Good News! Climate Change Awareness has achieved control of CO2 emmissions

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Thank you to all the scientists that have been warning about Climate change and global warning while the world ignored it for many decades. Inconvenient truth movie brought this issue to the forefront and for last 10 years debates started in USA.

Rest of the world noticed the risks resulting from this problem and cost of repairing natural disaster events. Technology solutions were developed as the world found new sources of clean energy to serve our need.

Solar power technology using the PV cells witnessed huge reduction of 90% over a decade which made it possible to make power for much lower costs. One watt of PV cell went from $8.00 per watt to now 40 cents cost. So one can imagine why we can now make power for lower cost then power purchased from the Utility, with some incentives from Federal or State.

This is probably the biggest reason why solar power growth has been at a scale of over 30,000% over a decade. Politics may sway some Leaders to say that global warming or Climate change is not reality. International Energy Agency just released a report that C)2 emissions are now flat and no longer going up. This is victory for mankind and assures us that as more people adopt clean solar power and switch their cars to Electric Vehicles the world would experience a reduction in atmospheric C)2 levels. It no longer matters what our elected Leaders say, the marketplace is irreversible and will lead us to more Green power and reductions in Green House Gasses.

The truth about affordable solar energy is known to all and with lower cost solar programs, some Climate smart communities have taken the lead and become energy independent.

In New York State any Municipality can now fix the cost of power with solar power installation and make it possible to achieve less than 6 cents per kwh power after the system capital is recovered in about 10 years. The power cost today is about 10 cents per Kwh so imagine paying 6 cents per Kwh after 10 years and keeping it at that level for another 20 years. These could be the Years of prosperity when money saved in enerrgy cost will help local economy.

Let us take advantage of this reality and achieve triple bottom line- Save money, save the environment and help build our communities.

New York State DEC Agency Honors Town of Williamson in Upstate NY as Energy Independent Sustainable Community

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Looking for a small Town reaching the goal of Energy Independence in America?
Well! Town of Williamson in Wayne County New York achieved it in 2014 and was honored with Environmental Excellence Award on November 17, 2015 by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
Check out this award at the following link;

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-recognizes-seven-innovative-programs-resulting-healthier-environment-and
Larsen Engineers was also recognized for assisting the Town of Williamson in providing guidance and engineering services to build 1.5 MW solar power system at their closed landfill which produces as much power as the Town owned facilities consumes per year.

Climate Change Solutions NOW.. Pope Says to the World during Visit to America

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Sustainability when linked to Climate Change is now on top of the World's agenda for action. The Pope visiting America this week is the blessing for humanity for the protection of our planet. Environmental justice for million of poor suffering people requires action by leading developed countries.They live in wrong places led by Greedy dictators, Crazy Terrorists armed by Soviet and American made weapons, or in low lying lands where change is rising of ocean levels will cause mass migration.

Unfortunately there are many smart and educated people who have given their Political ideology more value and ignoring the truth. There is no Global Warming and no Climate change caused by man is what they are trying to tell us therefore no need to act.It is time to face the Truth and think about what is Good for People and not their Party. This is People issue and not any one political party.

Are we ready to deal with it? Pope's message is right on the mark. As religious leader he is living the role when he says serving the poor and needy is the practice of true religion. The community leaders of today in rural America have as much responsibility and opportunity to act as the President of USA or Congress.

So how do we create sustainable green communities in our own Villages and Towns? Transform these areas into resilient energy independent neighborhoods that demonstrates conservation of water and creating healthy life style consuming locally grown food products.

In New York we can start with building community shared solar neighborhoods where members with low economic level can get cheap power and join other small businesses and institutions for common ownership of large solar PV farms built on low value land near suitable power lines. Grant funding is available from NYSERDA to create such facilities to serve apartments, City residents, small businesses, commercial units etc. We- the consumers are now empowered to make our own power for 20% lower than what Power company charges us today. In future, 20 years from now the power cost is expected to double.Therefore, why not fix the cost now and be independent from power company cost of energy. As the grants and tax credits reduce in future, we should act now and promote community distributed generation in all small Towns and Villages.

Why Wait? Listen to the Pope's message and act now. You will save Money, help our Economy and the Environment.

