In an awards ceremony held May 17 in Glenwood Springs, the Garfield County Commissioners presented students from the two winning schools with cash prizes of $2,000 for first place and $500 for second place. The two schools can use the prize money to buy equipment supporting active transportation, such as bicycle racks, or for physical education. In addition, the top three classes in each of the 16 schools won cash prizes of $50 for first place, $30 for second place and $25 for third place. Prize money came from the Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative, which organized the competition, and from community sponsors Alpine Bank, CLEER, Glenwood Medical Associates and the Green Sprouts Foundation. “By walking, biking, carpooling or riding the bus, students and their families will save energy and get more exercise. We hope they will continue to use these other ways to get to school whenever possible,” said Cathy Tuttle, active transportation program director for CLEER and the Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative. For a list of participating schools and results from the three-day competition, visit www.GarfieldCleanEnergy.org > Transportation. Clean Energy Collective to install
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Students in 204 classes at 16 schools from Parachute to Carbondale saved gas money, cut greenhouse gas emissions and burned calories in a three-day competition that ended with two schools in a photo finish for the top prize.
David Hill, center, of EnCana Oil and Gas, discusses natural gas fuels for vehicles such as this pickup truck, which has been converted to run on compressed natural gas or gasoline, at the Vehicle Fleets and the Clean Energy Economy workshop held in February. |
The governor awarded a grant of $675,285 to Rocky Mountain Alternative Fueling to develop a CNG fueling facility at the Shell station, located at Railroad Avenue and Highway 6 in Rifle.
“We’re excited to bring a cleaner and cheaper fuel to the city of Rifle,” said Nick Swallow, a co-owner of Rocky Mountain Alternative Fueling.
“We also want to thank the City of Rifle, Colorado Mountain College, Williams Production Co, Garfield County, Bill Barrett Corp. and EnCana Natural Gas for committing to make fleet conversions in support of the grant application,” Swallow said.
A second grant of $120,000 was awarded to the City of Grand Junction to complete a CNG fueling station for use by the city government’s natural gas-powered fleet vehicles, as well as CNG-powered vehicles for use by other fleets. The city has purchased four CNG-powered garbage trucks, and Grand Valley Transit is purchasing two natural gas-powered buses that will benefit from the fueling station.
Both grants are conditional pending state and federal permits and other contracting requirements.
The two stations will give local CNG-powered fleets more flexibility as to where they can fuel up, and will help open more of the I-70 corridor to CNG-fueled vehicles. Rocky Mountain Alternative Fueling also plans to develop a fueling station in Parachute within the next year or so, Swallow said.
“Fueling fleets and heavy-duty vehicles with compressed natural gas creates another market for Colorado’s homegrown energy and continues to advance the state as a national leader in the New Energy Economy,” Gov. Ritter said. “These grants will make it easier for local governments and energy companies to fuel their vehicles with CNG, reducing the use of foreign oil and increasing our energy independence, while also making our air cleaner.”
Substituting natural gas for petroleum brings environmental benefits. Powering vehicles with CNG reduces greenhouse gas emissions 21 percent to 26 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Vehicles running on CNG also produce fewer emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone, a pollution problem in several regions of Colorado.
Kerry and Lieberman introduce Senate climate bill
Nearly a year after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman released their clean energy and climate bill, the American Power Act, on May 12.
Environmental groups, businesses and others praised Kerry and Lieberman for pushing clean energy and climate issues to the forefront of the national debate and urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring the 987-page bill before the full Senate as quickly as possible.
However, many groups plan to withhold their endorsement of the 987-page bill until it is strengthened in several key areas.
