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2/16/2004
Environmental institute pushes renewable energy
Austin Energy works to provide more alternative resources
By James Hale
Fossil fuels may be going the way of the dinosaur, at least in Austin, a scientific organization said Friday.
The Environmental Science Institute's program on the future of energy resources in Austin focused on the importance of using more renewable sources, such as wind, water and solar power.
"We're using natural gas in Texas faster than it's being produced domestically," said Mark Kapner, manager of conservation and renewable resources at Austin Energy. "It's expensive and somewhat risky, and we have no control over the price."
Austin Energy, the local community-based utility service, is currently working to increase the usage of renewable resources in Austin, Kapner said.
"We have a goal - it's to be getting 20 percent of our power from renewable resources by 2020," Kapner said.
Kapner said benefits of using alternate energy resources included low or zero operating costs, no air pollution, no waste, and they are never depleted as well. Kapner also discussed using incentives for citizens who use renewable resources.
"Rebates are available for people with solar water heaters," Kapner said. "[We are] working on a plan to do rebates for people with [solar energy] cells."
Jay Banner, director of the Institute, said Austin Energy has made progress in increasing the amount of renewable resources being used in the last four years. In 2000, 0.4 percent of Austin's power came from renewable resources. Now the figure is at 4 percent.
"They've increased it by an order of magnitude in four years," Banner said. "That's really good."
The Texas Solar Energy Society and the University-based Environmental Science Institute both distributed information and lesson plan suggestions to teachers who attended the event.
Banner said the program was created to reach out to the public through local teachers.
"Science teachers who attend get a CD we produce for these events, so they'll have something to take back to the classroom," Banner said.
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