Take the Energy Efficiency Quiz..Save $$$

TRUE OR FALSE?

If every US household changed their 5 highest-use fixtures (or the light bulbs in them) to ENERGY STAR qualified lighting...

We would save more than 800 billion kWh of energy

We would keep more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of our air

We would have a national annual energy savings equivalent to the annual output of more than 20 power plants

We would have a national annual energy savings equivalent in air pollution to removing more than 8 million cars from the road.

Americans would collectively save more than $6 billion every year in energy costs.

Check out the answer here:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=ilg.execQuiz&cfid=357494&cftoken=10816075

and let me know what YOU think...
www.janeAnne.com
www.ECOstewardRealty.com

INCENTIVES FOR HOMEOWNERS INSTALLING RENWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

I found this article to be of interest, and thought that sharing it might be of service to readers...SO here it is! From the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-22/s_24874.asp

INCENTIVES FOR HOMEOWNERS INSTALLING RENWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

Several state and municipal governments are trying to stimulate demand for alternative energy by offering cash incentives to companies and homeowners that install solar electric (photovoltaic) systems, fuel cells, small wind turbines, solar thermal systems for heat and hot water, and other renewable energy technologies.The Web site of the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE), a project of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, contains comprehensive information on state and federal incentives — tax credits, grants, rebates, and special utility rates — for renewable energy technologies.For example, according to DSIRE, Anaheim, California's public utility is encouraging residential and business customers to install photovoltaic systems by offering rebates of $4 per watt up to $7,000 total for residential systems and $50,000 for industrial installations.

The state of Indiana's Alternative Power and Energy Grant Program will help businesses, nonprofit organizations, and units of local government (such as schools) with the costs of installing solar, wind, fuel cell, geothermal, hydropower, alcohol fuel, waste-to-energym and biomass energy technologies. They'll pay up to 30 percent of the project cost, or $30,000, whichever is less.And New Jersey's Clean Energy Rebate Program pays between $.30 and $5.50 rebates per watt for commercial or residential solar electric systems, depending upon size.These are just a few examples.

The DSIRE website features a United States map on which site visitors can click on their state to access detailed information on what grants, rebates, or tax incentives are available through their local governments and utilities. The site is updated each week and features new programs as well as changes to existing ones.Homeowners can also finance the purchase and installation of renewable energy systems through home-equity loans. This strategy can help bring down costs through tax savings, since interest payments on mortgage loans are tax-deductible.http://www.enn.com/news/2004-06-22/s_24874.asp

WANT MORE INFO ON HOMEOWNER INCENTIVES? There is Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE) is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and selected federal incentives that promote renewable energy. You can find it here:http://www.dsireusa.org/

You can help...
www.ECOstewardRealty.com

PRESERVES AND PROTECTED LANDS IN NORTH CAROLINA

The North Carolina NATURE PRESERVES ACT states that the continued population growth and land development in North Carolina have made it necessary and desirable that areas of natural significance be identified and preserved before they are destroyed. These natural areas, the text goes on to report, are irreplaceable as laboratories for scientific research, as reservoirs of natural materials for uses that may not now be known, as habitats for plant and animal species and biotic communities, as living museums where people may observe natural biotic and environmental systems and theinterdependence of all forms of life, and as reminders of the vital dependence of the health of the human community on the health of the other natural communities..

North Carolina, we have established a Natural Heritage Program to provide assistance in the selection and nomination for registration or dedication of natural areas.

This program includes classification of natural heritage resources, an inventory of their locations, and a data bank for that information.

There are so many amazing real properties that qualify as outstanding natural areas. YOU can take part in funding and founding nature preserves by investing in such a property. The owner of a qualified natural area even may transfer fee simple title or other interest in land to the State. Nature preserves may be acquired by gift, grant, or purchase.

The North Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 100 beautiful sites across the state. Most of the sites, while full of natural charm, also have adequate public access but are situated such that public exploration will not endanger fragile natural communities.

