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Airport to buy wind power

Aspen Times Staff

ASPEN The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport will start spending $28,440 annually to offset its greenhouse gas generation from electric energy use by buying wind power, Pitkin County officials announced Monday.The county subscribed to the Holy Cross Energy Wind Power Pioneers Program to offset nearly 916 tons of CO2 emissions annually.The purchase of wind power will offset what airport facilities use in electric energy per month. On average, the facilities use about 94,800 kilowatt-hours of energy each month. That generates roughly 76 tons of CO2 per month. The county will buy 948 blocks of wind energy from Holy Cross to offset that energy use and become carbon-neutral.”Our customers pay a premium to be a part of our wind program,” Holy Cross Energy Member Services Supervisor Steve Casey said in a prepared statement. “A one hundred kWh block of wind energy costs an additional $2.50 per month or 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour. In Pitkin County’s case, offsetting their annual electric usage will cost them approximately $28,440 a year to be a part of our program. That translates into a big commitment to the environment as far as I’m concerned.”Despite the airport’s purchase of wind power, the city of Aspen is still paying a price for airport operations in its carbon footprint – or total greenhouse gas emissions. A study released last year showed that commercial flights accounted for 22 percent of Aspen’s greenhouse gas production while private flights accounted for another 19 percent.The wind power purchase doesn’t address that greenhouse gas production.

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