March 27, 2014
Promoting Renewable Energy Locally
In Germany, which is leading the effort to go to renewable energy, much of the work began at the local level. Several of you have asked for info about how to campaign for clean energy at your local level.
Renewable New York has some ideas. http://www.renewableny.org/
The Town of East Hampton adopted a resolution last yearto go to 100% clean energy. You might want to consider a similar resolution for your town.
A copy of the resolution is at http://bit.ly/1F1tnpx
Their article on why and how to go to 100% clean energy is at http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/why_go_100_percent
Here are some suggestions on how to help your government get to 100% clean energy. http://www.renewableenergylongisland.org/government_support
The international page to go 100% renewable is at http://www.go100percent.org/cms/
Vancouver made history by voting to support a shift to 100 per cent renewable energy sources, becoming the first city in Canada to take this step. Frankfurt, Germany, a city on track to shifting to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2015, has reduced emissions by 15 per cent while its economy grew by 50 per cent. And, they’ve saved over 100 million Euros in energy costs, a number that’s projected to increase. Story here
From Canada: Transitioning Cities to 100% Renewable Energy
The World Futures Council http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org has also been coordinating efforts to go to 100% renewable. They recently passed on to GELF some lessons from their efforts in Germany.
“As Jacobsen`s study also proved, political will and finally a robust political framework to support RE is crucial to transition to 100% RE. Based on several case studies and lessons learnt from around the world, we have identified 5 key policy guidelines that a political framework should include:
#1: Make energy efficiency a top priority
#2: Electrify the heating/cooling and transport sector
#3: Maximise opportunities for citizen participation and the development of business models
#4: Educate and inform citizens and businesses
#5: Adopt an integrated approach to fiscal, economic & energy policy”
On the more technical side, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Renewable Electricity Futures Study (RE Futures) is an initial investigation of the extent to which renewable energy supply can meet the electricity demands of the continental United States over the next several decades. This study explores the implications and challenges of very high renewable electricity generation levels—from 30% up to 90%, focusing on 80%, of all U.S. electricity generation—in 2050. At such high levels of renewable electricity generation, the unique characteristics of some renewable resources, specifically geographical distribution and variability and uncertainty in output, pose challenges to the operability of the nation’s electric system. http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/re_futures/