“It makes no sense to shift our dependence on foreign oil to a new reliance on foreign-made clean energy products,” said Phil Angelides, chairman of the Apollo Alliance, which is supporting the bill while pushing for stronger benefits for American businesses and jobs. “We need to meet new clean energy demand with American workers making the parts, systems and components of the clean energy economy."
| “The American Power Act will finally change our nation’s energy policy from a national weakness into a national strength. We can finally tell the world that America is ready to take back our role as the world’s clean energy leader. This is a bill for energy independence after a devastating oil spill, a bill to hold polluters accountable, a bill for billions of dollars to create the next generation of jobs, and a bill to end America’s addiction to foreign oil." -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry |
Key components in the American Power Act:
- The act caps and puts a price on greenhouse gas emissions, creating a “cap and trade” market for emissions and offset credits and a regulatory structure to govern domestic and international trading.
- Sets targets for reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.
- $6 billion annually to increase energy efficiency and decrease oil consumption in the transportation sector
- $6 billion for industrial energy efficiency and clean tech manufacturing
- $7 billion for clean vehicle manufacturing
The bill also:
- Encourages development of nuclear power
- Expands offshore oil drilling
- Funds research for carbon capture and sequestration in manufacturing, utilities and on farms
- Sets emission performance standards for new coal-fired power plants
- Starts a fast-track program to cut hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), black carbon and methane – all extremely strong greenhouse gases.
- Promotes domestic fuel production
- Funds program for clean energy career development and job training
- Extends and doubles the federal tax credit for natural gas-fueled vehicles
- Establishes consumer protections and relief for utility customers who experience higher energy bills
- Outlines the U.S. policy on international climate agreements
- Establishes programs in existing federal agencies for adaptation to climate change
This article based on a report by Andrea Buffa of the Apollo Alliance
More info on the American Power Act on Sen. Kerry’s website, including section-by-section summaries of the bill and explanations of its impact on consumers, manufacturing, transportation and oil imports.
In the news
New York Times, May 12, 2010
Senate Gets a Climate and Energy Bill, Modified by a Gulf Spill That Still Grows
By John M. Broder
Christian Science Monitor, May 12, 2010
Climate-energy bill debuts in Senate, but prospects are dim
By Mark Clayton
Associated Press, May 12, 2010
Bill Aimed To Stem Global Warming, Create Jobs
(on National public Radio website)
Check out a Kill-A-Watt to learn more about energy use
By Suzie Romig
Clean Energy Economy News
On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, my choices were to continue toiling on never-ending yard work or play with the Kill-A-Watt electricity usage meter I checked out from the local branch of the Garfield County Library.
My curious side overpowered my industrious side, and I realized this would be a great opportunity to learn more about our household power usage.
I wanted to try to answer some nagging questions in my ongoing efforts to decrease my home energy usage and lower the electric portion of my Xcel bill. Such as, should I unplug the microwave when we go on vacation? How much power does the warm-to-the-touch television receiver box use? Is it greener to buy battery-powered or electric clocks?
And the most important question, will I have to do math to figure this all out?
The written instructions provided with the meter were easy to follow. However, the booklet advises that to test an appliance that is used every day, the Kill-A-Watt should be used for a full hour. So, note, reserve a few days or evenings to monitor a variety of appliances in your home or office. Find a timer and grab a calculator to start the experiment.
To save time, I decided to prioritize and test the things that I could change, unplug or replace.
First, I tested our nine-year-old GE microwave. After the microwave cycle finished, I pushed the purple button on the meter to learn that my microwave used .07 kilowatt hours (kWh) in three minutes. I used the Colorado average cost of electricity of 8 cents per kWh. Using the formula supplied in the instructions, I calculated this cost for using our microwave oven:
Microwaving at 0.07 kWh X 5 uses per day
= 0.35 kWh X 30 days per month X $.08 energy costs = $0.84 per month
So, using our 1,500-watt microwave for only short bursts of time costs less than one dollar per month, which is well worth it for our on-the-go, culinary-challenged family. Buying a newer, smaller microwave is now off my wish list, especially because lots of energy and materials are used to manufacture and ship new household products.