January 1 2015- A day to seek Energy Independence for all Consumers supporting Sustainability

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Last year 2014 was filled with progress with new energy generation initiatives and Environmental protection commitments made by Global Leaders. China and America led by setting goals and the rest of the world was made very aware by real Climate tragedies that denying climate change is now taken as a mark of Ignorance.
How can we and why should we waste time and energy on this debate?
Smart people will move forward with smart solutions and let the naysayers stand on the side lines.
Renewable energy is now the best Instrument of Peace to gain energy independence, which can now be seen as more installations of such systems are completed.
In New York State Wayne County based Town of Williamson took the lead by building 1.5 Mega Watts solar PV system on their closed landfill. Larsen Engineers assisted them in creating the long term sustainability plan and installing the large scale solar PV system to make 100% of their energy use at Municipal facilities.
So this Year the Town of Williamson, NY can celebrate the Energy Independence and motivate others to do the same. The ultimate economic benefit for the community is to fix the cost of power for next 40 years with savings of over 1 Million Dollars.
As the oil and gasoline prices go down below $2.00 they clearly prove the power of reducing consumption by the energy consumers. The seller of dirty fuels can not stop the consumers if they decide NOT to use oil based products. This is the time to resolve and ramp up the energy conservation and green power generation to further put pressure and keep the oil and gas price low.
Someday Oil will become irrelevant as we embrace Solar, Wind and Biomass power to replace the conventional dirty fuels. It can be done in 20 years if we all resolve today to take such actions.

Cow Power for Energy Independence in New York

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New York State leads the nation in yogurt production which depends on milk production. We are in top 3 milk producing states and farm businesses are key to our rural economy. With higher number of cows comes a lot of manure waste production and environmental concerns within the watershed. Urban population and neighbors complaint about odors created when manure is applied to farm land. The farm businesses also face high energy costs and wish to manage and control this expense. These problems were recognized and became the basis for NYS funding programs to help solve these problems and help in the economic development.

Climate change requires reduction in green house gas emissions to atmosphere and Methane from farms is know to be a problem that will soon require compliance with upcoming US EPA requirements. Similarly surface runoff from the farms is containing pollution in the form of organics and nutrients. Anaerobic digesters are ideal solution but costly to implement based on the price quotes from International companies and many German and Dutch companies are active in USA and have built the digesters at significantly high cost for those large farms that can afford it. Most studies have shown that small medium size farms are not in a position to afford it. This condition can be changed by adopting simple processes and using locally procured labor and materials.

We are happy to announce that this dream of an affordable digester has come true recently at Spruce Haven Dairy Farm in Cayuga county NY, where a 1.5 million gallon "lagoon based in- ground" digester and 500 KW co-generation system has been constructed within the NYSERDA grant budget of $2 Million Dollars. The system was started up in July 2014 and by September it was making more Bio gas than projected and the engine generator is consistently operating above 95% design capacity. This farm has over 2500 cows feeding the manure to the digester at a flow rate of about 100,000 GPD, including the flushing wash water from sand removal system.

A high efficiency digester built and operating successfully at a capital cost of under $800 per cow is great example for many dairy farms that in New York State it is now possible to solve your problems and become net energy producer by supplying excess power to the Grid.

The Farm in Cayuga County NY is open for field trips for other farmer to see the system and its operation. Energy and Environmental issues can be addressed with the financial help from NYSERDA and USDA as these businesses seek affordable solutions. Spruce Haven farm has achieved Energy Independence for their electric consumption by producing more energy than what they use. They look forward to making RNG- bio-fuel for the trucks by cleaning and compressing the bio gas as renewable transportation fuel in near future.

New Projects like this can help us meet the climate change goals for renewable energy and also help in economic development in rural America.

Green Construction Loans are Essential for Building Green Energy Projects

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Imagine getting a Reimbursable grant of  93% of the Capital cost and still unable to build the farm Anaerobic Digester system to treat waste and make green power. Unfortunately this is a reality in New York State.

Most of the lenders do not understand Digesters and have no risk tolerance for such technology when the grant is offered as collateral. So how do you get a construction loan? Where to go? These are the challenges why so many farmers who have the manure disposal problems can not take advantage of the Grants.

It looks like the Federal USDA is listening to these issues and establishing a large loan fund that can be used for building the system with 70% loan amount against 30% local loan and equity. This potential "USDA - REAP renewable energy funding assistance program"  could be extremely beneficial and capable of creating a wave of economic development across Rural America.

Let us hope this succeeds and soon rural communities and small businesses will be able to gain Energy Independence by building their own Green power generation systems.

Infrastructure investments by the federal Govt. in our communities are essential to replace war funding and create jobs back home so returning Vets can have a job making green energy.

Better days may be ahead for energy Independence at the rural Farms and communities.

Financing is key to Sustainable Green CommunityDevelopment

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As the new year 2014 starts, we must review what occurred in 2013 and plan strategies that can avoid the hurdles to faster implementation of Green energy programs in New York and other States in America. While we wait for a National investment plan, each State can do what is appropriate for them.

