Valley 25x’25 promotes sensible solutions to achieve 25 percent renewable energy in the Shenandoah Valley before 2025.
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Valley 25x'25 seeks to achieve 25% renewable energy in the Shenandoah Valley before 2025 by promoting sensible renewable energy and energy effiicent solutions. We are still in the development stages, so check back often, as this site becomes a space where community members can learn about energy options for the Shenandoah Valley and keep up with local energy-related events. Be part of the effort, and help Valley 25x'25 to empower the Valley's future.
Chevrolet is currently featuring a story on the Rockingham County landfill, which is just outside of Harrisonburg, on their website detailing carbon-related projects that the company has invested in. The story is told in a short video featuring theoretical physicist Dr. Michio Kaku.
Our friends at the national 25x'25 organization recently shared two news items related to biomass projects across the Commonwealth. The first is the $90 million loan that Northern Virginia Power Cooperative recently received from the USDA Rural Utilities Service. This loan will be used to help to fund the construction of a 49.9 megawatt (MW) biomass facility in South Boston, VA, in southern Virginia. Now, to put things in perspective, a 50MW power plant isn't all that huge -- an average coal-fired plant produces hundreds of megawatts of power, though the average size has been decreasing in recent. Still, the plant will provide about 6% of the cooperative's total electricity production and will draw on wood waste from a 75-mile radius.
The second is the announcement that Enviva, a wood pellet manufacturer, will provide wood chips to two Dominion Power coal plants. The two facilities, in Southampton and Hopewell, have been converted to operate using biomass, including wood chips. Both are about 50MW plants. Enviva will produce nearly 750,000 metric tons of wood chips and pellets this year, but most of that is shipped overseas to Europe. The strong and active role of governments in promoting renewable energy throughout most of the European continent has put them far ahead of the U.S. in terms of renewable adoption. Virginia only has a 15% renewable portfolito standard (RPS) by 2025, and that is voluntary, without any legal mandate or punishment for non-compliance. Germany, by contrast, is aiming for 35-40% of their energy to come from renewables as early as 2020. (Plus, that country has an agressive feed-in tariff system that financially rewards, rather than punishes, renewable energy installers.) Nevertheless, it is good to see Dominion moving to implement more biomass facilities. This move will likely be good for Dominion, good for the Commonwealth, and good for consumers in the long term.
The economic viability of woody biomass, a term used to describe a variety of fuelstocks comprised of wood, has made it an appealing renewable option. Sustainable harvesting and active forest management practices can make biomass an outstanding long-term solution for some of the Shenandoah Valley's energy portfolio. These news stories are encouraging, since they provide models for what the Valley can achieve using biomass. The South Boston facility can serve as a renewable energy beacon...in addition to helping to llight up southern Virginia, of course!
On Wednesday, October 5, the first electric vehicle (EV) charging station was unveiled in the parking lot near . The ribbon cutting ceremony took place in the late morning and drew a crowd of more than thirty people. The push for EV charging infrastructure has been pushed by many members of the community, most notably Dave Miller, who owns Dave's Taverna, actively works to promote a vibrant downtown Harrisonburg, and is renewable energy advocate. Other partners in the project included HEC, the City of Harrisonburg, Downtown Renaissance, and Virginia Clean Cities. The charger, made by Eaton, can charge the batteries of two EVs at a time. 
Harrisonburg Electric Company Total charging time is a little over four hours. Initially, HEC will allow customers to charge their vehicles on the unit for free, since the company wants to encourage its use and to collect data about usage patterns and charging times. Brian O'Dell, of HEC, said that the company eventually plans to shift to a pay-per-hour service with a credit card reader.
Although EVs are not necessarily renewable -- and sadly, in the Valley, most of our electricity still comes from coal -- but shifting to EVs can benefit the cause of greater renewable energy for a number of reasons. Most importantly, they shift the load of transportation away from oil, the supply of which is limited and politicaly uncertain, and towards a system that can use energy that is generated in any of a number of different ways (e.g. wind or solar).
For additional reporting on this event, see WHSV's write-up.
These links may be helpful in finding more information about sustainability, clean energy, and local agriculture.
