BUZZARDS BAY – Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton was at in Bourne yesterday to announce the availability of funding for the Renewable Thermal Infrastructure Grant Program.
The effort seeks to expand the availability of renewable thermal technologies in Massachusetts.
Beaton was joined by Massachusetts Maritime Academy President Admiral Francis McDonald for the announcement which was held at the academy’s Flanagan Hall in Buzzards Bay.
Beaton mentioned that this opportunity is particularly good news for the college,
“A few different things that directly affect Mass Maritime,” he explained, “Particularly their solar thermal hot water unit over there athletic facility that provides hot water for the facility and the pool.”
The Baker-Polito administration has recently pumped tens of millions of dollars into renewable energy projects as part of the commonwealth’s decade-old goal of achieving a 25 percent statewide reduction in emissions from utilities, industry, transportation and other sources by 2020.
According to the department, investments in renewables will reduce Massachusetts’s energy dependence on fossil-based energy sources derived from other regions, protecting energy consumers from energy price volatility, and allow the state to take advantage of the economic opportunity for growth within the clean energy industry.
“It was a long process that expanded the alternative portfolio standard available to new technologies,” Beaton said, “Which include some bio-mass, thermal, waste-to-energy, fuel cells, and some other technologies.”
Earlier in the day the secretary was in Boston to announce funding to assist communities in addressing deteriorating dams and refurbishing critical coastal infrastructure.
By DAVID BEATTY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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