Vermont 25x'25 Initiative: Preliminary Findings and Goals Page: 1
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Vermont 25x'25 Initiative - Preliminary Findings and Goals
1.0 Executive Summary
ermont can generate more than 25 percent of its total energy needs from renewable energy
sources by the year 2025 if a near-term priority is placed on supporting the most promising re-
newable energy and energy efficiency sectors and technologies. The majority of this renewable energy
- 79 percent - could be derived from Vermont's farm and forest resources, thereby creating signifi-
cant economic opportunities in Vermont's rural communities and stimulating the state's agricultural
industries. The remaining 21 percent of this renewable energy generation would not come exclusively
from our farms and forests, but would nonetheless offer a wide array of economic and environmental
benefits to Vermont's agricultural communities and the state as whole. Through consideration of a
range of technologies and resources, this analysis presents one possible course by which Vermont can
attain the goal of producing 25 percent of state's overall requirements from in-state renewable energy
sources by 2025, as envisioned by the National 25x'25 Initiative.
Deployment of comprehensive energy efficiency technologies and programs is critical to achieving
substantial renewable energy penetration by 2025. If energy efficiency measures are implemented
broadly and aggressively over the next 18 years, efficiency could eliminate the need for additional
generation and energy sources, thus enabling the state to focus on shifting its current energy produc-
tion to renewable sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Ver-
mont's total energy usage has grown by about 1% annually over the last 10 years.1 Maintaining zero
load growth through 2025 will require a focused commitment to energy efficiency programs.
While the Vermont 25x'25 goals are eminently achievable, they will be difficult to accomplish
through standard market forces, due to challenges such as financing barriers, siting issues, regulatory
hurdles, and a general lack of public familiarity with the technologies that would make such a goal
possible. Only through broad collaboration, decision-making and deliberate action from an array of
stakeholders - state leaders, policy makers, non-profit advocacy groups, current and potential energy
developers, the agricultural community, financial institutions and the general public - will meaning-
ful progress toward these goals be accomplished. We have within our reach a part of the solution that
takes us back to our heritage: Vermont's working landscape and its resilient and resourceful citizens.
2.0 Introduction
The purpose of this report is to communicate the preliminary findings and conclusions of the Ver-
mont 25x'25 Initiative Steering Committee for consideration by policymakers, stakeholders, and
a general audience. Findings and conclusions include assessments of renewable energy resources
specific to agricultural- and forest-based sectors, as well as sectors applicable to the state as a whole; a
discussion of goals, challenges and strategies for meeting 25 percent of Vermont's total energy needs
from in-state renewable energy resources by the year 2025; and a summary of key considerations
stemming from these findings.
1 Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/sep_use/total/use_totvt.html.SOLUTION
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Vermont Department of Agriculture. Vermont 25x'25 Initiative: Preliminary Findings and Goals, text, January 2008; 82 Church Street, Burlington, VT. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc226643/m1/3/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .