Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is critical to our fight against climate change. We simply must shift our world to a low-carbon economy and away from oil and coal. Experts agree we need a 50-80% reduction in CO₂ over the next 40-50 years and this means we need renewable energy to replace fossil fuels now.

Carbonfund.org supports renewable energy projects, such as wind, solar, methane, geothermal and other clean energy sources, because they are not as cheap as coal, at least not yet. Your support is reducing CO₂ emissions today and spurring investment tomorrow to help drive down the costs and hasten market transformation to a clean energy future.

Renewable energy projects tend to be located outside crowded urban areas, helping smaller, local economies while reducing our reliance on fossil and foreign energy resources. Our renewable energy carbon offsets meet the toughest industry standards and are third-party verified to ensure the highest quality.

Fight global warming now. Support clean, renewable energy projects today!

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Below are renewable energy projects Carbonfund.org donors are supporting.

Iowa Lakes Wind Energy & Turbine Program - Estherville, Iowa

The Iowa Lakes Community College’s Wind Energy and Turbine Program was started in response to a growing need for skilled technicians to install, maintain and service modern wind turbines. Students work on the project as part of a hands-on curriculum leading to the community college’s two-year Associate in Science degree. The 230-foot tall structure generates approximately 1.65 megawatts of clean energy and is located near the college’s Estherville Campus.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), wind power contributed to more than 30 percent of the new U.S. electricity generation capacity in 2007, making it the second largest source of new power generation in the nation, second only to natural gas. Furthermore, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) estimates each megawatt of wind provides approximately two job-years of employment and a skilled operations/maintenance position is created for every 10 turbines.

California Solar Projects - Aliso Viejo, Stockton, Ontario, and Anderson, Calif.

Carbonfund.org supports solar projects in California and local consumers are able to take advantage of clean, alternative solar energy which is decentralized and provides increase energy security. Carbonfund.org’s support goes toward helping to retrofit school and business facilities with photovoltaic solar panels.

According to the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), solar energy currently represents less than one percent of the U.S. energy portfolio. However, the solar photovoltaic systems which are connected to the grid have increased almost 50% from 2006 to 2007. The U.S. is currently fourth, behind Germany, Japan and Spain, in the world for installed solar power. In addition, SEIA reports solar energy manufacturing in the U.S. increased 74% in 2007, which creates new jobs.

New Bedford Landfill Methane Project - New Bedford, Mass.

The New Bedford Landfill Methane project is a 3.3-megawatt renewable energy plant which uses otherwise wasted landfill gas (LFG) as a fuel to generate electricity. The LFG, which includes methane and carbon dioxide, is collected from the landfill to fuel four reciprocating internal combustion engine-generators. These produce electricity for export to the regional power grid. With support from Carbonfund.org, the project not only produces power, but helps to reduce the amount of methane released into our atmosphere.

The destruction of methane is important in the fight against global climate change because methane is approximately 23 times more efficient as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. With this in mind, one of the real concerns about climate change is that as the frozen tundra of areas such as Siberia and northern reaches of Canada melt, an enormous amount of methane which was previously trapped in the ice will be released into our atmosphere.

North Country Landfill Methane Project - Bethlehem, N.H.

Carbonfund.org supports the North Country Landfill Methane project which safely and effectively disposes up to 7,200 gallons of landfill leachate a day from a municipal solid waste landfill in northern New Hampshire. This project not only prevents methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from being released into the atmosphere, it protects the area’s local groundwater from landfill leachate.

Chino Basin Dairy Farm Biodigester - Chino Basin, Calif.

Biodigesters capture the methane generated by manure and transform it into a clean, renewable energy source. This particular biodigester in Southern California collects manure from ten area dairy farms and is responsible for reducing more than 8,000 tons of CO2 equivalent from the atmosphere every year, while also supporting local farmers and protecting the quality of the region’s groundwater. Carbonfund.org supports the Chino Basin Dairy Farm Biodigester to help reduce methane emissions and global warming.

The U.S. EPA Climate Leaders program notes that more than two billion livestock exist in the U.S. and account for 7% for anthropogenic methane emissions.

New York State Landfill Methane Project - Rodman, N.Y.

The New York Landfill Methane Project serves the countries of Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence and Hamilton and in addition, destroys the methane emitted by a landfill by converting it into CO2 and heat. The CO2 is twenty-three times less potent as a greenhouse gas than the methane. In the future, additional plans may include capturing the waste heat and using it to heat a local greenhouse along with providing alternative energy.

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center - Taylor and Nolan County, Texas

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center is the largest wind farm in the world and is spread across approximately 47,000 acres. The facility includes over 400 wind turbines for a total capacity of 735.5 megawatts. In addition to providing clean electricity, Carbonfund.org supports the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center - built, owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra™ Energy Resources - because it financially supports the local communities and is a leading example of how wind energy can significantly contribute to the United States’ energy portfolio.

The American Wind Energy Association notes that wind energy could provide 20% of the U.S.’s electricity, and wind is currently providing between 10% and 25% of the electricity for the countries of Germany, Spain and Denmark. For the U.S., Texas is the largest supplier of wind energy followed by California, Minnesota, Iowa and Washington.

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