The “Green Race” has Begun!

#ReadyFor100 is calling for cities across the US to commit to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050. Everywhere mayors and other important members of the community are being asked by citizens to join the movement.

20 US cities, including San Diego and Los Angeles, have made the #ReadyFor100 commitment.  Aspen, CO; Greensburg, KS; and Burlington, VT have already achieved 100% clean energy.

The US is the 2nd largest consumer of electricity in the world, using 3.9 billion mwh.  Add to that the 3.5 trillon miles a year we drive.

Right now we rely on fossil fuels to produce our electricity and drive our cars.

Most of us think of solar arrays,   wind farms and dams when we think of sustainable energy.  To build these structures we have to clear huge amounts of land.  Any environmental benefits are reduced because of the loss of carbon absorbing, soil filtering trees and vegetation.

There have been some amazing advances in green energy to solve this problem.

Across the country, companies are developing technologies that use wastewater treatment plants and water pipes to produce hydroelectricity.  Using smaller variable flow water turbines we can access an energy source that would normally just go to waste.

A wastewater treatment plant could produce 68 mwh, potentially producing 1.1 million mwh across the US.

In Portland, OR they outfitted a section of water pipe with 4 horizontal turbines.  The 50 foot LucidPipe™ Power System is capable of producing enough electricity for 150 homes.

In Connecticut, Aquarion is installing Rentricity’s Flow-to-Wire devices.  These devices act as pressure release valves and then use the pressure to generate electricity.  One device is capable of producing enough electricity for 20-100 homes.

The best part of this type of technology is that its infrastructure is already in place, it just needs a few adaptations.  Cities can add these improvements to their existing plans.

These are seperate technologies that were designed to fit a specific city’s infrastructure and energy needs.

They can be combined and used elsewhere; making it easy for a city to customize its energy plan.