Energy auditors advise consumers to know which are the highest wattage items in your home, such as a space heater, and try to limit the time those appliances are used. I used the same formula on another high-wattage item, the bathroom space heater. In the 25 minutes I ran the heater, it used 0.11 kWh. The month's calculation looks like this:
Bathroom space heater at 0.11 kWh X 2 uses per day = 0.22 kWh X 30 days per month X $.08 = $0.52 per month
Therefore, it’s acceptable to use my Honeywell heater for shorter periods for a toasty bathroom, but it would be inefficient and costly to run it for 8 hours a day to heat a room.
All six branches of the Garfield County Public Library District have Kill-A-Watts available for patrons to check out. |
Even lower wattage items can be energy and money hogs if accidentally left on for many hours. Common culprits are heat tape, lights and electronics, so think about using program modes, plugging the device into a timer or installing motion sensors on light switches.
The Kill-A-Watt meter also is a great way to determine the wattage an appliance is pulling. Simply plug the appliance into the meter and hit the watt button.
Consumers can estimate how much they spend to run appliances by knowing the wattage and the amount of hours per day the appliance is used. According to the energy auditor at Holy Cross Energy, another simple formula to use if you know the wattage of a device is:
Watts X number of hours X 30 days per month ÷ 1,000 = kilowatt hours used per month X $.084 power cost = cost to use the device each month
I’m no engineer or energy auditor, so I compared the wattage of various appliances to a basic item I could understand, a 13-watt compact fluorescent bulb. For example, one Direct TV receiver box draws about 10 watts and is left on 24 hours a day to maintain the satellite signal. So with our two receivers on all day every day, that uses more power than leaving a CFL on 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
I have more items to monitor, from clocks to televisions, but what I discovered is that learning more about household power usage is interesting. When I visit the library next time, I will put a Kill-A-Watt meter on hold again. The more I learn, the more I can work to alter my energy-use habits and prioritize purchases of Energy Star appliances.
Aspen's CAR TO GO car-share adds four hybrids to fleet
Aspen’s CAR TO GO carshare program now has four new hybrid vehicles. The two Ford Escape SUV’s and two Ford Fusion sedans (which replace four non-hybrid vehicles) bring the program’s fleet to nine cars, including eight hybrids. The vehicles were purchased with a Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant.
CAR TO GO is a membership program that offers participants access to the fleet of nine cars, SUVs and a truck, parked in convenient locations around Aspen. The program is operated by the City of Aspen as part of the City’s comprehensive Transportation Demand Management program, aimed at capping traffic at 1993 levels.
Car-sharing helps reduce car ownership and increase transit use, carpooling, cycling and walking. Aspen estimatea that CAR TO GO’s 121 members save 12,340 gallons of fuel and 106 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions each year.
Members pay $10 per month as well as hourly and per mile fees based on actual usage. Rates cover gas, insurance, maintenance and roadside assistance as well as rental car and airport shuttle discounts. The typical CAR TO GO member pays about $750 per year, compared to the thousands of most Americans pay to own, insure, fuel and maintain a car.
“Beyond individual memberships, CAR TO GO has developed a niche as an alternative to employer fleet operations, allowing businesses to save money on fleet management and offer their employees a tool for daytime travel, in turn allowing those employees to freely use public transportation or other alternative modes,” said Lynn Rumbaugh, transportation program manager. “The program is also being discovered by second homeowners, who are using the program as an alternative to car ownership and/or long-term car rentals.”
More info: www.cartogo.com or 970-920-5066.
Compost from Glenwood’s South Canyon Landfill
for sale to flower gardeners and landscapers
By Suzie Romig
Clean Energy Economy News
A huge stockpile of 1,500 tons of nutrient-rich compost is awaiting flower gardeners, landscapers and property owners at the Glenwood Springs South Canyon Landfill.
Landfill superintendent Doug Oliver, who has worked for the city for 11 years, said purchasing the affordable compost is a great way to support local recycling efforts.
