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The Green Energy Challenge passed by City Council calls for the Ann Arbor community to use 20% renewable energy by 2015 and the City to use 30% renewable energy in municipal operations by 2010. The Ann Arbor Energy Office estimates that - city-wide - local residents and businesses used 115,700 million BTU of renewable energy in 2006, which is approximately 0.6% of Ann Arbor’s total energy use. Put another way, our current renewable energy use is equivalent to 650 Ann Arborites using 100% renewable energy. Ann Arbor currently uses 14.7% renewable energy in its municipal operations.
Source: Ann Arbor Energy Office |
The City harnesses its renewable energy from two hydroelectric dams and a landfill energy facility that produces electricity from gases generated by the old City landfill. The chart below show renewable electricity generation from the landfill project and the hydroelectric dams:
What renewable energies are used in Ann Arbor?
Most of the renewable energy being used currently in Ann Arbor is biofuel and renewable electricity. The City of Ann Arbor maintains two hydroelectric dams and a landfill gas-to-energy system. U of M, the City, and the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority all use biodiesel and ethanol blends in their vehicles.The City has helped established 3 public access biofuel stations, and there are plans to create 6 new stations in the Ann Arbor Area soon. A number of local households have solar water heaters and photovoltaic systems installed, and Ann Arbor residents can now sign up to purchase renewable electricity through Detroit Edison. While there are currently no wind energy projects in the Ann Arbor area, several small installations are planned and Washtenaw County is spearheading a project to test area winds for the feasibility of large, utility-scale wind power generation.
How does renewable energy use affect the Ann Arbor environment?
Generating and using renewable electricity displaces electricity that would have been generated primarily from coal, thereby reducing emissions of sulfur oxides, mercury, and greenhouse gases. Using biodiesel and ethanol reduces the emission of pollutants that harm local air quality and also reduces greenhouse gas emissions. There are also significant financial benefits from investing in local renewable sources. Local sources of energy reduce costs of importing natural resources, and allow money to stay in the local economy.
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