Clean Energy Economy News | Online edition

Oct. 20, 2008 | Vol. 1, No. 11

In this issue

Events

Clean Energy Bits 'n Bobs

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Garfield County partners win $1.6 million
clean energy grant award

On Oct. 14, Gov. Bill Ritter awarded a $1.6 million grant to a partnership of local governments and nonprofits in Garfield County as part of the state’s New Energy Communities Initiative. 

The award to the Garfield partnership was the largest of 14 grant awards announced during the Colorado New Energy Economy Conference in Denver. The grant recipients from around the state will divide $10 million in state energy impact funds offered by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and the Governor’s Energy Office, using the funds to advance a clean energy economy at the local and regional level.

“These communities view sustainability as part of their future. They are integrating these efforts to build a new energy economy,” said Gov. Ritter, addressing a crowd of 800 gathered for the conference.

“This grant coming to our six towns and cities shows that the new energy economy is viable not just in the West, not just in Colorado, but right here in Garfield County,” said New Castle Trustee Greg Russi, one of the community leaders who helped shape the Garfield grant proposal.

“Garfield County has been a leader in conventional energy production, and now with the $1.6 million grant we can become one of the leaders in energy efficiency and be sustainable. The community projects we have planned will be visible for all residents to see and learn,” said Parachute Trustee Judi Hayward, who also worked on the grant project.

“We’re delighted that our region is receiving this major investment in clean energy, and know that it will result in measurable energy cost savings for local governments, households, and businesses. The grant will also serve as a catalyst to spur even greater clean energy improvements and investments over the long term,” said Alice Hubbard Laird, director of Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER), the nonprofit that coordinated the Garfield grant application effort.

“This grant will further the cause of alternative energy in the heart of an extractive natural resource industry,” said Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert, who appeared on a panel during the conference. “The nature of this grant will begin to bring huge focus to alternative energies, and we are overjoyed that the CLEER model has been recognized.”

CLEER brought together elected officials and staff from the six municipalities, the county government, the library district and other collaborators to jointly apply for the funding and to work together on clean energy programs, services and investments. CLEER staff researched and wrote the grant applications to DOLA and GEO.

The proposal offers programs over the next one to three years to boost energy efficiency in new and existing public buildings and install solar photovoltaic arrays in every community as part of a Garfield 1 Megawatt campaign. It also includes energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for homes and small businesses, code work aimed at improving the energy efficiency of new homes and neighborhoods, development of clean energy financing, and measures to track energy savings.

The Garfield partners are CLEER, Parachute, Rifle, Silt, New Castle, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Garfield County and the Garfield County Public Library District. A dozen more entities, including other nonprofits, RFTA, utilities, business groups, and the Roaring Fork School District, are also involved.

Together, the partners and collaborators pledged $506,000 in local cash match and more than $1.2 million in in-kind match for 2009, contingent on final budget approvals. As part of the proposal, $250,000 was pledged by the Manaus Fund as seed funding for a clean energy investment fund in addition to the other local match sources.

The Garfield New Energy Communities working group, which met through the summer to shape the proposal, will reconvene Oct. 23 to plan the next steps in delivering the clean energy programs and services to Garfield County residents and businesses.

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Aspen installs sidewalk pavers made from used tires

Aspen is pioneering the use of sidewalk pavers made from used tires. It will be the first city in Colorado to try the California product, using it to repave 1,800 square feet of cracked and buckled sidewalks in the 600 and 700 blocks of Main Street.

“We applaud Aspen, because nobody wants to be the first,” said Dan Joyce, spokesman for Rubbersidewalks Inc. of Gardena, Calif. The pavers are installed in 130 other U.S. cities, and Joyce said Carbondale and Denver have inquired about the product. He expects that once people see success in Aspen, “there will be a chain reaction” of other communities wanting to use the paving alternative.

Rubbersidewalks pavers in New Rochelle, New YorkThe Rubbersidewalks manufacturing plant shreds used tires into a rubber crumb and compresses it into rigid pavers or bricks. Fiberglass dowels connect the pavers, and installers use a rail made from recycled aluminum along the edge of the walkway to hold the pavers in place.