New York has many innovative funding  initiatives but the rate of implementation is still slow because of lack of affordable capital funding to start the projects. Many of these initiatives are justified based on future savings to payback the investment made on the project and ability to achieve energy independence. Unfortunately the traditional financing institutions are reluctant to take risks on new green technologies and private investments are seeking much higher interest rate which raises the costs to the community. So what can be done to help and make better progress?

The publicly funded  Green Bonds offer a great ray of hope to encourage the implementation of Green energy technologies. Funds can be loaned with 5-10 year term at low interest rate and the risk covered by the borrower who has the expertise in new technologies and willing to use these funds to build the systems and payback the loans from the revenues generated by the savings or generation of green energy.

Fortunately, New York has initiated a $ 1 Billion Green Bank to help meet this funding need for Green projects. This initiative results from the Green Vision promoted by our Governor.
We hope it succeeds in making New York lead this transformation to green and clean technology.
Happy New Year!

Is the Solar PV system a passport to Energy Independence for sustainable communities?

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The  Electrical power consumer now has the financial incentives available in most States in America to reduce the energy use and produce Solar Green power on their property. If they install a system that makes the same amount of power as they consume in one year then they are Energy independent from Electrical power point of view. This concept of distributed generation has the potential to set us FREE from dependence on Utilities grid system where the cost of power keeps going up.

Is it really possible to become Energy Independent with current incentives by installing Solar PV system?
Yes it is not only possible but in New York State, some small Municipalities have planned such projects and expect to do so by next July 4th 2013.

If you wanted to never worry about what the cost of power would be in future then you should look into the incentives available in your State and take action. In New York State, a large electrical energy consumers can partner with private company and obtain benefits of grants and financial incentives under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Under this approach we have been able to achieve long term agreements that will allow communities an average cost of power in 6-8 cents range over the 20 year term of the agreement. Considering the life of Solar PV system to be over 30 years, the average cost of power over this life cycle comes down to 4-5 cents per kWh. This represents a great economic benefit when you consider that the same community may be paying 25 cents per kWh or more after 20 years.

We believe this is an opportunity every community should not miss and plan to implement a large scale solar PV system to save money and bring economic development to their community.

The journey from "Net- Zero Energy" to "Energy Independence" for sustainable Green Coomunities

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Does  Net-Zero Energy  mean Energy Independence?

The answer depends on the various forms of energy that are addressed by the User. This includes Electrical Energy, Thermal energy for Heat and Fuels for Transportation.

Normally these energy improvements depend on the incentives offered by the state or Federal Agencies. For example, currently New York State has very attractive grants and tax incentives for electrical power generation and energy efficiency retrofits. Some of our Municipal clients are now implementing projects to produce large scale solar PV system to produce as much power over the Year as they consume in their multiple buildings. They plan to achieve the first step of Net-Zero Energy  by 2014. We are proud to have these visionary Village and Town leaders in Finger Lakes region that have made the decision to do so.

So where do they go from this stage onwards?

Upgrade of the HVAC system would be next as the funds are available and long term financing of Geothermal and/or solar thermal systems may be the technologies to provide very efficient green system to replace non-renewable fuels and reduce their carbon foot print.

So what is the next step after they achieve this goal?

Transportation is key to our energy independence and finding alternative fuels for transportation and having the refueling infrastructure would be the next opportunity. CNG,  hybrid gas & Electric vehicles, and Electric Vehicles are the possible options to replace expensive gasoline or diesel with new cleaner fuels. This step will keep the money in America and avoid importing oil from overseas.

When all of these steps are completed the community will truly become an Energy Independent community. In Europe such communities exist now. It is time that America takes the lead and helps develops such examples of energy independence. It will be a dream come true. Hopefully in next 10 years.

Ram

U.S. Energy Independence before 2020, is Possible!

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What a difference 5 years and technology makes! We could not project that America could become Energy Independent from Oil imports before Year 2020.During last 3 years we are seeing the impact of technology on natural Gas supply and historical lower prices. The drilling rigs, horizontal drilling and fracking technology is being utilized for shale derived energy development in several states within America.It is conceivable that oil price would also drop in 1-2 years and allow us to stop sending our money to other producing countries.

When we can say that America is now an energy exporting country, that will be the first true Independence Day. Could this day be July 2015, 2016? Only time will tell. It is no longer a question that will it happen... but when will it happen?

We know that Environmental damages are real risks at the point of energy extraction,therefore the well financed Developers must seriously make necessary investments to prevent such outcomes.Oil and Gas are the old nonrenewable energy sources that we can use now and invest the saved money into non renewable technology such as solar systems and biomass energy.

Climate change and Global warming are realities but also generate controversy within political parties.The common factor with no disagreement are Energy Independence, saving money and creating local economic development.

