Festival showcases alternative energy sources for home, business

Melissa McGrath
Idaho Statesman

The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 09-14-2005

It's Alternative Energy Week in Idaho and several local businesses are demonstrating their use of alternative energy sources to show others how they can save energy and improve air quality.

The week will conclude with the Alternative Energy Festival at the Discovery Center of Idaho and Julia Davis Park. The festival is an interactive weekend of exhibits and workshops to teach people about available alternative energy sources that are environmentally friendly.

So if your business is trying to cut down on energy costs, you might want to check out the events for a few ideas.

"There is lots of stuff here showing individuals and business people how they can use renewable and sustainable energy practices in their home and/or business," said Kris Grimshaw, marketing adviser at the Discovery Center.

Here is a sampling of ideas that businesses and residents can check out:

• On the way to work, people can fill up their tanks with E85 — an eco-friendly fuel made up of 85 percent ethanol — for just $1.85 a gallon at the Stinker Station on Main Street every Tuesday for the rest of September. Ethanol fuel is made from corn and potato crops and emits less toxins into the air, and it usually costs about the same as regular unleaded.

But only flexible-fuel vehicles — including some Ford, General Motors and Mazda models — can use E85. Check with a mechanic or car manufacturer before filling up. To learn more about how realistic ethanol is as an alternative source of fuel, attend a debate at the Discovery Center on Friday at 7 p.m.

• Think about how solar panels could help you save on the utility bill. To learn more, stop by Idaho Power Co.'s corporate headquarters today from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. to take a tour of the company's solar panels. Idaho Power produces enough energy from solar panels on its roof to help power computers at its corporate headquarters.

• Consider installing a ground source heat pump at your business or home to save up to 70 percent on heating and cooling costs in the future.

Clint Richins of Boise-based Renewable Energy Resources is presenting its Geothermal Exchange system at the festival this weekend. The system is a series of pipes planted underground that collect the Earth's natural heat in the winter and cool temperatures in the summer and then circulate them through a building. Installing the system is pricey at first because the heat pump and pipes have to be buried in the ground. But customers can save thousands of dollars in energy costs in the long term, Richins said.

Share your tips on helping the environment at work by contacting reporter Melissa McGrath at mmcgrath@idahostatesman.com or 377-6439.