MA Town Closer to Green Community Status and Solar Project
The town of Lancaster, Massachusetts has been working hard to be awarded Green Community status. Several criteria have to be met in order to reach this status as outlined by the state's governor back in 2008. The town has taken many of these steps but hopes that the final push will come if a proposed new building code is approved by voters. Voter approval would put Lancaster in the running for a $1 million state-funded grant to move forward with an innovative solar project.
The solar project takes an interesting approach to using the power of the sun as a renewable energy resource. It would place a solar array on the town's landfill. Solar panels would also be added to various municipal buildings to capture the sun's energy. This would be a terrific way to use government land itself to generate the energy that the city needs from renewable resources. Among other things, the grant money would be used to purchase electricity now so that prices could be locked in for two or three decades, ultimately saving the town money while learning about the use of solar power as an alternative energy source in the area.
The process of making this solar project happen is a complicated one. In order to be considered, the town first has to get its Green Community status in order to be in the running for the funding it needs. To do that, the town has had to take many steps including implementing a fuel-efficient municipal vehicle policy and doing an energy audit on all municipal buildings. The final project in their goal towards becoming a green community is an energy-efficient building policy. If approved, the town can gain that green status and qualify for the funding that would move the solar project forward and make the town even greener.
This is an interesting idea about how to allocate renewable resource funds. It requires that towns show that they are willing to take steps and changes on their own before the government grants them the funding to adopt large renewable resource projects. These baby steps reveal a commitment that suggests the renewable energy projects will have a good chance of working. It's a smart approach that could easily be replicated in other areas.
Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20100426/NEWS/4260369/1101
Publish Date: 2010-04-30 15:17:49
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