"We are working on using less energy for our home, but I would also like to make sure my energy doesn't come from fossil fuels if that is possible. How can I do that at my home?"
-Cara from Homewood, IL-
Your question is an important one, because the only two ways that renewable energy will ever take hold and become cost effective are if either governments require suppliers to produce energy from renewable sources, or if consumers are willing to pay the cost of energy from renewable sources. Thankfully, both options are available.
First of all, in most states (Illinois included) suppliers are required by law to supply a certain percentage of your electricity from renewable sources. These renewable portfolio standards (RPS) provide the supply market a clear signal that a guaranteed amount of renewable energy will be bought (helpful to the companies investing in the generation) and provide guidelines but no firm direction on one form or another. This allows the most cost effective solution to work its way to the forefront. So, in Illinois, for example, all electricity generation in 2012 includes 7% coming from renewable sources, including 0.0035% coming from solar, meaning you are already buying renewable electricity in your home.
Second, as for buying additional "green" power for the remaining 93% in 2012, the Department of Energy has a great website to help you understand the details, but the long and the short of it are that many different options exist. Of these, the two best are:
1. If you have a choice of supplier (and in Illinois you do), and haven't already done so, you can shop for electricity suppliers that include renewable energy in their offering. That same DOE website has a map of suppliers that do this.
2. If you do not have a choice of supplier, or are in a program already that does not contain additional renewable energy generation, you can separately purchase renewable energy certificates (REC) for the portion of the electricity that does not get generated from a renewable source. A REC represents the "environmentally preferred portion" of any generated unit of electrical energy. They work like this (prices given are for example only):
* a supplier of electricity in Arizona generates solar powered electricity for $0.10 per kWh (kilowatt-hour, the standard measure of electrical energy), but can only sell it to the local community at the local rate (in competition with nuclear or natural gas) of $0.05 per kWh. They get paid as if they are generating from a non-renewable resource even though the local customer receives electricity from the renewable resource.
* a customer in Homewood wants to purchase electricity that is generated renewably, but the local offerings include mostly coal and nuclear for which they pay $0.05 per kWh.
* if the customer in Homewood enters into a contract with the supplier in Arizona, and pays them the $0.05 per kWh difference, then the supplier will certify that the Homewood customer purchased solar energy at the full price (including the environmental benefit) and the Arizona customer only purchased the equivalent of nuclear or natural gas, and therefore, none of the environmental benefit.
REC allow renewable energy suppliers to build a plant in the most advantageous location without worrying whether the local population will pay the full price for the generated electricity. Anyone across the country can buy a REC, and help that supplier stay in business. I should note that REC are beholden to a marketplace as well, and the cost of a REC can be influenced by many factors....mostly the supply of available REC and the demand for them. Right now we are in a high supply, low demand market, meaning the price is very low....too low to support "new" investment in renewable energy. At the present price, suppliers can only afford to maintain present investments, and maybe not even then. The only way to change that market is for large purchasers to enter the mix (such as when a state increases its RPS like NJ has done), or when a consumer chooses to purchase "new" REC, which are more expensive but actually cover the additional cost of generation.
One last note on REC: You'll want to make sure that if you choose to go that route, that you purchase green-e certified REC. Although it is only a voluntary standard, it helps to assure you that the supplier is not playing games with the REC.
Lastly, we have not discussed how to handle the source of energy you use for heating your home. Assuming you do not use electricity, but as most in your area, natural gas, it is a tougher proposition. You cannot switch fuels very easily to a biofuel for example, and switching to electric heat might be cost prohibitive (and less reliable). If you are worried about the environmental impact of your heating (which for natural gas is significantly less than coal or oil), you can look at carbon offset programs such as Carbonfund.org which allow consumers to pay for reductions in carbon emissions equal to the emissions associated with some aspect of their life. Similarly to REC, they are not better than switching your fuel source directly, but they provide an excellent alternative.
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