From 2/24/08

 

Research Facility news:

    Jessie and Galen met with the president & board of trustees of UVM to talk about potential research facility. The "woman with the money" said that they'd be in touch.  UVM already has a liquid         biofuels research facility off Spear St (maybe they could just add on?)

    Tom met with engineers from Norwich - and they are "ready to play".  Norwich has land near montpelier to start playing with. 

    Norwich, VTC, & UVM

    Next Steps: have a big pow-wow with the key players from these universities.

 

Radio thing on Wednesday - dude's show is from 2-3pm

 

VNRC meeting tomorrow (Monday) @ 10am - meet at the high school (Montpelier) at 9:45 and we'll walk. People are meeting at 9:10am at the Richmond Park & Ride

    We should get Bernie Sanders, be more organized about advertizing and transportation.

 

 

Favorite memories from Wednesdays:

Watching Lucia on TV with dancing teenagers in the background

Dancing

Pleased with how the adults responded to us.

 

Maybe we should have another party at the state house when it's warmer!! hahahhaa

 

Policy questions:

Do we want to include Middlebury college in this dialog? Yes. thomad will figure out who to contact.

Anne will figure out who to contact at VTC.

We could call this the "Vermont Sustainable Energy Labs"

    We could propose a class called "transitioning Vermont buildings to sustainable energy".

 

Farmer subsidies

We need to figure out prices:  $200/ton of pellet, ____ $/acre to farmer

 

State Chartered biofuels futures market? Needs a new name? Do we still want to do that?

 

What do we pelletize? Wax cardboard, egg cartons?, diverting other stuff from waste stream - which products could be pelletized?

 

We need a big meeting with LIHEAP people, social workers, Hal Colston.

    Bulk purchase of pellet stoves

    $10/ton of carbon offset

    DANG! we need a non-proffit to sell carbon offsets

   

Keeva for pellet stoves? - thomas will contact

 

"Grasses for the masses"

 

We got invited to present our work at KIDS Consortium in Maine, March 28th. Yay! We have to figure out who all is going.

 

 

 

From 2/1608 @ Bakery & Cafe in Bristol with Legislators: Michael Fisher, Claire Ayer, Harold Giard, and David Sharpe

((my apologies if none of this makes any sense, i did a little reorganizing to try to clarify it a bit, but i'm not sure that i succeeded... :P ))

 

 

We need a business plan (ball park figures), and then we need to start "chasing money", probably we also need to find business partners

Somebody else should do the "real" business plan

 

Questions we still need to research:

Should we invest mainly in pellet stoves or pellet furnaces?

What is the crop price per acre for the farmer?

What exactly is the output (particulates) of a pellet furnace?

What businesses should we partner with?

 

People we should contact:

Peak Oil

ACORN (addison county...)

VTC and UVM - help with technology, research

Richard Watts (UVM) - Clean Cities Coalition

Scudder Parker - might be able to help with $$

Bill Scott  - used to working with young people, ag ideas, new chair of foarm bureau,

Bob Foster - USDA in weybridge,

natasha White - biodiesel from local crops (part of ACORN)

Jane Clifford can help connect with farmers

Bring in the fuel dealers - help them transition?

 

Programs we discussed: VEDA (make wood pellet stoves?), "green veggie"?, VT economic development?, "angel investors", CAP agencies

 

Steps we need to take:

Use LIHEAP funds to purchase pellets

grant money to purchase stoves and distribution

weatherization program could install them?

we need a pelletizer

$ set aside for emergency furnace replacement - use instead for pellet furnaces!

 

 

Dave Sharpe:

10 mil. $ for businesses building facilities in Vermont

take out 1million for biomass home heating

 

 

find some pieces of legislation that's moving and add this in as a provision

misc. tax bill with highest unemployeement rate

"2 largest farm counties are elligible for 10 million for ______ (aka pelletizer!)

or go for some permissive language (i'm not sure what that means)

 

 

David Sharpe is working on an ammendment (tax credits) for us

    what entities would get money? what are the deliverables

michael is working with claire on permissive language.

 

We should update all the senators with VSHI progress

 

 

Douglas - focus on his interests: business aspect and employement (there isn't any money)

Dubie is interested in green economy - "green valley"

 

 

Harold Giard will set up a meeting at Mt. Abe to have someone come to outline what a business plan is, teach us how to make a business plan

 

 

 

From 2/9/08 @ Montpelier High School (Anne's Room)

 

Dinner with the Governor:

the agenda: hoensty

someone should come up with an agenda (on wiki!)

