Addressing Renewable energy in Fort Collins
Todays day and age is all about convenience. Products are marketed to us for how simple, quick and easy they are to use, yet we still rely heavily on limited recourses, no matter how much the price goes up.
On all scales, we as humans need to come together to help solve our energy crisis, and find new and unique ways to produce clean renewable energy for our future.
This may seem small, but its actually a pretty incredible step in the right direction.
Fort Collins has been working at this goal for a while now, and we are starting to make some progress. The City of Fort Collins now gives businesses and residents the choice to purchase clean renewable energy for an extra 1.6 cents per kilowatt hour.
This may seem small, but its actually a pretty incredible step in the right direction. People are provided the choice to make a transition to renewable energy, and hopefully more and more people take this opportunity to contribute to lessening our overall carbon footprint as a community.
Subscribing to this green energy program earns people bragging rights to their neighbors; you can say that you have a “super smart home,” as well as 5% of the price premium is donated in order to help fund future investments toward the community goal of 100% renewable energy usage.
While we are making great strides toward a more eco-friendly tomorrow, I fear people will continue to use up our limited resources until they are completely gone. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
A Vox article states that Colorado is one of the states most prepared for a renewable energy overhaul, yet we are hardly utilizing this potential. Our high altitude leads to ample opportunity for efficient solar and wind power, unfortunately, we are only utilizing 3% of electricity from solar power and 18% from wind. Using an incredibly accurate program known as Weather-Informed energy Systems: for designs, operations and markets. Colorado could save $2.5 billion through 2040 by shutting down its coal plants and switching to renewable energy.
This not only means that Colorado is a prime state to lead the charge for safe lasting energy, but also that we will benefit financially form such a transition as well!
The Earth Day Challenge is a community-wide, annual challenge that gets the Fort Collins public involved, and encourages people to reduce their carbon footprint in a positive way.
“We keep challenges and messages with our community positive, and do not use techniques that make community members feel a sense of eco-doom or anxiety,” said Michelle Finchum, a Fort Collins sustainability specialist. “There are so many reasons to keep positive, make individual changes and share your experiences.”
As we continue on this journey toward a better planet, we need to take these words seriously and remain positive and encouraging of those around us. Renewable energy is a big issue and it’s going to require unity to solve this crisis.
“We are doing some amazing work in Fort Collins, many thanks to CSU and CSU students,” Finchum said.
