Top Ten U.S. Cities Ranked by Use of Renewable Energy

http://www.renewableaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=48169

A newly released study conducted by SustainLane Government concludes that Oakland, California, generates the highest percentage of renewable energy out of all U.S. cities, producing 5 percent more energy than any other city surveyed.

Leading the nation with 17 percent of its electricity produced by sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, most renewable energy generation in the city comes from commercial and residential photovoltaic (PV) systems.

According to City of Oakland Energy Engineer Scott Wentworth, the city is undertaking many important projects including: working with San Francisco State University, Marin County, and the City and County of San Francisco to create tools for assessing solar potential of commercial and residential properties; conducting wave and tidal power studies in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute and other California cities; and outfitting new municipal buildings to accommodate solar systems -- even if the resources are not available to install the system immediately.

Oakland has strongly supported solar energy and encouraged citizens to do the same, said Wentworth.

<more - with rankings list>

But I'm surprised to find out how much there there is there.

Their small town is surrounded by hydroelectric plants.

But whatever electricity they use doesn't go to the cities, and natural gas is burned to replace that.

In my own household I'm still finding it more economical to conserve than to install solar. My next project is to replace our American-style energy hog refrigerator with something slightly smaller and much more efficient.

By the time I'm done with all of my conservation plans my utility bill will probably be so small I'll never bother with solar, except as an emergency backup of some sort. Let someone else fuss with solar panels, I don't ever want to be climbing aroud on my roof to wash off bird poop and dust. (Hell, on my car I only wash the windows since I think the lichens and spiderwebs on it are sort of cool. Perhaps it's a statement of my disdain for cars.)

By the way, my entire household computer network uses 56 watts running, 11 watts sleeping, with the wireless connection always on. Originally, when it consisted of a large box server, a large box computer, two big CRT screens and wires all over the house, it probably used ten times that, and the energy hog server never slept although I'd usually remember to turn its CRT off.

I just wanted to add that you don't HAVE to put the solar panels on the roof. I've seen some mounted on the ground, and that's what I plan to do when I add mine. Much more accessible and maintainable.

I live in a place where people will sometimes steal Christmas decorations, and if you even bothered to call the vastly understaffed and overworked police department to complain about stolen Christmas decorations they would be irritated with you.

A few years ago when I started researching renewable energy, some Professor said that renewable energy is too expensive to continue being an energy hog, and the first step is to reduce your energy consumption as much as possible. That's when I started getting interested in passive-solar design. I recently bought a place and specifically looked for a home where most of the windows face South. Now we are installing retractable awnings over our South facing windows, to cut down on heat gain this summer. We're also going to get some kind of external shutter like this http://www.qmisecuritysolutions.com/rolltec/index.shtml for the single East facing window. And we're installing a screen, security door to the front door on the North to allow cross ventilation. And, since we are painting the exterior anyway, we're going to try adding this http://www.hytechsales.com/prnt_additive.html to the paint to see if it helps. Also, if you haven't already, Summer is the best time to replace your light bulbs with CFLs, so you can reduce the amount of heat generated inside your home by incandescent light bulbs.

Surprise: Not-so-glamorous conservation works best
Efficient appliances and flourescent bulbs are easy upgrades that make a big difference, experts say. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1130/p13s01-sten.html

Cooling Your Home Naturally http://www.weather.com/activities/homeandgarden/home/hometips/troubleshooting/ac_without.html

Edit to add: I'm not saying renewable energy is not good too, just that conservation seems to be a good first step.

:bounce:

such a great town. And the Mayor just recently announced a renewed effort to improve or rather reduce the carbon footprint of the city.

No Freepervilles on there, big surprise!

I thought San Diego and Orange County were both heavily Repub...

What I found interesting is that you only have to achieve a rating of 3% renewable energy efficiency to rank in the top 10!

We have a long way to go, but I think we're finally heading in the right direction.

but we get over 50% of our electricity from Hydropower. :shrug:

Must be because most dams have not been modified to be 'green' (yet).

that's really pathetic.