Next Central Ohio Clean Energy Network Meeting:
Energy SIDS and PACE Financing in Ohio
Thursday, August 5 from 8:00 - 10:00 AM
O'Keffe Center - SERS Building
300 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215
Recently enacted Ohio Senate Bill 232 (SB 232) represents a major expansion of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) renewable and advanced energy financing authority in Ohio. Caleb Bell, attorney in the Public Finance and Green Strategies groups at Bricker & Eckler LLP will discuss how PACE programs permit owners (including residential, commercial, industrial, non-profit, and governmental owners) of real property to form Special Energy Improvement districts (Energy SIDs). Energy SIDs can assist in financing advanced and renewable energy projects using special assessment financing tools previously available to only governmentally-owned projects. Caleb's practice emphasizes local government bond finance, community-based economic development, and energy finance. He advises clients on a variety of Ohio's economic development programs, including special improvement districts, and has been actively involved in drafting the portions of HB 1 and SB 232 relating to Energy SIDs. Caleb is a graduate of Otterbein College and obtained his J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center.
NOTE on MEETING LOCATIONS: The monthly GEO COCEN Meeting for August is NOT at the Ohio Governor's Residence - meetings there will resume in September. The School Employees Retirement System (SERS) Building O'Keefe Center is on the entry lobby floor for the August 5th meeting. Free parking is available in the SERS Building garage behind it that is entered off of Grant Street intersecting Broad Street to the East. The SERS Building recently earned the 2009 US EPA;s Energy Star designation.
Please RSVP to Sarah by 5 pm on Wednesday, August 4 , at (614) 985-6131 or sarah@greenenergyohio.org
Previous Meetings:
July 1, 2010
Go Green/Get Green with Your Energy Solutions
Paul Racher, Program Manager, Demand Side Management at Columbia Gas of Ohio explained the gas utility's residential [CLICK HERE] and commercial energy efficiency [CLICK HERE] programs and provide materials.
June 3, 2010
Solar Power through PPA's
Greg Kuss, the President of SolarVision, discussed the economic viability of solar power throughout the State of Ohio. He explained how SolarVision utilizes PPA's to finance solar installations.
May 6, 2010
Green Building Activity in Central Ohio
GEO welcomed the Central Ohio Chapter for the U.S. Green Building Council to learn what is happening with some local LEED projects. Kurt Smith, Ohio Preconstruction Manager for Turner Construction Company, and Chair of the USGBC Central Ohio Chapter, presented a general overview about the U.S. Green Building Council, its mission and why building and operating green is a better choice than previous conventional design, construction and operational practices. Attendees discussed the LEED Rating Systems and how pursuit of LEED Certification on projects affects decisions on design and construction. There was an update on the USGBC Central Ohio Chapter and its future activities, and review of some local LEED Registered and LEED Certified projects
April 1, 2010
Electric Vehicles and Renewable Energy
The Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research Director and Senior Fellow, Giorgio Rizzoni to discuss CAR’s new solar powered electric vehicle charging system and overview of EV advances. See presentation [CLICK HERE].
This joint GEO meeting with Clean Fuels Ohio will also feature Policy Director Micah Vieux reviewing key EV issues, including state legislation and a preview of the May 2-4 “Moving Ahead 2010: Sustainable Transportation for the 21st Century” Conference at new Student Union at The Ohio State University in Columbus. See presentation [CLICK HERE].
LEARN MORE about EVs and RE in the Renewable Fuels and Sustainable Transportation Division Newlsetter of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), chaired by GEO Member Scotte Elliott [CLICK HERE].
March 4, 2010
Director Chris Goes to Copenhagen
Ohio EPA Director, Chris Korleski presented his experience as a member of The Climate Registry, Director Korleski had the opportunity of a lifetime to see first hand what the rest of the world was thinking when it comes to climate change issues. The Director spoke to GEO about his participation in COP 15 and his observations of this historic meeting in Denmark.
February 4, 2010
Cleveland Indians Go Green
Cleveland Indians Assistant Director of Ballpark Operations, Brad Mohr, to learn about the club's greening and sustainability efforts. The talk will focus on alternative energy, energy cost and consumption reductions, trash and recycling, the future of sustainability at Progressive Field, and the Major League Baseball stadium operators' greening committee.
