Appalachian Institute for Renewable Energy
Pioneering community-owned renewable energy
I’ve just read a chapter from a forthcoming book that I think recommends itself as necessary reading for AIRE’s project partners and anyone working toward democratic energy, sustainable communities, and humanity’s common future. I don’t intend this to be a chapter review. Instead, I want to highlight some of the key ideas in it and
DONALDSON, IN – The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ are proud to announce phase two of a renewable energy effort with two additional solar panel installations at The Center at Donaldson. “The Center at Donaldson has a long history of making choices beneficial to our planet – from our geothermal heating/cooling, to hybrid and electric
The wonderful people at the Center at Donaldson up in Plymouth, Indiana are paying attention to the natural world, or maybe I should say our earthly home in relation to its travels in the solar system. In case you haven’t noticed, the sun has risen in the sky after what has been for many a
With Phase 1 solar now operational and generating good results, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ with their various missions at The Center at Donaldson are wasting no time lighting up a Phase 2, some 5 times bigger (just over 500kW). The provincial and lay leadership behind this great work (and I do mean to
We’ve posted previously (here, here and here) on our admiration for the leadership of Poor Handmaid’s Center at Donaldson, up in Indiana as they took action to walk their talk on renewable energy and creation care. Adam Thada, the Director of Ecological Relations just issued the first Provincial report on the financial and ecological returns
AIRE’s core mission is to help nonprofit organizations and community-minded people develop solar projects at their schools, shelters, food systems, houses of worship, and other important public places. And, not just put solar up for show, mind you; our design principle is to push the benefits of ownership and control to that “community” and not
Nowadays most folks can’t get from point A to point B without their GPS. There’s no sense of geography or direction. Who can intuitively point to north let alone describe the difference between “true north” and “magnetic north?” Add to that the likely fact that many folks can’t name the 50 states or identify them
After several months of intensive planning, the Sisters and lay staff of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, walked their talk and made the first of several solar installments on the Center at Donaldson’s 150 acre campus near South Bend, Indiana. They dedicated the first phase of their solar initiative on the 1st day of