It is widely accepted that real changes in the production and consumption of energy will not only result from new technologies, such as innovations in wind and solar power. Real change will also - and primarily - result from conserving resources that already are in play.

In other words, from people reducing their energy use.

"Efficiency is the beef, renewable (energy) is the sizzle," said Dr. Chuck Kutscher, a principal engineer studying solar power at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

When Kutscher said those words at the Colorado Renewable Energy Conference, held in June at the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel, he also said they are "an under-exaggeration."

It may have been surprising for attendees to hear a leading solar engineer tell a roomful of renewable energy advocates that conservation, not renewables, is the best practice for the immediate future.

But after Kutscher spoke, representatives from several regional electric associations in Colorado said renewable power has not yet gained widespread appeal.

"People want to talk the talk, but they don't want to walk the walk," said Larry Cavillo, president and general manager of the Yampa Valley Electric Association. "We have had a hard time selling renewables."

"When it comes down to it, you don't have the people who are interested," echoed Stan Lowandowski. Since 1974, Lowandowski has been general manager of the Intermountain Rural Electric Association, which serves 10 counties near metro Denver and west of Colorado Springs.

Lowandowski said in an initial offering of renewable power credits to 105,000 customers, 238 signed up for the higher cost of solar and wind energy.

"Solar power, at the present time, I believe is far too expensive," he said. "We're not interested because of the cost : most of the people who would put in a photovoltaic system are more affluent."

Paul Bony, of the Delta Montrose Electric Association, said even energy conservation measures around the house, such as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs and turning lights off in empty rooms can be hard to sell.

"I can prove to you that you can cut your energy bill by 50 percent and save money doing it, and you still won't do it," Maroney said.

Then, as if all that wasn't enough of a downturn, Lowandowski drove home the point - with a comment that drew gasps from the room - that it will take state mandates and laws for him to increase renewable energy offerings at Intermountain.

"You're going to cram it down our throat, rather than we're going to agree with it," he said.

Corn into fuel

Meanwhile, production of ethanol is growing in Colorado.

Ethanol, or grain alcohol, is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel that can be produced from crops such as corn or barley. It can be mixed with unleaded gasoline in standard or flexible-fuel vehicles, depending on the percentage of ethanol used.

In June 2006, Front Range Energy in Windsor - also home to a new wind-turbine blade manufacturing plant - began ethanol production. The plant will process about 40 million gallons of ethanol per year.

The Sterling Ethanol plant in northeast Colorado is producing 50 million gallons a year.

Officials at both plants denied requests for tours.

But Rick Paine, a revenue manager at Coors Brewing Co. in Golden, readily agreed to a walk around the twin-towered ethanol plant at the brewery.

"We've been making ethanol here since 1874," Paine said. "That's the basis of beer."

Coors began commercially selling ethanol about 10 years ago, primarily to the SunCor Energy company in nearby Commerce City.

The brewery produced 2.1 million gallons of ethanol last year.

But not everyone has the advantage, like Coors, of producing ethanol as a natural byproduct of their business.

Similar to debates about the production of oil shale, ethanol has raised questions about profitability and the amount of resources it takes to create the end product.

John Stulp, executive director of the Colorado Department of Agriculture, said it takes five gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol. An ethanol plant in Yuma runs on two acre-feet of water per day, Stulp said - the same amount of water used by two large-scale, center-pivot sprinkler systems on a farm.

"The real limiting thing with ethanol in Colorado will be livestock," Stulp said, citing the needs that will take away from resources used for cattle.

Crop production for ethanol also is, some analysts say, raising market prices for other corn- or barley-based products such as beer and tortillas.

"But when we do starch-based ethanol, we're not having to send any troops to Iowa to protect the cornfields," Stulp noted. "There are other values to it."

Marc Landry, a solar research technician at NREL, doubts the long-term impacts of ethanol on the energy market.

"It's not the solution, but it will help," Landry said. "It's a stop-gap. It will be a really robust business for the next 50 to 80 years."

Reliable?

Momentum for conservation efforts and renewable energy sources is building in Steamboat Springs and Routt County.

Geothermal sources are being explored at the base of Steamboat Ski Area, to possibly heat snowmelt systems built in the ongoing base area redevelopment. Sustainable building practices also are becoming standard in city structures, including the new Community Center west of downtown. In May, the city hired facilities manager Bob Robichaud to examine energy efficiency in existing city buildings. The city's Green Team plans to request funding for a sustainability coordinator in Steamboat's 2008 budget.

But dollars are the determining factor. The Community Center had to abandon several sustainable options because of construction costs, and the Steamboat Springs School District has not yet finalized sustainable features at the new Soda Creek Elementary School, under construction in Old Town.

"There is a commitment to sustainable building," Superintendent Donna Howell said. "But we have to build that school to serve the best interests of education, within the budget we have."

"I think some advocates of renewable energy have been leading the public down a path that's not feasible," said Routt County Commissioner Doug Monger. "There's no problem pushing as hard as we can for renewables, but I think people need to have some reasonable expectations of what can be achieved."

Carol Tombari, spokeswoman for NREL, said Colorado is third in the country for untapped energy efficiency - meaning many simple steps can be made.

"There's no silver bullet. There is no simple technology solution," Tombari said of reducing fossil fuel use, foreign dependency and carbon emissions. "But there is a lot about upside potential to what we all can do. The problem is, energy efficiency is unreliable. Because we're unreliable."