Tomorrow’s Energy Today Outlines How Massachusetts
and New England Can Ease Our Energy Crisis and
Curb Global Warming
Worcester, MA - Massachusetts can
relieve many of the problems that plague its energy infrastructure by reducing energy waste and tapping local sources of
renewable energy. By using technologies
that are available today, New England could shave energy consumption by at least 18 percent and reduce the
region’s emissions of carbon dioxide by at least 20 percent, according to Tomorrow’s
Energy Today, a report released today by the Environment Massachusetts
Research & Policy Center and Clean Water Fund, accompanied
by Worcester Mayor Lukes and City Councilor Haller.
While Massachusetts experiences
the symptoms of an energy crisis, from high and volatile energy prices to
strained infrastructure and supply to global warming pollution, Tomorrow’s Energy Today underscores the
availability and feasibility of solutions to state and regional energy problems. The
report was unveiled at the Kilby/Gardner affordable housing project site where
the Main South CDC is installing solar panels on the roof of 10 homes.
“When it comes to energy policy, we’ve been on auto-pilot for too
long,” said Diana Connett of the Environment Massachusetts. “We need to steer
our state to a new energy future. We are
starting to see this kind of leadership in Worcester, but because our electric grid is
region-wide and pollution doesn’t stay in one place, we need the rest of the state
and the region to begin implementing these ready-to-use solutions.”
According to the new report from the Massachusetts Climate
Coalition, a scenario that takes advantage of the region’s near-term energy
efficiency and renewable energy potential could:
• Cut
gasoline consumption by 21 percent;
• Cut diesel
fuel consumption by 13 percent;
• Cut
natural gas consumption by 22 percent;
• Cut
nuclear power production by 26 percent;
• Cut coal
consumption by 28 percent; and
• Reduce the region’s emissions of carbon
dioxide by nearly 20 percent.
“Our research
shows that the solutions exist to curb global warming pollution and can put our
state on track to address our energy crisis.
We want to see energy efficiency triple or quadruple in the coming
decade and get at least 20 percent of our energy in Massachusetts from new
clean, renewable sources,” said Lilah Glick of the Clean Water Fund.
“There is so much we can do
right now, and the technology is already available to do it, said Peggy
Middaugh, Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Council. “Installing energy efficiency measures, such
as efficient appliances, insulation, and efficient lighting, should be a
no-brainer. These things save money and
improve comfort while protecting the environment. Renewable energy products, like the solar
panels being installed as part of the Kilby/Gardner project, prove that this
technology is ready for residential use.
The homeowners here will benefit by generating 66% of their electricity
right on their rooftops, and paying that much less on their energy bills.”
The
report uses recent US Department of Energy data to look at fuel use and sector
for each state in New England. For each of the
largest end uses of that energy, the analysis probed the best existing technologies
to reduce energy waste and replace dirty energy with clean, homegrown sources.
Taking
advantage of available energy efficiency will ease the pressure to build new or
expand old dirty energy infrastructure, including liquefied natural gas terminals,
fossil fuel-fired power plants and nuclear power plants. Additionally, Massachusetts and the region will experience better price
stability, a boost in local energy investment, and more local jobs, considering
that 90 percent of New England’s energy currently
comes from outside of the region.
By
implementing technologies available today, New England
can significantly reduce energy use and global warming emissions, including:
• Technological improvements to cars and light trucks that would
enable vehicles to achieve average fuel economy of at least 33 miles-per-gallon
over the next decade, and much better fuel economy in the years to come;
• Improvements to heavy-duty trucks that can reduce their fuel
consumption per mile by 29 percent;
• Weatherizing homes in New England
to reduce their use of fuel for space heating during the cold winter months and
reduce air conditioning demand in the summer;
• Improved water heaters and other major appliances for
homeowners that achieve significant reductions in energy consumption;
• More energy-efficient space heating, cooling and lighting
equipment in commercial buildings;
• More efficient motors in industrial facilities, along with
smarter integration of motors into industrial processes; and
• Combined heat-and-power technology that allows business and
industry to create heat and electricity at the same time – resulting in a large
improvement in overall energy efficiency.
“These common-sense,
ready-to-use measures can tackle multiple big problems such as energy supply,
price stability and global warming, all that the same time. This is why we need to set goals of
quadrupling energy efficiency and getting 20% of our energy from new, clean
renewable sources in Massachusetts
by the year 2020,” added Connett.
In addition,
Tomorrow’s Energy Today reviewed New England’s solar and wind energy resources, which are
sufficient to power the entire region several times over. Currently, very
little of New England’s energy comes from
within the region. According to the report,
native New England power is only enough to
power our homes, vehicles and businesses for 2 hours and 15 minutes of every
day. Taking advantage of only a small share of our renewable resources could
enable us to replace 10 percent of the region’s electricity generation with new
renewable energy in the near future. Some such scenarios include:
• Building five offshore wind energy facilities of the same
size as the proposed Cape Wind project off Massachusetts;
• Installing 1,860 wind turbines in onshore locations in
New England, requiring temporary disruption of less than 0.03 percent of the
region’s land area and permanent impacts on only a small fraction of that area;
• Installing solar photovoltaic panels on less than
one-half percent of New England’s homes or 1.5 percent of its businesses; and
• Using cost-effective biomass resources from mill wastes and
low-quality wood from our forests.
“If we do all of these
feasible things, we’ll be heading toward more secure and reliable energy while
meeting our global warming pollution reduction goals,” said Glick.
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