Xcel Energy Smart Grid & Solar Rebate in Boulder
Xcel Energy is spending over one hundred million dollars on a new smart grid "beta test" in Boulder Colorado. The goal is to test out new forms of technology in the grid structure that will allow for wind, solar, and other alternatives to contribute efficiency. Eventually these technologies, having been tested and proven in Boulder, will trickle down nation wide.
The Xcel Smart grid is just one example of the work going on in Boulder since 2004 when the Climate Action Plan was put into place to strive for Kyoto Protocol compliance. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gases below 7% of 1990 levels and Boulder has made advancements towards this goal with biodiesel, natural gas, solar, and wind. In Boulder, private enterprise is responsible for ~59% of carbon emissions so these efforts have had to take place without cutting away profitability and the primary source of funding for these projects has come from an electricity tax which goes directly to the source of CO2 emissions but only amounts to about $10 a year for the average Boulder homeowner.
Boulder's solar rebate program is setup to provide incentives to local homeowners (within Boulder city limits) to speed adoption of sustainable technologies and reduce Carbon emissions. There are two aspects of this program, basic discounts to businesses and home owners who put up solar panels designed to incentivize adoption and a second aspect which goes towards funding solar power for nonprofits and other organizations that might not otherwise have been able to afford solar. This is all funded by a sales and use tax in Boulder, both in the form of a rebates from the sales and use tax and also money directly from this fund. The fund has tremendously increased the number of solar users in Boulder and also lead to numerous solar companies moving to Boulder, making it a green-tech hub.
There are a large number of climate smart programs in Boulder to help educate the community and you can learn more at BeClimateSmart.com and from the following three interviews with Kevin Afflerbaugh, the Boulder Sustainability Coordinator. More on these topics at the CU Student Blog Front Range Environment
The Xcel Smart grid is just one example of the work going on in Boulder since 2004 when the Climate Action Plan was put into place to strive for Kyoto Protocol compliance. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gases below 7% of 1990 levels and Boulder has made advancements towards this goal with biodiesel, natural gas, solar, and wind. In Boulder, private enterprise is responsible for ~59% of carbon emissions so these efforts have had to take place without cutting away profitability and the primary source of funding for these projects has come from an electricity tax which goes directly to the source of CO2 emissions but only amounts to about $10 a year for the average Boulder homeowner.
Boulder's solar rebate program is setup to provide incentives to local homeowners (within Boulder city limits) to speed adoption of sustainable technologies and reduce Carbon emissions. There are two aspects of this program, basic discounts to businesses and home owners who put up solar panels designed to incentivize adoption and a second aspect which goes towards funding solar power for nonprofits and other organizations that might not otherwise have been able to afford solar. This is all funded by a sales and use tax in Boulder, both in the form of a rebates from the sales and use tax and also money directly from this fund. The fund has tremendously increased the number of solar users in Boulder and also lead to numerous solar companies moving to Boulder, making it a green-tech hub.
There are a large number of climate smart programs in Boulder to help educate the community and you can learn more at BeClimateSmart.com and from the following three interviews with Kevin Afflerbaugh, the Boulder Sustainability Coordinator. More on these topics at the CU Student Blog Front Range Environment
DIY Solar Pool Heater
This morning one of our readers sent us a little do it yourself tip for heating a swimming pool based on what one of her friends is doing. The full comment follows: "Not a question, but a little info: Knowing how hot the water gets in a garden hose, a friend with a swimming pool bought a bunch, I do not know how much, of black garden hose. She spread it out in big curls on top of a nearby flat roofed building. She then fixed up a small recirculating pump, ran the water to the swimming pool to warm...Headlines:
Solar Resources
State Programs
I had not heard of this test before. I think they picked the right city for the test since there are so many people with solar panels in Boulder.