Purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to offset 50% your home's electricity use and your household's greenhouse gas emissions
If you live in Thurmont and cannot purchase electricity from renewable sources through your utility, or if you are interested in offsetting your household’s greenhouse gas emissions, purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), also known as Green tags, is a flexible option that supports the growth of the renewable energy sector.
RECs quantify the amount of clean energy a power generator has produced from a clean, renewable source, such as wind or solar. Every megawatt-hour (1,000 kilowatt-hours) of electricity generated from a renewable source is assigned a unique Renewable Energy Certificate, also known as a “green tag”. Most RECs are certified by a third-party entity, such as Green-e, and sold as a commodity to offset the pollution from electricity generated by burning fossil fuels. Whoever owns or purchases a REC can claim ownership of the environmental benefits attributable to clean renewable energy projects.
You can purchase RECs from a REC marketer; some of these marketers make it easy for individuals and families to purchase RECs online. Some marketers are geared for commercial operations.
Purchasing RECs will not affect your utility bill; you will be billed separately by your utility and your REC Marketer.
Determine how many RECs you need per year to offset 100% or 50% of your electricity use. Use your electric bill and find the "Usage History" on the bill. Use the “Last 12 Months Use” or take the “Average Monthly Use” and multiply it by 12 to get an estimate of your annual energy use.
Purchase Renewable Energy Certificates from a REC marketer.
If you have access to a sunny yard, patio, or deck, solar ovens, also known as solar cookers, provide a simple and safe way to cook without consuming fuel or electricity. You can choose from several design options including a box oven, parabolic cooker, and a panel cooker. Temperatures can reach 200 – 400°F making the cookers suitable for everything from cooking rice and stews, to baking apples and biscuits. It does take longer to cook with a solar cooker, however, so you will need to plan ahead, much the same way you would if using a crock pot.
Take Action:
Enter “solar ovens” in your internet browser to learn more about options and products available online.
Learn how solar cooking is improving social, economic, and environmental conditions around the world.
Even if you heat your home with an oil burning furnace, you can burn a more renewable fuel by using bio-heating oil, which is traditional home heating oil blended with 5% Biodiesel (known as B5). Biodiesel is made in the U.S. from soy, corn, and other vegetable oils, animal fats, recycled restaurant oils, and other natural sources. New sources, such as algae and cellulose from switch grass, cornstalks, and other plants, are under investigation. As an incentive, the State of Maryland offers a Bio-Heating Oil Tax-Credit of up to $500 for using bio-heating oil through 2017. Bio-heating oil costs are similar to traditional heating oil costs.
Take Action:
Purchase bio-heating oil from a distributor serving Frederick County. As of March 2013, two distributors offered bio-heating oil:
Use efficient furnaces and stoves designed for biomass fuels. a. Replace an older inefficient wood burning stove with a new efficient wood or pellet stove
Residential biomass furnaces and stoves are an alternative to heating oil furnaces or electric systems; they burn renewable materials like wood, wood pellets, corn, or nutshells. Biomass is a renewable energy source because the carbon dioxide emitted when it is burned can be recaptured if the biological source used is replanted. Depending on home size and layout, free-standing biomass stoves can provide all of a home’s heating needs or supplement traditional heating systems. Biomass furnaces and boilers are designed to replace traditional furnaces.
The Maryland Energy Administration’s (MEA) Clean Burning Wood Stove Grant Program offers $400 grants for approved wood-burning stoves and $600 for approved pellet-burning stoves. A wide variety of stove and furnace options are available; enter “biomass stove” or “biomass furnace” into your internet browser to review products on the market, or review the lists of stoves eligible for the grant program.
Opinions differ on how “green” biomass stoves and furnaces are. See How Green are Biomass Stoves and Furnaces? for more information.
Use efficient furnaces and stoves designed for biomass fuels. a. Replace an older inefficient wood burning stove with a new efficient wood or pellet stove
Use efficient furnaces and stoves designed for biomass fuels. b. Purchase a new efficient biomass stove or furnace
Residential biomass furnaces and stoves are an alternative to heating oil furnaces or electric systems; they burn renewable materials like wood, wood pellets, corn, or nutshells. Biomass is a renewable energy source because the carbon dioxide emitted when it is burned can be recaptured if the biological source used is replanted. Depending on home size and layout, free-standing biomass stoves can provide all of a home’s heating needs or supplement traditional heating systems. Biomass furnaces and boilers are designed to replace traditional furnaces.
The Maryland Energy Administration’s (MEA) Clean Burning Wood Stove Grant Program offers $400 grants for approved wood-burning stoves and $600 for approved pellet-burning stoves. A wide variety of stove and furnace options are available; enter “biomass stove” or “biomass furnace” into your internet browser to review products on the market, or review the lists of stoves eligible for the grant program.
Opinions differ on how “green” biomass stoves and furnaces are. See How Green are Biomass Stoves and Furnaces? for more information.
Use biofuel in your flexible fuel or diesel vehicle
If you drive a flexible fuel vehicle (FFV), you can use a more renewably generated fuel by purchasing ethanol instead of gasoline. E85 is an abbreviation for a fuel blend of up to 85% ethanol fuel and gasoline. Ethanol is produced by fermenting and distilling starch crops (primarily corn) and about one-third of all gasoline sold in the U.S. contains 10% ethanol. Controversy remains about the efficiency of ethanol production and its impact on energy use, agriculture, and vehicle fuel efficiency, so you may want to learn more before making a decision that is right for you. The price per gallon is comparable to gasoline but varies by region; however, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s fueleconomy.gov, FFVs operating on E85 usually experience a 25–30% drop in miles per gallon due to ethanol’s lower energy content.
If you drive a diesel vehicle, you can use fuel-grade biodiesel. Biodiesel is an alternative to standard diesel fuel that is made from biological, non-toxic and renewable ingredients, such as plant oils or animal fat. Biodiesel, which can be used in diesel engines with little or no modification, is usually blended with standard diesel fuel. The most common blend is B20, or 20 percent biodiesel to 80 percent standard, but as of 2012, only B5 is offered at stations around Frederick County.
Ethanol and Biodiesel are relatively new to the consumer market so availability is currently limited to a handful of gas stations.
Take Action:
Use E85Locator.net to find nearby E85 gas stations and purchase E85 for your flex fuel vehicle.
Use the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance’s Nearbio website to find nearby biodiesel stations and purchase biodiesel for your diesel vehicle.
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