January 7, 2010
New Town Centers Go Green
Ralph Ireland, Chief Development Officer, Steiner + Associates, presented the trends that have led to the transformation of single-use enclosed malls into New Town Centers which are vibrant city centers where people live, work, shop, and play. He also showed recent sustainability initiatives that include green roofs and the planning of large scale renewable energy projects that could be integrated within their developments such as Easton Town Center in Columbus and The Greene Town Center in Beavercreek, Ohio. Steiner + Associates is a full-service real estate development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio that specializes in the development, construction, leasing, and marketing of new urban retail town centers with a master planning focus. Steiner’s principled development approach to suburban locations actively incorporates the ideals of New Urbanism and shares with both private and public sectors the responsibility for planned public spaces that are beautiful, commercially vital, universally accessible and always unforgettable. See Ralph Ireland's presentation [CLICK HERE.pdf]
December 3, 2009
Salute to the OSU Solar Decathlon Team
Green Energy Ohio Saluted The Ohio State University Solar Decathlon Team decathletes Lucas Dixon, Bethany Halasz, and James Defrance related their successes and lessons learned from the 2009 Solar Decathlon experience competing among 20 college teams on the Washington, D.C. Mall in October. The team members explained how the score broke down, the cutting-edge technology used by other teams and what is next for the Solar House 1. See www.solardecathlon.osu.edu. GEO Board Chair Jim Gravelle presented to the Team the Innovation and Advancement of Solar Energy Award from the GEO Board of Directors.
November 5, 2009
Green Opportunities: What's Good for the Environment is Good for Business
Internationally-known energy expert, Thomas E. Kiser, an aeronautical engineer who founded PSI, Inc. in Fremont, Ohio in 1979 shared his knowledge and expertise promoting proactive solutions to resolve the energy crisis that confronts us all. Tom has successfully implemented radically new energy solutions known as "Kiser Concepts" integrated into commercial and industrial applications. See more about Tom in his biography [CLICK HERE] and Fortune magazine article [CLICK HERE]. Tom's collaborations include work with Ford Motor Company, Bill McDonough, Al Gore, David Orr and Arizona State University.
October 1, 2009
2009 Ohio Solar Tour Preview
This meeting was a Preview of the 2009 Ohio Solar Tour featuring 168 sites across the state on Saturday & Sunday October 3 & 4. GEO Executive Director Bill Spratley reviewed the 22 Central Ohio and Statewide Solar Tour Highlights along with nearly half of the Central Ohio Tour Site Owners. The Solar Tour Preview Edition of the GEO News Magazine was available at this meeting.GEO's 7th Annual Ohio Solar Tour at 168 Open House sites (including 4 guided tours) in 91 communities across the state was attended by 5,618 Ohioans. Thanks to hundreds of volunteers, among the 168 Tour Sites technologies displayed were 116 photovoltaic or solar electric; 59 energy efficiency; 42 solar thermal; 36 wind; 28 geothermal; 27 passive solar; and 8 biomass systems. The Tour Sites included 84 homes; 33 businesses; 16 schools; 8 public buildings/sites and 8 parks in 34 Counties. See this green energy tour of Ohio on GEO interactive webpages [CLICK HERE].
September 3, 2009
AEP-Ohio & Duke Energy Go Solar
AEP Ohio and Duke Energy Ohio are embracing solar energy installations and implementing significant renewable energy systems across Ohio. GEO was pleased to present these investor-owned utilities as statewide sponsors of the 2009 Ohio Solar Tour on October 3 & 4. Mark Gundelfinger, Manager of Alternative Energy Resources, AEP Ohio, discussed the new and projected AEP solar installations in Athen, Newark and the 10 MW utility-scale solar farm in Wyandotte County. Jim Lefeld, Director of Renewable Energy, Duke Energy, explained the solar program of Duke Energy, including high visibility solar arrays at Findlay Market, Cincinnati Zoo and other locations in the Cincinnati area.
August 6, 2009
Commercial Solar Electric Systems in Ohio
Businesses have embraced solar and begun to implement significant systems across Ohio. Alan Frasz, Vice President of Dovetail Solar and Wind, will present five commercial solar systems over 30 KW in size that been installed in the last 10 months. He will detail the projected ROI for each of them. Al will review the available tax incentives, grants and SREC income that are making solar an attractive investment for businesses with typical paybacks under 5 years. Don Lee, President of Horizons Companies (a local Columbus software, media & communications company) will discuss why he chose to implement the largest commercial solar system in Central Ohio on his firm’s headquarters.
