EcoEKY: Green News from Eastern Kentucky

A report on the London stop of the Energy Roadshow in the Corbin Times-Tribune. (Link to article.)

KY Green Energy Roadshow

Published: March 31, 2008 11:55 am


Series of state workshops in rural Kentucky areas aim at encouraging state leaders to think green

A unique green “roadshow” of sorts pulled into London last Saturday. At this roadshow there was talk of anaerobic digesters, green building, and all sorts of new ways to live. Not sure what the heck an anaerobic digester is? The roadshow was meant to help you figure out what exactly one was.

The Kentucky Green Energy Roadshow made it’s first stop on Saturday in London. The roadshow was presented by the Kentucky Solar Partnership.

Kentucky Solar Partnership Coordinator Andy McDonald said the roadshow was meant to teach people more about renewable energy, energy efficiency and green building.

“Kentucky Solar Partnership and some other organizations were thinking of ways of encouraging the state to save energy and become more green,” McDonald said of the event’s genesis. “And we thought if we had a series of workshops in places where these types of workshops don’t normally happen — rural areas, we could help encourage state leaders,”

The event ran from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and featured 10 speakers, and informational booths from sponsors.

One of the booths had bright colored lights underneath a domed piece of glass — something that resembled a model of a UFO.

Jason Streit of Kentucky Solar Living, one of the event’s major sponsors, said that the bright lights were compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). CFLs use approximately 75 percent less energy that normal light bulbs.

“I brought the colored ones, because I wanted to show that compact fluorescent lights can be used for anything—we have even installed them at bars and things like that,” Streit said.

The dome shaped glass was an example of a window that can be put in the roof of a house or building to provide daylight lighting instead of using electric lights. Streit said that this part of the display was to show people that there are a lot of options for daytime lighting.

Among the speakers at the event, was Talina Mathews, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Policy (GOEP). The mission of the GOEP is to maintain Kentucky’s low-cost energy, while responsibly developing energy resources, all the while preserving Kentucky’s commitment to environmental quality.

Mathews said that the energy problem in Kentucky, and the world as a whole won’t be solved simply.

“People say we need a silver bullet. I’m almost tired of this cliche, but we need a silver shotgun—there is no, one solution for the country’s energy problems,” Mathews said.

Mathews brought up examples of schools that participated in energy saving programs.

“These schools saved $30-50,000 just in energy costs. That could be enough to a hire another teacher,” Mathews said.

Mathews added that it would be necessary for Kentuckians, and the public as a whole to become more efficient.

“We need to produce everything more efficiently. We have to get people to think differently. We need people to know that no matter what happens, there are going to be carbon limits [enforced by the government] in the next 5 years. And if there are not, I’ll come back here and say I was wrong,” Mathews said.

The roadshow will be making it’s way to Owensboro, Northern Kentucky University and then to Morehead on April 26. McDonald said he hopes if people missed this first stop that they would consider coming to one of the upcoming stops. More information can be found at Kysolar.org

And if you are still wondering what anaerobic digester is, Scott Maas of USDA Rural Development explained that it is an up and coming green source of energy. Anaerobic digesters use microorganisms to break down organic biomass. Biomass in this case, according to Maas, is organic waste, in other words, animal droppings, wastewater and the like. As this waste biodegrades it creates gas that can be used to create power.

Maas says that the Maker’s Mark distillery is currently using a methane digester that breaks down whiskey waste. Maas said the distillery has cut it’s natural gas use in half.