Ithaca/Tompkins County

5 e following article is a brief summary of the recently completed March 2016 Energy Roadmap, put together by the Tompkins County Planning Department. To view the document in its entirety, click here. e Tompkins County Energy Roadmap was identified as a priority action in the Tompkins County 2020 Energy Strategy (2010) and was developed over a number of years in conjunction with a steering committee and Professor Max Zhang from the Cornell School of Engineering. e purpose of the Tompkins County Energy Roadmap is to evaluate local energy resources and develop scenarios to meet Tompkins County's 80% greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goal and projected energy needs through 2050. e study is meant to help inform decisions regarding Tompkins County government operations as well as the actions of others in the community working to create a new green energy future. Immediate actions are critical, as reductions achieved now will continue to accrue in future years and have greater impact on future greenhouse gas con- centrations in the atmosphere. e Roadmap has two objectives: To evaluate whether achieving 80% emission reductions is possible primar- ily using local renewables and demand reduction, and to identify local actions that can be taken in the short and long term to achieve the County's goal. e evaluation focuses on technical feasibility and undertakes rigorous analyses to quantify both the potential to reduce energy demand and the potential to produce energy using local renewable resources: solar, wind, micro‐hydro, and biomass resources within Tompkins County. e Roadmap demonstrates it is possible to achieve this goal, and presents three alternative energy scenar- ios that utilize local potentials to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% and meet the County's projected energy needs in 2050. To develop these three scenarios, the team used a model which balances grid‐supplied electricity and fossil fuel energy with local renewable energy generation and energy efficiency/demand reduc- tion. e three scenarios represent a wide range of conditions which reflect the divergent ways that energy systems might evolve in the next 35 years. Any of the three scenarios will still allow the County to meet its 80% emissions reductions goal. e first scenario, "Business As Usual," serves as a point of reference to illustrate where Tompkins County will be in 2050 if no further changes are made to the current energy system. e BAU and three alternative energy scenarios are summarized here: Energy Roadmap Summary edited by Cassandra Jenis, Marketing and Outreach, Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Energy sources and GHG emissions—Business As Usual (BAU), and three future energy scenarios

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