Cut Off From The Grid, Thrive On Renewable Energy: Texas Town To Ditch Fossil Fuels, Rely Solely On Solar And Wind Farms

Georgetown, a small town in Texas, has announced its ambitious intention to completely rely on renewable energy sources and ditch the usage of fossil fuels to power its homes and businesses.

Earlier this month, Costa Rica attested the power and potential of renewable energy sources by managing to refrain from burning any fossil fuels to generate electricity needed to power the small Central American nation. For 75 straight days and counting, Costa Rica has been lighting up the place using only renewable energy, namely wind and geothermal.

Now Georgetown, a small metropolis in Texas with a population of around 50,000, has pledged to ditch fossil fuels for good by 2017.

Georgetown plans to purchase the electricity it needs from local wind and solar farm facilities. The town wants to draw optimum benefits of Texas’s consistently high temperatures throughout the day and the region’s winds by nights. By current estimates, these sources alone should be enough to keep a steady flow of electricity around the clock. As an added bonus, Georgetown hopes to save millions of liters of precious water in the desert state.

Speaking about the plan, Daniel Gross explained what the Texas town hopes to achieve.

“At the beginning of last year, Georgetown made a deal with EDF Renewable Energy to acquire about 75 percent of the output of the 194-megawatt Spinning Spur 3 wind farm, now under construction in West Texas, for 20 years. That accounts for about half of the utility’s needs.

“Last week, it announced it would purchase the output of two large solar plants, with a combined capacity of 150 megawatts that Sun Edison will build in West Texas, for 25 years. That’ll cover the rest, ensuring the 104-year-old utility at least 20 years of emissions-free electricity.”

Interestingly, it’s not the love for nature that is driving towns and cities towards renewable energy sources. Owing to the limited quantity and extensively long time for regeneration, coal is increasingly becoming a prized commodity. Not only is coal getting mighty expensive, Georgetown, as well as Texas, has always faced an uphill battle with water conservation. As per recent studies, 56 percent of Texas is now abnormally dry.

Even if it’s just because of the economics, the ability to significantly lower dependency on pollution-causing fossil fuels is a step in the right direction. Renewable energy sources have been getting all the attention they need. Moreover, nations across the world have realized the need to adopt eco-friendly renewable energy sources as their primary go-to raw material.

[Image Credit | Wind Turbine Zone]