Chicago Ranks No. 10 in U.S. For Renewable Energy

CHICAGO – With the rising cost of fossil fuel and the never-ending discussions on global warming, people everywhere are turning to new technologies to help sustain the planet. Just in the time for Earth Day, SustainLane Government has released the results of its survey on renewable energy sources.

SustainLane, an online sustainability knowledge base for state and local government, surveyed 50 of the largest cities in the country to ascertain how much of a city’s electricity comes from renewable sources. Some of these sources include solar, wind, geothermal and small-scale hydro energy.

Within the survey, SustainLane examined 15 areas of urban sustainability including public transit use, air and tap water quality, planning and land use, affordability, energy and climate change policy, local food and agriculture, green economy and sustainability management.

“What we’re seeing now is a dramatic increase in local governments’ efforts to draw energy from renewable sources that are less harmful to the environment,” SustainLane researcher Warren Karlenzig said in a statement. “Some U.S. cities have also set goals for increasing renewable energy ranging from Chicago’s 20 percent goal by 2010.”

Though Chicago has been ranked No. 10 in the SustainLane survey out of 50 U.S. cities, Stephen Bell, director of the Chicago Center for Green Technology (CCGT), says Chicago “should be No. 1 from an insider perspective”. He also pointed out that the city’s definition of sustainability may be different than SustainLane’s.

Minneapolis ranked No. 8 while Oakland, Calif. dominantly took home the No. 1 spot.

http://www.midwestbusiness.com/news/viewnews.asp?newsletterID=17036