Renewable Energy
Reducing Carbon Emissions
Traditionally, the generation of electricity is one of the most emission-intensive processes impacting our environment today. This is because our current biggest suppliers of electricity are coal and natural gas, two non-renewable sources of energy. Natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel than coal, which is a heavy pollutant, but both emit greenhouse gases which contribute to global climate change.
Recently, there has been a new focus on clean energy sources, such as wind and solar, which don’t emit any greenhouse gases once they are generating electricity. Obtaining electricity from these sources is desirable because there is never a worry that we will run out of their fuel sources (sunlight and wind), and it greatly reduces environmental impact.
Evanston has already made investments into solar generated power, and is constantly looking for new ways to pursue electricity generated free from greenhouse gas emissions.
Solar Project
The City of Evanston has installed a 25 kW photovoltaic system on the roof of the city’s water pumping station, which helps reduce Evanston’s reliance on carbon-based electricity. For more detail on Evanston’s solar initiatives, click here.
Wind Project
On April 13, 2010 the Evanston City Council unanimously authorized issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to interested parties for the solicitation of information on developing an offshore wind energy facility in Lake Michigan off the northern shore of Evanston.
To view the proposals and timeline of this project, click here.
Resources
- Solar & Wind Energy Rebate Program - Information related to State funding for renewable energy projects.
- Citizens’ Greener Evanston - Citizens' Greener Evanston acts to improve community control of our greenhouse gas emissions, and is a great resource for information on renewable energy projects.
- ISEN - The Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern is an umbrella organization whose mission is to catalyze new science, technology, learning and policy for sustainability and energy.
- BASE - BASE is a good resource for learning about and incorporating greener business practices.
- Illinois Solar Energy Association - Educators and advocates for the application of solar energy in Illinois.
- Illinois Wind Energy Association - The Illinois Wind Energy Association was founded in early 2007 to represent the needs of the growing wind energy industry in Illinois.