newsletter february 2019582 wapping road, portsmouth, ri 02871 thursday, april 25, 2019 from 5:30...
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Newsletter February 2019
Bring those wild energy hogs under control!
Winter is a great time to schedule your free energy audit! The first step to reducing farm energy costs is determining where you use energy in your operation. If you are a National Grid customer and own or rent a farm in Rhode Island, you are eligible to participate in the Rhode Island Farm Energy Efficiency Program! This program provides a free, no-obligation energy audit that gives recommendations on how to improve the energy efficiency of your farm. It also provides financial incentives for recommended energy-saving measures.
Start here: Call 1-800-332-3333 to schedule your free energy audit!
RENEWABLE ENERGY & ENERGY EFFICIENCY: WHERE TO START
If you are interested in learning about available funding opportunities and incentives for Renewable Energy Systems and/or Energy Efficiency Improvements, the RI Farm Energy Program can help you.
RIFEP offers farm site visits to discuss funding opportunities and incentives for making Energy Efficiency improvements or installing a Renewable Energy System.
To schedule a site visit, contact Program Coordinator Jo-Anne Pacheco
[email protected] or call our office: 401-500-0399. We look forward to hearing from you!
NOTE: the RIFEP Agricultural Energy Program Grant application deadline is approaching! Applications for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects must be submitted by
March 29, 2019
Download your Grant 2019 Description & Application Forms today and get started.
Be sure to read the DESCRIPTION PAGES for 2019 before you begin. Some things have changed!
Rhode Island Farm Energy Program
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SPRING 2019 GEOTHERMAL WORKSHOPS
THE EPA HAS RECOGNIZED GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS AS THE MOST ENERGY
EFFICIENT, ENVIRONMENTALLY CLEAN & COST-EFFECTIVE SPACE
CONDITIONING SYSTEMS AVAILABLE, PROVIDING HEATING IN WINTER AND
COOLING IN SUMMER.
TO FIND OUT MORE, PLEASE JOIN US AT A WORKSHOP:
Thursday, April 4, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Greenvale Vineyards
582 Wapping Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871
Thursday, April 25, 2019 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Exeter Public Library
773 Ten Rod Road, Exeter, RI 02822
Please plan to join us for a workshop. The presentation will cover the different types and applications of geothermal, and the experts will be there
to answer your questions.
The Rhode Island Resource Conservation & Development Area Council, in Partnership with USDA Rural Development, is host to a new RI Farm Energy Pilot Geothermal Project. The goal of the project is to expand opportunities to implement energy improvements for RI agricultural operations. As part of the project, a limited number of farms and ag-based rural small businesses who meet USDA Rural Development eligibility requirements will be provided with a free geothermal assessment and report done by a qualified geothermal installer.
If you would like to know if your Agricultural Operation may qualify for a free, no-obligation Geothermal Energy Assessment, please fill out the information requested on
the INTAKE FORM and return it to the RI RC&D office.
Geothermal funding opportunities and incentives are available. Contact RIFEP for more information.
See page 4 to learn about Russ Finch's geothermal Greenhouse in the Snow.
More Information about Energy Efficiency Techniques and Technologies Fuel and electricity use on farms is just as important to sustainability and energy savings, as use of soil and
water. Energy efficiency is an integral part of sustainable agriculture. U.S. farms have many good opportunities to save energy and money. To find out more visit:
The USDA Alternative Farming Systems Information Center:
Energy Efficiency Technologies, Ongoing Research, Policies, & Programs
Farm Energy Efficiency Resources
from the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center
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February 12, 2019
The Senate just passed the decade’s biggest public lands package. Here’s what’s in it.
In the most sweeping conservation legislation in a decade, the bipartisan measure would create more than 1.3 million acres of wilderness out West, add three national park units and expand eight others. It will protect millions of acres of land and hundreds of miles of wild rivers across the country. It will also establish four new national monuments honoring heroes, including Civil War soldiers and a civil rights icon. Click on the picture above to learn more.
NEED HELP ESTABLISHING OR GROWING A SMALL BUSINESS?
RIFSA Rhode Island Farm Service Agency
SBA Rhode Island District Office
THEY'RE HERE TO HELP YOU!
