VID’s Renewable Energy Forum Packed with Details
Nat Johnson, VID’s Environmental Committee Chair; John Franceschina. President, New York Geothermal Energy Organization (NY-GEO) and Greg Hale. Senior Advisor to the Chairman of Energy & Finance, Office of the Governor
Nat Johnson, Chair of VID’s Environmental Committee put together an excellent program for December 4th’s Renewable Energy Forum which included speakers from the NYS Reforming Energy Vision (REV) program and the New York Geothermal Energy Organization (NY-GEO).
REV’s 2030 goals include a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels; 50% of electricity from renewable sources; 23% reduction in energy consumption of buildings from 2012 levels. Ambitious but as Greg Hale, Senior Advisor to the Chairman of Energy & Finance, Office of the Governor says, “Doable.” Their strategy is to support a broad range of renewable options, from rooftop solar panels to grid-scale wind farms, all with an emphasis on integrating these diverse energy sources into the grid. Simultaneously, New York is working to reduce soft costs and other market barriers to make these solutions more competitive in the energy market. To accomplish this REV has embarked on more than 40 initiatives covering seven categories:
- Renewable Energy
- Building & Energy Efficiency
- Clean Energy Financing
- Sustainable & Resilient Communities
- Energy Infrastructure Modernization
- Innovation and R&D
- Transportation
You can review Mr. Hales whole presentation, Reforming the Energy Vision – New York Public Service (PowerPoint)
Another fast-growing option utilizes Geothermal energy. John Franceschina, President, New York Geothermal Energy Organization (NY-GEO) explained the process and benefits for using ground-source heat pumps to heat and cool buildings in New York State. First, it is a naturally available and steady resource; the earth itself is a solar collector as well as an energy storage system. Geothermal heat pump (GHP) Systems are extremely scalable, from low income housing to community loops serving multiple buildings on college campuses (such as the Skidmore Energy Node Project). Since the Renewable Energy Forum, on December 11, 2017, New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan and New York State Senator Robert Ortt announced the passage of their new law allowing geothermal heating & cooling systems to be included in New York’s On-Bill Recovery Financing Program. This program, administered by the New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), allows homeowners, small businesses and not-for-profits to finance energy efficiency improvements through a charge on their utility bill.
You can also learn more about the movement toward geothermal energy from The Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE)
OR you can download VID’s Forum Resource sheet.