July 9, 2009
What's Next with Solar PV
Solar expert Geoff Greenfield, President of Third Sun Solar & Wind Power Ltd., discuss the latest advances in both commercial and residential solar electric technology, including panel efficiencies, racking solutions and micro-inverters. Learn what works and what doesn't, as well as what is around the corner in this exciting and important field. In addition to discussing technology, Geoff will explain solar economics, including grants, tax credits and payback.
May 7, 2009
Ohio's New RPS Rules and Outlook for Ohio RECs
Ohio Consumers' Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander gave a brief overview of the new RPS - Renewable Portfolio Standard rules and discuss her office's efforts to negotiate a standard contract with the utilities to purchase the RECs from customer-sited facilities. She will also touch on existing regulatory barriers to renewable energy development and will talk about how to get renewable energy installations financed and the options. The outlook for Ohio RECS - Renewable Energy Credits will be reviewed by Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Energy Manager Dale Arnold. Join GEO for this timely renewable energy update and find out more about the GEO Mainstreaming Green Fundraiser and 9th Annual Meeting in Cincinnati/Milford on May 29 & 30.
April 2, 2009
Choosing Renewables in Today's Markets for Green Energy
Global warming, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions are some of the biggest issues these facing our society today. In the absence of strong historical U.S. government leadership in the area of climate change, market-driven approaches to solving theclimate crisis have arisen. While Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) have made massive gains in popularity in the last few years, they are still largely misunderstood among most Americans. Lauren Newsom, LEED AP, Senior Sales Director, Renewable Choice Energy, Boulder, Colorado spoke on the ways we use energy in this country, the status quo and the alternatives. She answers questions and cleared up misconceptions regarding renewable energy and "offsets". The true impacts of choosing green power through renewable energy credits were discussed as well as the change this brings to our energy infrastructure.
March 5, 2009
AEP-Ohio's New, Big Solar Arrays &
GEO's Green Energy & Green Jobs Workshops
AEP-Ohio's new large solar arrays at Newark and Athens sites are now the largest utility-owned solar-units in Ohio as described by Frank Dargham, AEP-Ohio Customer Service Engineer and Matthew Forshey, AEP Service Corporate Facility Engineer. GEO Executive Director Bill Spratley previewed Green Energy Ohio's March 28 Green Energy & Green Jobs Workshop at Columbus State Community College, GEO's new Residential Solar Thermal Rebate and Workforce Training & Installation opportunities in 2009. [CLICK HERE]
February 5, 2009
Westerville's SmartGrid & Solar Arrays
Ohio's New Solar & Wind Residential Grants
Andrew Boatright, City of Westerville Electric Director, and Don Hall, President of Watt Works, co-presented. Andrew energy efficiency initiatives that are currently underway or planned for the City of Westerville. The City of Westerville Electric Division is launching its SmartGrid and Solar Power for Public Power Utility Consumers pilot project. Partially funded by a grant from the American Public Power Association Demonstration of Energy Efficient Developments (APPA DEED), the project will implement seven energy management appliances coupled with seven 3.5kW solar arrays for the purpose of giving the utility and the consumer the ability to optimally dispatch the sun's energy thereby avoiding having the purchase the highest-cost power from the grid. Westerville will be installing the Smart Grid and solar power equipment on six commercial sites, including a City-owned building, and one residential site. See more in December 2008 GEO News Magazine [CLICK HERE]. Howard Tibbs of the Ohio Energy Office discussed the new State of Ohio grants available for residential solar electric, solar thermal and small wind systems. [CLICK HERE]
January 8, 2009
Green Energy Investing
The first networking meeting of the new year attracted 65 attendees. GEO hosted a three person panel of Financial Advisors Bob Martin and Kristy Smetlzer from Wachovia and from Richard Ranck, Regional Vice President, Invesco PowerShares (Wheaton, IL), who markets and distributes PowerShare ETF's to financial advisors in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.
December 4, 2008
Ohio Interfaith Power and Light
Greg Hitzhusen, MDiv, PhD, Executive Director of Ohio Interfaith Power and Light (OhIPL), presented an overview describing how congregations around the country and in Ohio are participating in green energy work, including new programs from OhIPL and opportunities to build upon such work in Ohio as a member of a congregation, or as a green energy service provider. Scott Headlee of Parallex and Don Hall of Watt Works also discussed promising work they have done in Ohio faith communities. See Greg Hitzhusen's presentation CLICK HERE.
