Articles by John Farrell
John Farrell is the author of Energy Self-Reliant States and a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, where he focuses on renewable energy policy.
All Articles
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How a City Can Get More Clean, Local Energy
Like many cities attempting to solve climate change at a local level, Minneapolis is finding the prospect more challenging that it may have imagined. The lion’s share of emissions (two-thirds in the case of Minneapolis) come from electricity and gas sold by two monopoly, corporate utilities. Minnesota’s state-level policy is helping: a renewable energy standard […]
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Germany has more solar power because everyone wins
Here's the real reason for solar's big success in cloudy Deutschland.
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Barriers to Distributed Renewable Energy [slideshow]
The following presentation by ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell examines the five major barriers to the expansion of community-based and conventional distributed renewable energy. The barriers range from the challenge of raising capital to forming a legal structure that allows for local ownership and for access to tax incentives. It also examines the uphill struggle against utility […]
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Why Boulder Has to Buy Out their Electric Utility for a Clean Energy Future
In late 2011, citizens of Boulder, CO, voted to boot their incumbent electric utility, Xcel Energy, and form a municipal electric utility. It was the culmination of a multi-year battle to get more clean, local energy from their corporate electric overlord. In the end, city leaders and citizens agreed that the only credible option for […]
