Renewable Energy Education Center

 

What is Renewable Energy?

Renewable Energy is energy created from resources that are regenerative - or renewable - meaning they cannot be depleted. Examples of Renewable Energy include Wind, Solar and Water power. These resources are safe for our environment and produce energy without the harmful pollutants and emissions associated with fossil-fuels. Community Energy offers a variety of Renewable Energy products, with a strong focus on wind power and the development of new wind farm projects across the nation.

Why Does Renewable Energy Cost More?

It costs more for two reasons. First, the environmental and human health costs of conventional power generation (such as acid rain and air pollution) are not fully reflected in electricity's market price. That makes the conventional generation seem cheaper than it really is. And the value of clean energy is therefore not recognized by our pricing system. In the case of wind energy, for example, virtually all of the pollution and waste resulting from fossil and nuclear generation is eliminated.

The second reason is that although most renewable resources are free, the technologies used to convert the wind or the sun to electricity, for example, are not. Because renewable energy technologies are younger, and the industries are much smaller than traditional energy industries, they have not had the opportunity to enjoy the economies of scale and prolonged learning curve that benefit today's more established technologies. But times are changing. The cost of wind energy, for example, has dropped 80% since 1980 and the decline continues as the wind energy industry matures.
Sourced from AWEA http://www.awea.org/greenpower/gp_what.html

What is Wind Energy?

Wind Energy is a clean source of electricity produced when specially designed wind turbines capture the wind to generate electricity. Like historical windmills, modern wind turbines generate power from the wind. New wind turbines are the fastest growing and most cost-effective renewable energy technology in the world, and are producing power all across the United States. See how a wind turbine creates electricity and delivers it to the power grid - click here.

Why is Wind Energy a Focus for Community Energy?

Wind energy is the fastest growing energy resource in the world and can economically produce scalable renewable power to meet growing energy demands. In this country, wind power could produce up to 25% of our nation's energy needs and we think this is a good thing. We're working to be part of the solution to bring more clean and renewable wind power to the market.

What are the Benefits of Wind Energy?

Wind Energy...

• Is clean and helps reduce air pollution
• Combats climate change
• Diversifies energy supply
• Creates jobs and regional growth
• Improves rural economies
• Hedges price volatility of fossil fuels
• Delivers clean power on a large scale

Can I Purchase Wind Energy for my Home or Business?

Absolutely. Community Energy works with a number of different utility companies throughout the country offering clean, renewable energy products that can be purchased as an additional item on your electricity bill. If Community Energy does not have a partnership with your utility company, you can still support wind energy through the purchase of wind Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). These third-party certified RECs ensure that each month, clean wind energy is being generated and delivered to the power grid on your behalf, helping to make the mix of electricity in the power grid cleaner. Click here to learn about the wind energy options in your area.

How Will the Wind Energy get to My Home or Business?

Your purchase ensures that wind energy is generated and placed onto the power grid on your behalf. You can think of the power grid like a giant bathtub being filled with electricity from many different faucets - like nuclear, coal or wind. Every time you turn on a light switch, you drain a little electricity from the tub. By buying wind energy from Community Energy you are increasing the amount of pollution-free wind generated electricity, or pouring clean water into the tub, and decreasing the need for energy generation from other non-renewable polluting sources. Wind energy is guaranteed to be placed on the grid in an amount equal to your purchase size, thereby matching your power consumption with clean, renewable wind energy generation. Click here for a diagram.

Is Purchasing Wind Energy Tax Deductible? OR  Are There Any Monetary Incentives for Signing Up?

Currently there are no tax deductions or incentives in any of the states we work in. However, if you would like to stay afoot on this issue, we suggest visiting the following website: www.dsireusa.org (The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy).

Is Wind Energy Bad for Birds?

Birds occasionally collide with turbines, as they do with other tall structures such as buildings and communication towers. Generally, properly sited wind farms pose no significant danger to birds. Extensive studies before construction are now conducted to understand bird migration, habitat, and nesting patterns to ensure the safe siting of the wind farms. In addition, many sites conduct post-construction monitoring. Furthermore, modern wind turbine designs are much more bird-friendly. For example, solid tubular towers, rather than lattice towers, are used to prevent birds from perching on them, and the turbine blades rotate much more slowly than earlier designs. Click here for more information about Avian Collisions with Wind Turbines.

What is Solar Energy?

Solar Energy refers to energy that is produced from sunlight. The energy from sunlight is collected through different means such as photovoltaic cells or solar thermal panels and used to create heat or electricity.

What is Water Energy?

Water Energy - or Hydro Energy - is one of the oldest sources of energy. Small-Hydro Energy meets renewable energy standards by having minimal negative environmental impacts. (Comparatively, large-scale hyrdo sources often involve large dams that may have serious consequences on the surrounding environment.) Small-Hydro systems do not require damming; these systems capture the energy in flowing water and convert it into usable electricity.

For More Information on Renewable Energy and Wind Energy Basics, please visit the following:
- http://www.nrel.gov/learning/re_basics.html
- http://www.windenergyworks.org/WEWBasics/tabid/66/Default.aspx
- http://www.ifnotwind.org/default.shtml
- http://www.awea.org/faq/wwt_basics.html
- http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets.html

What is a Renewable Energy Credit?

Renewable energy credits (RECs), also known as green certificates, green tags, or tradable renewable certificates, represent the environmental and economic value of electricity produced from clean, renewable, emission-free energy resources that are safe for our environment and will never be depleted. RECs hold real and quantifiable economic value and act like a form of currency that allows the environmental attributes of renewable energy generation to be separated from the electricity commodity and to be sold as a separate product.

 Renewable Energy Credits enable consumers all across the country to support renewable energy generation; RECs contribute to the growth of the renewable energy sector, and with consumer support will continue to help make renewable energy even more cost competitive.

 You can buy RECs from Community Energy whether or not you have access to green power through your local utility or a competitive electricity marketer. And you can purchase RECs without having to switch electricity suppliers.

For more information, visit www.awea.org/greenpower, or www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower

How does purchasing RECs help to build new wind farms?

The REC revenue stream is a vital piece of financing in building new wind farms. Our customers and partners' commitments to renewable energy development in the form of voluntary REC purchases has enhanced the viability of new wind power projects, and demonstrated the demand necessary to seek out and build new projects. In all eight projects that CEI and Iberdrola have developed or helped to finance with REC marketing efforts, REC revenue streams were explicitly valued (based on voluntary market customer contracts or market projections) and vital to project feasibility. As the industry continues to evolve, reliable REC revenue streams will be even more critical to flipping the economics of wind energy in the positive direction.

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, at the end of 2004, over 2,200 megawatts of new renewable energy supply is serving voluntary green power markets, or enough electricity to power over 575,000 typical American homes for a year. http://www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower/resources/tables/new_gp_cap.shtml

What is the Green-e certification?

Green-e is the nation's leading independent certification and verification program for renewable energy. The Green-e logo identifies superior, certified renewable energy options, and is used by businesses to communicate the purchase and/or generation of certified renewable energy. The program is administered by the non-profit Center for Resource Solutions in San Francisco. More information is available at www.green-e.org.

For More Information on the Renewable Energy Industry or Marketplace, please visit the following:
- http://www.gwec.net
- http://www.awea.org/greenpower/
- http://www.nrel.gov/