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marmar

(76,985 posts)
Thu May 17, 2012, 04:47 PM May 2012

Turning Down Electricity Use in the Bay Area



[font size="1"]A key recommendation in the Bay Area’s action plan is to replicate projects that include crowd-sourcing funds for solar panel installation. Credit: Oakland Local[/font]


Four local government agencies and a coalition of clean energy advocates have drafted a plan for the San Francisco Bay Area to reach “zero net energy” in building electricity use by the year 2020 — meaning the nine-county area would use only as much electricity as could be produced from renewable sources.

The Bay Area Renewable Power 2012-2013 Action Plan depends largely on retrofitting at least a quarter of existing buildings with renewable power and energy efficiency equipment, and installing such equipment in new buildings under construction. These buildings would produce at least as much energy on site as they use and the excess would power other buildings and factories. The draft plan sets a goal of developing at least 2,400 megawatts of local renewable power a year and of encouraging innovative financing and financial incentives for this work.

Its core element, dubbed BASE 2020 or “Bay Area Smart Energy 2020,” a blueprint drafted by the Pacific Environment on how to get to the zero net energy in eight years, was the topic of a lot of buzz at a conference hosted by the Local Clean Energy Alliance in Oakland late last week.

“This report shows what is possible — what can be done and what should be done,” said Al Weinrub, coordinator of alliance, as copies of the BASE 2020 plan were circulating among conference attendees. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://americancity.org/daily/entry/reducing-electricity-use-in-the-bay-area



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