Commonwealth Conversations: Energy Smarts

Cities & Towns at the Forefront of Massachusetts Energy Leadership

Aimee Powelka

Member of the DOER Green Communities Division

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The word is out that Massachusetts is a national leader in clean energy.The Commonwealth has been number one in energy efficiency since 2011 and the state met the Governor's goal for 250 megawatts of installed solar electric (photovoltaic or "PV") capacity four years early. The lesser known story is that leadership at local levels -- in cities and towns -- has been central to that success.

As recently as 2009, only a small percentage of Massachusetts cities and towns were keeping an eye on municipal energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Fewer still were pursuing renewable energy. For example:

• Fifty-nine of Massachusetts' 351 municipalities participated in EPA's Community Energy Challenge to use efficiency improvements to reduce by 10 percent their "energy use intensity" (total energy consumed in one year divided by the total building floor space).
• A small portion tracked energy consumption through EPA's ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager system or other energy-tracking software tools.
• Residential solar was a rarity; in 2007 there were only 3 MWs of solar PV capacity installed statewide in all sectors.

Today, the municipal energy landscape is vastly different. Guidance and incentives from Patrick-Murray Administration policies and programs, together with the expanded Mass Save® programs, has energized municipal and school officials to take action. The results have been dramatic.

• 110 cities and towns, covering almost half the Commonwealth's population, went through a rigorous, five step process -- which includes adopting a formal 20 percent energy reduction plan -- to be designated as one of the "Green Communities," eligible for state grants and other programs. Further, over a third of municipalities have adopted the "Stretch Code," which requires new buildings -- public or private -- within a city or town to be 20 percent more efficient than required by the existing "base energy code."
• Sixty-eight percent of cities and towns, representing 80 percent of Massachusetts residents, now measure and benchmark energy consumption of municipal, school and regional entities' buildings within the municipality. Through MassEnergyInsight®, a no-cost, web-based tool offered through the Department of Energy Resources, it's now easier to make sound decisions and take actions to maximize energy efficiency.
• The power of local clean energy leadership inspired SolarizeMass®, a partnership between cities and towns, DOER and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, to increase adoption of solar electric power by home and business owners. In 2012, 748 residents and business owners in seventeen communities signed contracts to install over 4.8 MW of solar electricity. The number of small-scale solar electricity projects in each community will more than double as a direct result of the program. That success led to 2013 SolarizeMass, just launched.

Growing involvement in clean energy by cities, towns and schools is contributing to an ever-increasing portion of Massachusetts' march to a clean energy future.

Red Sox Pitch In to Combat Climate Change on Earth Day

Bram Claeys

Deputy Director of the Renewables Division, Department of Energy Resources

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As part of their plans to celebrate Earth Day and support clean energy, the Boston Red Sox purchased Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to offset the greenhouse gas emissions from this year’s Earth Day game. The RECs offset the carbon emissions from energy used at Fenway Park for the game, as well as fan, employee and team transportation. All told, the Red Sox will be offsetting 500 tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to the annual emissions from 104 cars.

For those unfamiliar with it, the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS) was one of the first programs in the nation that required a certain percentage of the state's electricity to come from renewable energy.

Electricity suppliers meet their RPS obligations - a specific percentage each year - by acquiring a sufficient quantity of RECs. For each megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity, one serial-numbered electronic certificate is created. Certificates that represent renewable generation are coded accordingly and known as RECs. DOER calculates how much greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by one megawatt hour of clean energy generation, or one REC.

The Red Sox don’t have solar photovoltaic panels for electricity at Fenway, so the team calculated how much greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the Earth Day game, and then bought enough RECs to compensate for those emissions.

To support clean energy sources in New England, the Red Sox are purchasing their RECs from facilities in New England: 140 Massachusetts RECs from solar installations (at Falmouth Academy, North Coast Seafood, and Country Curtains) and 1,175 Maine RECs from hydropower installations. The Mass. RECs cover energy consumption within Fenway Park and the Maine RECs cover fan, employee, and team transportation emissions.

We’re thrilled that the Red Sox continue to hit it out of the park in their support for clean energy.

Agriculture — A Canary in the Coal Mine for Climate Change

Greg Watson

Commissioner, Department of Agricultural Resources

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An often overlooked culprit, the agricultural sector accounts for fourteen percent — or as much as twenty-five percent if you include agriculture-driven deforestation — of global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, agriculture may be one of the greatest tools we have for mitigating climate change, and Massachusetts can lead that charge.

Since 2007, over 100 farms in the Commonwealth have installed renewable energy or implemented energy efficiency projects. For example, the Jordan Dairy Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts installed an anaerobic digester that combines manure with commercial food waste to generate electricity and produce fertilizer that can be used to increase farm productivity. It’s a win-win-win-win situation: clean energy, reduced need for chemical fertilizers that generate greenhouse gases and runoff that pollutes our waterways, reduced pressure on landfills, and more productive soil.

As demand for locally grown food in Massachusetts increases, efforts to build a sustainable supply infrastructure are growing as well. It’s been estimated that the average distance food travels from the farm to your dinner plate is 1,500 miles. By shortening the distance between farm and consumer, we’re reducing the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by transporting food. Further, selling directly to the consumer at farmers’ markets, farm stands, and through CSA (community supported agriculture) shares, farmers get a bigger share of the profits than they would by going through wholesale markets.

Finally, interest in urban agriculture is exploding. Our cities have acres of vacant, flat rooftops that could be used for both rooftop farms and for greenhouses. In March, the first annual conference on urban agriculture, organized by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and held at Roxbury Community College, attracted 350 people – maximum capacity. Another 180 people wanted in.

We have a new generation of farmers in Massachusetts and across America — young people who understand there’s a promising future in agriculture, one in which farming plays a critical role in meeting the challenges of climate change. They are joining forces with and learning from our experienced farmers to ensure that agriculture will continue to play a pivotal role on Massachusetts’ physical, economic and environmental landscapes. I’m thrilled to be part of the solution.

(Adapted from Commissioner Watson’s WBUR’s Cognosenti submission.)

Massachusetts Oysters Go Solar

Gerry Palano

Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency Coordinator, Department of Agricultural Resources

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Briney, buttery and firm are some words that you might want to see describing the fare on an oyster house menu, but never solarized… until now.

Mattapoisett’s Robert Field of Copper Beech Farm, with the assistance of Roger Williams University Professor Dale Leavitt, has designed and constructed a creative off-the-grid solar electric (photovoltaic or “PV”) project for aquaculture use. His invention pairs a barge containing PV panels and battery storage with a conventional floating upwelling system (FLUPSY), a device that aquaculturalists use to force feed nutrient rich water to infant shellfish.

The invention has come to Massachusetts at just the right time. As aquaculture continues to expand here in the Commonwealth, aquaculturalists using traditional land-tied technology have often found themselves competing for space with other commercial and recreational uses of littoral waters. This new and improved FLUPSY, now free from a shore-based energy source, allows siting of shellfish nurseries in more remote, less controversial areas.

The PV system consists of six, off-the-shelf 245 watt solar panels mounted on an angled wooden rack, an electrical distribution box, a charge controller that regulates the current from solar panels to the battery bank, nine 12-volt batteries in a wooden storage compartment, a 1/3 horsepower DC motor, a belt and a shaft and propeller. The two floats are pinned together to form a nearly square, articulating platform with its corners chained to mushroom anchors and oriented to face the southern sunlight. The battery bank is sized to operate for 3 days plus without recharge from the panels. To date, the system has performed better than expected, providing more than enough energy to operate the FLUPSY.

         
The project was funded in part by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) Ag-Energy Grant, an annual competitive funding program aimed at financing agricultural energy projects that improve energy efficiency and incorporate alternative clean energy technologies on Massachusetts farms. MDAR’s staff looks forward to working with Field to further promote this technology concept to the entire aquaculture industry.

High School Students Get an Introduction to Clean Energy

Stephanie Mernick

Market Development and Support Division Co-op at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

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On Friday, Feb. 1, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) was fortunate enough to have Jocelyn, Vanessa and Haqika, three bright high school students from the Boston Public Schools, visit as part of the Boston Private Industry Council’s Job Shadow Day and learn about our role in the clean energy sector.

While the girls initially weren’t very familiar with the world of clean energy, they were eager to learn about all the exciting things Massachusetts is doing.

After an introduction to renewable energy by MassCEC CEO Alicia Barton, the students were given a tour around the office and spoke with employees in different departments. They were then able to dive into a few of the projects underway in our office, learning about our solar electricity and solar hot water programs run through MassCEC, as well as the work involved in telling the Massachusetts clean energy story to the public.

One hour into the tour, one student mentioned that while she didn’t know much about the field before, “renewable energy is an interesting topic and I want to keep learning more about it.” Another's take away was that “there are a lot of different departments that go into just one business” and she could see herself working in the clean energy sector.

Following an introduction to all of the initiatives at MassCEC, the students had the
opportunity to tour the Wind Technology Testing Center, where Executive Director Rahul Yarala gave a rundown on the growth of the offshore wind industry.

For students who were completely new to clean energy at the start of the day, they sure did know a lot more by the end. We were thrilled to have them visit so we could learn from them and share our mission with these bright young students, members of our next clean energy generation.

Photo Tour of MassCEC's Wind Technology Center

Rachel Schowalter

Multimedia Intern at Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC)

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On Dec. 11, I was given a tour of MassCEC’s Wind Technology Testing Center in Charlestown, where engineers test wind turbine blades from all over the world. The center, which can handle blades up to 90 meters in length, is an impressive sight to see, making it a natural topic for a photo blog. I hope you enjoy these photos of the center in action!

Mass. Data Center Tees Up Innovation in Clean Energy, Sets Standard for Energy Efficiency

John Goodhue, Guest Blogger

Executive Director, Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center

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A just-completed high performance computing center in Holyoke will help Massachusetts stay at
the forefront of discovery and innovation, and demonstrate clean energy leadership through application of efficient data center design and technology.

This model of collaborative economic development, the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) was created by Boston University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts, with financial support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the federal New Markets Tax Credit Program, EMC and Cisco.

The MGHPCC is intended to meet a critical need in the research community, where computing has become the “third leg” of scientific discovery, along with theory and experimentation. High performance computing will be critical to many clean energy research and engineering activities. These include synthesis of new materials for batteries and solar cells, analysis of usage patterns for energy distribution systems, and performance modeling for new wind, gas, and water turbine designs.

In designing, building and operating the facility itself, the MGHPCC has gone to great lengths to minimize its environmental footprint and maximize energy efficiency.

To begin with, it was designed for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED influenced dozens of decisions about the design, construction, and operation of the facility, ranging from selection of the site to choice of building materials to handling of waste water.

Beyond LEED certification, the MGHPCC was built in Holyoke in great part because the local power company, Holyoke Gas & Electric, generates more than 70 percent of its power through inexpensive, sustainable hydroelectric power from the Connecticut River.

As you might imagine, data centers consume massive amounts of energy. The MGHPCC has peak power capacity of 15 megawatts – enough to support 20,000 high-powered computers. The MGHPCC, however, is setting a new standard in the industry for energy efficiency. One of the most widely used measures of efficient operation is Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), developed by the US Green Buildings Council. A recent report cites typical data center PUE at about 1.9. The MGHPCC is targeting a more efficient PUE of less than 1.3 – a 25 percent reduction.

Here are a few of the ways that the MGHPCC is achieving this level of efficiency:

• Use of outside air to remove heat from the building much of the year, reducing the need for energy-intensive chiller operations. 
• Use of major mechanical and electrical equipment that operates reliably at relatively high
  temperatures, further reducing the need for air conditioning.
• Placement of cooling and power distribution equipment directly below the computer room. This configuration allows for short pipe and cable runs, which reduce the loss of power and cooling capacity.
• Layout of the computer room itself. Heat produced by the computers is captured through a “hot aisle” containment system that efficiently transfers waste heat to a chilled water loop. 

In addition to practicing energy efficiency and minimizing its environmental footprint, the MGHPCC itself will be something of a living laboratory, outfitted with sensors and other equipment that will collect data that will help improve future building design.

As you can see, with the MGHPCC, Massachusetts is putting the “green” into high-performance computing.

Saving Energy With Your Holiday Gifts

Tom Witkin

Marketing and Collaboration, Department of Energy Resources (DOER) 

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Did you get some sort of new electronic gadget as a holiday gift? If you did, you have a new, easy opportunity to save energy in your home.

The typical American household owns about 25 pieces of consumer electronics. Turns out that these fun electronic widgets, especially the older ones, can be real electricity hogs. Hopefully, your newest gifts are better about burning fewer electrons than similar products from not so long ago. If not, there are simple steps you can take to reduce their electricity appetite. Check out an informative, fun-to-read blog by Peter Lehner of the National Resources Defense Council: Pulling the Plug on Energy Waste: A Guide to Efficient Consumer Electronics. 

And, if you want to learn more about practical ways to save energy and money that don't relate to the holy grail product that integrates your computer/library/phone/music/etch-a-sketch into one tool, check out this Energy Smarts blog and tips.

