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We all need to LEARN about the opportunities to install photovoltaic panels, DECIDE to pursue getting the panels, and take the ACTion required to have them installed. (Think Globally ) Town governments may need to dapt their building permitting processes for homeowners.
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Solar thermal systems have been used for years, we need to encourage our towns to add passive and active solar heat wherever they build or retrofit. Promoting solar energy is something that organizations such as Peoples Action for Clean Energy has been doing for years. ( more information ) (some contractors ). (Think Globally )
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Interest in wind energy is growing. There are many sources of information available to town governments to help them adapt their permitting processes for windpower and create an information clearinghouse of windpower examples, contractors, and analysts for towns, businesses and homeowners (Think Globally) .
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Hydropower: Our rivers and streams have potential to contribute to our energy needs with installation of low impact microhydropower systems. A crucial part of the LEARN step with hydropower must be what the effects on the stream would be if it is used for hydropower. ( more information )(example) (Think Globally).
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Below our feet the temperature beneath the surface stays around 55 degrees F year round. This geothermal difference in temperature between the surface and deep under the surface can be used to supply heat in the Winter and cooling in the Summer. (example) (example) (Think Globally).
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Biofuel is a general term for liquid fuels that are made from renewable resources. There may be benefits for our farmers of growing biofuel crops. (CT DEP) (more info) (bioheat fuel suppliers) (Think Globally).
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Biomass is the use of wood and other renewable materials for energy. Use of low quality wood for fuel has the potential to improve our forests if managed carefully. We need to investigate the effects of increased wood burning in northwest CT as well as methods to use wood as a fuel as efficiently as possible. For example, pellet stoves produce heat far more efficiently with less pollution than fireplaces or even most wood stoves now in use, yet there is no pellet manufacturing plant in NW CT. (more info) (example) (Think Globally) .
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Methane is a greenhouse gas that traps far more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide. It is produced naturally during the decomposition of organic material in the absence of oxygen. If methane gas escaping from landfills, manure pits, treatment systems and other locations can be burned to generate heat and electricity, it has the potential to decrease climate change by converting methane to the less powerful greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The energy produced is energy that does not have to be generated by burning fossil fuels. There is a potential for our towns to use their old landfills to produce energy. ( funding assistance )( more info ) (more) (more info) (Think Globally)
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Fuel Cell technology is available for generating electricity for large installations, but if the source of their hydrogen is a fossil fuel and the carbon is released as carbon dioxide, fuel cells can only be considered part of a viable energy transition because they can produce less greenhouse gases than traditional power plants. Hydrogen from electrolysis powered by a renewable resource such as sunlight may be able to provide the energy storage necessary to fully powering our society without fossil fuels. (example) .
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Muscle Power. Bike paths and pedestrian zones can not only decrease use of fossil fuels, they make us healthier! According to the EPA, each gallon of gasoline produces 8.8 kilograms (or 19.4 pounds) of CO2 which would occupy 4.9 cubic meters (172 cubic feet) of space. So, if you ride your bike instead of driving your car over a ten-mile round trip just 3 times, you have avoided putting at least 19.4 pounds of CO2 into the air, plus other, more potent greenhouse gases that also cause smog. If your car gets less 30 mpg, you have avoided even more. And that does not include the pounds you lost getting exercise!