Home

The 13th annual North Country Sustainable Energy Fair, upstate New York’s largest and longest running community energy fair, was April 25-27, 2008 at the SUNY Canton Campus Center, Canton, NY. Thousands of people attended the Fair from as far away as Rochester, Ithaca, Buffalo, Canada and New England.

By popular request, the Fair expanded to both Saturday and Sunday, and was our most varied and in depth so far. Here’s what people have said about the Fair:

“Awesome diversity of information! Many practical ideas for daily life.”

“Green energy all in one place! Knowledgeable presenters who live what they’re talking about!”

“Inspiring to meet like-minded folks doing things to change their lives! I loved the community feeling.”

“Made me look at why we come up with so many excuses why we can’t live sustainably. Helped me think of sustainable living as achievable.”

“The best energy fair and I’ve been to them all.”

FRIDAY SCIENCE FAIR

The Energy Fair opened Friday morning with the successful Youth Energy and Environmental Expo, a Science Fair for students in grades 4-12. This year there were 94 entries and 200 young people attending. Prizes of $100 and $50 were awarded in nine different age and type categories and winning projects were displayed at the Fair. Energy demonstrations, a Watt’s Up? quiz game, and a keynote from well-known Peak Oil author and educator, Richard Heinberg,  completed the program.

SPEAKERS & WORKSHOPS

Doors opened Saturday, April 26th at 10 with the keynote address in the theater by internationally known Peak Oil educator and author Richard Heinberg (The Party’s Over and PowerDown). Things stayed busy both days with over 50 workshops, panels and demonstrations, including in-depth 90 minute workshops. This year we had six hands-on three-hour workshops. Our new two-day format has allowed us to schedule in an hour lunch break, so that Fairgoers could spend leisurely time in the Exhibit Hall, as well as enjoy the full food service in the cafeteria and at the Serendipity Cafe.

In addition to our regular workshops on solar, wind, green building, climate change, peak oil, off-grid living and biofuels, some of the new offerings were: How We Saved 50% On Energy Bills in Four Easy Steps, Composting Toilets, Intro to Permaculture, Community Supported Agriculture, Advanced Solar Photovoltaics, Hands-On Solar Hot Water, Switching Your Furnace to Biodiesel, How To Build a $20,000 Off-Grid House-Part Two, Tune and Repair Your Own Bicycle, Grass Pelleting, Homesteading in the 21st Century, New Paths for Transportation and much more! Full listings are on the Speakers page.

HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS

This year’s three-hour HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS included: Permaculture Fundamentals, Make Your Own Biodiesel, How To Assess Your Home for Solar, How To Build Your Own Wind Turbine, Solar Hot Water A-Z, Advanced Solar Photovoltaics and How To Tune and Repair Your Bicycle.

EXHIBITS

The Exhibit Hall was open from 10 to 5 on Saturday and 10 to 3 on Sunday with over 6o exhibitors and vendors. Whether fairgoers were after solar panels, a book about cordwood masonry, how to calculate and offset the CO2 they produce, more efficient light bulbs, corn and pellet stoves, natural foam insulation, peak oil groups, alternative vehicles or biodiesel, they were able to find the answers at the Energy Fair.

GREEN HOME TOURS

On Sunday afternoon, four guided Green Home Tours featuring local homes allowed people to see firsthand how their neighbors are implementing the ideas put forth at the Fair. The homes on the tours employ passive solar, super-insulation, energy efficiency, off-grid and grid-tied solar photovoltaics, wind energy, hydropower, pellet and masonry stoves, strawbale and cordwood masonry. Don’t miss crazy Jerry Bartlett’s ever-popular tour of his older Colton home renovated on a shoestring with creatively set-up secondhand off-grid solar and home-built wind system, bicycle and biodiesel generators, a biodiesel motorcycle, dc refrigerator, inexpensive wood hot water system, plus super efficient washer and wring dryer.

NEW THIS YEAR: THE ENERGY FAIR BUS!

St. Lawrence County Public Transportation offered a special bus on Saturday, April 26th. It went from Ogdensburg to Canton, picked people up from the P&C Supermarket Parking Lot, the St. Lawrence University Book Store, and the Mid-Town Plaza and dropped them at the door of the Campus Center. Then it returned to the P&C and Ogdensburg after a full day of runs back and forth. For the complete schedule, see our Directions and Accomodations page. We hope to have more riders next year and will be offering bus trips from the Campus Center to the parking lots for those needing a lift.

VOLUNTEERS AND SPONSORS KEEP THE ENERGY FAIR AFFORDABLE!

We are committed to keeping this exciting and growing educational event a community happening accessible to all. The price of admission is a $5 donation per day for adults; $7 for two days. Children 16 and under are free. (No one will be turned away for lack of funds.)

The Fair operates on a shoestring. We depend on the generous support of our presenters, of sponsoring businesses and organizations, of our large dedicated crews of volunteers and our organizing committee, who think energy education is vital to the future well-being of our society and our planet. Remember the dates for next year’s Fair: APRIL 24-26!

If you would like to donate to our efforts, volunteer, present a workshop, take out an ad in our 20-page program, or exhibit at next year’s Fair, email fair@ncenergy.org Checks for your tax deductible donation should be made out to CES-Energy Fair and sent to: Community Energy Services, 101 Main St., Canton, NY 13617. To contact us with questions: email fair@ncenergy.org or call 315-379-9466.

The annual Sustainable Energy Fair is a joint project of Community Energy Services (CES), a 501-c-3 nonprofit and SUNY-Canton. Special thanks to Clarkson University for sponsoring the Keynote Address. The Fair is also a project of North Country Energy Smart Communities, a program of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

We thank our list of generous 2008 sponsors: $5,000 NYSERDA $2,500 NOBLE ENVIRONMENTAL POWER • NEW YORK POWER AUTHORITY • $1,000 SWEETGRASS FOUNDATION • CORNING FOUNDATION-CANTON PLANT • $500 BROOKFIELD POWER • ALCOA • ALLIANCE FOR MUNICIPAL POWER • ENTECWORKS RENEWABLE ENERGY • ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT• CLARKSON CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT • ST. LAWRENCE GAS • SEAWAY TIMBER HARVESTING • MAPLE RIDGE CHARITABLE FUND • $250 UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF CANTON • EMPIRE PELLETS • FIRST CLASS AIRE • OUR GREENER HOME • COLLINS OIL • SEACOMM FEDERAL CREDIT UNION • NORTH COUNTRY SAVINGS BANK • WOODRUFF-BLOCK COMPANY • NORTH COUNTRY PUBLIC RADIO (Media Sponsors)

---