New Energy Future News

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Worcester, MA - Massachusetts can relieve many of the problems that plague its energy infrastructure by reducing energy waste and tapping local sources of renewable energy.  By using technologies that are available today, New England could shave energy consumption by at least 18 percent and reduce the region’s emissions of carbon dioxide by at least 20 percent, according to Tomorrow’s Energy Today, a report released today by the Environment Massachusetts Research & Policy Center and Clean Water Fund, accompanied by Worcester Mayor Lukes and City Councilor Haller.

While Massachusetts experiences the symptoms of an energy crisis, from high and volatile energy prices to strained infrastructure and supply to global warming pollution, Tomorrow’s Energy Today underscores the availability and feasibility of solutions to state and regional energy problems.  The report was unveiled at the Kilby/Gardner affordable housing project site where the Main South CDC is installing solar panels on the roof of 10 homes.

“When it comes to energy policy, we’ve been on auto-pilot for too long,” said Diana Connett of the Environment Massachusetts. “We need to steer our state to a new energy future.  We are starting to see this kind of leadership in Worcester, but because our electric grid is region-wide and pollution doesn’t stay in one place, we need the rest of the state and the region to begin implementing these ready-to-use solutions.”

According to the new report from the Massachusetts Climate Coalition, a scenario that takes advantage of the region’s near-term energy efficiency and renewable energy potential could:

•  Cut gasoline consumption by 21 percent;

•  Cut diesel fuel consumption by 13 percent;

•  Cut natural gas consumption by 22 percent;

•  Cut nuclear power production by 26 per­cent;

•  Cut coal consumption by 28 percent; and

•  Reduce the region’s emissions of carbon dioxide by nearly 20 percent.

“Our research shows that the solutions exist to curb global warming pollution and can put our state on track to address our energy crisis.  We want to see energy efficiency triple or quadruple in the coming decade and get at least 20 percent of our energy in Massachusetts from new clean, renewable sources,” said Lilah Glick of the Clean Water Fund.

“There is so much we can do right now, and the technology is already available to do it, said Peggy Middaugh, Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Council.  “Installing energy efficiency measures, such as efficient appliances, insulation, and efficient lighting, should be a no-brainer.  These things save money and improve comfort while protecting the environment.  Renewable energy products, like the solar panels being installed as part of the Kilby/Gardner project, prove that this technology is ready for residential use.  The homeowners here will benefit by generating 66% of their electricity right on their rooftops, and paying that much less on their energy bills.”

The report uses recent US Department of Energy data to look at fuel use and sector for each state in New England. For each of the largest end uses of that energy, the analysis probed the best existing technologies to reduce energy waste and replace dirty energy with clean, homegrown sources.

Taking advantage of available energy efficiency will ease the pressure to build new or expand old dirty energy infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas terminals, fossil fuel-fired power plants and nuclear power plants. Additionally, Massachusetts and the region will experience better price stability, a boost in local energy investment, and more local jobs, considering that 90 percent of New England’s energy currently comes from outside of the region.

By implementing technologies available today, New England can significantly reduce energy use and global warming emissions, including:

•  Technological improvements to cars and light trucks that would enable vehicles to achieve average fuel economy of at least 33 miles-per-gal­lon over the next decade, and much better fuel economy in the years to come;

•  Improvements to heavy-duty trucks that can reduce their fuel consumption per mile by 29 percent;

•  Weatherizing homes in New England to reduce their use of fuel for space heating during the cold winter months and reduce air conditioning demand in the summer;

•  Improved water heaters and other major appli­ances for homeowners that achieve significant reductions in energy consumption;

•  More energy-efficient space heating, cooling and lighting equipment in commercial buildings;

•  More efficient motors in industrial facilities, along with smarter integration of motors into industrial processes; and

•  Combined heat-and-power technology that allows business and industry to create heat and electricity at the same time – resulting in a large improve­ment in overall energy efficiency.

“These common-sense, ready-to-use measures can tackle multiple big problems such as energy supply, price stability and global warming, all that the same time.  This is why we need to set goals of quadrupling energy efficiency and getting 20% of our energy from new, clean renewable sources in Massachusetts by the year 2020,” added Connett.

In addition, Tomorrow’s Energy Today reviewed New England’s solar and wind energy resources, which are suf­ficient to power the entire region several times over. Currently, very little of New England’s energy comes from within the region.  According to the report, native New England power is only enough to power our homes, vehicles and businesses for 2 hours and 15 minutes of every day. Taking advantage of only a small share of our renew­able resources could enable us to replace 10 percent of the region’s electricity generation with new renewable energy in the near future. Some such scenarios include:

•  Building five offshore wind energy facilities of the same size as the proposed Cape Wind project off Massachusetts;

•  Installing 1,860 wind turbines in onshore loca­tions in New England, requiring temporary dis­ruption of less than 0.03 percent of the region’s land area and permanent impacts on only a small fraction of that area;

•  Installing solar photovoltaic panels on less than one-half percent of New England’s homes or 1.5 percent of its businesses; and

•  Using cost-effective biomass resources from mill wastes and low-quality wood from our forests.

“If we do all of these feasible things, we’ll be heading toward more secure and reliable energy while meeting our global warming pollution reduction goals,” said Glick. 

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