Cleaning Up Your Woodstove

Bram Claeys

Renewable Energy Policy Director, Department of Energy Resources

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Winter is here – maybe even a real New England winter this time. We’ll huddle around to watch the bowl games and maybe even turn up the heat. But before you touch your thermostat, consider how your heat is generated. In all probability, you use either a boiler or furnace fired by natural gas or heating oil. Perhaps you use propane or even (let’s hope not) electricity.

The latter options especially can turn out to be pricey. But there’s good news: alternatives are available. Efficient renewable heating is coming, and if the Mass. Department of Energy Resources' (DOER) recommendations are followed, it’s here to stay.

One renewable path opened up with the launch of DOER and MassCEC’s $100,000 pilot incentive program to assist residents to trade in their inefficient wood, wood pellet, or coal-burning stoves for safer, more efficient, and cleaner models.

Qualifying residents can get a voucher of either $1000 or $2000 (depending on income) to replace older, non-EPA certified stove models with high efficiency stoves that use less wood and release fewer particulates into the air.

Efficient renewable heating is an attractive alternative to warming your home with fossil fuels; it can save you money, does not have the same supply constraints, and is cleaner. The efficient wood stoves in the change out program use less wood and produce fewer airborne particulates. Your family will appreciate the better air quality - so will your neighbors.

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell notes that “this program is a great example of how state agencies work together to support our clean air goals, as well as clean energy goals. Because new wood stoves emit approximately 70 percent less pollution than older, conventional stoves, MassDEP worked with our partner agencies to ensure that the change-out program targets the less-efficient stoves and significantly reduces local particulate emissions.”

The woodstoves pilot program is just part of a broader program to support renewable heating and cooling. The MassCEC Commonwealth Solar Hot Water program is already stimulating an important approach to renewable heating in the residential, commercial and public sectors. There is more on the way.

Watch for additional pilot initiatives from a DOER / MassCEC / MassDEP partnership:

• Outdoor hydronic heater change out
• Residential wood pellet boilers (more sophisticated systems than wood stoves)
• Industrial/commercial wood boilers
• Residential and commercial air source and ground source heat pump programs
• Community district energy financing
• Renewable thermal business investment financing programs

These projects can help us gain experience with and build the marketplace for exciting, cost-effective and environmentally friendly new systems for our northeast climate.

The Cost of Staying Warm

Meredith Geraghty

Marketing and Outreach Intern, Department of Energy Resources (DOER), 

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A recent post in Energy Smarts highlighted several ways that Massachusetts residents can lower their heating energy use. And as the temperature drops and heating bills rise, that advice becomes ever more appealing.

Due to a combination of anticipated cooler weather and rising oil prices, the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) has predicted that this heating season will be the most expensive on record for those residents who use heating oil to warm their homes. If you look at recent pricing data for Massachusetts, it’s easy to see that heating oil prices have gone up over the past few years in comparison with natural gas prices, which have actually dropped.

But natural gas is not available to everyone in the Commonwealth. (Check with your local utility.)

So, as a consumer looking at these trends and continuing to empty my wallet, I want to know exactly what I am paying for. Here’s what I found out. The utilities act as distributors of natural gas and electricity that they purchase from generators. These purchasing costs show up as the “generation” portion of our utility bills. There is a separate price for getting the electricity or natural gas delivered to your home. On your bill, it will say “transmission and distribution” for electricity and “delivery” charges for natural gas. Consumers purchase heating oil from independent distributors and just see a single cost, the price per gallon.

While natural gas rates are regulated (by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities), heating oil and propane are market based products whose prices are not regulated by the state. The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources conducts weekly price surveys of these fuels as part of its participation in the State Heating Oil and Propane Program (SHOPP) sponsored by the EIA. The cost of importing these fuels into our great (but currently really chilly) state is factored into the prices of heating oil and propane.

In communities where it is available, many households have converted to natural gas, in part as a
consequence of rising oil prices. According to the 2010 U.S. Census in Massachusetts, gas is now used by 50% of households, marking a gradual shift over the past 30 years from heating oil as the primary heating fuel. Heating oil made up 54% of household heating in 1980.

But no matter whether you use electricity for heat, or oil, gas or another fuel, chances are that you’d like to spend less. To achieve that, energy efficiency is the name of the game to generate ”green” benefits: less green from your wallet and fewer greenhouse gas emissions into our air.