FEATURE
vcreporter.com
The future is electric Push to eliminate fossil fuels intensifies
by Kimberly Rivers kimberly@vcreporter.com
The ground mounted solar array at the Merkord home in Bardsdale. Photo by Kimberly Rivers.
T
he science is clear. The time is now. The future is electric.
Moving away from fossil fuel-based energy and fuels is required to combat a warming planet. But there is still resistance on many fronts to the shift away from the energy sources humans have relied on for more than a century. Whether the objections are related to infrastructure, economic impacts, shifts in job skills or concerns about costs to the individual, the debate over halting the practices that lead to the release of greenhouse gas emissions is heating up. According to the report “Approaches to Zero Net Energy Cost Effectiveness in New Homes,” published this month by the Energy Research and Development Division of the California Energy Commission (CEC) (1), “Transitioning to zero net energy all-electric new single-family and multi-family homes by 2023 would result in more than 50 metric tons of carbon dioxide cumulative savings from 2023– 2050...resulting in 3.3 million metric tons net carbon dioxide savings in 2050.” A 2018 report issued by the CEC found that greenhouse gas emissions from buildings are second only to transportation in terms of contributing to climate change. (2) With that information the CEC is moving to incentivise zero net energy commercial and residential buildings. A “zero net energy” (ZNE) building is defined by the state of California as a building “in which the value of the energy produced by onsite renewable energy resources is equal to the value of the energy consumed annually by the building.” April 22, 2021 —
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