Local Energy

Session Topic:
Local Energy
Name of convener:
Brent Summerville
Email/Phone:
summervilleb@appstate.edu/262-8331
Participants:
Sam Zimmerman, Tracy M, Liz Aycock, Marnie Werth, Jack Callahan, Eula Fox, Winston Kinsey, Karen Bowman, Scott Shards, David Holden, Angie Pate, Ged Moody

Main points from the conversation:
Interests: wind energy, public education on options; conservation is a big resource, lights on at
night, 2nd homes using energy with noone at home; residential scale, community-scale, larger
community scale (1000+ homes); how public officials can make it happen?; how to educate the
realtor community, ie. remove fears about wind energy ruining everything; work on the town of
Blowing Rock ban on windmills; FIX THE RIDGE LAW, yes windmills are exempt, but Roy
Cooper has caused confusion, we need a clarification of the exemption; make Town of Boone 1st
wind-powered town in WNC (a new windmill on Howard Knob; Hull, MA is an example);
develop landfills like the Energy Xchange; Eula has 15 acres of windy land, want a string of
windmills, what does she do (ASU can help with an assessment and next steps); interest in
developing a community energy system in Foscoe.
Barriers - costs, financing, incentives are built for business more than communities, lack of energy awareness (using electricity uses lots of coal which has widespread impacts);
Biofuels - local farmers grow feedstock, collect waste oil, community seed crusher, community
biodiesel processor, use in tractors and home heating (off-road use is cheaper)
Some communities require solar thermal (Israel, Botswana...)
What about Hydrogen and compressed air (need renewable infrastructure to create these storage media).
We need all of these things - better choices by individuals (energy conservation, home design,
install renewable energy, cars, appliances), community-scale solar, wind, hydro, biofuels; and larger community-scale systems like a string of utility-scale wind turbines for county/regional impacts.
Producing our own energy using the renewable resources that we have (wind, sunshine, existing
dams for hydro projects, feedstocks for biofuels)

Action steps:
Watch movie - Kilowatt Ours
Goto ilovemountains.org to see where your electricity comes from
Contact you representatives. Bev Purdue (consider Cliffside a MAJOR pollutor); Tarleton (no
Mountain Top Removal Coal).
Demand BREMCO install community PV and wind, not just give out CFLs; goto annual meeting
and voice your opinion
Distribute packets of info on options, costs, impacts, contractors for renewable energy (ASU
energy center can help develop, Town of Boone can help distribute)
Indentify any opportunities for pilot projects on the community scale (wind, solar) and submit a
proposal to state legislators with a petition saying "this community wants to be more resilient by