Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy
Pioneering community-owned renewable energy
We post our news and reflections on energy, and we also like to repost pieces that we find relevant to community-owned renewable energy. Topics touch on policy, finance, energy politics, case studies, breakthroughs, trends, electric vehicles, as well as the broader social, economic, and maybe even metaphysical dimensions of energy.
As if right on cue, the Raleigh News & Observer opinion section posted this on October 27th- Duke Energy NC president: Climate and the case for natural gas. Barely a day prior, I had just posted about the climate change fueled California fires and how we’re all part of the larger explanation- Time to see
We have an electric power problem. Of course our sustainability problem is bigger and more complex than just electricity. But, as California’s PG&E continues to be in the news (for all the wrong reasons again this year!) with it’s strategic blackouts in response to the latest climate change fueled hellscape, one wonders why we believe
More great images from the Center at Donaldson. Thanks to Tom VanNevel for these great images from the drone. All photos courtesy of Poor Handmaids for Jesus Christ.
Jeff Deal and I spend 3 days up in northern Indiana last week participating in a variety of solar activities at the Center at Donaldson, home to some very inspiring projects of the Poor Handmaids for Jesus Christ. We’ve posted numerous times on their work over the past year plus, so if you wish to
Jeff Deal and I had the great pleasure to speak to a group of Ancilla College faculty and students, members of the Poor Handmaids for Jesus Christ community, and to community members at large on September 24, 2019. Our Lapen Lecture topic was energy, given that this community had worked a miracle of sorts by
Solar projects are obviously valuable ecologically and financially, but they can also spread enthusiasm in a community. Last Monday we had the pleasure of meeting a group of folks who are doing just that in the beautiful little town of Plymouth, in northwestern Indiana. They’re well into the restoration of their historic “main street” (N.
With an enrollment of 550 students, Ancilla College may just have more solar per student than any other college. I haven’t actually verified that because my point isn’t quantitative. Rather, it’s qualitative. It’s about doing what is necessary and what is urgent. DOING. It’s about doing what our youth know that we must and that’s
As the planet smolders, the Amazon burns, and the Bahamas are in ruin, and as Columbia Journalism Review just launched a project called Covering Climate Now to hold media accountable for real climate coverage, Michael Barnard just posted a piece over on CleanTechnica that is a textbook example of critical reading. His piece, Adventures in
I was in Mexico Beach last winter and stood in the midst of Hurricane Michael’s lingering devastation– broken glass, shredded trees, leveled houses, piles of debris, “don’t forget us” graffiti, and blue tarp band-aids. One week ago, I monitored the developments of Hurricane Dorian, having planned to be in Miami during its anticipated landfall. Once
Ancilla College is going green! so says South Bend, Indiana ABC channel 57. This is most certainly not fake news. We’re mighty proud of Poor Handmaids and the folks behind their groundbreaking work. The provincial leadership is worthy of 5-stars for it’s leadership and the lay staff (CFO, building/maintenance/engineering, fleet management, etc.) have perfectly executed