GP: tick tock

["kirk" <kirk@3rivers.net>]

Encouraging green power is a good thing-- and certainly people in cities
have to import power. Unfortunately it leaves the centralized power paradigm
intact--and that is not a good thing. Even structures in the city can use
the sun. Using electricity and fossil fuel for low grade heat such as space
heating and hot water is misapplication.

We often see gas burned to heat living space and offices when it would be
far better to cogenerate with that fuel. Electricity could be generated and
what is burden in a power plant--the bottom end heat--becomes useful load in
a cogen application.

We better use our resources utilizing a system approach or we deserve to
suffer the cosequences. We can no longer turn a blind eye to waste.

Kirk

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Gray [mailto:tomgray@igc.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 8:22 PM
To: green-power@crest.org
Subject: GP: RE: RE: Re: Time is running out!


So, I hope everyone on this list is buying green tags or green power . . .
www.greentagsusa.com or www.newwindenergy.com or
www.greenmountain.com , among others.

Here's a little piece I wrote on this.

Tom

A DIME A DAY

At this writing (July, 2002), the U.S. Congress is considering a national
energy bill.  The version of the bill that has been
approved by the Senate includes a proposed "Renewables Portfolio Standard,"
or RPS, which would require every electricity
supplier in the U.S. to obtain at least 10% of its electricity from
renewable energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal, biomass,
hydro) by the year 2020.

There is great debate over this provision, which would, however slowly,
start the United States on the path to clean energy
after years of dithering.  In particular, there is concern about its cost,
with supporters and opponents offering widely differing
estimates.

However, there can be no debating the following fact:  It is possible,
today, for the average American household to support a
10% renewable electricity standard at a cost of just over a dime a day, well
within most family budgets.  Here's how:

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) sells a product called a
"green tag," which certifies the production of a
certain amount of electricity from renewable resources such as solar and
wind.  When the electricity is generated, the tag is
created.  The generator can then sell the electricity to a utility at the
market price, and can also sell the tag to a buyer who is
willing to pay to support renewable energy.  (For a complete explanation,
see the BEF Web site at
http://www.greentagsusa.org .)

Each BEF tag represents the generation of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of
electricity from renewables, and costs $20.  There is a
minimum purchase requirement of two tags, for a total cost of $40.

The average American household uses about 10,000 kilowatt-hours of
electricity each year.  Two BEF tags, at a cost of
$40/year, will pay for the generation of 2,000 kilowatt-hours, or about 20%
of a household's use.  $40 a year, in turn, amounts
to just under 11 cents a day.

What this means is that by buying two BEF tags each year, you can support
the generation of enough clean electricity from
renewable energy sources to double the proposed 10% national standard--and
not in 2020, but right now.

Green tags are a simple, affordable way to substitute clean energy sources
for dirty ones, clearing the air we breathe and
fighting the increasing threat of global warming.  Find out more about them,
today.


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