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WE CAN REACH ‘DRAWDOWN’ BY MID-2040’S ISSUE 62 • September - November 2020 ☀ Sustainable Farming 2020 ( pages 20-21) ☀ FREE! SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR VT, NH, NY and Beyond R S! EA Y 11 Energy Independence, Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Living and MORE! www.greenenergytimes.org | 802.439.6675 Taking Major League Baseball Players for the Planet Jessie Haas Farming to Brent Suter, “When I went around asking teammates pitcher for the if they want to do StrikeOutWaste and Net Zero Milwaukee use a reusable water bottle, over 100 George Harvey Brewers, re- guys responded with a resounding yes. Farming stands out as one of the cently endorsed the Energy We saw a pretty big dent in our spring most important contributors to climate training plastic usage, so that was a change. The U.S. Environmental Protec- Innovation and tion Agency lists it as contributing 10% Carbon Divi- pretty cool sign”. – Brent Suter of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions dend Act which as of 2020, but this does not tell the is working its Image: brewcrewball.com whole story (https://bit.ly/31eSEzv). way through The European Commission lists the five the U.S. House most consequential causes of rising of Representa- GHG emissions as burning fuel, cutting tives. Fellow down forests, livestock farming, nitro- endorsers Brent gen-based fertilizers, and fluorinated include many Suter gases. (https://bit.ly/3ldtcTd) Please names that will note that two of these are specific to be familiar to Endorses agriculture, and one of the other three New England is largely related to agriculture. readers, includ- Energy Other sources show greater emis- ing former Ver- sions working the land. A story that ap- mont governor Innovation peared in Forbes last December, “Why Howard Dean Agriculture’s Greenhouse Gas Emis- and biathlete Act Susan Dunklee. Over seven hun- Brent Suter, MLB player for the Milwaukee Brewers, speaks out as an athlete’s voice for StrikeOutWaste. Image: big12fantastics.com dred businesses, 116 faith groups, 118 local governments, In brief, the bill Energy Innovation Act carbon adjustment,’ and American com- 187 nonprofits, and six tribal entities also puts a small fee on fossil fuels, which will panies will receive a refund. According support the legislation. The bill has 82 co- increase over time. This is intended to to the website energyinnovationact.org, sponsors including Adam Schiff, Chellie drive down their use. The money gath- “This policy preserves effective current Pingree, Barbara Lee, Seth Moulton, and ered by the carbon fee will be returned regulations, like auto mileage standards, Karen Bass, all Democrats. (There is one to American people; the law is designed but pauses the EPA authority to regulate Republican cosponsor, Francis Rooney of to be revenue-neutral. In order to protect the CO2 and equivalent emissions cov- Florida.) Representatives of all northeast American jobs and industry, imported ered by the fee for the first 10 years after states except Vermont are cosponsors. goods will pay what’s called a ‘border the policy is enacted. If emission targets are not being met after 10 Cont’d on p.38 Fossil Fuels Declining Solectrac electric tractor. Image: Solectrac. IN THIS ISSUE: As Renewables Rise sions Are Almost Always Underesti- EV’s in the Winter p.4 George Harvey mated,” says that farming and land use e-Bikes and Brews p.6 may contribute as much as 20% of all Every month or so, the GHG emissions (https://bit.ly/34seGka). Federal Energy Regulatory Solar Pioneer pp. 12-13 And an article that appeared in Nature, Commission (FERC) publishes “One-third of our greenhouse gas its estimates of short-term Community Gardening p.21 emissions come from agriculture,” has changes in the energy markets. a title that says exactly what it means Among its data is a table show- Radiant Heating p.22 (https://go.nature.com/3gcFqri). ing its expectations of prob- Choosing Insulation p.24 The reasons for the differences lie able infrastructure additions partly in how emissions are calculated. and retirements, organized by Passive House in VT pp.28-29 For example, one of the really signifi- technology. cant causes of emissions has to do with FERC’s projections of prob- The San Juan generating station is closing down. At its peak, it had a No-till Gardening p.33 the soil and how it is handled. Plants able additions include no new capacity of 1,848 MW. (Wikipedia) draw down carbon dioxide from the coal-burning power plants over Managing Food Scraps p.37 atmosphere. Much of what they turn it the next three years, but 20,696 years. into is put underground, in the roots. megawatts (MW) of capacity to be retired. The picture is a bit different for renew- Chemicals in Plastics p.38 So plants are potentially great allies. While 23,415 MW of