We Need Renewable Energy Mandates

This is the 23rd post in a series of posts this December that will chronicle the 25 things we would most like to see in Roswell. None of these are actually happening... at least in the way we'd like them to. Please enjoy and have a happy holidays!

This is going to be a quick hit because its not my area of expertise but it is really important to me.  I think it's high time that our city, region, state and nation get on the ball and embrace renewable energy.  The Chinese are going to eat our lunch if we don't do something here.  There is no argument that peak oil does not exist, it's just a question of when we hit it.  If we don't want to be crushed by the price of our foreign oil addiction, we need to make some changes.

Solar energy is quickly become cost effective and solar hot water heating is already the most cost effective way to heat your water.  Plus, there is a ton of sun in Georgia.  We have a decent amount of hydro potential here with Vickery Creek and the Chattahoochee.  I'm sure there are laws preventing us from using it but this is my wish list and I'm not going to let legal mumbo jumbo get in the way of a good idea.  Geothermal is a no-brainer in most areas in Georgia.  Finally, energy efficiency is ridiculously logical.  So, why aren't we doing it.  Well, that's a good question for our loyal public servants in Washington DC and the Gold Dome.  

My only other request is that the city enact legislation requiring that all new construction, residential or commercial, be required to meet LEED, Energy Star, EarthCraft or equivalent standards.

OK.. tomorrow's Christmas Eve so you can look forward to my equivalent of the Red Rider BB gun and a few stocking stuffers.  The only difference between my request and Ralphie's is that I know Santa isn't going to come down the Roswell chimney and drop off what I'm wishing for.  Oh yeah.. and you won't shoot your eye out with what I'm wishing for either.  

image: Lauren Nelson @ Flickr

Peach Bites

Georgia Tech Makes the Honor Roll - The Princeton Review has named Georgia Tech to its Green College Honor Roll.  Georgia Tech is the only university in the region to make the list and strikingly absent is Emory University which has more LEED certified buildings than any campus in the nation. MNN

Suniva May Go Public - The Norcross based solar company is considering going public.  They have raised $75M in private funding and are looking for more. The company has obtained over $1 billion in orders. Atlanta Business Chronicle

Atlanta Ranks 33rd in Sustainability - The NRDC recently released rankings of the most sustainable cities in the US.  The west coast came out on top with Seattle winning the #1 spot and San Francisco and Portland close behind.  Roswell was 23rd on the smaller cities list.  Creative Loafing

Help For Our Right Whales - New technology may help ships avoid collisions with whales.  This will help the dwindling population of right whales that breed off the coast of Georgia.  TreeHugger

They'll Call it HotterLanta Soon - I hate the silly name of Hot-Lanta that our city picked up in the 90s but it is appropriate now and will be later this century if predictions are correct.  A report released recently on the potential impacts of global warming states that average temperatures in the 2080s will likely be 4.5 to 9 degrees hotter.  Macon.com

Peach Bites

Cox Enterprises and Georgia Power Produce Green Energy for Georgia (bNet) - On April 20th, Cox Enterprises announced the completion of the largest solar power facility in Georgia. This facility is the largest of its kind in Georgia Power's alternative energy program here in Georgia. The facility will produce 150 megawatts annually. It is located on the roof of Cox's Manheim DRIVE facility in Stockbridge.

Southeast Positioned for Renewable Energy, WRI Report Says (Environmental Protection) - The Southeast could generate over 25% of its power from renewable energy by 2025 according to a report released in April by the World Resources Institute (WRI), Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Southface Institute. The estimate combines potential power from biomass, solar, wind and hydroelectric.

Coca-Cola to use Green 'PlantBottle' (Atlanta Business Chronicle) - Coca-Cola will introduce a partially plant based plastic bottle in its Dasani water bottles later this year. They plan to begin using it in their vitamin water line in 2010. Their vision is for 100% recyclable and renewable packaging. It's great to see this type of move from one of the Atlanta's and the world's most popular companies.

Georgia Submits Request for Clean-Energy Stimulus Money (Atlanta Business Chronicle) - If the request is approved, the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority will get roughly 2x as much money to aid business in solar, wind and efficiency projects as is available through state tax programs.

2008 Solar Tour - This Weekend

This Saturday, The Georgia Solar Energy Association is hosting the 2008 Solar Tour which is a part of the National Solar Tour organized by the American Solar Energy Society. This is the largest Solar Tour yet in Georgia with 32 homes or organizations particpating. Metro Atlanta has 19 homes or organizations that will be open to the public. The tour goes from 9am through 4pm with most houses open for several hours throughout the day. You can find the schedule on the GSEA website. The tour is self guided so you will need to plan your route and which homes and/or locations you will want to visit. Following the tour, there will be a reception held at Southface Energy Institute. There will also be a keynote address by John Baumstark, CEO of Suniva, Atlanta's leader in PV technology. The reception does require tickets and are $25 for GSEA friends and $15 for GSEA members

We are very excited about this tour and are looking forward to visiting several of the homes and the Georgia Tech Solar Decathlon exhibit. It is great to know that there are a record number of participants in this year's tour and it looks like some big players are getting involved as sponsors. The future of Solar Energy appears to be bright in Georgia.

Tour Sponsors Include

Platinum Sponsors

Alston & Bird, LLP

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

Radiance Energies, LLC

Southface Energy Institute

Gold Sponsors

Georgia Solar Power Company

Hannah Solar

OneWorld Sustainable, Inc.

Rheem/Solahart
Suncatcher of Atlanta

Xantrex Technology