“It’s a really good form of recycling instead of landfilling all the wood, some of which is diverted from construction waste,” Oliver said. “The compost is a great soil amendment, and it supports the city.”
The compost is created by Heartland Environmental Services, the contractor that operates the city landfill, and is processed according to solid waste regulations from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The compost is created by combining septic waste with wood chips. Workers use probe thermometers to make sure the compost piles stay at proper temperatures for the correct length of time. The bio-solids-based soil amendment is tested for safety regularly by an independent lab, Oliver said. The compost has passed all lab tests during the past year.
However, it's still wise to use this compost only for flower beds, landscaping and lawns, but avoid using it in vegetable gardens.
Oliver noted that compostable materials such as cardboard from the Glenwood Springs Recycling Center on School Street are no longer used in the compost at South Canyon. Starting in April, materials from the recycle center are being trucked to the new Eagle County Materials Recovery Facility for traditional recycling, which puts the materials back into the manufacturing stream.
The fibrous, high-potency compost, which is screened to a half-inch size, should be tilled or turned into soils at a one-to-one ratio, Oliver said. Compost is priced at $27 per dry ton, which equates to about $16 or $17 a yard.
Customers can pick up compost in their vehicles or arrange for a private trucking company to deliver large quantities. South Canyon Landfill is open six days a week: Monday 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
More info: Doug Oliver, 945-5375 or Doug.oliver@cogs.us.
Building E2 News: DOE’s new quarterly
building energy efficiency newsletter
Construction manager Carl Cox points out key features of the NREL facility’s foundation, a project featured in the DOE's new newsletter, Building E2 News. A subterranean air-handling network will help to naturally heat the building. It's one of dozens of features that, when combined, will enable the building to be one of the world's most energy efficient office buildings. |
The U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program has launched a free online quarterly newsletter. Building E2 News is designed to keep those involved with residential and commercial buildings current with the latest research and news about energy-efficient buildings.
DOE’s Building Technologies Program is actively pursuing research and deployment activities to support cost-effective and highly energy-efficient building technologies and strategies. This newsletter will be a key vehicle to share that information about those efforts.
The first issue includes stories on the net-zero research support facility under construction at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, and profiles of the five homebuilders who are winners of the DOE Builders Challenge, including Ecofutures Building, which built Boulder’s first net-zero house.
DOE updates Commercial Lighting Solutions web tool
The U.S. Department of Energy has updated its Commercial Lighting Solutions Web tool, expanding energy-saving lighting solutions and approaches to offices and institutional buildings. The Web tool provides detailed instructions to help building owners and operators reduce the energy used by commercial lighting by 30 percent or more.
DOE, in partnership with top lighting designers, architects, and commercial end-users, developed Commercial Lighting Solutions and its interactive Web tool, which estimates energy savings based on project-specific inputs. While the first version of the Web tool offered solutions for five types of retail stores, the newest version offers solutions for offices and institutional buildings.
Each solution includes a series of "design vignettes," complete with lighting layouts and component specifications, as well as daylighting design. The vignettes are accompanied by a recommended control scheme and guidance for commissioning.
Users of the Web tool will have a choice of several design vignettes and lighting control strategies that suit the parameters they input for their project. A solution can be implemented as shown or can be used as a starting point for a design that is refined to serve particular corporate branding, or architectural or business objectives.
All DOE Commercial Lighting Solutions are analyzed against a reference building using the space-by-space method as allowed in ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004. Modeled results for each solution included in the Web tool must show decreased energy consumption of at least 30 percent below the baseline design. Some of the solutions have achieved modeled savings of 50 percent or more.