The rubber pavers offer several advantages over conventional concrete sidewalk paving:

  • Each sidewalk paver, 24” by 30” by 2”, uses five old tires, creating a market for a troublesome waste product.
  • The pavers replace concrete, which is a significant source of greenhouse gases.
  • Installation of pavers can be done using hand labor and machinery that uses less energy than is needed for concrete paving.
  • The pavers are flexible and can be taken up every few years to trim bulging tree roots under the sidewalk.
  • Rain and snowmelt trickle down between the pavers, nourishing tree roots and reducing stormwater runoff.
  • The pavers stand up to freezing temperatures, frost-heaving, shoveling, plowing and de-icers.
  • Pedestrians report a softer feel underfoot.
  • When used in a new construction project instead of concrete, they can add 4 to 6 points toward LEED certification.

Joyce said Rubbersidewalks has begun manufacturing a second product made from recycled materials, a plastic-rubber hybrid. This uses shredded tires and agricultural plastic — the millions of square feet of plastic sheeting laid down around plants in California fields. Until now, that sheeting has gone into landfills at the end of the growing season.

“It has become almost as big a landfill problem as tires,” Joyce said. Using a state grant, the company has come up with a new, more rigid product that can be used in applications such as driveways.

The company has manufacturing plants in California and New York, and is working to build demand for its products nationwide. In the next two years, the company plans to build manufacturing plants in the Midwest and Southeast.

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Waste managers propose regional partnership

Emphasis on leveraging sales to existing markets, developing new local end uses

Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin city and county public works officials are quickly moving forward on establishing a regional solid waste diversion partnership that offers valuable benefits for landfill operators and recycling advocates.

The partnership is aimed toward aggressive recycling of waste materials, with an emphasis on leveraging sales to existing markets and developing new local end uses.

Over the next three to four months, the group intends to develop a formal partnership and a business plan to meet short-term and long-term needs. Once a plan is in place, the group expects to present the regional partnership concept to county commissioners and city councils, said Laurie Batchelder Adams, the solid waste consultant working with Garfield County on developing the regional partnership.

“Decisions are expected to occur rapidly,” Adams said. Now is the time for communities that are not yet participating to get involved, she said.

Contact Adams or your county’s representative to join the group of regional solid waste stakeholders. Contact information is listed below. The group will meet again on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 19.

Benefits of the proposed regional solid waste partnership include:

  • Centralized processing and economies of scale in handling recyclable materials
  • Development of local end use, such as using crushed glass in pavement
  • Standardized collection of household hazardous wastes
  • More aggressive management of construction and demolition waste
  • Development of uniform, region-wide policies that encourage waste diversion

Contact information

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Canadian companies plan cellulosic ethanol plant
in Grand Junction

Two Canadian companies plan to build an $80 million plant in Grand Junction to process cellulosic ethanol, which uses wood and other non-food organics. The ethanol would be blended into gasoline, offsetting oil imports now used for transportation fuels.

Lignol Energy Corp. and Suncor Energy had earlier planned to build the plant in Commerce City, but shifted their focus to Grand Junction to take advantage of nearby supplies of beetle-killed timber and wood residue from lumber mills.

Lignol will test the process at a plant to open next year in Vancouver, B.C. The Grand Junction plant could open in the next two or three years, and would produce 8,500 gallons a day, about one-tenth the size of a commercial facility. It would employ 30 to 40 permanent workers.

In the news
The Denver Post, Oct. 5, 2008
Cellulosic ethanol plant proposed in Colo.

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Legislative interim committee recommends four bills

Turns down expansion of powers for transportation authorities

The state legislature’s Transportation Legislation Review Committee has recommended four bills for consideration in the 2009 session, and rejected three others.

Two of the recommended bills relate to energy efficient transportation: buses and scooters.

  • Bill B requires motorists behind a transit bus to yield if the bus is signaling to re-enter the traffic lane.
  • Bill D establishes new regulations governing the sale and operation of low-power scooters. The law would require scooter drivers to have insurance and sets a 40 mph speed limit.

“These will be some of the first bills over the desk when the legislature convenes in January,” said Geoff Johnson, research associate for Legislative Council and staff to the interim committee.

The 20-member committee considered but ultimately rejected the proposed Bill No. 1, which proposed expanding the powers of regional transportation authorities such as RFTA.

The bill would have allowed for election of governing board members, and would have given transportation authorities the power to develop standards for transit-oriented development. It would have also allowed a variety of new funding mechanisms, including an increased motor vehicle registration fee, a property tax mill levy, a development fee on building permits, or a sales tax on gasoline.

Johnson said an individual legislator could still introduce the bill.