This is no time to waste our efforts in discussions and debates about environmental consequences.Let us take a pragmatic approach and develop alternative energy with the help of our own oil and gas resources and invest in energy conservation projects.

Energy Independence in 10 years?

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The Hot extreme weather is in the news.Increased power demand resulting from hot weather and water shortages was reported to caused600 million people in India losing power just last week. What next?
Candidates running for President in America are talking about the goal of energy independence. I am anxiously waiting to learn more about how they plan to achieve it.
How do we seriously look at all of the options to be set free as consumers of power? What if we could make our own power where we live?
It is time to educate the public and encourage conservation with tax incentives and long term loan financing of conservation and power generation measures.
Solar energy is available to most of us and fortunately the cost per watt of solar PV panels is projected to be less than $1.00 by 2015. It was $6.00 just 5 years ago. WOW!
Is it possible that in few years each one of homeowner could reduce their demand by 35% via energy efficiency and then make their own power from solar source?
That will be a great day to Hope for? This is the real war we need to fight to deal with the natural consequences of global warming.
Let us divest from the weapons of destruction as we invest in weapons of constructive actions to develop our economy.
Please share your ideas on how we gain energy independence?
Ram

Distribubted Generation -Empowers consumer to become energy independent

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We watch the horrors of recent Climate change as it devastates some parts of America and rest of the World. It make news and many wish that power generator should switch overnight to Green energy and shut down coal or oil based power plants etc.Realistically, it is not going to happen soon because it is cheaper for them to deny that Climate change has nothing to do with their emission etc. etc.
What choice does the Customer has now?
No one can stop from buying the power made by these plants and help increase distributed generation in our communities.
What is distributed generation? It is the ability to install power generation equipment at our homes so we do not rely on power made far away and transmitted over miles to the point of consumption.Many incentives and financing is available now so it is right time to act. New York State has generous policy to enable us to make our own power. We should take advantage of "on-bill" financing and change our lights to LED lights, and install solar panels and solar thermal system at each house. By paying for these improvements to the power company over 5 to 7 years the consumer will be paying comparable amount of their current energy bill and soon be reaping the benefit of lower energy costs for the life time.
Imagine the consumer making all or majority of their energy need at their site so power plants would have to reduce their plant production. Once the demand for power reduces, it will be possible to shut off the coal plants first and then oil fired units.
Other power generating systems running on natural gas or Nuclear would continue till Wind, Solar and Geothermal technologies gain capacity like Germany has already shown to the world.
Better future is in our hand.  Let us act now and take advantage of the incentives.

Plug in Hybrid- Buy now or Wait?

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So why should we buy a plug in hybrid?

Most of the buyers may be doing it because their heart says it is right thing to do. The mind  and most auto review experts say that  you will not get the return on investment for high cost of storage battery.  If it is all about money than stay with old technology and by a regular car that gives 40 miles per gallon. If you crave for energy independence some day than do it for the experience of joy of not using gasoline. With cost of storage batteries high most cars have small range. My Prius" plug in" takes me about 12 miles of pure pleasure of "Zero gasoline" range. I charge the car again at the office and then return home with zero use of gasoline. How do you price this feeling? The money saved from gasoline may only be worth $2.00 each day assuming the 50 miles per gallon for Prius. One has to experience the feeling as you see the gauge and find out that you reached the office in EV range and still have left over miles. Although I must admit that I wish it had the minimum 30 miles per charge range.

Each buyer should be considered as an investor in our future by creating the demand for these expensive cars.Some day the new battery storage technology will give us 300+mile range and filling station that can recharge in 15 minutes. That will be the day when Americans would not have to look at the gas stations price tags and just go past these conventional stations to parking lots, where electric charge station will do the job while you have lunch or shop in the store.

It is this dream that inspires the initial buyers of these hard to justify cars with the decision whether to buy the plug in or EV car?

Some decisions are made with passion in your heart and overlook the money calculations that shows how many years it takes to recover the extra money you paid for the plug in hybrid or EV technology. How do yo measure the Happiness in your heart or value of smile when you experience this new technology. I am loving it. Do not postpone to experience this for future.. It is only the present that counts.
Ram

Energy Independence is Earth day message!

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Earthday 2012 has special message and hope for America to seek energy independence. Let us resolve to make our oil import zero by 2020. New cars running on natural gas are coming to help live with our own resources and not use gasoline.
I have driven my 2004 Prius for over 230,500 miles. Now I am ready to take delivery of my plug in hybrid Prius next week. Hopefully my commute to the office will be on electric using the night time recharging. Better days are ahead for us as we learn to conserve energy and develop new green power sources at the consumer sites.
Earthday 2013 will be better with application of Green technologies in sustainable green communities.
Ram