Galen call Mary's, then Courtney will call Governor and pick a time

 

Co-author something with Dubie:

Let's create a wiki document that we can all edit/update

 

Addison County:

Addison County got a grant to do a feasibility study to installing a pelletizer. Someone should call them to find out what they're doing with that money and possibly collaborate.

Someone from Addison County should call him. Galen will call Chris Brae to find out who to contact further.

Start planting plan for the 13 acres in Addison County.

 

 

LIHEAP:

This comes in 2 parts - get furnaces in low-income homes (LIHEAP could help us out with that), Clean Energy Development Fund could work out the fuel souce end connecting farmers to a pelletizer)

 

Do it in every county in the state. Urban, rural, bulk pellet, bag pellet,

Example: bulk pellet in St. J because of Jock Gill, in Chittenden use bags (delivered to people's doors)

Jules Junker can replace inefficient stoves with pellet stoves, get a farmer to co-apply

They would need assistance in educating LIHEAP recipients.

 

Transparent Carbon Credit/Offset program

Get rich folks to donate!! :)

We'd need non-profit status! :P

 

Contact stove manufacturers to ask "are you developing pellet stoves?" and "Are you interested in doing a bulk purchase? How many stoves would it take to make the price go down?" "Do you have any co-generation pellet stoves?"

Dale Trombley at Vermont Castings

 

For the Rally:

Tom will contact busses for transporting people down to Montpelier

Lucia will contact Efficiency Vermont

 

 

 

 

From the State House 2/8/08 (these are just pretty much ALL the notes I took today)

Jock Gill: it costs us $5 for every 22 miles of transportation

Questions from Rob Ide: If we had a pelletizer in each county how many hours a year would it run?

100,000 acres of land = ??? hrs of pellet mill operation?

From Jock Gill: He could get 90,000 tons/yr from a pelletizer running 24/7 at full operation

From Rob: he doesn't have the staffing or time to jump all over this

our proposal would be stronger if it were a private-public partnership

he has a grant under Clean Energy Development Fund for Emerging Technologies

What he liked about our proposal: reduces dependence on heating fuel, LIHEAP aspect - but we should address more demographics than just the poor, we should look into other public buildings, we should prove that there's a market for this product.

His recommendations/suggestions: He didn't like the state-chartered futures market (too socialist for him), don't go with UVM but rather VTC, Champlain or others - UVM is slower than legislature)

 

About the Rally:

Montpelier peeps need to:

see about a parade permit for the 20th and state house lawn permits, possibly contact the police

potentially call bread and puppet

the public can sign up for 2 minutes slots to voice their opinion, sign up is there so get their early!

 

From Brian Dubie:

He wants to co-author something

as long as we can tap into "future savings" we're good

weeeeee should probably abandon the argument about keeping young people in Vermont (even though Christi spoke very eloquently about it!)

(From Galen: Governor Douglas is always talking about his " Affordability Agenda." This "agenda" is not really an actual thing, it is more something that sounds nice, but the object of the "Affordability Agenda" is to keep young people in the state. Douglas has talked a lot about keeping young people in the here, so i don't think we should abandon that argument. The aspect of that argument that Dubie was trashing was the argument that there aren't enough jobs. the aspect we want to focus on is Vermont still has too high a cost of living.)

 

 

From Tony Klein:

We should talk to the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) - there are 5 divisions of OEO by region (example: CVOEO for Champlain Valley office of ec. opportunity)

We should talk to some Community Action Program (CAP Agency) (how is this different?)

These guys did demos of weatherization technology which got that kicked off, and they deal with everything for the poor - they run LIHEAP!!!!

 

From David Zuckermann:

What percent of the retail price of pellets goes to the farmer? (currently and according to our plan?)

 

From 1/28/08 @ the Tailer's House

 

Things to do:

If we go with a tax on fossil fuels, at what %?

Finalize template

Organize phone bomb

Get VPIRG on board (Colin?)

We need a shorter name (4 word phrase?)

