Energy

Upcoming Meetings & Events
Join the Group
Mission Statement
Our Activities

Further Reading

Questions? Email the convener.

Upcoming Meetings & Events

Wednesday, January 25, 2012
7-9 p.m. Carrboro Town Hall, Room 100 (email us to confirm date and location).

Joining the Group

Anyone is welcome to attend the meetings, but if you’d like to also join the group, you can do so by clicking the "Join" link at the bottom of the right-hand column of this page. You will then receive email announcements and discussions related to energy issues and the activities of this group.

Mission Statement
The Energy Action Group of Transition Carrboro/Chapel Hill will facilitate the transition of our community from unhealthy use of fossil fuels to increased energy efficiency and use of renewable fuels, working toward an energy system that is infinitely sustainable. We will do this by collecting and disseminating energy information pertinent to our local community, by validating and verifying energy options, by working to develop programs to improve the energy efficiency of homes and buildings, and by helping community members understand and adopt energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies.

Our Activities

On October 10, 2010, we organized Transition’s Energy & Community Resilience Fair, which took place at Town Commons in Carrboro. It was part of 350.org's "10-10-10" international day of climate action. The following year, on September 24, 2011, 350.org's worldwide event was called Moving Planet and we participated in the Durham event.

We helped the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill organize an Energy Efficiency Education Fair on Feb. 26, 2011. And we're helping the Towns promote their WISE Homes and Buildings Program (WISE=Worthwhile Investments Save Energy). The program, funded by stimulus money from the Department of Energy, helps to fund energy efficiency retrofits to commercial structures in Carrboro and homes in Chapel Hill. In future years, Carrboro residential retrofits will also be funded.

Finally, we're building a pyramid — the Energy Efficiency Pyramid. It is still under construction, but it will be a resource to guide you from the simplest, cheapest energy-saving measures to the most advanced and (in some cases) expensive. Transition Towns around the world are writing Energy Descent Action Plans, and we hope the pyramid can be a tool for ours. It will be tailored specifically for our area, with lots of local stories and resources.

We have also discussed the following, and have been considering options for future action:

  • Forming neighborhood teams of families to support each other in lowering their carbon footprints. We are impressed by the model of Clean Energy Durham, a group doing very good work on a neighborhood level in Durham.
  • Energy Alliances, groups that bring together all players in a community who are interested in energy issues. Alliances exist in Cambridge, Charlottesville, and elsewhere, and our group is interested in possibly helping to start one in Carrboro/Chapel Hill.
  • The Architecture 2030 challenge of the American Institute of Architects.
  • NC GreenPower, through which alternative energy providers feed power into the grids and get paid for it by the utilities. (You can help your electric utility buy green power by adding money to your electric bill each month in multiples of $4.)
  • A film series and/or book group.
  • And lots of other ideas for helping to bring cleaner energy to Carrboro and Chapel Hill.

Come join us!

Further Reading

We’ll post links to articles here that will inform, enlighten, and at times infuriate you.

From the International Energy Agency by way of the Post Carbon Institute:
http://www.postcarbon.org/blog-post/188069-it-s-official-the-economy-is-set

 

 

Other Energy Action Group pages to explore

Note that most of these are subsets of our Energy-Efficiency Pyramid

 

My Journey to Energy Neutrality

Submitted by Rainer Dammers on Mon, 10/24/2011 - 16:48

September 14 2011 marks an important milestone in our household as we’ve gone from electricity consumers to electricity producers. Though considered a first step by many when thinking about going green, the installation of our solar photovoltaic (PV) system marks the last step in a journey which began with the purchase of our house in Chapel Hill in the summer of 2006.

October 2011 Electricity Production vs. Consumption

My Journey to energy neutrality

Submitted by Rainer Dammers on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 09:42

Archives from THE OIL DRUM

Submitted by admin on Sat, 07/30/2011 - 11:54

This blog is a premier resource for analysis of post peak oil realities.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/7191

 

Here is the best from The Oil Drum for the past 5 years. 

The Powerdown Show at Flyleaf Books

On March 10, 2010, we aired parts of the Irish TV program The Powerdown Show at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. We were joined by over 50 members of the community. These were people already well versed in the challenges of peak oil and climate change, many of them practicing exactly what was being preached that evening. One participant came all the way from Raleigh by bicycle and bus!

Exhibitors

Energy & Community Resilience Fair (10/10/10)

Lower Solar Heat Gain

Energy & Community Resilience Fair, Oct. 10, 2010

 

A Transition Carrboro-Chapel Hill 10/10/10 Event

350.org is spreading the word about the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) that scientists say we must maintain in order to prevent the worst effects of climate change: 350 parts per million. The bad news is we’re already over that, at 387 ppm of CO2 in our atmosphere, and counting.

Windows

Water Heating

Lighting

Insulation

Heating & Cooling

Comfort and Air Quality

Appliances

Air Sealing

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