| 04/11/2007 |
| Getting Together |
| By: Jon West |
Last week Ithaca Forward and the Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes co-hosted a "Sustainable Energy Seminar" at the Human Services Building to focus on local entrepreneurial solutions to the threats of climate change and dwindling fossil fuel reserves. The seminar featured representatives from the Green Resource Hub, Enfield Energy, Ithaca Biodiesel, and Performance Systems Contracting, who presented their organizational missions to local residents and students interested in entering the field of sustainable energy. "It's very likely that our current standard of living, and our economic structures are going to be impacted significantly [by climate change and the loss of fossil fuels]," said Gay Nicholson, program coordinator for Sustainable Tompkins and founder of the Green Resource Hub. "The societies that haven't worked to prepare themselves for this transition to a new energy economy are going to experience some significant hardships." The Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes is a new nonprofit that aims to expand the marketplace for sustainable living through consumer education, workforce training, and professional development. The event was co-sponsored by the Cornell Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and the Southern Tier Energy $mart Communities - an initiative funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Enfield Energy, created by John Rancich, is seeking to install electricity producing wind energy on Connecticut and Buck hills in Enfield. Rancich says initial tests have shown huge wind-energy potential in Enfield, and that if installed, 10 wind turbines producing 25 megawatts of electricity at full power could provide enough kilowatts to supply all of Tompkins County while having less of an environmental impact than a three-bedroom home. Ithaca Biodiesel is a nonprofit, worker-run cooperative that works to serve the local community through collection and filtration of used vegetable oil from restaurants that is either sold to people using diesel engine vehicles converted to run on straight vegetable oil, or used in the manufacture of biodiesel, a vegetable oil-based fuel suitable for use in all diesel engines. Meghan Murphy of Ithaca Biodiesel said her organization is trying to expand to help provide the local area with a "carbon neutral" - not contributing to global warming - fuel source. "We're trying to make this as energy-efficient as possible," said Murphy. "We want a local fuel source where we have control over our energy and the way it's produced." Performance Systems Contracting (PSC) is an accredited home performance contractor and renewable systems installer which helps residential and business owners establish and maintain environmentally responsible, high performance buildings and energy systems. An EPA Energy Star partner, PSC provides energy audits and sustainable renovations that can reduce your heating bill by 30 percent to 40 percent, according to Caleb Crow, PSC's representative at the seminar. "Our local area is really fortunate to have so many new businesses that have been springing up to service the demand for greener buildings and sustainable lifestyles," said Nicholson. "We [at The Green Resource Hub] see a need to provide consumers with an objective third party source for information because there are so many options out there. By educating consumers about what their options are and why they would maybe want to choose greener alternatives for their homes and businesses, that creates a shift in market demand that the providers will have to respond to. So it won't be just the green enterprises, but the traditional and mainstream businesses will need to gradually learn how to do things differently as well."
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