November 6, 2008
Advanced Energy in the New Federal Rescue Law
Terrance O'Donnell, Attorney at Bricker & Eckler, Columbus, Ohio
Terrance O'Donnell, Attorney at Bricker & Eckler, Columbus, Ohio, will explain the new federal law provisions on advanced energy, including tax credits for solar and wind. For more information: http://www.bricker.com/energy2008.pdf
September 4, 2008
OSU Solar Decathalon
The OSU Solar Decathlon Team is moving forward, with construction slated to begin in late September. This gives the team about one year to build, test, and transport a Solar-powered, sustainable house to the National Mall for a week of competition in October of 2009. The U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the Decathlon, which includes 10 contests that collectively evaluate the design, engineering, and livability of each team's entry. 20 University teams from around the world participate in the competition, which began in 2002 and has run biennially since 2005. For more information, and to keep up to date on the team's progress, please visit http://solardecathlon.osu.edu . See GEO News Magazine for Solar Decathlon updates [CLICK HERE]
July 3, 2008
Solar Concentrators: Economic Opportunity for Ohio
A promising approach to reducing the cost of solar energy is solar concentrators. Concentrators can either focus high intensity sunlight onto photovoltaic cells, minimizing the area of expensive materials required to generate electricity, or produce high grade thermal energy. Ohio's economy is well suited to provide the industrial competence required to deliver these solutions to the market. Neil Sater, CEO of PhotoVolt, Strongsville, Ohio rovided an overview of where solar concentrator technologies fit into the market, the potential economic impact to the region, and what we can do to accelerated its promise.
June 5, 2008
Public Demonstration Projects: Leading the Way to Renewable Energy in Ohio
Thursday, June 5, 2008, 7:30 am - 10:00 am
Ohio Governor's Residence, 358 N. Parkview Avenue, Columbus, Ohio
With the enactment of Ohio's new Energy Bill, the installation of renewable energy systems in the state should substantially increase over the next several years. Public demonstration projects have played a role in showing policy makers, the public, and corporations what is possible and they have proven that Solar and Wind energy production work in our state. GEO's 2007 Volunteer of the Year, Scotte Elliott of Lewis Center, presented an overview of demonstration projects from the Great Lakes Science Center, Oberlin College and the Cleveland Indians, and discussed the positive impacts of a GEO-led demonstration project. These landmark projects were featured in a Forum at the ASES SOLAR 2007 National Conference last July.
May 1, 2008
Getting to YES with an Ohio RPS:Lessons from Ohio's New Advanced Energy Bill
GEO Executive Director Bill Spratley and Environment Ohio Lobbyist Amy Gomberg led a discussion with environmental, business and other lobbyists and concerned citizens who advocated adoption of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) resulting in enactment of Am.Sub.Senate Bill 221. This historic measure provides that 12.5% of Ohio's electricity will come from renewable energy resources by 2025. The RPS is part of the Advanced Energy Portfolio Standard and major changes to Ohio electric utility regulation passed by overwhelming, bi-partisan majority of the Ohio General Assembly with Governor Strickland's signature expected on May1st.[CLICK HERE]. See summaries of Am Sub SB 221 provisions on the Bricker & Ekler law firm site [CLICK HERE].
April 3, 2008
Sherry Hubbard, Chief of the Ohio Energy Office, Ohio Department of Development [CLICK HERE] discussed the State of Ohio's financial incentives for renewable energy development. The audience of 71 people heard Sherry's presentation [CLICK HERE for .pdf download]. She discussed the current ODOD grant situation and welcomed input. During the discussion several ideas were raised, including third-party ownerhip/purchase power agreements for residential customers along with feed-in tariffs. Sherry said that an ODOD incentive program will resume in July, although its features are not yet determined.
GEO proposed on April 3 a draft GEO On-Line Survey on suggested changes to the former Ohio Advanced Energy Residential Grant Program. Sherry agreed to work with GEO in designing the questionnaire to obtain broader input on the subject.See more on state and other financing and incentive options on the GEO site [CLICK HERE] and news accounts about the recent cessation of residential solar and wind grants program [CLICK HERE].
