New Energy Future News

Read the Report.  

Concord, NH – With possible energy shortages this summer and in coming years, New Hampshire should take advantage of many oppor­tunities to reduce its biggest uses of energy and tap local sources of renewable energy using technologies available today, according to a report released today by Environment New Hampshire and Clean Water Action. A coalition of climate action groups is also calling on to Governor Lynch to take a more comprehensive approach in implementing climate policies, while working with neighboring governors to fulfill the commitments made in their 2001 regional climate action plan. The region’s governors head to the annual conference of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers early next week to discuss energy, environmental and other issues.

“While New Hampshire has taken a number of good first steps in tackling our climate and energy crises, we need to take a more comprehensive approach while taking better advantage of existing technologies, as this report describes,” said Doug Bogen, NH Program Director for Clean Water Action.

With the region experiencing various indicators of a looming energy crisis, from high and volatile energy prices to strained infrastructure and supply to accelerating global warming and climate disruption, the groups’ report, Tomorrow’s Energy Today, underscores the availability and feasibility of practical solutions to New England’s energy problems. Achieving the region’s near-term energy efficiency and renewable energy potential could shave our energy consumption by at least 18 percent and reduce the region’s emissions of carbon dioxide by at least 20 percent, the report concludes.

“Our research shows that the solutions exist to curb global warming pollution and can keep our state on track to meet our commitment,” said Erika Staaf, Advocate for Environment New Hampshire Research & Policy Center. “Now our leaders must renew that commitment at the coming governors and premiers meeting.”

According to the report, a scenario that takes advantage of the region’s full 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.

These global warming reductions would exceed the near-term goals for region-wide emission reduc­tions of 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 set out in the New England Governors/East­ern Canadian Premiers’ 2001 Climate Change Action Plan and of the 10 percent reduction by 2019 required of electric power plants by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI was signed onto by Governor Lynch, but still has to be enacted by the legislature next year.

The report, produced for the New England Climate Coalition with the support of New Hampshire Research & Policy Center and Clean Water Fund, 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 identified the best existing technology to reduce energy usage and replace dirty energy use with clean sources.

Reducing our use of dirty energy sources will ease the pressure to build new or expanded traditional energy infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas terminals, fossil fuel-fired power plants and nuclear power plants, according to the report. Additionally, the region will experience more price stability and a boost in local energy investment, considering that 90 percent of our energy comes from out of the region.

“When it comes to energy policy, we’ve been on auto-pilot for too long,” said Staaf. “We need to turn the wheel harder to steer our state to a new energy future.”

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 – allowing business and industry to create heat and electricity at the same time – resulting in a large improve­ment in overall energy efficiency.

In addition, Tomorrow’s Energy Today surveyed New England’s potential 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 – only enough to power our homes, vehicles and businesses for 2 hours and 15 minutes of each 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. One scenario for near-term renewable energy development to meet this goal might 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;

• * 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 a more secure and reliable energy future while meeting our global warming pollution reduction goals,” said Bogen.