The committee did recommend two other bills:

  • Bill A clarifies the tax status of mobile machinery and self-propelled construction equipment.
  • Bill C allows vehicles with deficient splash guards to remain in service until the first reasonable opportunity to replace the splash guards.

And it rejected two other bills related to slow-moving vehicles impeding traffic and a pilot program for young drivers.

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EIA Brief: How does natural gas travel
from producing fields to consumers?

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has published a new brief explaining the national system of natural gas pipelines that carry gas from wells and underground storage to customers across the country.

Natural gas pipelines in the U.S.The new brief, How does natural gas travel from producing fields to consumers, is a quick study on the elements of the country’s natural gas distribution system, and summarizes its growth over the past several decades.

The national natural gas transportation network, shown at left, delivered more than 21 trillion cubic feet of natural gas during 2007 to about 70 million customers.

The network, excluding gathering system operators, is made up of more than 200 mainline transmission pipeline companies, more than 1,300 local distribution companies, and about 125 underground natural gas storage operators.

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Are you running a geothermal heat pump?

The Governor’s Energy Office, Climatemaster and the Market Development Group are creating a database of functioning geothermal heat pump system installations in Colorado. 

The information will be used to document typical installations, compare actual system costs and benefits, and verify performance of the installed systems.

To add your system to the database, contact Katherine Johnson at (301) 461-4865 or kjohnson@marketdevelop.com, or Ed Thomas at (970) 209-8347 or ethomas@marketdevelop.com.  

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Events

Blue Ribbon Transportation Panel holds
outreach meeting in Glenwood Springs

Date: Tuesday, Oct. 21
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: Garfield County Administration Building, 108 8th St., Glenwood Springs

Gov. Bill Ritter’s Blue Ribbon Transportation Panel will meet with Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin county residents to raise awareness about Colorado’s transportation funding crisis and engage the public in a debate over possible solutions.

The event is part of a five-week tour of the state with meetings in 25 communities, from Sept. 24 through Oct. 30.

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Søren Hermansen shares the Samsø clean energy success story at events in Aspen, Glenwood Springs

Søren HermansenDate: Monday, Oct. 27
Time: Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Place: Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, 100 Puppy Smith St., Aspen
Light lunch

Date: Monday, Oct. 27
Time: 7 to 9 p.m.
Place: Glenwood Springs Community Center, 100 Wulfsohn Road, Glenwood Springs
Light refreshments

Date: Tuesday, Oct. 28
Time: 10 a.m. to noon
Place: US Bank community meeting room, 1901 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs
An in-depth meeting for utility staff, elected officials, local government staff,
community energy and climate boards
Light refreshments

Søren Hermansen will explain how, in a decade,  his home island of Samsø, Denmark, developed enough clean energy to become carbon-neutral.

The island’s pioneering work, led by Hermansen, has been featured in the New Yorker and Outside magazines, and TIME magazine named Hermansen one of its 2008 Heroes of the Environment.

“This is a pilot project to show the world what can be done,” Hermansen told The Guardian of London last month. “We are not suggesting everyone makes the sweeping changes that we have. The crucial point is that we have shown that if you want to change how we generate energy, you have to start at the community level. We are a nation of farmers. We believe in self-sufficiency.”

The Samsø story started in 1997, when the Danish government offered a competition to communities to cut their carbon footprint, increase production of renewable energy and transition to energy self-sufficiency. Samsø, an island of 4,100 people west of Copenhagen, won the contest.

Students check out a wind turbine under construction at Samsø, DenmarkAt the time. Søren Hermansen was a high school environmental studies teacher. He began going round to community meetings, talking up the benefits of clean energy. Over time, he set up investment plans for island residents to buy shares in giant wind turbines, large solar panels, and straw-fired central furnaces for homes and buildings in heating districts.

Today, the island exports wind-powered electricity to the Danish mainland and has cut its carbon footprint by 140 percent. Most Samsingers still use gasoline for their cars, as the island works on this last step to achieving energy independence. In the meantime, wind power exports more than make up for the carbon from Samsø’s tailpipe emissions.

The island’s energy revolution now draws thousands of visitors from around the world eager to learn how this was accomplished. They visit the Samsø Energy Academy, where Søren Hermansen serves as the director for a staff of five people offering courses and tours.
http://www.energiakademiet.dk/default_uk.asp

The Island Institute has invited Hermansen to help the residents of Maine coastal islands achieve similar energy independence. As an extension of his trip to Maine, Hermansen is coming to Colorado for a series of speaking engagements in Aspen, Glenwood Springs and Durango.

