Ithaca/Tompkins County

Commercial Energy Now III

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6 Chambers for Innovation & Clean Energy continued from page 1 While we have also advocated for resilient, reliable, accessible energy infrastructure to meet the needs of ex- isting firms and near term economic growth, we recognize the need for abundant resources and programs to support energy market transitions as soon as feasible. Clean energy is a topic we must continue to explore and allocate resources to. is month, the Chamber Gov- ernment & Community Affairs Committee is considering a policy statement regarding energy and economic development in Tompkins County. And, aer nearly ten months, the Energy and Economic Development Task Force (EEDTF) has issued a series of recommendations—of which the Chamber is supportive. We are excited about the prospects of further supporting the work of the EEDTF, the County, and Tompkins County Area Development in creating a feasible, fundable implementation plan for the recommendations. We look forward to learning more from CICE, and sharing the resources and programming available with our membership in the near future. If you're interested in learning more, please visit www.chambersforinnovation. com. e Mixed Scenario assumes that energy services are provided by a mixture of fossil fuel and renewable resources and that the total amount of natural gas used equals that used by the industrial sector in 2008. is means that this scenario caps future natural gas use at 10% of the volume of natural gas consumed in 2008. is approach requires 2.7 times more electricity generation in 2050 compared to the 2008 baseline, due to increased demand and the need to provide excess renewable energy capacity to account for intermittent avail- ability of some of these resources. e All‐Electric Scenario assumes that all energy services (except heavy‐duty and medium‐duty vehicles) are provided by electricity. Moving to an all‐electric energy system requires 3 times as much electricity generation in 2050 compared to 2008. e Half‐Natural Gas Scenario maintains half the amount of natural gas used by the community in 2008. is approach requires 2.4 times more electricity generation in 2050 compared to the 2008 baseline. New York State's plan to generate half of grid‐supplied electricity from carbon‐free sources by 2030 will help, but it will not be enough to achieve Tompkins County's 2050 emission reduction goal. Meeting our 80% emissions reduction goal will require us to go beyond the State's goals and further reduce our reliance on natural gas and on electricity generated from a grid based on centralized generating plants. e Conclusions and Recommendations section of the Roadmap identifies priority actions the County must take to meet the County's 2050 energy needs and emissions goal. Some of these interim goals are: Reducing natural gas use by 50% and grid electricity generated outside of Tompkins County by 24% from current levels; Developing 50% of solar potential, 20% of wind potential and 20% of micro‐hydro potential; Developing 50% of biomass potential, and installing significant numbers of ground and air source heat pumps particularly in new construction; Achieving efficiency potentials averaging 35% in existing buildings. Moving forward, the goals, assumptions, and opportunities identified in the Roadmap will be reviewed peri- odically and adjusted as necessary to reflect future climate science, government policies, and economic factors.

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