Craig Daily Press

Craig — A climate reduction plan from Gov. Bill Ritter may push consumers toward energy sources other than oil and coal.

Fortunately, renewable energy sources exist in Colorado, state officials said.

That’s not all.

Tom Plant, director of the Governor’s Energy Office, and John Stulp, Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture, said their respective agencies are working to help the state’s energy consumers reduce their carbon footprint.

Their presentation was one of several made at a Friday session of the Fueling Thought Energy Summit 2008 at the Holiday Inn of Craig.

Under Gov. Bill Ritter’s Climate Action Plan, regional energy producers and their consumers may have to begin investigating alternative sources of energy.

The measure calls for a 20 percent reduction in 2005 greenhouse gas levels by the year 2020. Those levels should be reduced by another 60 percent by 2050.

At the same time, the Department of Agriculture is partnering with agencies and communities to develop alternative energy sources.

“We’ve known what we needed to do for quite a long time,” Plant said, adding that the Action Plan furthered, not initiated, investigations into alternative energy sources.

Plant believes rising energy costs may also nudge consumers into considering these types of energy.

“We end up with a more receptive audience when they’re paying more and more money for energy,” he said.

Oil and coal alternatives could include energy-generating windmills, Stulp said, which are concentrated largely on the Eastern Slope.

These facilities could increase the state’s energy-producing potential by as much as 116 percent, he said.

That exceeds the state’s demands, he said, which could become profitable if Colorado sold its extra energy to neighboring states.

Biofuels, or energy sources from organic sources, also come into play. These sources can range from corn to methane gases captured from landfills and feedlots.

Money for using these types of energy sources could come from a state program.

The Department of Agriculture administers the Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy program, which funds alternative energy projects that benefit the agricultural industry.

The project allocates $6,000 to $100,000 to these projects, Stulp said.

However, U.S. Senate hopeful Bob Schaffer opened Friday’s session by saying oil and coal independence still could be a distance down the road.

Converting entirely to renewable energy source is “a great goal,” he said.

Still, he said, that goal is a long-term one.

Bridget Manley can be reached at 875-1795 or bmanley@craigdailypress.com