Learn Renewables in the Developing World!

SEI has some exciting international workshops coming up this fall and winter. Learn how to implement renewable energy technologies in the developing world, while in Nicaragua or Costa Rica! Participants in both of these workshops will work in rural communities installing solar electric systems, building solar ovens, and touring different renewable energy applications for developing countries.

Nicaragua - October 17 - 23 Costa Rica - January 23 - 29

For more information or to register, click here.

Fossil Fuel Addiction and Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina has flattened homes, flooded streets, and left thousands of victims in its wake. Though an act of nature, could America's fossil fuel addiction have made it more deadly? A new study published in the journal Nature suggests YES.

Nature found that hurricanes have become 50% stronger over the past 30 years. These upswings correlate with a rise in sea surface temperatures, one of the hallmark signs of global warming.

You can help stop global warming by joining the largest ever Stop Global Warming Virtual March at StopGlobalWarming.org

Yet More on Katrina and the Environment

Oil addiction. Wetland destruction. Global warming. Environmental injustice. The Natural Resources Defense Council writes about the environmental lessons we must learn from Hurricane Katrina and the deep interconnectedness between people and nature.

Katrina destroyed the fantasy that we can blithely go on increasing our dangerous dependence on oil -- whether imported or domestic. Our oil-addicted economy is just too vulnerable to supply disruptions, as anyone who filled up their gas tank last week discovered. The only way out of this mess is to reduce our appetite for oil by improving the fuel economy of our vehicles, implementing energy efficiency measures, and relying on smarter, cleaner and renewable ways to power our economy.

To read more visit the NRDC website.

Biodiesel for Hurricane Katrina Victims

Victims of Hurricane Katrina residing in the hardest hit areas along the Mississippi River will soon receive long-awaited food, water, fuel and supplies thanks in part to the efforts of alternative fuel advocates.

The Veggie Van Organization, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Venice, Calif., has teamed with the Iowa biodiesel cooperative West Central and Florida's Naples City Council to transport 13,000 gallons of ‘biodiesel' fuel made from soybeans to help residents of the smaller coastal towns south of New Orleans that were among the areas most severely affected by Hurricane Katrina. The donated fuel will be used to power makeshift medical facilities and emergency generators, aboard a research vessel and a fleet of shrimp boats that will bring several tons of food, water, ice and relief supplies to the victims in devastated areas near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

For more information and to see how you can help visit the Veggie Van Organization website.

SEI's Home Town Goes Solar

Participants in SEI's PV Design & Installation workshop helped Carbondale have one of the few town halls in the country powered with photovoltaics.

The Town of Carbondale partnered with the Community Office of Resource Efficiency (CORE), Sunsense Inc., Solar Energy International and Xcel Energy to install a 4,000-watt grid connected photovoltaic (solar electric) system on the Carbondale Town Hall the last week of August. In light of the passage of Colorado's Amendment 37, which requires utilities to produce a percentage of their power from renewable resources, the Town of Carbondale is moving ahead with their commitment to resource efficiency, and producing electricity from the sun.

Renewable energy is gaining popularity locally and nationwide. The recently passed federal energy bill offers tax rebates for solar electric and solar thermal systems (’06-’07) adding to the existing rebates in the Colorado Roaring Fork Valley offered by CORE, Holy Cross Energy, and Excel Energy.

Your Generosity Ensures our Success!

SEI would like to welcome our new members! As a membership-based non-profit, SEI's members are the heart of our organization and allow us to continue our educational programs. SEI Staff are passionate about the work that we do and membership dues help sustain our renewable energy endeavors.

Please join us! Become an SEI member and support our important work (and receive a free one year subscription to either Home Power magazine or E magazine.)

Click here for details on how to become an SEI member.

To all SEI members . . . SEI sends thanks!