LOCAL ENERGY NEWS Spring 2005

Local Energy Has a New Office!
Local Energy has moved its offices to 1442 South Saint Francis Drive, affectionately known as “the Clock Tower Complex”. The move gives us nearly one thousand square-feet of office space, and consolidates all of our engineering and management efforts under one roof. Local Energy will furthermore provide office space to BIOS BIOENERGIESYSTSEME GmbH when they return from Austria after Thanksgiving to continue work on the Santa Fe Biomass-Fired District Energy Project.

Sardella Appointed Chairman of the Santa Fe Energy Task Force. Mark Sardella, Founder and Executive Director of Local Energy, has been appointed Chairman of the Santa Fe Joint City/County Energy Task Force. The Task Force is charged with reviewing Santa Fe’s 10-year plan for electricity transmission and distribution, and making recommendations for alternatives to power-line upgrades. Joining Mark on the Task Force are Susan Turner, Gail Ryba, Richard Carpenter, Patricio Larragoite, Kim Shanahan, Neva van Peski, and Ken Hughes. A ninth member will be selected by the committee.

Biomass District Energy Could Benefit Santa Fe!
Progress continues on our study of the benefits of localizing Santa Fe’s heating supply, and a preliminary economic analysis shows excellent potential for economic development with a biomass system. The system being designed is capable of heating all of downtown Santa Fe, and would cost about $20 million to build. In addition to the revenue the system would create from heating sales, the system could generate local economic benefits worth up to thirty times its cost. The current focus of the project is on developing small “micro-grid” systems at the Santa Fe Community College and other locations, which will help build the local biomass fuel industry needed for the system. Our engineering team from BIOS BIOENERGIESYSTEME GmbH returns in late November to continue working on the project.

Outreach Events:   Local Energy will host an open house on Friday, November 12 to update the community on our progress and to celebrate our new office space. In addition to the food provided by Arthur Padilla of the Route 66 Sandwich Shop, attendees will receive educational materials and be able to view presentations on community-based energy solutions.

Local Energy Research:   We continue to monitor the ongoing decline of oil and gas resources, and report the status through articles, reports, and educational materials. A meta-analysis of the current state-of-knowledge of the energy/economic relationship is underway, with a goal of using the best available data to help us design programs that lessen the hardships of rising energy costs. The lack of widespread understanding of the energy/economic relationship, most notably the failure to understand that energy creates money (and not the other way around), is a primary reason for inaction on the energy resource degradation issue. The failure to grasp the economic implications of the energy problem is limiting our ability to create viable solutions involving renewable energy sources.

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