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Haddam Bulletin
Volume XLVIII, Number 8 - August, 2007
ENERGY Makes Haddam Go Around
by John Friedlander
Question: What do calories, British Thermal Units, and Kilowatt Hours have in common?
Answer: They are all different ways to measure units of energy, and we all want to burn fewer of them.
Underlying all the discussions about "green" and "sustainable" communities is the inescapable, unalterable truth that it takes ENERGY to power everything we do. Whether it's running a half-hour on the treadmill, biking to the corner store, driving to the shore to soak up some sun, running all the machines in a factory, or keeping an entire town like Haddam in business, every bit of every motion we make and every action we take requires energy to get started.
Ultimately, all of this energy comes from only one place: the sun. Direct conversion of the sun's rays into heat is as familiar as sitting in a warm window reading a book. The energy we get from eating is a bit less direct: our bodies biochemical "engines" draw caloric value out of food that can be traced back to plants using photosynthesis to store the sun's energy. Our vehicles and most electrical power generating plants burn petroleum or minerals created eons ago when tiny plants and animals (photosynthesis "machines") gradually decomposed en masse and turned into burnable liquids or solids. The process of burning releases the energy as heat which can be put to work.
Of course, unless you've been living in a cave lately, you know that the downside of all this combustion is that it creates too much carbon dioxide. This CO2, a "greenhouse" gas, is turning the earth into a slow roaster, changing our environment steadily into one less comfortable for humans.
How is this fundamental science relevant to Haddam?
It is relevant because both individually and collectively, our energy bill is too high, and lowering it will save us all money - and the planet.
I don't know anyone who is happy about paying among the highest prices in the nation for electricity. But we can't forget that the town of Haddam is a rate-payer too. Collectively, a portion of the taxes collected to operate Haddam's public services, including the lights that burn in Town Hall, the RD17 school busses and the Seniors' Bus that move our residents around town, and the heat that keeps Brainerd Library's books warm derives directly from the expense of buying the electricity and petroleum products that make those services possible. Many don't stop to realize that the very design of the towns we live in help to determine how much energy we each use to get to the market, the post office or to pick up a pizza.
Obviously, sooner or later, everything comes down to money. Sometimes the price tags aren't immediately obvious. By putting off taking cost-cutting measures, or failing to invest in energy-saving solutions, we drive delayed costs higher, and we run the risk of exacerbating urgent problems. By failing to reduce energy consumption and address climate change, we risk increasing the severity of conditions already predicted to have dramatic impacts on everything from the price of food to the toxicity of poison ivy, and from the availability of insurance to the very places we are able to live. Of course, don't forget the impact rising energy costs will have on our taxes.
How much of a difference can we make?
Among Connecticut's 169 towns Haddam ranks114th in population, 21st in land area, and 134th in population density.
The numbers indicate that it will take Haddam less work to have an impact on its overall energy consumption, since we are relatively land-rich, and not very crowded. Compared with other towns in the state, it should be easier for us to influence and control our energy bill than most other Connecticut residents.
How can we trim Haddam's energy bill?
Does Haddam meet this standard? It depends on where you look.
There are many, many ways to economize without crimping our lifestyles, starting with ensuring that town operations are run as efficiently as we run our households. Energy saving compact fluorescent lights, reasonable moderation of heating and cooling systems, and operating vehicles efficiently are obvious low-hanging fruit. Ensuring that energy-efficiency criteria are met as town services expand, and supporting residents' efforts to decrease energy use are topics to be covered in future columns, and can contribute to reducing overall energy costs by as much as 90% in some cases.
Haddam won't be on the fringe by taking major actions to reduce its energy demand. More and more communities and even the state of Connecticut are finding it prudent to conserve. Governor Rell recently announced the statewide "One Thing" program, a $1.5 million marketing campaign to urge state residents to cut down on energy consumption. Connecticut Light & Power has a "Summer Saver" program which offers billing discounts for residential customers who reduce their electricity use from last year's levels.
Reducing demand is only half of the picture, however. Increasing supply is the other half.
Connecticut's regulated utility companies would have us believe that they are the only "real" sources of power we can depend on, and that our energy futures depend solely on making massive purchases of generating technology and distribution infrastructure. Underlying this argument is the uncomfortable truth that these large systems require either foreign oil, natural gas or dirty domestic coal to operate. Rarely discussed is the true cost of acquiring these resources: massive worldwide military operations to secure oil, and grave health risks and environmental destruction to obtain coal and natural gas. If truth-in-labeling laws applied to these expenditures, we would be astonished to learn how much of our federal taxes are actually spent on keeping our energy addiction satisfied.
