Posts Tagged ‘Renewable Energy’
Burning Wood: The Good, the Bad and the Misunderstood
As the push continues to seek alternative and renewable energy resources, utility companies are increasingly turning to an energy source from days gone by: wood. The growth of the biomass-for-energy industry has been particularly vigorous in the Southeast, with exports of wood pellets rising by 70 percent in just the past year. While this industry…
Read MoreOn Heels of USDA Energy Efficiency Loan Program, Appalachian Voices Launches the Energy Savings Action Center
On Dec. 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program (EECLP), a new loan program that will provide at least $250 million to rural electric cooperatives each year to develop or expand energy efficiency loan programs for residential and business customers. To encourage rural electric cooperatives across Appalachia take…
Read MoreKnoxville: “The Sustainable City”
By Nolen Nychay Knoxville, Tenn. ranks second in the nation for growth in green jobs and is one of only a handful of American cities to have fully bounced back from the economic recession, according to a recent Brookings Institute report. Since 2006, the city has reduced carbon emissions by 17 percent, and under Mayor…
Read MoreAnna Behnke: A Seventh Grade Activist
By Sarah Kellogg Seventh grader Anna Behnke loves to swim in Mountain Island Lake, but two years ago, she learned about the water pollution caused by Duke Energy’s Riverbend coal-fired power plant and began to worry about the impact the pollution could have on children’s health. So, for a sixth grade science project, Behnke tested…
Read MoreSolar and Wind Projects Take Off Across Appalachia
First Utility-Scale Solar Projects Proposed in West Virginia By Brian Sewell Solar Thin Films Inc., a New York-based company, recently announced a contract to develop up to 35 megawatts of solar capacity in West Virginia. Through an agreement with property owner Tri-State Solar, the solar developer plans to install three sites in Alderson, Crawley and…
Read MoreRegional Mountain Photography Contest Seeks Entries for 2014
By Kimber Ray The 11th annual Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition is now open for registration. competition invites both amateur and professional photographers to “showcase their interpretation of the unique character, people, places and pursuits that distinguish the Southern Appalachians.” Competition categories include: Adventure, Best in Show, Blue Ridge Parkway: People on the Parkway, Culture, Our…
Read MoreA Pressing Matter: Facing the Utility Death Spiral
The most recent issue of The Appalachian Voice includes a story about distributed energy generation, especially rooftop solar, and the ways communities, nonprofits and entrepreneurs are helping each other democratize the grid. But as they do, we’re seeing just how much old-school utilities are entrenched in old-school models that, while a bit dated, are still…
Read MoreHitting the Road to Promote New Power for the Old Dominion
Starting today, Appalachian Voices and the Wise Energy for Virginia coalition are embarking on a statewide road tour to promote New Power for the Old Dominion, a commonsense campaign to change the direction of Virginia’s energy future. Our events in Richmond and Charlottesville this week are the first stops on our tour where we’ll lay…
Read MoreRaising the Standard
How State Laws Affect Our Clean Energy Future By Molly Moore Raising the Standard: State Laws and our Clean Energy Future Democratizing the Grid: Community-owned Renewable Energy Bio-energy Creates a Mass of Questions Beyond Renewable: The Cutting Edge in Energy A Guide to Clean Energy Incentives Almost Always Sunny in Appalachia New Vision: Faith-based Renewable…
Read MoreNew Vision
By Matt Grimley The sun is beating down on a mid-July afternoon in Philippi, W.Va., but that doesn’t stop Ruston Seaman and the youth mentoring group from playing ultimate frisbee. Their shouts — “Take your time!” and “Go left! Go left!” — echo throughout the community. When they finish, Seaman jumps into his old red…
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