Take the guided tour and create your account to use the free Commercial Lighting Solutions tool
TRAININGS
Grant application workshop:
USDA grants for small business, farm and ranch energy projects
Tuesday, May 25
12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Grand Junction Incubator, 2591 B ¾ Road, Grand Junction
Register in advance: 970-243-5242
A free workshop is being offered to small business owners, farmers and ranchers to learn how to prepare a successful application for the U.S. Department of Agriculture clean energy grant and loan program. The grant and loan program can help pay for energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy installations on the production side of farms and ranches and for small businesses.
Pattie Snidow, northwest area director for USDA Rural Development, will explain the basics of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Grant and Loan Program.
The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency program provides grants that cover 25 percent of the costs of installing renewable energy systems to offset present use and making energy efficiency improvements to production-side farm operations and to small businesses.
Grant amounts top out at $500,000 for renewable energy projects and at $250,000 for energy efficiency projects. The program will also provide a federal guarantee to local lenders for up to 50 percent of project costs, topping out at $25 million for renewable energy projects and at $10 million for energy efficiency projects.
Property owners must fill out the grant application themselves, and the grants are judged in a national competition.
USDA website with application template and related documents
GEO High Performance Building Program free webinar
The Tipping Point 201: How to Reach the Energy Savings
Needed for Net Zero Buildings
Created specifically for building industry professionals, building owners and planners, this webinar will provide ways to define, design and attain realistic energy performance goals while still meeting the minimum energy performance requirements. Attendees will, explore the "Tipping Point," and be provided examples and ideas to achieve NET ZERO ENERGY use cost-effectively.
Thursday, May 27
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Register in advance
Agenda
- What is Net Zero and how will Net Zero buildings drive our future?
- Planning for Net Zero buildings at the design and development stages
- Using renewables to offset energy use
- Implementing high efficiency through construction, operations, and staff culture
Learning objectives
- The process of defining energy performance goals, and then use these goals to select a design team and a project delivery strategy for their building.
- How to develop energy performance goals that are realistic, but meet the minimum high performance goals required to achieve Net Zero energy use. These minimum energy performance goals are the "tipping point" where Net Zero becomes attainable.
- How to reach those goals through the integrated design process. An integration of energy performance, user functionality, and daylighting is needed to drive the building form.
EVENTS
Discounted electronics recycling in Aspen
Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Rio Grande Parking Lot, Aspen
It’s time to clear out your old electronics and recycle responsibly. The City of Aspen is sponsoring an electronics collection event for businesses and households.
Fees range from $2 for small electronics such as laptop computers to $10 for televisions and computer monitors over 20 inches.
The City of Aspen is underwriting half of the recycling fees for this service to encourage proper recycling of electronics.
Businesses can arrange for on-site pickup of electronics on Friday, May 21, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Commercial recycling fees are $0.19 per pound. Call John Miller at 303-667-8555.
More info: Jannette Whitcomb, Aspen Environmental Health Department, 970-920-5069.
Regional Sustainability Roundtable
Wednesday, May 26
12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Garfield Re-2 School District Learning Opportunities Center
839 Whiteriver Ave., Rifle
$10 donation suggested, lunch included
Register in advance
The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado is conducting a series of eight roundtables around Colorado in 2010 to bring together leaders from nonprofits, businesses, government and educational institutions to share key issues and challenges, as well as best practices and lessons learned related to sustainability.
The event ends with a 30-minute demonstration by Natural Capitalism Solutions on innovative approaches and tools to help small and mid-sized businesses easily implement and monitor
sustainability, using NatCap’s new hi-tech, user-friendly Solutions @ the Speed of Business Program.
Sustainable Communities Grants and Planning Workshop
Hosted by U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet
Thursday, May 27
1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Carbondale Town Hall
RSVP: www.bennet.senate.gov/services/workshops/ or (970) 241-6631
A workshop for local governments, community leaders and non-profits to learn about sustainability-focused grants and competitive funding. The program will include presentations on state and federal programs, a Q & A session, and information on how congressional offices can provide support in the process.
