On Wednesday, October 7, 2015, Quincy Climate Action Network will sponsor a workshop on a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts: leaks from underground natural gas pipes. In Quincy alone, 613 leaks have been reported. The two-hour workshop, for both municipal workers and the general public, will start at 9:30 a.m. at the main branch of the Thomas Crane Public Library, 300 Washington Street in Quincy Center.

Speakers will include Nathan Phillips, a Boston University professor of earth and environment, who will talk about his ground-breaking research on gas leaks. Also speaking will be state Senator Jamie Eldridge, from Acton, who will discuss legislation he has filed on Beacon Hill to encourage gas utilities to repair leaks more promptly. Continue reading →

August 9, 2015

On July 30 2015, Solarize Quincy, a state- and city-sponsored program that makes discounted solar panels available to city residents, inked its 76^th contract with a city resident, for a total of 400kW of solar installed or in the pipeline. Reaching this milestone insured that Solar Flair, Solarize Quincy’s exclusive installer, will donate a free 5 kW solar installation to a Quincy nonprofit, said Rebecca McWilliams, lead volunteer for Solarize Quincy.

To qualify, nonprofits must own their own facility in Quincy and have a good location for solar power. “We will accept nonprofit nominations until midnight on August 31, 2015. In September we will perform site assessments on the nonprofits to determine which sites are good candidates for solar panels. The winner of the free solar array will be announced in late September.” Continue reading →

June 12, 2015

“My wife and I were pleased to hear that our home and garage may provide a good platform for a solar energy installation,” said Ward 3 City Councilor Kevin Coughlin. Four officeholders, including Coughlin, Sen. John Keenan, Mayor Thomas Koch, and School Committeewoman Anne Mahoney, have signed up for an assessment from Solarize Quincy, a state- and city-sponsored program that provides discounted solar panels to Quincy residents and businesses, but Coughlin is the first to have his property assessed.

The assessment, including satellite imaging and a site visit, determined that Coughlin “has a southern-facing roof, limited shading, and enough room on the roof” for an 18-panel system, said Brian Hession, a residential sales associate with Solar Flair, the exclusive installer for Solarize Quincy. The system would supply 82 percent of Coughlin’s household electricity, according documents provided by Hession, and with discounts and incentives, it would pay for itself in about three years and yield almost $70,000 in savings over its 25-year expected lifetime. By replacing electricity from fossil-fuel-fired generators, the system would also result in 3.8 fewer tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, emitted into the atmosphere yearly. Continue reading →