The Erieville Bike Club helped launch the updated Madison County Renewable Energy Trail map on Sept. 18 with a tour that started and ended at the Fenner Renewable Energy Education Center.
The FREE Center in partnership with the Madison County Planning Department recently updated the county’s Renewable Energy Trail Map for the first time since its inception in 2013. The map highlights 10 sites around the county that are currently using renewable energy/sustainability practices or are training sites for students who are studying renewable energy as a career.
“The FREE Center is dedicated to educating and raising awareness about the advantages, impacts and costs of renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, solar and geothermal power as alternatives to non-renewable sources of energy. This is a perfect partnership for us to further renewable energy education in Madison County.” said Judy Cary, president, FREE Center Board of Directors. “I want to thank Madison County for providing the funds for this project.”
The map was updated in the summer of 2016 with the help of Matt Rose, student intern from SUNY ESF. Rose visited all the renewable energy sites on the original map, updated the site descriptions and found a new site to add to the map: the Munnsville Wind Farm.
To celebrate the publication of the new map, 13 members of the Erieville Bike Club rode the trail to four sites in the northern part of the county, starting and ending at the FREE Center and visiting the roof mount solar installation at Nichols Pond park and the micro-hydro turbine on the creek at Oxbow Falls park. They also toured the innovative projects at the Madison County Landfill Agriculture and Renewable Energy Park before returning to the FREE Center.
“Great ride, hitting roads we haven’t seen before,” Paul Silverstein, Erieville Bike Club member, said. “We learned about recycling, wind energy and waste heat. We saw multiple energy-centered sites on the 20-mile route. I’m looking forward to biking the full map trail.”
The original map was distributed in place mat form, but the new map is available as a brochure, which makes it more convenient for distribution and use. In addition, some of the sites have signage with a QR code so visitors can use their smart phones to access more detailed information about the renewable energy type in use at the site. The updated map is available at all Madison County libraries, the tourism kiosk at the Madison County Office Building and other select county tourism kiosks.