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In addition
to providing member benefits and services, VEC pursues a number of
special projects every year. VEC creates multi-disciplinary,
multi-sector partnerships designed to pursue systemic solutions to
environmental and economic challenges. Recent and ongoing projects
include:
 Food-Waste-to-Energy Biodigester: Every
city and town in America
already possesses a huge source of energy, one that doesn’t
need to be mined or transported long distances: post-consumer food
waste. Biodigested, it produces many times the energy of manure and
has the potential to revolutionize Vermont’s energy portfolio
and farm economy.
Thanks to
Senator Patrick Leahy, a partnership of VEC, Central Vermont Solid
Waste Management District, and Vermont Technical
College was
awarded a $500,000 Department of Energy grant in December, 2007. The
funds will be used to conduct a full feasibility study and create
engineering and architectural designs for a 260kW biodigester and
electricity and heat co-generation facility on VTC’s Randolph campus.
Using 14 tons of clean food scraps daily and an equivalent amount of
cow manure from VTC’s 240 cows, the biodigester will provide
saleable electricity and heat for the campus.
Through
community/farm partnerships, this pioneering technology can
potentially generate significant amounts of energy while providing a
major new source of revenue for farms.
The Green Makeover –
A Video Guide to Greening Up Your Business: Join Johnson Woolen Mills owner Stacy
Manosh and special guest stars for a fun look at a real,
point-by-point environmental assessment and retrofit process. Along
the way, you’ll meet other business people who have installed
new technologies and found some surprising ways to reduce
environmental impact – all while improving their bottom line.
This 35-minute
video features appearances by Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie
Sanders, Willem Lange, and Rusty DeWees as well as original music by
Jon Gailmor. It’s fun, informative, and it’s guaranteed
to benefit all Vermont
business owners and managers! Call VEC to order your copy.
In July and
August, free copies of “The Green Makeover” were mailed
to 4,500 Vermont
businesses, schools, libraries, and policymakers. Tracking polls
conducted by KeliherSametsVolk and Efficiency Vermont show over 280
broadcasts of Vermont
television stations!
Vermont Environmental Enterprise
2007 Directory: Developed
by VEC, published by the Vermont Department of Economic Development,
this updated, comprehensive green enterprise directory contains
contact and activity information of over 300 environmental
businesses, organizations, and agencies. To order a free copy,
contact VEC.
Brownfields Program Review:
For the last year, VEC has coordinated a multi-stakeholder team to
design improvements to Vermont’s
brownfields program that will encourage more brownfields remediation
and redevelopment. Group members included environmental scientists
and lawyers, regional planners, and developers.
The VEC
group’s white paper resulted in statute that created a formal
Brownfields Program Advisory committee to consider its specific
recommendation. The committee’s November, 2007 report to the
legislature endorsed almost all of the VEC group’s recommendations,
promising significant reform to Vermont’s brownfields
program and the redevelopment of more of the state’s estimated
3,000 polluted and under-used properties.
Petroleum Cleanup Fun d
Rates Survey: Vermont’s
reimbursement rates to contractors cleaning up petroleum pollution
were well below prevailing regional rates. VEC recommended improving
rates and conducted a survey of 88 labs and C & E firms.
VEC’s
recommendations to the Dept. of Environmental Conservation resulted
in ~ 35% rate increases, benefiting C&E firms statewide and
keeping Vermont’s
C&E sector competitive.
Farm Energy Handbook: The Agency of
Agriculture asked VEC to create the first-ever comprehensive guide to
renewable energy options for farmers. With input from 24 experts in
renewable technology and feedstocks, the book was given to 1,200
farmers, all state legislators and federal delegations, and is now
available to the public.
After a
Statehouse reception and extensive media coverage (AP, WCAX, etc.)
the book has generated a flood of requests; the second, revised and
improved edition is now being prepared for print, DVD, and Web
publication.
Environmental Enterprise
Database: Vermont
Sustainable Jobs Fund and VEC have created the first-ever statewide
database of green enterprises. Each of the 1,300 entries lists
activities and is word-searchable to help clients locate Vermont
products/services and to foster partnerships within the environmental
sector. Listings include environmental businesses, education
programs, farms, public agencies, and organizations.
The data is now
available through VEC and VSJF, and will be published in a GIS-based,
web-accessible platform in 2008.
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