Posts Tagged ‘energy’

Monday, March 4, 2019

Debatable: Should Renewable Energy Be An APA Priority? Yes

APA Building in Ray Brook NY“It’s Debatable” appears in each issue of the Adirondack Explorer. This essay by Adirondack North Country Association’s Sean Connin is a companion piece to “Debatable: Should Renewable Energy Be An APA Priority? No” by John Droz Jr., physicist and environmental advocate at Brantingham Lakes.

Locally sourced renewable energy — whether from wood, water, wind, sun, geothermal, or plant and animal waste — is important to the park’s future. It provides a multiplier for local economies, builds on traditions of self-reliance, and can provide environmental and social benefits. The trick is to design these renewable projects and practices to fit the local landscape and to provide value to communities. Such convergence can emerge through bottom-up strategies that optimize wealth retention at the local level and that benefit from equitable frameworks for land-use and energy policy at regional and state levels. The Adirondack Park Agency must lend its capacity to these outcomes and secure a best fit for resource use, protection, and quality of life within the park. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, March 3, 2019

Debatable: Should Renewable Energy Be An APA Priority? No

APA Building in Ray Brook NY“It’s Debatable” appears in each issue of the Adirondack Explorer. This essay by John Droz Jr., physicist and environmental advocate at Brantingham Lakes, is a companion piece to “Debatable: Should Renewable Energy Be An APA Priority? Yes” by Adirondack North Country Association’s Sean Connin.

It’s very appropriate that the Adirondack Park Agency periodically review regional issues to decide what items should be added, deleted or re-prioritized, to best meet its mission.

Recently, the APA released a proposed renewable energy policy. » Continue Reading.


Monday, February 18, 2019

Viewpoint: Coming to Terms with Solar Energy Development

Early stage project construction at the at the former village of Malone landfill sitePerhaps the most significant energy question in the North Country in the coming year will be the potential long-term advantages and/or disadvantages of advancing industrial-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) project development in the region.

Solar power represents a significant opportunity for economic development and job creation in North Country communities. And PV energy production is playing an increasingly important role in how states meet their (renewable) energy needs. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, November 22, 2018

Comments Sought On Adirondack Park Energy Plans

APA Building in Ray Brook NYThe Adirondack Park Agency (APA) is accepting public comment on its draft policy for Renewable Energy Production and Energy Supply.

The purpose of the policy is to provide guidance for the review and approval of renewable energy projects inside the Adirondack Park with regards to the Adirondack Park Agency Act, the Freshwater Wetlands Act and the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, November 10, 2018

Paul Hetzler Wants To Know – You Got Gas?

Dairy Cows in Collins Center New York 1999Even if its precise definition isn’t at the tip of your tongue, most everyone gets the general drift of what is meant by the term biogas — there’s biology involved, and the result is gas. One might guess it’s the funk in the air aboard the bus carrying the sauerkraut-eating team home after a weekend competition. Others would say biogas is cow belches, or the rotten-egg stink-bubbles that swarm to the surface when your foot sinks into swamp ooze.

Those are all examples of biogas, which is composed primarily of methane, CH4, at concentrations ranging from 50% to 60 %. Methane is highly combustible, and can be used in place of natural gas for heat or to run internal-combustion engines for the generation of electricity and other applications. Formed by microbes under anaerobic conditions, it is a greenhouse gas twenty-eight times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere. The fact that it can be useful if harnessed but dangerous if released is why we need to trap biogas given off by landfills, manure pits, and someday, maybe even cow burps. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The Spier Falls Disaster: An Adirondack Tragedy

Adirondack history is naturally rife with river-related stories—wildly successful fishing trips, damaging floods, wilderness exploration, and dam construction. Rivers were the lifeblood of development:  settlements sprang up along waterways, where partial diversion of streams provided the wheel-turning power necessary to many industries. But freshets were so common and destructive that dams were introduced as flood-control measures, and then for hydropower as the electrification of society unfolded.

Recognizing the great financial potential of providing electricity to industries and the masses, power companies sought to develop dozens of potential reservoir sites. Among the arguments they used to justify building dam after dam was public safety. Ironically, the construction of a hydro dam was marred by one of the worst tragedies in Adirondack history. » Continue Reading.


Monday, October 8, 2018

Clean Energy Economy Conference Oct 24-25

ANCA - Adirondack North Country Association LogoANCA’s annual Clean Energy Economy Conference is set to return to the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls on October 24-25, 2018. The annual forum attracts clean energy leaders from across Northern New York and Vermont who are driving renewable energy adoption in the region.

This year’s conference focuses on “disruptive innovation” and will explore advancements affecting the region such as transportation and battery storage. The conference agenda includes special tracks for residential consumers, small businesses and industry professionals, as well as professional training opportunities that provide continuing education credits. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, September 13, 2018

Wild Center Celebrating Adirondack Electric Vehicles Saturday

national drive electric weekPlug-in electric vehicle drivers, supporters, and interested local residents are invited to attend The Wild Center’s celebration of National Drive Electric Week on Saturday, September 15 from 11 am to 3 pm.

