Community energy

I enjoy Unity College's close involvement with the state of Maine's many community energy groups. It makes me happy to see folks who are willing to step up to the plate and begin to figure out their energy problems as a community.

I just got this particular example in my email and decided to highlight it here:

Friends,

What is a non profit community based clean energy project about? It is decision making by and for the community. The community has the ability and responsibility to look out for its own interests. Those interests include caring about our planet and the people that live on it, specifically in our own neighborhood. How can we balance the demand for electricity and other energy products with a clean and healthy environment? How can we promote a responsible energy economy that harnesses our local resources without doing more harm than good? These are some of the questions being discussed at Peninsula Power meetings. Peninsula Power is a group of interested volunteers from our area that wants to find answers to some of these questions. Only the community at large will have authority to act on any findings. Hopefully all members of our community are interested in helping solve some of these questions and would like to be part of the conversation, education, and study process.. Peninsula Power is not an outside force or profit making venture aggressively pushing for a commercial site on the Blue Hill Peninsula that will devastate our community.

Complacency with the status quo is a slippery slope that could lead to economic and environmental catastrophy. For decades Maine, and our local area, has imported 95% of it's energy needs from out of the State and Country. According to State statistics that equals 5 billion dollars a year being shipped out of state and never coming back. Can we afford those losses? We as a State are vulnerable to any supply or price fluctuations, and virtually any and all energy issues and problems. With world demand for energy increasing at a rapid rate these concerns are only getting greater. China has already surpassed the USA in its number of cars on the road and annual energy consumption. In two hundred years we will have burned up carbon based fuels that were two million years in the making. When is a good time to look for a clean alternative? Maine people have historically been independently minded and willing to create their own solutions, not willing to take what is spoon fed from afar. Let's look at all the difficult issues and see what can be done. Individual communities can make a difference.

Noise from wind turbines is one of the biggest issues with wind power. Let's look at the facts and see what we can find out. Check out this article and accompanying podcast from "Renewable Energy World" about wind power noise issues featuring Texas and the Vinalhaven wind projects.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/podcast/2010/08/when-is-wind-energy-noise-pollution
If you are finding thoughtful well balanced articles and reports about energy issues or wind power please share them by return email and we can distribute them to our current email list.

Paul Trowbridge

Peninsular Power