By: Aidan Eure

Fort Collins, Colo. — While Fort Collins is relatively small compared to other urban environments like Denver, energy consumption is still a significant concern. As a result, new programs have been initiated by the city that gives people financial incentives to switch to rentable energy sources such as solar.

In our nation’s current state, energy consumption is a big concern. We consume over two and a half times as much energy as India, whose population dwarfs our own. While the US has recently generated more electricity from renewables than fossil fuels for the first time, there is still a lot of progress to be made.

A peer-reviewed article published by Elsevier states that “there is no question that cutting energy consumption in the United States (and elsewhere in the world) can contribute to substantial reductions in GHG emissions.”

Many people have been switching to sustainable energy sources such as solar to combat the overconsumption of fossil fuel power. Solar is much cleaner than fossil fuels and consistently generates more than adequate power for those who own it.

Resources such as Project Drawdown rank rooftop solar as the 10th most crucial sustainable resource humans can use. Drawdown further states that “solar is replacing electricity generated from coal as well as from natural gas.”

One of the barriers that people encounter to switching to solar is the upfront cost. To amend this concern, cities such as Fort Collins is offering rebates for citizens who produce solar energy. Currently, Fort Collins is offering a maximum of a $1,000 rebate depending on how much energy a household produces.

Fort Collins advertises other incentives, such as solar battery storage, that save energy and reduces the need to generate more power constantly. As of now, over 3000 Fort Collins residents have solar energy, but as more rebate programs and other incentives are brought forward, solar energy should rise in popularity.