got trash? Need disposal? Good luck. I ran across the picture at the same time. -jsq

There are some interesting parallels/similarities in regard to the discussion of trash and biomass.
There is no doubt mankind produces trash, as there is no doubt that we need energy. What we keep forgetting, though, is an honest reflection on how we can be less “waste-ful”, both in terms of energy and trash.
Thus, instead of reducing the amount of trash we create by Continue reading →

Renewable Energy Network at Opportunity Central

Renewable energy for jobs: that’s something that would interest a Chamber of Commerce.

Partly due to MAGE SOLAR at Lowndes High School (thanks, Jerome Tucker!), the Valdosta – Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce (VLCoC) has taken an interest in renewable energy. ReKasa Deen, Business Development Director, already heads the Chamber’s Opportunity Central:

The Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber is positioning Metro Valdosta as Opportunity Central with opportunities for business to grow and thrive, career opportunities for well-educated young professionals and opportunities for cultural interests and active lifestyles.

The key phrase I keep hearing from VLCoC president Myrna Ballard is “knowledge-based businesses and jobs.” As it says on a recent Opportunity Central blog post:

New jobs follow bright and creative professionals…

Ms. Ballard and Ms. Deen have repeatedly said they see renewable energy as a source of jobs for graduates of our local high schools and colleges.

What do they mean by renewable energy? Continue reading →

Neither wind nor solar power “need to be purchased by Halliburton”

Continuing to see what “the indigenous” think about solar power:

Today, a number of Native tribes, from the Lakota in the Dakotas to the Iroquois Confederacy in New York to the Anishinaabeg in Wisconsin, battle to preserve the environment for those who are yet to come. The next seven generations, the Lakota say, depend upon it.
“Traditionally, we’re told that as we live in this world, we have to be careful for the next seven generations,” says Loretta Cook. “I don’t want my grandkids to be glowing and say, ‘We have all these bad things happening to us because you didn’t say something about it.’
Part of this family and spiritual obligation to preserve

Continue reading →

Georgia clean energy tax credits: yes, they are available

Inquiring minds want to know if Georgia still has its energy rebate program. The answer is yes.

The usual place to look for state tax incentives is DSIRE^TM (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency). That database shows for Georgia not only state financial incentives but also a local loan program for Athens-Clarke County and a local rebate program for Atlanta. There’s a thought! Valdosta or Lowndes County could do a loan program for real clean renewable energy! or the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) could do that using some of its $15 million in bonds and other debt, assuming it hasn’t already spent all of it on locking up land.

Or Georgia Power or Colquitt Electric could do that, Continue reading →

A real national strategy —Jim Dwyer

What say we make a real national security strategy, one based on energy independence and a sustainable economy?

Jim Dwyer write 3 May 2011 in the NY Times, A National Security Strategy That Doesn’t Focus on Threats

“Poorly fitted air conditioners cost New York City 130 to 180 million dollars a year in extra energy consumption,” one of the strategists, Capt. Wayne Porter of the Navy, said Tuesday. “They generate 370,525 extra tons of carbon dioxide.”
Suppose, he says, you fixed them. And then you got the 40 states that waste the most electricity to match the 10 most efficient. The likely benefits are no surprise — less foreign oil, cost savings, job creation, decreased pollution.
Now follow that thread to “A National Strategic Narrative,” a paper written by Captain Porter and Col. Mark Mykleby of the Marines, which calls on the United States to see that it cannot continue to engage the world primarily with military force, but must do so as a nation powered by the strength of its educational system, social policies, international development and diplomacy, and its commitment to sustainable practices in energy and agriculture.
“We must recognize that security means more than defense,” they write. After ending the 20th century as the world’s most powerful country, “we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable form of energy.”

An army without an economy defends nothing. Continue reading →

Energy efficiency in Valdosta: survey

The city of Valdosta wants your input on energy efficiency.

According to a press release from Sementha Mathews on 14 April 2011:

Valdosta Develops Strategy for Continued Energy Conservation
…
The final activity that is underway is the completion of an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy (EECS) to help Valdosta effectively manage its use of energy resources. As part of this effort, the community’s help is being requested to develop the best strategy possible for the city. The EECS will take the form of a report to the city, helping us decide what we want to achieve and then providing a strategy for getting us there. In particular, the EECS provides guidance for future decisions to make sure our choices reflect a smart and sustainable energy policy. This includes potential projects and activities that the city can undertake to improve our use of energy resources.
YOU CAN HELP!