One of the sites within hours of Asheville is MOUNT MITCHELL.
When you come to explore our area of the country, this is ONE place you will not want to miss! The State of North Carolina established its first state park at Mount Mitchell in 1915 to protect the area's virgin Fraser fir from timbering. The North Carolina Chapter purchased 84 acres of additional land for Mount Mitchell State Park in 1997.At 6,684 feet above sea level, Mount Mitchell is the highest peak in the eastern United States and contains an extensive area of spruce-fir forest, one of the country's rarest ecosystems.

Spruce-fir forest is abundant in a large region of northern North America, but south of New England the forest type is only found in a narrow band in the Appalachian Mountains. This natural community is characterized by evergreens, particularly red spruce and Fraser fir, and harbors many species that are closely related to species in the spruce-fir forests of New England.In North Carolina, spruce-fir forest occurs at elevations above 5,500 feet where cool temperatures and high moisture are prevalent conditions.

The forests are remnants from the last ice age some 18,000 years ago and have become refuges for species that cannot tolerate warmer, drier conditions. This forest type is declining due to the negative effects of air pollution, in particular, acid rain...you can help...

www.ECOstewardRealty.com

####

YOU'RE TALKIN' SUSTAINABLE

Things HAPPEN when people start getting together and talking.
The talk here in the Greater Asheville area, where “THINGS already are happening, is about making wise choices. A talkative and listening and creative citizenry has set its heart on finding ways around the “energy crisis” and the global warming predicament. We’ve taken the challenge. We intend to uneath new ways that will benefit our ecology and our economy.

Take, for example, one community owned business, Blue Ridge BioFuels.

This business has a two-fold objective:1) Educate potential users and 2) Bring locally produced clean-burning products to Asheville and Western North Carolina. I asked them about their source. “Our biodiesel is produced from area restaurants' waste vegetable oil and burns cleanly in any diesel engine, “ I was informed. Furthermore, contrary to popular notions, "no modification is necessary to use biodiesel in your diesel vehicle.

Biodiesel can also replace the home heating oil and you can find it right at a local gas station (Gas-Up) located on Haywood Road or in bulk delivery, “ a spokesperson said.Check this out!http://www.blueridgebiofuels.com/

One thing that contributes to Asheville’s good “karma” is the way of sharing that seems to prevail among the people who live here….if you join the boiodiesel coop, you can get a discounted price on the fuel.Asheville is on the “greenfront” looking forward, in happy anticipation, at a forecast of creative resolution in a natural economy throughout our region, nationally and across the globe . In Western North Carolina, the N.C. Solar Center, a State-sponsored agency, has joined the bandwagon.

It is doing its part to accelerate that trend by making grants to alt-fuel producers and fleets. Warren Wilson College is eager to make use of the new fuels. UNCA is helping Blue Ridge Biofuels obtain national transportation-fuel certification so the school can use a 20-percent (and, eventually, 50-percent) blend of the cooperative's biodiesel in its campus shuttles.

Buncombe County Solid Waste, whose fleet now runs on biodiesel, announced that the county also intends to convert 15 ambulances to the fuel and hopes eventually to use methane gas produced by decomposing vegetable matter at the county landfill to power vehicles designed to run on compressed natural gas, such as the vehicles the Sheriff's Department is converting to CNG. The Blue Ridge Parkway also is looking into biodiesel.

Privately owned local fleets such as Hart Distributing of Weaverville, a wine-and-beer distributor, is operating two biodiesel delivery trucks, along with several propane. Nationally, spearheaded by advocates of thought-&-action for the good of everyone, and the groundwork of brave souls such the person formerly known as the “Next President of the United States”, Al Gore, there’s a movement toward energy-wise (and economy-wise) awareness blooming, that makes many Asheville residents smile.

Recently, the tractor-maker, John Deere, heeding the demands of its customer base: American farmers, rolled out the first of its new line of tractors burning B2, a blend of conventional diesel fuel containing B2 percent biodiesel. And BioWillie, the brand of biodiesel that country-music star and FarmAid hero Willie Nelson introudcued, is now “singing” to the nation's long-haul truckers… with the applause of clean air advocates. It is far cleaner than petro-diesel and more than three times more energy-efficient to produce.

For more information
www.ECOstewardRealty.com

#####