National Drive Electric Week is a nationwide celebration to heighten awareness of today’s widespread availability of plug-in vehicles and highlight the benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, January 27, 2018

Living A Wood-Burning Life

fireplace At about 9 am on an overcast November Saturday, a group gathered at the edge of the local dump.

They sipped coffee, pulled on gloves, and adjusted ear protectors. Then they started to work. There were loggers, tree care experts, high school students, police officers, doctors, farmers, and lawyers. There were whole families, a guy on crutches, a few dogs, a legislator or two. By day’s end, they had cut and stacked more than 21 cords of firewood, and delivered most of it to the homes of their neighbors. What was left would be available throughout the winter to anyone with an unexpected need for fuel and a way to burn it. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, December 7, 2017

$3.8M Available for Geothermal Clean Energy

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New York Power Authority (NYPA) have announced the availability of $3.8 million for the launch of a statewide Geothermal Clean Energy Challenge, an initiative designed to help stimulate financing and installation of large-scale geothermal systems at state and local governmental entities, public and private schools and healthcare facilities. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Whitehall Solar Installation Dedicated to Gore Mtn Ski Resort

whitehall solar arrayThe New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and today announced the completion of Gore Mountain Ski Resort’s 5.3 megawatt solar array in Washington County, The installation is believed to be the largest solar installation dedicated to a ski resort in the nation.

Gore Mountain’s snowmaking system, lift operations, and other electrical equipment use about 13-million kilowatt hours of power and cost approximately $1 million in utility costs each year according to ORDA. The 14,589 solar panel system is ground-mounted and remote net metered, meaning it is built off-site and the energy produced is exported onto the electricity grid, which Gore will receive credits for on its utility bill. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, October 22, 2017

Clean Energy Economy Conference in Glens Falls

ANCA - Adirondack North Country Association LogoThe Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) and the Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC) have announced keynote speakers and conference tracks for the 2017 Clean Energy Economy Conference that will take place at The Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls on October 25 and 26.

In his October 25 morning address, Jim Siplon, CEO of Just Beverages, a Glens Falls company that provides “responsibly sourced, produced and packaged” beverages, will speak about how the transition to a clean energy economy offers opportunities to bring positive changes and real benefits to communities.

The afternoon address will be delivered by Raoul Witteveen of Laaken Asset Management of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Witteveen helped establish Circle Economy, which works toward practical and scalable implementation of a sustainable “circular” economy. His talk will address the international importance of New York’s progressive stance on energy issues and how the state’s clean energy initiatives are inspiring others to adopt appropriate policies and technologies. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Opinion: Clean Power Plan’s End Will Mean Littered Landscape

Railroad train of tanker cars transporting crude oil on the tracks earth justice photoFew places would have benefited more  from the 2015 Clean Power Plan than the Adirondack Park. Had the plan been enacted, it would have abated mercury poisoning, cleared the air above the High Peaks of smog and checked acid rain, while, of course, slowing climate change. (It committed the US to cut greenhouse gas emissions by one third before 2030.)

Now that the Environmental Protection Agency has repealed the plan, not only will our air, water and wildlife suffer. Our landscape will too. Thirty miles of railroad tracks deep within the Adirondack Forest Preserve are more likely than ever to become a warehouse for surplus coal cars. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, August 6, 2017

NYS Plans Rebuild of 78 Miles of North Country Power Line

Moses Adirondack Power Line MapThe State of New York has announced plans to rebuild 78 miles of power transmission infrastructure in the North Country. The rebuilt transmission line, called the Moses-Adirondack Smart Path Reliability Project, is expected to help the state meet its clean energy standard mandating 50 percent of New York’s consumed electricity come from renewable energy sources by 2030 by providing better transmission through St. Lawrence and Lewis counties.

“Transmission projects like these can play a critical role in channeling power produced upstate – where increasing amounts of renewable energy is coming on line – to areas where it is needed downstate,” according to a press release issued by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office.  Construction is estimated to take four years and is slated to begin in 2019. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Kate Fish Joins NYSERDA Board Of Directors

Kate FishThe New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has announced that Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) Executive Director Kate Fish has joined its Board of Directors. Fish will serve six years on the NYSERDA board. Her new role coincides with the appointment of Alicia Barton as NYSERDA’s president and chief executive officer.

Kate Fish has served as Executive Director of ANCA since 2010. “Early in her tenure with the regional economic development nonprofit, she identified renewable energy as a critical path to more resilient local economies and focused ANCA’s strategies on creating stronger local economies, including a clean energy economy,” a statement to the press said. » Continue Reading.



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