Colorado Renewable Energy Society conference
Friday, June 18 to Sunday, June 20
Montrose Pavilion
Registration: $185 CRES members / $225 non-members until June 4;
$200 members / $250 non-members after June 4: www.cres-energy.org
Speakers include: Vice Admiral Richard Truly on “Climate Energy and Security,” Steve Andrews, co-founder of Association for Study of Peak Oil, Don Marostica, director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development, plus tours, workshops networking and socializing.
In the news
Aspen Times, April 22, 2010
El Jebel site chosen for solar farm
Clean Energy Collective plans nearly 400 solar panels near Blue Lake
By Scott Condon
The Clean Energy Collective (CEC) has leased a 0.4-acre site at the Mid Valley Metropolitan District's wastewater treatment plant along Highway 82 near Blue Lake to build an 80-kilowatt solar farm.
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Boulder Daily Camera, April 25, 2010
Study: Boulder County needs to retrofit hundreds of homes a week to meet green goals
By Sarah Horn
Unless Boulder County can retrofit as many as 300 homes a week, it will not meet local climate action plan goals, according to a study initiated by the Boulder Green Building Guild.
Retrofitting could include adding programmable thermostats, Energy Star appliances, insulated ducts, energy star insulated windows and upgraded lighting to 75 percent CFLs.
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Rifle Citizen Telegram, May 13, 2010
Rifle looking at 17 projects for Main Street program
Ute Theatre, facade improvements, broadband services among items on list
By Heidi Rice
The city of Rifle has whittled a list of 17 possible projects for the statewide “Sustainable Main Street Initiative” program down to seven, after meeting last week with Gov. Bill Ritter and the Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) to discuss ideas.
Some of the projects Rifle is looking at include rehabilitation of the old Ute Theatre (Rifle Creek Theater), a public relations campaign to come up with a brand for Rifle; the Rifle Gateway Project, making it a more bicycle-friendly city; a business incubator that would allow start-up businesses to get shared services to get on their feet; a revolving loan fund for downtown facade improvements; and IT broadband service to improve community access to the Internet.
Clean Energy Bits ‘n Bobs
Solar Energy International of Carbondale is partnering with WE CARE to create suitcase sized stand-alone solar PV systems that can go anywhere to provide medical clinics with light. We Care Solar is a project of Dr. Laura Satchel and her husband Hal Aaronson, an instructor for SEI in Carbondale and Solar Schoolhouse in California. The Aspen Skiing Co. helped fund materials for three suitcase systems, which were assembled by students from Yampah Mountain High School in Glenwood Springs. Two suitcases will be sent to Haiti, while the third will be a display system for the “Advanced Renewable Energy for Educators” workshop in June. Students in that workshop will build another nine suitcases that can be shipped out to places in need.
Read the whole story in the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.
Yampah Mountain High School’s boundlessly energetic Susy Ellison is the top national recipient of the Richard C. Bartlett Environmental Education Award, given annually by the National Environmental Education Foundation. In commenting on the award, Ellison said, “When I review the path that has brought me to this point, I see a long and winding route of meandering trails and diverse branches leading to that magical, elusive, and sometimes mysterious place known as ‘environmental literacy. I am proud that I have been able to be a guide for both colleagues and students by providing them with the knowledge and tools required to travel a similar path. This award is as much about them as it is about me. It is a celebration of the creation of citizens who understand and take responsibility for their impacts on the planet and feel empowered to become agents of positive environmental change.”
Carbondale Middle School students continue on their fame trajectory, winning a front-page feature spot on the Governor’s Energy Office Recharge Colorado website. The students are working with younger kids at Crystal River Elementary School to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy National Building Competition. (See story in May 3 issue of Clean Energy Economy News.)
Holy Cross Energy distributed nearly $2.75 million in member equity distributions to its 43,200 residential and commercial customers. The returns are based on electric purchases in 2009. With this year’s pay-out, the electric co-op has returned nearly $33 million to customers since 2005.