David Roberts over at Grist.org makes an excellent point in this debate. We can transcend the whole issue by simply forgoing large renewable energy farms and capture the resources right where the energy is being used. As distribute energy systems become more efficient, and as communities begin to understand the true benefits of installing these systems, we will begin to see less and less need for large transmission lines leading to mega-wind and solar farms.

Mr. Roberts puts the final nail in the coffin with this quote:

“In such a system, it’s not just energy that’s distributed, it’s social and economic power. The result is more democratic and resilient (though such benefits rarely find their way into conventional price comparisons). If “consumers” become producers, managers, and innovators, perhaps the desert tortoise and the world can be saved.”

The social benefits of distributed energy are equally as important as the land resource issue. When we regain control over our energy resource we have more power to collectively go solve the rest of the world’s problems.

You can read the full article here: http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/green-civil-war-projects-vs-preservation/

As we close the books on our second year in operation, we wanted to take the time to thank everyone who we’ve had the pleasure of working with, from the schools to the municipalities to the individuals throughout the Northeast and across the globe. Together we’ve made great strides towards our vision of an Energy Democracy where communities utilize on-site renewable energy systems to drive local economic growth and regain control of their energy future.

While the world continues to quibble over a comprehensive plan to reverse our growing impact on the environment, we can be thankful that states and communities across the northeast are taking a proactive stance. Massachusetts alone has seen implementation of many new forward thinking policies that will drive community energy projects forward. Take, for instance, the new Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC) program slated to begin in January 2010. With SRECs, implementing a solar system is not only socially beneficial, it is an incredible business opportunity.

Even amid the harsh economic recession, 2009 was the year that Emergent planted its name on the map. In October, the five founding partners of Emergent were named the Top Young Entrepreneurs in 2009 by the editors and readers of BusinessWeek. In November, Chris presented at the world finals for the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards hosted by Entrepreneur Organization. In December, Jesse and Jayson were invited to the White House to attend the Youth Clean Energy Forum with 150 other young leaders from across the country. Through these incredible events, we were fortunate enough to learn from other young entrepreneurs doing great things, and get advice on how to improve and grow our business.

In 2009 we had a few changes to the Emergent Family. Sadly, this Fall we waved goodbye to Jared Rodriguez and Greg Hering as they left the company to pursue their academic interests. We want to wish them the best of luck with their continued studies!

This spring, we were fortunate enough to welcome Pat Schaufelberger onto the Emergent Team. After graduating from Tufts with a B.S. in Quantitative Economics and International Relations, Pat joined us to build our new solar development branch. He’s done a fantastic job, and is currently putting together a 1 MW solar project in New Jersey.

Thanks again to all of you for your support through this past year. Happy Holidays, and keep in touch!

- Jesse, Jayson, Chris, and Pat

The forum will be webcast live at www.whitehouse.gov/live and will be open to the public through Facebook, where an innovative White House application will allow the public to watch and discuss the event live. The White House will be keeping up with the chat, taking questions, and incorporating feedback from chat participants during the event.

Definitely check it out!

This victory does not simply speak to the achievements that we have made over the past two years. This is a message from you to the world that we are not satisfied with the trajectory of our energy future. We will not stand for Big Energy’s oligarchical reign over the lifeblood of our economy. We must fight to regain control over our energy security. Through locally owned renewable energy projects we can build a true Energy Democracy.

Here is the link to the article: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/nov2009/sb2009119_604956.htm

Thank you again to everyone for your support, and lets continue to work together to keep the vision alive.

Thanks to everyone that has supported us along the way. We appreciate your vote!

To view the profile, please visit www.bit.ly/emergenttop25

To vote for us for the top 5, please visit www.bit.ly/voteemergent

I’d like to thank Mr. Dick Riseling for having me on the show and introducing me to his incredible sustainably operated farm in Sullivan County, New York. Please, check out his farm’s website at http://www.applepondfarm.com/ . The farm acts as a working renewable energy education center to demonstrate that renewable energy technologies and sustainable living scenarios are practical in the world we live in today.

How do we change our ways and try and mitigate climate change?

How do we (humans) start to have less of an impact on our only home, earth?

Is the earth a finite resource? Yes. The problem is that economic theory was based on an “empty world.” Instead, we need to move to “full world” economics. The basic rule of microeconomics, that optimal scale is reached when marginal cost equals marginal benefit (MC = MB), has aptly been called the “when to stop rule”—that is, when to stop growing. In macroeconomics, curiously, there is no “when to stop rule,” nor any concept of the optimal scale of the macroeconomy. The default rule is “grow forever,” consume forever, grow, grow, grow!

Does the earth have finite material resources? Yes.

While growth must end, this in no way implies an end to development, which we define as qualitative change, realization of potential, evolution toward an improved, but not larger, structure or system—an increase in the quality of goods and services (where quality is measured by the ability to increase human well-being) provided by a given throughput. Most of you have ceased growing physically, yet are probably studying this text in an effort to further develop your potential as humans. We expect human society to continue developing, and indeed argue that only by ending growth will we be able to continue developing for the indefinite future. *(Daly, H. E. (2005). Economics in a Full World, Scientific American, 293(3), 100-107.)

The sole source of inflowing energy to our earth is the SUN. It’s our sole source of energy, and that’s what we are implementing here in our company, Emergent Energy Group. Harnessing clean power that is truly sustainable, forever.

We started with a dearth of climate science completely and utterly backing up the assertion that humans are changing the climate of the earth. What we didn’t know was how much. Now, evidence is surfacing that the changes we’re having on our environment are potentially even worse than the pessimists predicted. Krugman notes a study by M.I.T. (it’s a college in Boston. I hear it’s hard to get into) which more than doubled the expected rise in temperature by the end of the century from 4 degrees to 9 degrees. I don’t know about you, but I plan on being around for at least another 60 years. And I don’t want to move to Florida when I retire. Nor do I want Boston to turn into Florida.

The evidence is out there. The conversation should be, how much is it going to cost us to mitigate the changes and potentially halt human-caused climate change. Instead, 212 members of our legislature refuse to acknowledge the glass on the table and have a productive debate. One called climate change a hoax, saying there is no scientific consensus. He received applause. Then he misquoted numbers on the cost of the bill to American families.

I have issues with the cap and trade bill. I have issues with some of the proposed ‘fixes’ to the climate crisis. But until we all agree that there is a big ol’ glass of water on the table, this conversation and the subsequent action, in whatever form it may take, will keep getting pushed to the next generation. I just hope I have time to teach my kids how to swim. Because the glass is getting bigger. And sooner or later the levees are going to break.

*http://www.indiaclimatesolutions.com/pump-sets-irrigation-and-human-power

Growing Vegetables

Since we don’t have a nice raised bed to plant our vegetables in, we’ve resorted to using old pots, buckets, tomato sauce containers from a local pizza shop, an old tire lined with cardboard (to keep the toxins from getting into the vegetables), and even old gallon milk jugs. We’re growing tomatoes, basil, spinach, mixed greens, onions, peppers, eggplants, and herbs. We’ve gotten a few salads out of it so far, but will hopefully be cutting out most of our vegetable costs in the not so distant future!

Compost

We recently purchased our Earth Machine Composter. Its pretty awesome – you put compostable materials (vegetable scraps, paper, yard clippings, leaves), turn it every few days, and when its ready take rich earth out of the door on the bottom. We’ve already used some of our compost in our vegetable garden! If you live in the City of Boston, it only costs $45 – Check out the website: http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/recycling/composting.asp

We’ve also been expermenting with making our own cleaning supplies, which we will talk about in a future post…