natural gas plants are able energy. Probable additions of wind But some calculations have ignored expected to come online, 5,935 MW are power come to 26,798 MW, with retire- the fact that tilling the soil can cause expected to retire. FERC projects 4 MW of ments of 239 MW. Probable additions a complex set of changes that release additional oil-burning additions, but 3,986 of solar power are 26,154 MW, with no Please recycle or the carbon back into the atmosphere, MW of oil-fired capacity to be retired. Alto- retirements. FERC projects 2,063 MW of share this publication destroying the great advantage the gether, this means that FERC is projecting hydropower probably added, against plants can provide. a reduction of 7,198 MW of net generating retirements of 7 MW. For other renew- when finished Clearly, farming can capacity powered by fossil fuels over three able energy (geothermal, Cont’d on p.20 Cont’d on p.3 A SOLAR G.E.T. IT! POWERED Green Energy Times is brought to you, in part, from the generosity of our sponsors: Does Your COMPANY Town Have an Energy Plan? EEN ENERGY T MES nyses.org GR... be energy independent! ™ GREEN ENERGY TIMES (G.E.T.) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1749 Wright’s Mountain Road • Bradford, VT 05033 WE REMEMBER BHIMA NITTA AS A t/f: 802.439.6675 • [email protected] NEWS AND HAPPENINGS .................. 3 G.E.T.’s COMMUNICATIONS TEAM: PASSIONATE PART OF THE SOLUTION BUTTONUP VT ............................................. 3 Publisher/Editor/Production ...................Nancy Rae Mallery his staff spent working General Factotum ............................................ George Harvey The Green Energy BUILDING COMMUNITIES GRANTS ............... 3 Times team notes with people on ways Coordinating Director ..................................Michelle Harrison to lower their energy DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK ................................ 3 Copy Editors ................................Ray Brewster, Susanna Lewis with sorrow the pass- ing of Bhima Nitta, needs. Rather than TRANSPORTATION ............................... 4-7 Recreational Editor ............................................... Roger Lohr simply try to sell more founder and owner EVS IN THE WINTER ..................................... 4 A huge special thank you to all of our contributing writers: of Power-Guru Solar solar panels, Bhima Yolanda Baumgartner, Dr. Alan K. Betts, John Bos, Randy Electric Systems on and his team always CARS AS AN ENERGY APPLIANCE .................. 5 Bryan, Joanne Coons, David Fried, Katharine Gage, Nate Gusa- August 6th, 2020. began with an en- kov, Jessie Haas, George Harvey, Cassandra Hemenway, Wendy ergy audit where they VT BIKE AND BREW ..................................... 6 Koch, Kevin Lambert, Therese Langer, Russ Lanoie, Roger Lohr, Bhima was 54 years old. would try to LOWER E-BIKE LOVE ............................................... 6 Catherine Paplin, Andrew Perchlik , Larry Plesent, Joan Rech, the number of panels Emily Roscoe, David Roberts, Mike Stiles, Steve Swanson, Jim Bhima was pas- REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS FROM FREIGHT.. 7 Van Valkenburgh, Barb and Greg Whitchurch sionate about being needed by suggesting other ways of saving EVS AND PHEVS AS BACKUP POWER ............ 7 Ad Design/Layout .........................Nancy Rae Mallery, PJ Fischer a part of the solution to global climate power. For Bhima, SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAICS (PV) ............ 8-13 Printing ....... Concord Monitor, Concord, NH using 100% recycled the ultimate goal was paper and plant-based, environmentally-safe inks. change. TINYSOLAR VT ............................................ 8 His lifetime of work never his short-term Advertising: focused on clean en- profit, but rather the CONCENTRATING SOLAR GENERATION ......... 9 .................... Nancy Rae Mallery, Bradford, VT 802.439.6675 ergy was more than a job for Bhima, and long-term goal of BADGER GOES 100% SOLAR ....................... 10 [email protected] serving the needs of our community and it led him to the founding of Power Guru. SOLARIZE HANOVER PROGRESSES ............. 11 ...................Michelle Harrison, Londonderry, NH 603.437.0167 Bhima believed that the only acceptable planet. [email protected] answer to the existential threat of climate If ever there was a time when the world SOLAR PIONEER ........................................ 12 .....................................Vicki Moore, Danville, VT 802.748.2655 needed people like Bhima, that time is [email protected] change was to be part of the solution, MUNICIPAL SOLAR – MADISON, NH ........... 13 and through his work at Power Guru he now. The choice he made to dedicate his Distribution: Sally Bellew, Larry Chase, Johnny Hinrichs, was directly helping people find solutions life’s work to green energy and