An upcoming webinar series will help farmers make informed decisions on whether solar energy is a wise investment for them.
renewable energy
How wind and solar can fit on your farm
The Mahoning County office of OSU Extension, CFAES’s statewide outreach arm, is holding a Farm Management and Technology Field Day on Aug. 9 near Youngstown. The event will focus on how wind, solar and other energy technology can fit into a farm management plan.
First Energy Impacts Symposium starts Wednesday
The first-ever Energy Impacts Symposium is taking place this Wednesday and Thursday at Ohio State.
The event is an international research conference on the effects of new energy development — including both renewable and fossil fuels — on people, communities and economies.
Organizers are expecting about 140 energy-related social science experts from 25 U.S. states, Canada, five continents and 100 universities.
The experts will represent fields such as public health, public policy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science and community development. Continue reading
June 17: Renewable Energy Farm Tour
The 2017 Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series continues June 17 with the Renewable Energy Farm Tour at Woodland Ridge Farm and Learning Center in Athens in southeast Ohio. The farm has hybrid, battery backup, microgrid solar and off-grid systems. Admission is free and open to the public, but you have to preregister. Get details in the tour’s calendar listing or on pages 7-8 in the series brochure.
The farm is also offering two paid workshops and a dinner that weekend. Details are at the same links.
Ohio Sea Grant, Stone Lab offer new free curriculum on solar energy
A new set of lessons from Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab introduces students in grades 7-12 to the basics of solar energy via hands-on activities. The free curriculum is available to download and is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and Ohio’s Model Science Curriculum.
Stone Lab is Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie. The Ohio State-based Ohio Sea Grant program is part of the national NOAA Sea Grant network.
See what Stone Lab’s solar energy system is producing today. (Photo: Stone Lab’s 2016 solar workshop by Erin Monaco via Ohio Sea Grant.)
You said it
“Alternative energy and water resource management are two global issues of critical importance,” says Kris Boone, director of Ohio State ATI. “We’re proud to offer this first-of-its-kind program to our students.”
May 16 at Ohio State: 2 ways to turn your home greener
May’s monthly breakfast program by the Environmental Professionals Network will feature Erik Daugherty, founder of the Nashville, Tennessee-based home-performance company E3 Innovate. He’ll present “Technologies and Strategies for Home Energy Efficiencies: Satisfied Homeowners, Sustainable Planet” from 7:15 to 9:15 a.m. this coming Tuesday, May 16.
Right after, Ohio State will hold its second-ever Green Home Workshop in the same location.
Register for both events by Monday, May 15 (scroll down).
EPN is a service of CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources.
How to cut your home energy bill
CFAES and its partners are holding their second Green Home Workshop on May 16 in Columbus. The deadline to sign up is Monday, May 15.
Included will be tours of Ohio State’s student-designed and -built enCORE solar home, shown here, which is just a short walk from the workshop site. (Photo: Office of Energy and Environment, Ohio State.)
Report: ‘Renewable power will dominate in the future’
A new United Nations-backed report, a UN press release says, “has revealed overwhelming consensus that renewable power will dominate in the future, with many experts saying that even large international corporations are increasingly choosing renewable energy products either from utilities or through direct investment in their own generating capacity.” Read the report here. Cleveland.com’s Kelly Reardon writes about it here.
Is solar power worth it on your farm?
CFAES’s Eric Romich will look at the financial prudence of investing in on-farm solar energy as a speaker at the Powering Michigan Agriculture Conference March 9 at Michigan State in East Lansing. Learn more here. Register to attend here. Romich is an energy development field specialist with CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension. East Lansing is about 120 miles northwest of Toledo.