Energy Innovation Act(ion) Mid Hudson Valley CCL Team

I learned that the solution is actually thousands, millions, of incremental actions by a growing number of people communicating with and learning from each other, acting individually and together. This changes builds exponentially, which is the only way to counter act climate change and its impacts, because they are also growing exponentially.

Good team work everyone! We ranked in the top 10% - #90 out of 1054 teams!!! I learned so much from doing this and from us sharing our thoughts and resources!  Thanks for making this happen. 

This was an awesome learning experience! I never would have tackled the Drawdown book--it was just too technical and dense. This challenge allowed me to learn in small usable and relatable chunks--I learned that I can live more sustainably and that there is still some hope for our world and our civilization.

I knew about burning wood and using corn for energy--neither of these is really carbon neutral, though because of the costs of growing, harvesting, and processing. The best plant materials for biomass are waste from mills and sustainably grown perennial crops. It can reduce heating costs by up to 80%. I never heard of gasification (instead of...

I would consider geothermal instead of a central A/C but an air source heat pump would probably better meet our needs. I would definitely advocate for US cooperation (financial support) for development of geothermal in lower income nations where geothermal resources are greatest. There is a high upfront investment and risk but operating costs...

First of all, clean and quiet but also, kind of like the space station or a biosphere--where everything is recycled and reused and nothing is ever wasted--or as close to this ideal as possible. Just read about methane digesters and really like this idea. They could greatly benefit farmers, industries, cities, governments, universities, schools,...

Central Hudson sends us several "report cards" a year and we always score really low on energy usage (less than 200 KWH/month) compared to our neighbors. We use energy efficient light bulbs, have Energy Star appliances that we use sparingly, and we turn lights off when we leave a room--we don't turn the Internet and connected devices...

Although I didn't get credit for many days of eating vegetarian, I did enjoy eating less meat and plan to continue now that the challenge is over.

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That is a good question. I know that most of the Bard campus is powered by geothermal energy and I would love to hear more about its energy solutions by our CCL team Leader Laurie who heads up the sustainable department at Bard!  I know there is a company in the Rhinebeck area that hopes to begin offering geothermal....