March 6, 2008
Glen Kizer, President, Foundation for Environmental Education, Westerville, presented a powerpoint on Solar Energy Ohio using examples of solar electric installations in Ohio and California. Glen advocated the use of third-party financing of solar installations in Ohio showing the success of this approach in California using Purchase Power Agreements. Glen prepared a brief narrative on third-party financing for download as a follow-up to the meeting [CLICK HERE]. In summary, Glen said the benefits of the third-part financing would be: Ohio installers get lower prices, make more money and hire more people; Ohio looks more "modern"; Outside money comes into Ohio to finance large projects; Pollution gets reduced; Prices stabilize, go up less, or go down; and, Economy improves/people gain hope. Also at the March 6th meeting, GEO presented a plaque of appreciation to volunteer John Ayers and Burgess & Niple for hosting the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network Meetings from 2005 into 2008. State Representative Jim McGregor (R-Gahanna) was also on hand to explain his HB 487 on an Ohio Renewable Portfolio Standard. See GEO February 27th testimony in support of this mesure [CLICK HERE].
February 7, 2008
Jerry Hutton, Director of Alternative Energy & Fuel Cell Training Center at Hocking College and Jack Hedge, Principal, Design Group, Columbus, both presented an overview of the design for the new Hocking College Energy Institute planned as a Platinum LEED certified building at the Nelsonville, Ohio campus. See .pdf of Jack Hedge's green building design for the Institute [CLICK HERE]. In addition to the powerpoint presentation at this meeting, see the March 2008 GEO News Magazine articles "Hocking College Energy Institute" and "The LEED Rating System in Southeast Ohio," The GEO 8th Annual Meeting will take place at Hocking College on Saturday May 31, 2008.
January 3, 2008
GEO began it's 8th year in 2008 by asking GEO members, interested individuals and organizational partners for input on Central Ohio programs and projects for the coming year. GEO Executive Director Bill Spratley led a "Green Brainstorm" session to take input for GEO's Board of Directors Strategic Planning later in January. GEO members and interested individuals offered suggestions for our growing non-profit as GEO has over 1,050 individual members and 70 corporate members across Ohio (including 205 members in Central Ohio!) GEO's website received over 6 million hits in 2007. Our local projects since 2001 in Central Ohio have included monthly morning Clean Energy Network Meetings, Evening Lectures, 6 Annual Solar Tours, 5 Regional Workshops, Solar Installer Training, 1st Ohio Wind Power Conference, Governor's Residence Solar PV System, Farm Science Review, Green Building Expo, Glacier Ridge Summer Solar Social, Renew Ohio! Speakers Bureau Events in all 10 Counties of the Central Ohio Region, and Testimony on Clean Energy in the Ohio General Assembly.
December 6, 2007
During the December meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network, GEO tackled the topic "Is There Enough Solar Energy In Ohio?" A panel discussion featured speakers that included: OSU professor Jason Box who was recently interviewed by the Today Show's Matt Lauer in Greenland, OSU meteorology graduate Emily Sautter, and solar enthusiast and GEO volunteer Richard Burgan. Box and Sautter recently collaborated on a technical paper that was presented at SOLAR 2007, entitled Measurements of Central Ohio Shortwave Cloud Radiative Effect: Assessment of Solar Power Potential. Several Ohio State University students also gave an update on the 2009 OSU Solar Decathlon team that has recently formed. Speaker PowerPoint presentations are now available! [CLICK HERE] to download. (Click once and be patient. It's a large file and will take time to download.)
November 1, 2007
Dale Arnold, Energy Manager for the Ohio Farm Bureau, gave an update on energy issues at the national level showing the relationship of fossil fuel costs with renewable energy costs.
October 4, 2007
Green Energy Ohio shared a special sneak preview of the Central Ohio Solar Tour at the October meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network. Information on new sites was unveiled including a tour to GreenView Estates, as well as past favorites like the Governor's Residence. Several tour site owners joined the meeting and addressed the group, and the latest information was presented about grants available from the Ohio Department of Development's Office of Energy Efficiency.
September 6, 2007
Mayor Coleman and residents came together on September 6th to watch the installation of 12 solar panels on a near east side Columbus home. Certified renewable energy installers from Third Sun Solar & Wind Power installed the system's equipment on the home, which is hoped to earn LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The installers also took questions from the public during the installation. Also taking place was a tour of the LEED home, and a presenation of the Apricus solar thermal system donated by Solar Usage Now and Fox Plumbing & Radiant Heat. Construction is almost complete for the home, which will be one of the highest performing, green and energy efficient houses in Ohio. The project is made possible by Columbus Housing Partnership, in collaboration with the Worthington Kilbourne High School Home B.A.S.E. integrated learning community class, with support from the Columbus Green Building Forum and the City of Columbus.
