Town Hall Renewable Energy Forum - Saturday, August 11th at 7pm
The Forum was a smashing success! We had over 40 people come out and learn about the options that already exist to bring us clean energy and energy independence, including solar, wind, and geothermal forms of renewable energy. The goals of the Town Hall Renewable Energy Forum were twofold:
1) educate and empower residents and businesses with the knowledge they need to pursue renewable sources of power in their homes and offices
2) discuss options on a community scale for renewable power generation
We met the first goal with gusto. Unfortunately, due to the enthralling nature of the possibilities that do exist and the little that we know about these possibilities as a society, we spent the entirety of our two hours meeting the first goal in a thorough and fulfilling manner. This is excellent, however, because knowledge and literacy in the first goal leads to capability and potential for the second. We will be holding more forums in the coming months that can more specifically address goal #2 as well as expound upon goal #1 for those who were not able to attend the inaugural forum.
We started off with intro by Mayor Johnson followed by an opening address that Tim delivered. After that, Dan Andrews from the Carroll County Environmental Advisory committee presented all about solar hot water systems and technology followed by photovoltaic electrical generation technology. Vince DiPietro, solar veteran from Sykesville, was on hand to present his wealth of experiential knowledge, including how much energy he's saved and how many costs he's cut as a result of installing his solar hot water and photovoltaic systems. Dan demonstrated the differences between incandescent lightbulbs, compact fluorescent lightbulbs, and LED (light-emitting diode) lightbulbs; how they run from least energy efficient (incandescent) to most energy efficient (LED). He gave a brief powerpoint on renewables and was followed by Tom Williams from Freedom Energy Solutions out of Westminster (freedomenergysolutions.com). Tom briefly presented on geothermal, followed by a short round of questions for all of the presenters before it was time to wrap up at 9 o'clock! Afterwards, we stuck around in conversation until a little after 10.
If you missed the Forum, there's no need to worry - the Community Media Center recorded the event and it will be broadcast on Channel 23 cable in Carroll County. Click here for showtimes. We will also try to make available DVD copies of the event and post some video footage on the site.
We are beginning to explore options for a Town municipal utility/ community energy project, so if you're interested in planning and getting involved, please contact Tim at tim@greenmountairy.org or 301.471.2960
Tim delivers the opening address
Vince and Dan present details on the massive energy and budget savings
of Vince's solar systems
Vince and Dan up close; Dan is excited about solar!
Dan delivers his powerpoint
Showing the Compact Fluorescent difference: his battery can support
10 hours on an incandescent bulb as opposed to 24 hours on a CFL. Greater
efficiency is an important part of going renewable.
All of the presenters field questions at the end: Vince, Tim, Tom, Dan
Mayor Johnson sizing up a solar panel with a Mount Airy picture and the American flag in the background. Might we have also captured the future in this photo?
Opening Address
by Tim Richards
"Citizens for a Green Mount Airy – Green and sustainable are used interchangeably, because in the long run, our products, practices, and lifestyles will have to be green to be sustainable, since we rely on the natural world for the existence of the human world. Thus, whatever human world we create must operate in the capacity of and evolve harmoniously with the natural world rather than dominate or destroy the natural world to feed and fuel the human world.
The two most important steps toward sustainability involve two of the most important aspects to our existence: food and energy. We have literature in the back concerning local, organic, and thus sustainable food, but that’s not why we’re here tonight. Tonight, we’re here to talk about energy.
Our energy status quo is problematic. Yes, we have our lights on, but we rely on a system of energy production and distribution that is physically, economically, environmentally, and socially unsustainable. Physically, because the centralized grid is already overburdened and the forms of power that feed it are not renewable. Economically, because the wealth in the current system belongs largely in the hands of a few individuals at the top of a few large, powerful corporations. Environmentally, because the current methods of energy production destroy the environment out of which they are extracted and the byproducts of their consumption pollute every facet of the global environment – the air we breath, the water we drink, the food we eat. Socially, because communities are disempowered and reliant on external entities far away to get their basic needs for survival. These external entities are undemocratic and unaccountable, further contributing to the social unsustainability of the energy status quo.
In order to be sustainable, our society needs communities that are autonomous and democratically run. In order for this to occur, we need an energy system that is physically sustainable in that it is decentralized and caters to the needs of a community, economically sustainable through local ownership that operates with the interests of the local economy in mind, environmentally sustainable by generating clean power from renewable sources, and socially sustainable by ensuring democratic participation within the community.
The goals of the Town Hall Renewable Energy Forum are twofold:
1) educate and empower residents and businesses with the knowledge they need to pursue renewable sources of power in their homes and offices
2) discuss options on a community scale for renewable power generation
Tonight, we're here to discuss solutions. Dan Andrews will present some of the alternative technologies that we now have available to solve the problematic energy status quo."