Fortunately, there are ways we can put power back into the grid, thus lessening our dependence on expensive and foreign energy sources. Active photovoltaic solar collection technology has advanced over the last decade and, when financed properly, can be a reasonable investment for some uses. Passive solar design - orienting and designing buildings to take advantage of natural daylighting and heating has always been a way to cut energy demand, and is becoming a part of more new development plans, after decades of being ignored. Wind energy is making a comeback. Old farmers' wisdom of using free and easily harnessed wind to pump water is being implemented by homeowners and utility companies to create electricity that can be used locally or fed back into the grid.
Small hydroelectric generators are being installed where old factories used water wheels to run factory machines, providing electricity to new residences and businesses, and feeding excess power back into the grid.
What's more, regional power cooperatives are forming, which channel individuals' investments in power generation into projects large enough to have more than local impact. There is a huge gulf between the 1-10 kilowatts a roof-mounted residential photovoltaic system can generate and the many megawatts a large utility-owned electric plant can produce. Regional power cooperatives can occupy a middle ground, by financing generation systems which produce enough energy to power a neighborhood, or a part of a small town.
Can Haddam benefit from a regional power cooperative?
The first step in answering that question is to determine what our overall energy bill is, and to determine what potential energy production assets our area may be blessed with.
Figuring our current community energy bill isn't all that hard, and can be done with an effort organized by a few committed citizens, in coordination with interested community organizations. An excellent methodology can be found in the Rocky Mountain Institute's excellent book "Community Energy Workbook."
Identifying potential community energy production assets can get complicated, but it can start easily by remembering that the smart folks who settled Haddam did so because they found the energy resources they needed to power their farms and factories. Researching Haddam's industrial past will point to energy sources that can be used again in new ways.
Another step toward reducing our energy demand and increasing our energy supply is to realize that energy issues don't respect political borders. Solutions to local challenges may arise from partnering with other towns facing the same issues. For example, both Chester and East Haddam residents are talking about energy demand and supply. We may be able to achieve far more by working together with surrounding towns than we might by going it alone.
A major opportunity to discuss Haddam's energy issues and to implement a community plan to reduce our consumption and produce power on a local basis is in the completion of Haddam's Plan of Conservation and Development, as mentioned in this space last month. The POCD already contains valuable insights into what we invest energy into and what natural resources exist which may contribute to lessening our energy dependence. Adding a list of energy goals to the POCD would make it a far more "current" document - pun intended.
Though it should be obvious that cutting our individual and community energy consumption will save us money, it shouldn't take statistical or political gymnastics to motivate us, when helping to save the planet by working to convert from an unsustainable dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels to an economy based on renewable energy sources is simply the Right Thing To Do. What will our children and grandchildren think of us if we fail to meet today's energy challenge, and they are forced to live in an environment made far less livable because of our heedless and wasteful consumption of precious non-renewable resources?
Energy policy is not a topic reserved for the federal or state government to debate and dictate. Each of us - that's me and you - make decisions every day that directly impact how much we pay for energy at the end of each month, and how much we will pay in the future. As a community, we can take a leadership position in the state by taking prudent and positive action to reduce Haddam's demand for energy, and by looking for ways to benefit from clean, renewable and economical local sources of energy.
If you want to help determine Haddam's overall energy footprint, contact John Friedlander.
For more information on energy cooperatives, surf here and here.
For more information about the Rocky Mountain Institute's "Community Energy Workbook," surf here.
For information on a Chester citizen"s work to address energy issues and much more, surf here, and look for the article "How to Develop without Growing: How Big Is Your Love?"
For more information on CL&P's Summer Saver program, surf here or call 1-877-WISE USE (877-947-3873).
John Friedlander is a Haddam resident who laughs at automakers' claims that increasing corporate average fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 will force them out of business, as he drives his 2006 mid-size clean diesel sedan which averages over 40 miles per gallon.
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Though I wrote this column, the Haddam Bulletin owns it now, including the copyright associated with it. The column appears here by permission, and no other publication is allowed without express permission from the publisher.