WildEarth Guardians

Monday, January 12, 2009
New Energy No Longer a Pipe Dream

National Labs and Local Groups Receive Funding to Chart the Course for Renewable Energy
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

SANTA FE, N.M. - Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs were awarded funding from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) Program to work with WildEarth Guardians and local renewable energy businesses in building a blueprint to chart the course for renewable energy development in Santa Fe. The NMSBA Program funds scientists at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories to provide technical assistance in solving small business technical challenges.

“The NMSBA Program’s mission is to bring the technology and expertise of the national laboratories to small businesses in New Mexico to promote economic development in the state, with an emphasis on rural areas. We are hoping the outcome of this project will help small businesses identify opportunities to grow their companies while helping New Mexico to become more green,” said Jennifer DeGreeff, Program Manager? at the New Mexico Small Business Assistance Program.

The joint laboratory project received $80,000 in funding from the NMSBA Program to create a blueprint to move Santa Fe towards the vision of 100% renewable energy. In this first year of a multi-year project the labs will work with local stakeholders to build a “conceptual model” of supply and demand dynamics in Santa Fe. The conceptual model will help identify leading issues and questions facing stakeholders in the current energy market.

Later the conceptual model will be converted to a computer simulation model. “The simulation model will allow stakeholders and policy makers to rigorously and quantitatively evaluate tradeoffs associated with different energy futures,” said Howard Passell, ecologist and senior member of the technical staff at Sandia National Labs. “Ultimately, this is about helping stakeholders create a roadmap for the conversion to renewable energy in Santa Fe.”

According to Passell, the roadmap will help stakeholders identify the steps necessary to transform Santa Fe's energy economy, and to create new green jobs. The project will help lay out the roles that local renewable energy businesses can play in that transformation, and in that way enhance their future economic viability.

John Horning, Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians is hopeful that this collaboration will bring a new focus to New Mexico’s energy economy. “New energy is good for our health, good for our planet, and good for the economy,” he said. “WildEarth Guardians is committed to bringing new energy to New Mexico, and this work in Santa Fe is just the first step. 100% renewable is 100% doable.”

Boaz Soifer, President of Cedar Mountain Solar is one of many small businesses involved in the collaborative process that is positioned to directly benefit from the project. “In illustrating the potential returns from renewable energy development, this project will help local businesses identify incentives, policies, and legislation necessary that will not only benefit our environment and energy economy, but every single Santa Fean as well.”

With a focus on green energy from the upcoming Obama Administration, and with energy leadership from current Governor Bill Richardson, diverse stakeholders are coming together to take advantage of New Mexico’s abundance of renewable resources. Participants see this unlikely collaboration as necessary relationship building in efforts to re-energize local economies while simultaneously offering climate change solutions.

The NMSBA Program funding comes shortly after the City of Santa Fe approved a financial incentive program providing low interest loans for Santa Fe residents in adopting solar energy and efficiency measures. The participating groups are hopeful that the inclusive models developed as a result of this collaboration will take Santa Fe’s energy economy even further to successful clean energy conversion.

“This is our opportunity to set the standard,” said Horning. “Santa Fe could be the first city in the nation that’s 100% renewable. By coming together, we know we can chart a new energy future - for Santa Feans, New Mexicans, and the rest of America.”