Write template letter for legislators

Press: Free Press, Times Argus, VPR, letters to the editor, group meeting for TV

 

 

 

Research that still needs to be done:

Efficiency Vermont Grant to Students presenting on Energy

Research pelletization manufacturers

Research Pellet Stoves: initial cost, who installs, estimated payback period

Stove cleaning as a service

Potential biomass harvests in VT

Shelburne Farms

How pellets compare to other sources

Pellet Association

 

 

 

 

MEETING NOTES Feb 03, 2008 (Montpelier HS)

 

QUESTIONS:

• How do we propose this sort of legislation?
• New bill/Amendment to existing bill?
• if so, which bill(s)?
• what are the current statuses of the energy bills.
• ****H.759****

 

DINNER WITH THE GOVERNOR:

• Allie Whetmore == Governor's Niece
• talk to him about economic stimulus for VT, but we want input!
• call him during break, Mr. Tailer's room (Courtney)
• The Bobcat/Cubbers/where would he like to go?
• Potluck!
• How many people? 10-20ish?
• discuss Vermont's energy policy + economic stimulus.

 

WHO DOES WHAT (2 Pages / Powerpoint Slides EACH):

• PELLET STOVES - TSA (be in contact with Tom Tailer)
• PRAIRIE GRASS OVER WOOD PELLETS - Christi, Courtney
• -ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES (Why woodchips == fail, Maple trees, carbon trading, Biomass Energy Resource Center) - Charlie Spence
• -Don't make fuel from food
• -particulates
• ECONOMICS
• -What are we funding (LIHEAP, Research, etc) - Jessie
• -How do we get the funding (TAXES) - Thomases, Galen
• -Futures Market - Henry
• -Most up to date VT energy stats
• TOURISM - someone's taken this, who was it?
• AGRICULTURE - Jessie, Christi
• COLLATING+STREAMLING+EDITING - Lucia, Anne
• Courtney + Anne coordinate dinner

****HAVE IT DONE BY THURSDAY, FEB 7****

 

 

 

CORE GROUP OF PEOPLE:

• Visit "problem area" schools
• Present why you need to be involved.
• Short "assembly"
• Sign up sheets, come talk to us after

 

 

 

PHONE BOMB (By locality + Committee)

• Talking points

#

#

#

 

 

Agriculture talking points:

• land not currently in use!
• supplemental income for farmers
• provide moneys for farmers to transition(seed, fuel)
• no new equipment
• money from tax
• good for good ol' JD

 

 

Education:

• money schools save on heating go into educational programs
• HANDS ON
• student leadership
• Boosts interest in science + politics!

 

 

Natural Resource + Energy:

• prairie grass is self drying
• pellets better than chips
• water quality
• we have the resources, why not use them
• no deforestation from prairie grasses!
• 100,000 acres under utilized agricultural land
• another 100,000 acres secondary growth scrub that could be prairie

 

 

Fish, wildlife, and water:

• water quality
• prairie grass more amenable to habitation
• no deforestation from prairie grasses!

 

 

Economics (Finance):

• Put out contract on stoves
• bulk scale
• multiplier effect (money stays in state 3.2 - 7 times)
• No more fueling island development in Dubai
• Keep the Vermont "Green" feel
• jobs

 

 

Tourism:

• Keep the Vermont "Green" feel

 

 

Appropriations Committee:

• taxation!
• even 4% tax is fairly low
• start at .5%, go up by .5% a year
• multiplier effect
• funding the project
• jobs

 

 

Health & Welfare/Human Services:

• air quality
• LIHEAP
• hypothermia
• hidden costs
• susceptibility to disease without heating
• housefires due to unsafe cheap woodstoves
• % of low income family's income that goes towards heating
• jobs

 

 

Military Affairs:

• Vermont Yankee is a potential terrorist site
• pelletizers are NOT (especially since its decentralized
• internet attacks on powerplants
• not susceptible to attack on fuel supply lines (because we're at the end of them)

 

 

 

 

 

PELLETIZER TYPES:

• $5,000 - $40,000 for home unit
• 8 - 10 million dollars sets up universal pelletizer

 

Things to do:

Courtney- talk to Jimmy D.

Thomas - work on talking points for representatives

Everybody who signed up for one: work on Power Point Presentations by Thursday of Next week!

Galen - call HR 759 authors

Courtney - media contacts

 

 

 

 

NEXT MEETING FEB 10, 2008

1:00 PM @ Montpelier HS