Rhode Island Farm Energy Program
Newsletter of February 2019
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Russ Finch is the designer, owner, and creator of the Greenhouse in the Snow. He was born in 1932 and lives at home with his wife Darlene. Russ's greenhouse is attached to the back of his house, and it is truly magnificent. Over a period of 35 years, Russ designed and perfected his beloved greenhouse using low grade geo-thermal in order to produce citrus, fruits, vegetables, and many flowers all year round. In his greenhouse, he currently has hundreds of plants, and his winter heating cost is about 80 CENTS a day.
Since 2013, Russ has been selling greenhouse kits. And today, the Greenhouse in the Snow business is blooming and flourishing.
If you're into DIY projects and interested in growing winter crops in your own greenhouse that is cheap to heat and cool, then check out the Greenhouse in the Snow web site for more information.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND INCENTIVES 2019
The Rhode Island Agricultural Energy Program is a competitive grant program for the implementation of agricultural projects that improve energy efficiency and facilitate renewable energy. This is a new collaborative project of RI RC&D, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture, and Office of Air Resources and the Office of Energy resources.
RIFEP Application Next deadline: 29 March 2019
Contact: Jo-Anne Pacheco, Program Coordinator, RI Farm Energy Program Rhode Island RC&D [email protected] 401-500-0399 www.rifarmenergy.org
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants can provide assistance to Ag producers and Ag-Based Small Businesses who are eligible with Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) projects. Next grant deadline: 1 April 2019
Contact: Jonathan Burns USDA – Rural Development MA/CT/RI [email protected] (508) 295-5151 Ext. 7238 / www.usda.gov
The Rhode Island Commerce Corporation Renewable Energy Fund (REF) funds renewable energy projects in:
Small Scale Solar— Block 21 opens 3 June 2019, 9:00 am— Due 26 July 2019
Commercial Development— Block 19 opens 28 Jan 2019, 9:00 am— Due 22 Mar 2019 Commercial-Scale Funding Small-Scale Funding
Contact: Annie Ratanasim, Renewable Energy Program Manager Rhode Island Commerce Corporation [email protected] 401-278-9100 X 196 / www.commerceri.com
Farm Energy Efficiency Program - The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources in collaboration with National Grid offers FREE energy efficiency audits for farms. Incentives and rebates are available for many energy efficient measures. To get started please call 1-800-332-3333 and identify yourself as a farm.
Contact: Carrie A. Gill, Ph.D., Program Services Officer Office of Energy Resources, Farm Energy Efficiency Program Telephone: 401-574-9121 Email: [email protected]
For more information on the Farm Energy Efficiency Program visit their web site at: www.energy.ri.gov/efficiency/farmenergy
Continued...
REAP grants. Check out the REAP WEBINAR from
Massachusetts Farm Energy Program to help you take advantage of this grant source for both RE and EE projects.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND INCENTIVES 2019 Agricultural Energy Management Plan (AgEMP) is a Conservation Activity Plan personalized to ensure coverage of each farm’s main energy uses. An AgEMP is an analysis of a farm’s foundation and management that provides recommendations on how to reduce energy use.
Contact: Alan Gillespie, State Conservation Engineer USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service 60 Quaker Lane, Warwick, RI [email protected] 401-822-8812 www.ri.nrcs.usda.gov
C-PACE Rhode Island, Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) is an innovative program that is helping commercial, industrial and multi-family property owners access affordable, long-term financing for smart energy upgrades to their buildings.
C-PACE Rhode Island Participating Municipalities
For more information, you can watch this video How C-Pace Works or visit the website.
Attention, women who own or manage woodlots! Connect with other women who own or manage woodlots, and talk with experts in woodlot management on
Saturday May 4, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Canonicus Camp, Shaub Lodge
54 Exeter Road, Exeter, RI 02822 (DIRECTIONS)
For more information or to reserve your place
please email Paul Dolan of RI RC&D
email: [email protected] phone: 401-500-0399
This workshop is made possible by a grant from the Rhode Island Tree Farm Committee which is allowing the Rhode Island Resource and Development
Area Council to partner with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Rhode Island Forest Conservators Organization, to present a
series of workshops to help bring together and help educate women who already own or who are interested in owning and managing woodlots.
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Oink, moo and brrr: Polar vortex strikes U.S. farm belt
"Farmers from North Dakota to Iowa buckled down for some of the coldest weather in a generation on Wednesday, throwing extra rations to pigs or building igloos for chickens in the teeth of sub-zero temperatures
and bone-chilling winds..." An article from The Western Producer by Michael Hirtzer, P.J. Huffstutter, Reuters News Service
USA Today Explains
the Polar Vortex