NEWSLETTER
— APRIL 2017 —
Water Power
Rhode Island Farm Energy
Program (RIFEP) provides Ag
Producers and Ag-based Small
Businesses with current
information on energy grant
opportunities and supportive
events.
The RI Farm Energy Program is
a project of Rhode Island
Resource Conservation &
Development Area Council, Inc. It
is supported through Rhode
Island Greenhouse Gas Initiative
funding provided by the RI
Department of Environmental
Management and the RI Office of
Energy Resources.
For more information on how we
can help you "put it all together,"
visit our web site, or give us a
call!
CONTACT RIFEP:
Jo-Anne Pacheco
Program Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 401-500-0399
Mailing Address:
RI Farm Energy Program
c/o RI RC&D
2283 Hartford Avenue
Johnston, RI 02919
Web Site:
http://www.rifarmenergy.org/index.htm
RIRC&D Area Director: Paul Dolan
Newsletter Editor: Leslie Mundy
"The desire that guides me in all I do is the desire to harness the forces of
nature to the service of mankind." -- Nikola Tesla, Inventor of AC Electricity
Nowadays, we ask, What would the economy of the US be like if even half our
electricity came from clean, economical, renewable sources? What if the US
weren't dependent on fossil fuels? What if electricity was clean,
environmentally friendly, and really, really cheap?
Believe it or not, before World War II, the US
got over half its electricity from hydro power.
The public works projects of the Great
Depression had put people to work building
dams and power plants on many of our
largest waterways.
From the beginning of time, people have
recognized the power of falling water, and
trying to bring that power under our control.
By the late 19th century, we had the
technology to do so, and we began to build
mega-dams to produce mega-watts of
electricity to run our lives.
In this Month's Newsletter:
Page 2
– Renewable Energy:
Where to Start
– Water Power at Work
Pages 3-4
–Funding Opportunities and
Incentives: New Deadlines!
Page 4
–More about water power
Page 5
–Featured Farm
So what happened? Why don't we still get more than half our electricity from
hydro? You may be thinking that the reason is that we have recognized very
serious environmental problems dams cause that can't be easily solved. But
the real reason is that we caught sight of something more powerful than
Niagara— atomic energy. And we decided to harness that instead.
But, again, we discovered that atomic energy has even worse environmental
impacts. And it finally dawned on us that if we want to survive, will we have to
work with nature, not against it.
Today, over 80,000 dams exist in the US. Very few of them produce electricity.
But, what if we could eliminate the dams, and yet harness the energy in all
that flowing and falling water? Imagine the power to be had from the tides, and
even the rain…There are people working on all that. See pages 2 & 4.
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A PROJECT OF THE RHODE ISLAND RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT AREA COUNCIL, INC.
Rhode Island Farm Energy Program
NEWSLETTER — March 2017
Page 2
RENEWABLE ENERGY: WHERE TO START
Are you a farmer interested in learning about available funding opportunities
and incentives for Renewable Energy Systems and/or Energy Efficiency
Improvements, but were unable to attend one of the recent workshops?
If so, the RI Farm Energy Program is available to schedule farm site visits to
discuss the various programs.
Time to tame those
energy hogs!
There are several ways to save
energy on your farm depending on
what type of infrastructure and
operation you have. The first step
to reducing farm energy costs is
determining where you use energy
in your operation.
If you are a National Grid customer
and own or rent a farm in Rhode
Island, you are eligible to
participate in the
Rhode Island
Farm Energy
Efficiency
Program!
This program provides a free, noobligation energy audit that gives
recommendations on how to
improve the energy efficiency of
your farm. It also provides financial
incentives for recommended
energy-saving measures.
Start here:
To schedule a site visit
email: mailto:[email protected]
or call our office: 401-500-0399
We look forward to hearing from you!
WATER POWER AT WORK
Micro Hydroelectricity in Japan
An agricultural cooperative in Japan has been
benefiting
from
electricity
produced
by
hydropower stations installed in their rice
irrigation water since 2006. The devices generate
30kW and 90kW respectively.
Do something nice
for your planet.
City installs micro turbines in municipal pipes
The flow of the water through the "powerball" turbines
mounted in the pipes generates 4 - 7 kW of electricity, enough
to light a few homes, or 5-6 miles of street lamps.
Article "Harnessing Hydropower from Urban Water Pipes"
from Popular Science.
Mister Trash Wheel Cleans Baltimore's Harbor
The City of Baltimore's "Mr. Trash Wheel" has gathered its one millionth
pound of debris from city water. The inventor says the water and solar
powered machine's design was inspired by the hay collection machine they
used on his family's farm.
Call 1-800-332-3333
to schedule your
free energy audit!
Rebates and incentives are
available to make the switch
to LEDs more
affordable.
