Free green energy tour this weekend

Van Wert independent/Vantage information

Saturday and Sunday, October 1-2, the public is invited to take the free Green Energy Ohio Tour and network with people using renewable energy, energy efficiency and green design. Over 260 open house sites in 137 communities across the state have registered in what will be the largest tour yet. Fifty-one counties are represented in this year’s tour as are an incredibly diverse array of renewable energies. According to the Ohio Energy Resources Division, a majority of sites on this tour have created 764 jobs and retained an additional 1,146 jobs.

Vantage Career Center in Van Wert will be a host site, with a presentation at 1:30 p.m. about the upcoming Adult Education Alternative Energy Academy and wind turbine information from an Iberdrola Renewables representative.

Following the presentations, guests will be given county maps for self-guided tours with highlighted routes for the best viewing of the wind turbines in Van Wert and Paulding counties.

The “Green Energy Ohio Tour” tour features not only solar, but tour sites with wind, energy efficiency, biomass and other green energy technologies. This free statewide event provides the unique opportunity for people to visit hundreds of open house sites and talk with owners living and working with clean energy technologies, including solar electric (202), solar thermal (47), wind (35), geothermal (40), passive solar (37), LEED (17), Energy Star (12), Biomass (15), and energy efficient features (74).

In its 11th year, GEO is a nonprofit organization promoting economically and environmentally sustainable energy policies and practices in Ohio. GEO is the Ohio Chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) and sponsors conferences, workshops, workforce training and assesses potential for wind turbine sites across the state. In addition to hundreds of volunteers, GEO has a membership of over 600, including 110 corporate members. The quarterly, full-color Green Energy Ohio News Magazine chronicles the growing clean energy industry across the Buckeye State.

For more information, contact Bill Spratley or Sarah Straley at 614.985.6131 or email WSpratley@aol.com or Sarah@GreenEnergyOhio.org. At Vantage, contact Adult Education Director Pete Prichard at 419.238.5411, extension 114, or email prichard.p@vantagecareercenter.com

Visit GEO’s extensive website at www.GreenEnergyOhio.org for more information.