August 2, 2007
The August meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network was a huge success with 125 attendees touring the new Lazarus building green renovation project in downtown Columbus. Project Manager Brian Ezell led the GEO group on a tour of the historic Columbus landmark that is set to receive Gold Level Certification through the US Green Council's LEED program. The $61.9 million rehab project features a central window gallery for natural daylighting, a rainwater collection system for cooling, a living roof with plants to reduce summer heat build-up, low flow plumbing, energy efficient windows, and recycled materials.
July 5, 2007
The July 5 meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network was cancelled due to GEO staff will be traveling to Cleveland to host the SOLAR 2007 National Conference (July 7-12) and GEO Annual Meeting (July 8).
June 7, 2007
Two guest speakers were featured at the June meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network. Christina Panoska, GEO Program Manager, discussed upcoming GEO solar thermal trainings in Ohio, and the upcoming SOLAR 2007 National Conference in Cleveland in July. To download Christina's PowerPoint presentation, [CLICK HERE]. Also, Tom Rieker of Solar Usage Now (SUN), LLC, an Ohio-based solar thermal company, discussed the history and future of the renewable energy industry, solar thermal education, Evacuated Tube technology, and how SUN is investing its resources in Ohio to use as a template for growth. To download Tom's PowerPoint presentation, [CLICK HERE].
May 3, 2007
The May meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network featured two guest speakers. State Representative Jim McGregor, (R-Gahanna), Chairman of the Ohio House Alternative Energy Committee discussed current legislative activities of his committee and prospects for public policy changes to encourage alternative energy. Rep. McGregor is the former Mayor of the City of Gahanna and a graduateof the University of Cincinnati. Also, David Carpenter presented on "Installation, Performance, and Cost Analysis of a 4.9 kW Residential PV System in Delaware, Ohio." The PV system on the 1,900 sq. ft., two story home produced 94% of the power used by the family of four during the first 12 months in use. In the meantime, David says he has learned a lot about conserving energy by avoiding waste, without curtailing real use or activities for his family. He also says the solar system has worked slightly better than predicted, but the energy use, measurement, and conservation has been equally significant in the final results. David's PowerPoint presentation is now available for free download. [CLICK HERE] to see David's presentation.
April 5, 2007
The April meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network featured guest speaker Aparna Dial, OSU Director of Energy Services and Sustainability. Aparna spoke about new OSU sustainability initiatives, including campus building audits currently underway, proposed LEED building standards on new campus builds, and pilot recycling programs on campus. For more information, visit the OSU website at http://fod.osu.edu/energy_sustainability/..
March 1, 2007
March featured speaker was solar energy enthusiast and GEO volunteer Richard Burgan. Rich has applied his electrical engineering background and interest in instrumentation and data analysis to monitoring the solar resource. He spoke about renewable energy monitoring for solar electric, solar thermal and wind systems, and gave examples from Ohio sites, including RainFresh Harvests in Plain City near Dublin. A number of unique graphs helped the audience understand what to expect from a renewable energy system in Ohio. See Richard's article entitled "Is There Enough Solar Energy in Ohio" in the 2007 Ohio Renewable Energy Resource Guide published by Green Energy Ohio.
February 1, 2007
A viewing of the PBS documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car" was shown at the February meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network. The film looks at the hopeful birth and untimely death of the electric car, an environmentally-friendly, cost-saving salvation to some, but a profit barrier to others. In 1996, General Motors (GM) launched the first modern day, commercially available electric car, the EV1. The car required no fuel and could be plugged in for recharging at home and at a number of so-called battery parks. Many of the people who leased the car, including a number of celebrities, said the car drove like a dream. But it was not to be. A little over 1,000 EV1s were produced by GM before the company pulled the plug on the project in 2002 due to "insufficient demand." Other major car makers also ceased production of their electric vehicles. Some suggest that GM - which says it invested some $1 billion in the EV1 - never really wanted the cars to take off. They say GM intentionally sabotaged their own marketing efforts because they feared the car would cannibalize its existing business. GM disputes these claims.
