ACape & Islands Energy Information Clearinghouse
AA Community Resource Developed Through The Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative
  CIREnews
The Hummer/Photo Source:Winnepeg Luxury Cars
   Canal Electric Plant/Photo Source: Richard Judge  
Sinking of the Argo Merchant/Photo Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
   Solar Flare/Photo Source: National Optical Astronomy Observatory  
Race Point Photovoltaic Installation/Photo Source: Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation
  
Woods Hole Research Center Ordway Campus Green Building Showcase/Photo Source: Cape Cod Center for Sustainability
  
Another Windy Day at Barnstable-West Barnstable Elementary School/Photo Source: Charlie Powicki
  
Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority's Propane-Fueled Bus/Photo Source: Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority

The Energy Future

The Cape & Islands region, like much of the rest of the world, has a growing appetite for energy. Renewable energy resources are more abundant here than elsewhere in Massachusetts and throughout New England. By conserving energy, using energy more efficiently, and tapping local renewables, local communities and consumers can meet a growing portion of their energy needs.

A cleaner and green "Energy Future" promises to alleviate the adverse impacts of energy supply and use on local communities while improving quality of life and steering economic development in sustainable directions. Click on the links below for more detail :

  • Alternative Futures: This section weighs the potential risks of continued reliance on fossil fuels against the possible rewards of a cleaner and green energy future for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket.

  • Green Visions: This section characterizes current projects, programs, and activities that foreshadow a cleaner and green energy future.
Photovoltaic Lighting System/Photo Source: Weeinfo.org
Photo Source: Toni Powicki

Green electrons generated by photovoltaic panels during the day are liberated by battery banks during the night to power an outdoor lighting system at the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (WBNERR). This sustainable, off-grid solution is meeting WBNERR's energy needs while reducing its reliance on the dirty "system power" coursing through distribution lines.

Updated 09.16.07

 

Visit CIGoGreen - the Cape & Islands Go Green Guide!
Green Pages
Sustainable Energy Calendar
Energy Action Plans
Forums

Current Fact

Dirty Roof

Conventional asphalt shingles are
the cheapest roofing material around but, as is usually the case, there is a cost: They are manufactured using petroleum by-products and, once they reach the end of their useful life, they must be landfilled as construction debris or “downcycled” as road materials or in other low-value uses. Credit: Houston Advanced Research Center

More Facts

Current Vision

Green Roof

Thatching represents an attractive and sustainable roofing solution. This thatched roof, gracing a barn in Yarmouthport, transforms an invasive wetland plant (Phragmites sp.) into a useful, biodegradable shelter.

More Visions
  CIREnews
The Clearinghouse provides a central location for the collection, classification, and distribution of data, information, and tools addressing energy supply and use in the Cape & Islands region, both now and in the future.
CIREC Logo

This website is being developed through the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative (CIREC). Its framework was created under a community planning grant award from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC).

Project management and content development: Chris Powicki, Principal, Water Energy & Ecology Information Services
Web design and development: Kathleen Tyger Wright
Graphic design: Elizabeth Hooper
Grant administration: Megan Amsler, Executive Director, Cape & Islands Self-Reliance Corp.