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LOCAL ENERGY!
Work out the amount of CO2
your household emits with this
carbon calculator. You'll be amazed to see that your
electricity usage is usually the main culprit.
A new and intense focus on renewable energy and energy conservation is now
emerging in the face of the challenges of rising petrol prices and the environmental
ramifications of global over-reliance on cheap energy. |
Pioneer City 2030: What the Energy
System of the Future Looks Like
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To help mitigate the
potential local economic impacts of the emerging fuel crisis, and to reduce
local contributions to greenhouse gas emissions, the LOCAL ENERGY! Campaign will
educate the public, local businesses and institutions, demonstrate effective
strategies, and help catalyze appropriate community responses.
LOCAL ENERGY! is a community response that makes sense for a variety of reasons:
- Economic: Local energy often translates into keeping more
money in the immediate area, that is, local investors are involved in the
development and support of local energy projects. Local energy research,
production and management has the potential to create jobs within
communities
- Educational: Local energy projects increase the number of
people in the community involved in energy production and thus raises public
awareness in regard to energy issues and initiatives, through public
exchanges of information and ideas
- Environmental: Local energy represents a move towards
more environmentally-sound energy production. Local energy initiatives are
often natural energetic processes which can be harnessed with little
pollution, such as geothermal power, wind power, solar power, biomass power
and small-scale hydropower. Reduces the hazards of global warming by
reducing harmful emissions
- Social and political: Enhances the reliability of our
system through the diversification of the energy sources. Reduces our
dependence on outside (often unstable) energy sources. The loss in ability
to be self reliant for energy production is becoming increasingly apparent
as further crises develop within the oil and gas industries worldwide.
Recognizing this dependence on unstable energy sources around the world has
been the impetus for many local energy projects.
- Security: Unstable foreign energy sources threaten local
economic viability and community security. Severe energy shortages and
energy price spikes can make it difficult and even impossible to provide
local essential services, emergency services, food and essential goods.
Implementing lower energy consumption, emergency preparedness plans and
viable locally produced alternative energy sources can help protect energy
and community security.
Vision & Goals
- Demonstrate effective strategies for reducing and
eventually eliminating community dependence on imported fossil fuels for
energy.
- Document project successes and shortcomings, organize
community tours of appropriate projects, and provide journalistic coverage
in our web site and in our affiliated publication Transition Times.
- Wherever possible, use specific project sites for
training and public workshops.
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