Renewable Energy

According to a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, New Hampshire has the potential to generate nearly 1.2 times its current electricity needs from renewable energy

Good News
One positive but small step forward is a 2005 bill signed by Governor John Lynch creating a committee to study incentives for renewable energy generation in the state. The bill provides that any incentives that are developed to encourage renewables must not create additional taxes or fees for new Hampshire taxpayers. (More at Renewable Energy Access.)

Areas of Concern
At the moment the state is doing little to develop renewable energy. New Hampshire is not “first in the nation” in this respect.

Stories
Keene is running all 78 of the city’s diesel vehicles on biodiesel fuel. The cleaner fuel, which is 20 percent soybean oil, is reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 420 tons a year.

Hanover is installing wood-heating facilities that will use wood chips from local lumber yards to heat the high school and middle school. The heating systems, a first in a New Hampshire public school system, will save the community more than $60,000 a year on energy bills, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 1,000 tons a year. The facilities will displace about 115,000 gallons of fuel oil each year.