January 4, 2007
The 2007 kick-off meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network featured guest speakers Andrew Tinkham and Wilson Gonzolez of the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC), the residential utility advocate. Tinkham and Gonzolez gave an overview of the OCC and discussed their renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts across the state.
December 7, 2006
December guest speaker was Dale Arnold, Director of Energy Services for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, and GEO Board of Directors member. Dale discussed current energy trends for both fuel and electric power, and the challenges and opportunities we have to address to meet our energy needs through the first half of the 21st Century. The information in the presentation was not just farm related, Dale says, it is also beneficial for urban and suburban residents, as well as businesses.
November 2, 2006
The November meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network featured freelance automotive engineer and GEO volunteer Dave Erb, who has worked with hybrid-electric vehicles since 1986. Dave presented "Sustainable Transportation: A Future Worth Creating." During the presentation, Dave discussed electric and hybrid electric road vehicle technology including cars, trucks and busses, and advocated a specific vision of the future of our society that includes a more diverse transportation system.
October 5, 2006
The October meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network was held at the Wellington School, 3650 Reed. Rd., Columbus. Featured guest speaker was industrial solar engineer and GEO volunteer Don Greider. Don spoke about his decades of experience in the solar industry and presented information you can use when planning your next solar project. A short screening of KPBS L.A.'s documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car" was shown, and served as a primer for the November meeting of Central Ohio Clean Energy Network, where guest speaker and freelance automotive engineer Dave Erb will speak about electric and hybrid-electric vehicles. Special thanks to Doreen Grener of the Wellington School for their hospitality to our group!
September 7, 2006
September guest speaker was Jeremy Cohen, OSU alumni and GEO volunteer. Jeremy is currently a M.Sc. student in the Dept. of Desert Architecture and Urban Planning at the Blaustein Institute for Desert Research in southern Israel. He spoke to a crowd of about 30 people about recent research and development projects in Israel, including the construction of a passive solar neighborhood where planning codes ensure full solar access rights for each home, and ongoing development of concentrating PV modules. This is the same subject matter that will be the topic of a GEO Clean Energy Evening Lecture, scheduled for Tuesday, September 19, 2006. For more info visit http://www.greenenergyohio.org/page.cfm?pageID=1066.
August 3, 2006
The August Clean Energy Network Meeting featured speaker was GEO Executive Director, Bill Spratley. With nearly 30 peoplpe in attendance, Bill discussed recent GEO activity relating to the American Solar Energy Society's (ASES) National Solar Conference 2006. Plans were also unveiled for SOLAR 2007, as GEO hosts the national conference comiong to Cleveland July 7-12, 2007. GEO is the Ohio chapter of the ASES. Bill also discussed plans for the annual Ohio Solar Tour, scheduled for October 7-8, 2006 across the state. With nearly 20 clean energy tours statewide, people all across Ohio will get a chance to see up-close how green energy is working now in our own backyards!
June 29, 2006
At a special meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network, more than 30 people gathered to hear OSU Professor Seppo Korpela speak about Peak Oil. Some may not know that Peak Oil is the term given to the point at which we hit maximum or peak oil production and depletion sets in. Many scientists are saying that depletion could rapidly accelerate to five percent per year. Some, including Professor Korpela, have calculated that we will hit Peak Oil in the next few years.
June 1, 2006
Nearly 20 people gathered at a special meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network at RainFresh Harvests Farm in Plain City on May 4 to learn about owner Barry Adler's "bio-integrated" greenhouse. The sustainable agriculture facility produces crops year-round, off the grid using renewable energy, collected rainwater, and environmentally responsible growing methods.
May 4, 2006
The featured guest speaker for this regular meeting of the Central Ohio Clean Energy Network was Roger Beck, a Worthington Kilbourne High School teacher, who presented information on the LEED-Home pilot project. The Columbus Green Building Forum and the Worthington Kilbourne High School educational program, Home B.A.S.E., have partnered with the Columbus Housing Partnership and the City of Columbus to build a signature "green" affordable house for the working poor in 2006. [Read More]
April 6, 2006
At the GEO Columbus Clean Energy Network meeting on April 6th at 7:30 am, nearly 25 people learned about the sustainability efforts in Columbus from Mike Schwarzwalder, the city's Environmental Steward and the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO). He was appointed by Columbus Mayor Coleman last Fall and addressed the plan to overcome a number of
environmental issues facing Central Ohio.
