Renewable Energy

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -Charlie Biggs' passion about conserving electricity isn't new, nor is it a fad. Biggs, 79, and his wife, Margaret, 78, have made a point of making their homes energy efficient since the 1973 oil crisis, when there were long lines at the gas pump - sometimes with no gas left - and the cost of heating oil soared. The Biggses use large windows on the south side of their home to passively heat their home, a Finnish soapstone wood stove to enhance heat during winter nights, evacuated solar tubing on their roof to heat water, and a geothermal system through their well to warm the house in winter and cool it during summer.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - Using the wind to generate electricity requires a building permit for the wind generator, and Mike McKechnie of Mountain View Builders asked the Morgan County Planning Commission Tuesday night for approval. McKechnie's company is building the Mountain View Solar House on Pious Ridge Road, where the wind tower is to be installed. The site will be used to educate people and to encourage the local community and others to become energy independent, McKechnie said.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - "Going Green" is an important part of Mountain View Builders, and for brothers and owners, Mike and Pete McKechnie, it's "social conscience that drives us," Mike McKechnie said. He said the company encourages people to build energy-efficient homes and helps them make energy-saving choices. McKechnie said the company works with Larry Robinson of Twin Mountain Construction, a local solar designer. "We talk people out of the McMansion idea, and when we talk about solar ideas, they get interested," Robinson said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - America has a big appetite for foreign oil, but Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty says the state has a plan to add more homegrown energy to its diet. The PennSecurity Fuels Initiative was a project to encourage the use of renewable energy that McGinty outlined during a speech Thursday at Wilson College. The goal is to produce 900 million gallons of transportation fuels a year within the next decade, she said. "We would grow and use the same amount of fuel we currently import from the Persian Gulf," McGinty told a group of about 60 students and area residents.

ANNAPOLIS - State Secretary of Agriculture Lewis R. Riley and Marlene B. Elliott, director of the USDA Rural Development Office for Delaware and Maryland, are hosting seminars on the availability of funding for value-added producer grants and renewable energy grants. The seminars, targeted to agricultural producers and related ag business ventures, will be held in Frederick, Md., and three places farther east. Admission is free. The area meeting will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, in the Monocacy Room at the Frederick County Office of Economic Development, 5340 Spectrum Drive, Frederick.

Think about the alternatives To the editor: The recent increase in fuel prices has finally convinced Americans to start considering the use of alternative fuel sources. Unfortunately, this idea has come to most of us about 20 years too late. Of course, I am not saying that we shouldn't act on this idea. However, as a country, we should not realistically expect to see any radical changes in the way that we produce energy over the next several years. I'm not writing this letter to try to convince people that we should not drive our cars, or that we must stop relying on all forms of fossil fuel.

wandaw@herald-mail.com U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., held a workshop Monday to encourage Western Maryland farmers and small-business owners to apply for millions of dollars in grants available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "We're on a mission to reach rural folk who can't obtain credit," said James E. Waters, USDA business programs director for Maryland and Delaware. Waters was among a panel of experts and a few potential applicants who gathered Monday morning in Maugansville to discuss a variety of grants.

laurae@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - Environmentalists were split Tuesday on legislation to encourage the use of wind power and other renewable energy sources in Maryland. While some praised the value of harnessing wind power to reduce dependence on foreign oil, others said the 400-foot wind turbines would be a blight on the landscape and would kill birds and bats that would unwittingly crash into them. Manufacturing industry representatives also opposed the bill at a hearing Tuesday, arguing they essentially would be subsidizing wind power companies at the cost of jobs at their plants.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell will present his $22.7 billion budget for fiscal 2004-05 to state lawmakers today. The budget represents a 6 percent increase in state spending, but the more worrisome aspects would borrow $3 billion to protect the environment and stimulate the state's economy. If those things are worth doing, the governor should make the case for paying for them now, instead of adding to the state's long-term debt. Budget Secretary Michael Mascha told The Associated Press that the cost of borrowing such a large amount of money would require $37 million in interest payments the first year alone.