Which States Use the Most Renewable Energy… And How They Made it Happen
Which of our islands gets 57% of its power from renewable sources?
The Island of Alameda: near downtown Oakland in Northern California. Because it is a public utility; Alameda Municipal Power doesn’t have to make a profit. AMP customers of have long gotten the majority of their now very cheap energy from geothermal power contracts that were signed long ago with The Geysers. Now 41% of their energy comes from geothermal, 9% from landfill gas, and 6% from wind.
Alameda businesses and residents pay 22% lower rates than surrounding customers, as the utility’s costs are already sunk (those geothermal power stations were paid for years ago) and like all renewable power sources; the fuel is free forever.
The trail blazed by Alameda shows us that once the initial investment in renewable energy is paid, future generations benefit from the low cost of free fuel.
Image: Flikr user Ilja
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August 31st, 2009 at 1:20 pm
[...] The concept has been proven. The Alabama Electric Cooperative in Alabama now has 20 years of experience with a 100 megawatt CAES system. A major new project is being backed by the DOE in Iowa, which gets 15% of its electricity from wind. [...]
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[...] Iowa leads the US in the percentage of wind power on the grid. The local utility companies pay area farmers royalties of $3,000–5,000 per year so huge wind turbines can share their vast farmland acreage and feed the power to the grid. The arrangement has been so successful that 15% of Iowa’s power now comes from wind. [...]
September 23rd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
These Iowa turbines are really cool. I drive by them about 6 times a year and its pretty awe inspiring. They are right next to the interstate between Omaha and Des Moines and are freaking HUGE! They are out there away from the cities and don’t bother anyone but they look surreal at dusk.
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[...] entirely by renewable energy functions when the proportion of electric vehicles increases. Iowa is 15% wind powered and Fox Island off of Maine is 100% wind powered. That would be a good site for the [...]