“Everyone is talking about clean energy. The people of Samsø are living it,” said Randy Udall of Carbondale, an energy expert and longtime friend of Hermansen’s. “This is a great opportunity for everyone in the valley to hear a thrilling presentation about how one island community turned its energy picture upside-down.”

The Aspen and Glenwood Springs events are hosted by Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER) and sponsored by Alpine Bank, Aspen Electric, Aspen Skiing Co., Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Balentine Collection, Canary Initiative, Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE), the City of Glenwood Springs, Holy Cross Energy, La Plata County, La Plata Electric Association, Schmueser Gordon Meyer, Sopris Foundation and US Bank.

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Free workshop on Energy Star® New Homes

Date: Thursday, Oct. 30
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Place: El Jebel Community Center, 0020 Eagle County Drive

Energy Partners Inc. is hosting a free three-part workshop on Energy Star® New Homes for builders, project managers and developers of residential projects.

  • The morning session, 8:30 to 11:45 a.m. will cover the thermal bypass checklist, Home Energy Rating System (HERS) requirements, and an update on regional building code compliance.
  • Over lunch, from 12 to 12:45 p.m., meet the valley’s certified HERS rates and hear a panel discussion on the value of this standardized approach to energy efficient home construction.
  • The afternoon session, from 1:15 to 5 p.m., covers advanced framing and insulation techniques.

This is a mix and match workshop — people can attend one, two or all three parts. Please RSVP for the lunch session to Lauren Martindale, 319-3939, by Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The workshop is sponsored by the City of Rifle, Town of New Castle, City of Glenwood Springs, Town of Carbondale, Town of Basalt, Pitkin County, City of Aspen, the Governor’s Energy Office and the Community Office for Resource Efficiency.

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Home Energy Raters training course
offered Nov. 17-22 in Frisco

Scholarships offered for Eagle County residents

The High Country Conservation Center of Frisco is hosting a week-long training for Home Energy Raters certification Nov. 17-22. If you missed the class offered in June in Glenwood Springs, here is another opportunity to gain HERS certification close to home. The class will be taught by Steve Byers and Robby Schwarz of EnergyLogic.

HERS certification is valuable for employees of HVAC, architectural and home inspection businesses.

  • HERS ratings are required to qualify residential energy projects for federal tax credits and, in many cases, for local utility rebates.
  • Only a certified HERS rater can apply the EPA's ENERGY STAR label to new homes.
  • HERS raters are required as part of the new International Energy Conservation Code
    (IECC) performance path compliance.
  • HERS raters can go onto further training for LEED residential certification.
  • Eagle County’s Eco-Build program offers points for a completed HERS rating on new homes.

The HERS training offers:

  • A complete understanding of the Home Energy Rating System
  • An excellent foundation in building science, using the “house-as-a-system” approach
  • Duct-blasting and blower-door testing
  • Advanced building diagnostics and measurements

Full cost of the course is $1,200. Eagle County is offering four scholarships of $500 for Eagle County residents enrolling in the certification training.

For more information, call Jon Kinstad, energy programs manager for High Country Conservation Center, at (970) 485-3509 or jon@highcountryconservation.org.

For curriculum details and to register, go to Energy Logic or call (970) 212-3382. This site includes a brief description of what it takes to be a HERS rater, course requirements and required reading material.

To apply for an Eagle County scholarship, forward a copy of your registration with request for payment to adam.palmer@eaglecounty.us or fax the documents to (970) 328-7185.

Additional information about the Home Energy Rating System is available from the Residential Energy Services Network.

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Clean Energy Bits ‘n Bobs

The State Capitol Building in Denver has just received LEED certification for existing buildings — the first capitol building in the country to achieve this rating from the U.S. Green Building Council . . .

Joani Matranga of Carbondale, Western Colorado representative for the Governor’s Energy Office, is leading a Colorado delegation to Nevada Oct. 20-22 for a geothermal trade mission. George Wear, a member of the Glenwood Springs Geothermal Task Force, and Phil Overeynder, director of Aspen Public Works, are among those exploring the opportunities for utility-scale power generation. Nevada is already generating 300 megawatts of geothermal electricity . . .

Brace yourselves for higher household energy bills this winter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is forecasting an 18 percent increase in natural gas heating costs, a 5 percent increase in propane heating costs, and a 10 percent increase in electricity heating costs . . .

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CLEER | P.O. Box 428 | Carbondale, Colorado 81623 | (970) 704-9200