Check out
National Grid's
Service &
Rebates Page
for more
information.
More about Water Power on page 4…
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Rhode Island Farm Energy Program
NEWSLETTER — April 2017
Page 3
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND INCENTIVES 2017
The Rhode Island Agricultural Energy Program is a competitive grant program for the implementation of
agricultural projects that improve energy efficiency and facilitate renewable energy. This is a new
collaborative project of RI RC&D, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Division
of Agriculture, and Office of Air Resources and the Office of Energy resources.
RIFEP Application
Next deadline: April 21, 2017
Contact: Jo-Anne Pacheco, Program Coordinator, RI Farm Energy Program
Rhode Island RC&D
[email protected]
401-500-0399
www.rifarmenergy.org
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants can provide assistance to Ag producers and Ag-Based
Small Businesses who are eligible with Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) projects.
Next grant deadline OCTOBER 31, 2017
Contact: Anne Correia, Energy Coordinator
USDA – Rural Development MA/CT/RI
[email protected]
(508) 295-5151 Ext. 136
www.usda.gov
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation Renewable Energy Fund (REF) funds renewable energy
projects in:
 Small Scale Solar
 Commercial Development
 Pre-Development Feasibility Studies
Next solicitation period began April 3, 2017
Commercial-Scale Funding
Small-Scale Funding
Contact: Annie Ratanasim, Renewable Energy Program Manager
Rhode Island Commerce Corporation
[email protected]
401-278-9100 Ext. 196
www.commerceri.com
Farm Energy Efficiency Program - The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources in collaboration with
National Grid offers FREE energy efficiency audits for farms. Incentives and rebates are available for many
energy efficient measures. To get started please call 1-800-332-3333 and identify yourself as a farm.
Contact: Becca Trietch, Chief Program Development
Farm Energy Efficiency
Telephone: 401-574-9106
Email: [email protected]
For more information on the Farm Energy Efficiency Program visit their web site at:
www.energy.ri.gov/efficiency/farmenergy
Continued next…
Rhode Island Farm Energy Program
NEWSLETTER — April 2017
Page 4
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND INCENTIVES 2017
Agricultural Energy Management Plan (AgEMP) is a Conservation Activity Plan personalized to ensure
coverage of each farm’s main energy uses. An AgEMP is an analysis of a farm’s foundation and
management that provides recommendations on how to reduce energy use.
Contact: Alan Gillespie, State Conservation Engineer
USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service
60 Quaker Lane, Warwick, RI
[email protected]
401-822-8812
www.ri.nrcs.usda.gov
Water Power…
Click the images to find out more!
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Click the image above to check out a
totally awesome video, a crash course
in water from John Green. It's
educational, but it's also a lot of fun—
and it will give everyone who watches
it a LOT to think about.
Rhode Island Farm Energy Program
NEWSLETTER — April 2017
Page 5
This Month's Featured Farm
Red Planet Farm
380 Greenville Avenue, Johnston, RI
Farmers Catherine Mardosa and Matt
Tracy are the owners and founders of Red
Planet Farm, a five-acre farm in Johnston,
RI, where they grow chemical free
vegetables. A portion of the farm land is
leased from Gather Farm, and together the
two businesses cooperate as stewards of
the land, pitching in together to improve
and maintain the whole property.
Red Planet grows 40+ kinds of vegetables; each kind
requiring a different planting schedule, as well as unique
care and feeding. It takes a lot of work!
Catherine and Matt both passionately believe in hyper-local
food, and collective endeavor, and they consider themselves
very lucky to have found support within a vibrant local food
community from the beginning.
Especially, they have found that they can rely on the
awesome support of the local Community Supported
Agriculture members who pay for all the labor and materials
needed to help the farm thrive by annually purchasing
shares in their crops. Those shares translate into fresh
produce "dividends" for the shareholders, which are
distributed, freshly harvested, throughout the growing
season.
In an effort to keep costs down, Red Planet is always
looking for ways to become more energy efficient. In
November 2016 the Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management (DEM), in partnership with the
Rhode Island Resource Conservation & Development Area
Council and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources,
awarded Red Planet Farm $14,930 for installation of a 3.78
kW solar photovoltaic system to power their farm. The
panels were installed in February 2017.
You can see more of their farm and hear firsthand what
inspires and challenges these two Rhode Island farmers by
watching this video: "A Year on the Farm with Red Planet
Vegetables" presented by Edible Rhody.
As they put it in their blog: "At the same time that we are
working to build healthy soil and grow beautiful vegetables
at the farm, we also are working to make this amazing spot
right outside of Providence into a fun place to explore
nature."
And don't for get to sign up now to be a CSA member so
you can share in this year's harvest of delicious, locallygrown vegetables from Red Planet Farm!
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