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Expo examines green future for Fauquier
In the face of Dominion Virginia Power's proposal to build a 500-kilovolt electric transmission line through Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Prince William, and Warren counties, hundreds of area residents will be exploring fossil fuel alternatives to power their lives this weekend.
The Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection [RLEP] is sponsoring the third annual Piedmont Alternative Energy Expo this Saturday, May 17, at the Fauquier County Fairgrounds.
Last year's expo, which included 26 exhibitors, attracted more than 500 people. This year's expo, which will features 44 exhibitors, is expected to draw even more.
Hundreds of area residents attend the expo “looking for practical solutions that reduce energy costs and help to steward our fragile environment,” Warrenton Mayor George Fitch said. “It all goes to show that green business is good business — and getting better all the time.”
The expo aims not only to educate residents on how different green technologies function, but also to demonstrate the accessibility and affordability of implementing such technologies.
“Today’s alternative energy solutions are friendly to average consumers,” said Monica Worth, president of RLEP. “They work for our budgets, for our lifestyles and for our planet — it’s an exciting time to explore how they can help meet the energy needs each of us must manage.”
Visitors can spend one-on-one time with experts for advice on do-it-yourself green projects, as well as connect with vendors working to bring alternative energy solutions to individual households and businesses.
Kid-friendly hands-on exhibits provide attendees with the fundamentals. For example, visitors can go for a ride on George Haggerman's Energy Cycle, and discover out how hard they must pedal in order to power an incandescent light bulb compared to a fluorescent bulb.
One of the major highlights will include the “Aztec,” a solar-assisted, battery powered vehicle built in the 1990s by MIT students. The sleek, white, aerodynamic vehicle will be displayed along with a Toyota Prius converted to plug-in by the Electrical Vehicle Association [EVA] of Washington D.C., which is dedicated to promoting electric vehicles as environmental and energy alternatives.
Other e xhibitors include contractors that promote solar hot water, and solar photo voltaic panels to power the home, green-thinking architects who design energy-efficient homes, and non-profit organizations that spearhead educational and legislative initiatives that encourage land and resource protection.
Exhibitors from Fauquier will cover some of these bases. Helios Energy Solutions, LLC, located in Vint Hill, offers renewable-energy services, ranging from simply helping people conserve more energy to installing solar panels. Warrenton's IntraGroups provides an e-communications network offering green-energy related research and statistics, tips and techniques, as well as a three-year off-the-grid plan to help people transition to renewable energy. Appleton Campell Inc, also in Warrenton, designs and installs high-efficiency heating and cooling systems.
Am-Cor, Inc., of Warrenton, supplies disaster-resistant, environmentally friendly and sustainable ferro-cement structures that can be used in buildings ranging from commercial and industrial parks, to churches and schools, museums, hotels, luxury housing and multi-family residential developments.
Logger Justin LaMountain, of Green Man Forest Management in Warrenton, will bring his team of Suffolk draft horses — the only heavy-horse breed bred specifically for agricultural purposes — to demonstrate and discuss how he provides landowners with an ecologically sound and economically viable market alternative to conventional forest management.
Other county organizations include John Marshall Water and Soil, Piedmont Environmental Council, and the Piedmont Virginia magazine.
According to a survey on last year's expo, attendees were most interested in energy conservation, green building, sustainability, and "going off the grid,” with clean air, green vehicles, and household products and systems following.
The Expo will be held in a large indoor exhibition facility rain or shine.
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