2nd Green Revolution

I Don’t Understand Parking Lots

In an op-ed a few months back I alluded to the coming diatribe against parking lots. As a form of land use, parking lots make no sense to me. Conversely, ...

The Angry Pedestrian: An Introduction

Let me say first off that I own a car. I drive. I don't drive a ton, I don't drive everyday, I don't drive to my job, but I understand ...

What Will It Take to Make Mass Transit the Norm?

Will people start consistently riding mass transit when gas prices stay above $5 per gallon? $10? What about when we are paying the true cost of driving (i.e. emissions, disposal)? ...

Designing Cities with People in Mind

I'm not a city planner. I took one class in college, so I don't even pretend to be qualified. However, living in a city and trying to commute without a ...

Earth Day 2012

Celebrating the 42nd Earth Day and 4.5 billion years of earth. Image from NASA Johnson Space Center

Natural Capitalism: Chapter 2 – Reinventing the Wheels

by Eric Wilson on May 22nd, 2012

A few years back I started reading Natural Capitalism. I wrote a post about the first chapter and vowed to come back to the book “soon.” Geologically speaking, it’s been the blink of an eye. In human terms, a wee bit longer. The book isn’t inordinately long, but after coming back to it after many months, I find the second chapter a rich source of information, ripe for reflection.

Natural Capitalism is both forward-thinking and innovative despite its age. Much like his Ecology of Commerce, Hawken melds the everyday and the natural world. He and his co-authors demonstrate the feasibility of efficient, viable systems that can be implemented now. This book, published in 1999 could have been written today. While more work has been done to make the world more “sustainable,” much of what is discussed in the second chapter has failed to penetrate into mainstream business practices in the US.

With this in mind, there are several points I want to touch on in the second chapter. As a quick reminder, Paul Hawken co-authored the book with efficiency gurus Amory and Hunter Lovins. The second chapter begins as an homage to

Itron: A Global Leader in Smart Meters

by John Basalla on May 21st, 2012

For today’s company spotlight, I wanted to look at smart meters.

Smart meters have been in use since 2006 in the United States and have gained wide penetration in some areas and caused backlashes in others. In the near future many utilities will be switching their customers over to this technology. So what exactly are smart meters, why are they sometimes controversial, how do they help consumers and utilities save money, and who is the industry leader in the field?

A smart meter is a device that collects electric consumption data from a home or business and communicates that data back to the utility. This communication is accomplished by the use of Radio-Frequency (RF) technology. Smart meters provide several advantages to the customer as they allow the customer to monitor their energy use in real time and allow for the customer to receive real versus estimated electric bills. For the utilities there are several major benefits as well. Primary among these is that smart meters allow the utility to adjust its billing policies to entice customers to use electricity during non-peak hours. This is vital as during peak electric usage periods the utilities must bring on-line less efficient energy methods or purchase power from other entities. Both of these methods increase costs to the utility. Incentivizing customers to adjust their energy use to off-peak hours helps the utilities keep costs down and potentially produce electricity using more environmentally-friendly methods. A good example of this approach can be seen with TXU Energy’s Free Nights program which is designed to encourage customers to change their electricity usage habits and as a reward not be billed for electricity usage between 10 PM and 6 AM, non-peak hours for the utility. Another use of smart meters is that they allow utilities to more quickly respond to power outages or problems as they are now receiving almost real time information from customers.

The level of penetration of smart meters in the United States varies dramatically by region of the country. PG&E just recently announced that it had installed its

From Parking Lots to Parking Garages

by Eric Wilson on May 20th, 2012

Last week I wrote about parking lots and my distaste for them. While parking garages are a much better use of land, they can be quite ugly.

My argument today is not an aesthetic one though. While riding the light rail the other day (where I also composed this op-ed), I passed a large parking garage, four levels high or so. Right before getting on the train I walked passed another one downtown. The downtown garage had shops and restaurants on the ground floor, a good use of space, especially in the urban center. However, it is this other garage that got me thinking.

When explorers landed on Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island), what did they think of the giant moai (see the image accompanying this post), the enormous stone statues that populated the coastline? Those vestiges are pretty much the line remnants of a once powerful civilization. Jared Diamond writes about them in Collapse, as well as an article for Discover magazine several years ago. He likens the stone statues to the massive homes built by Hollywood producers, namely the 50,000+ square foot home of

Where the Sidewalk Never Begins

by The Angry Pedestrian on May 19th, 2012

Dear Shel Silverstein,

My apologies for misusing, but hopefully not abusing the title of your wonderful work of poetry.

Cordially,

The Angry Pedestrian

Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you about the place where the sidewalk never begins; it’s called the suburbs. I don’t live in the suburbs, but I had to go there the other day and “do some business.” As I mentioned in my introductory post, I do own a car. It was the car that dragged me to the suburbs. I took it in for a 2-year, 25,000 mile service; the odometer read 14,134 miles. I was under the impression that it was covered by the 2-year, 25,000 mile service package that came with the vehicle when I bought it. I was wrong.

I dropped off my car at the dealership’s service center and walked approximately one-half mile across the street to eat. That’s right, I walked half a mile to cross the street. Here is an

Five Friday Facts: The New World Trade Center

by Justin Manger on May 18th, 2012

The following facts come from a pamphlet sent to me by a relative who visited the construction site and memorial pool at the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1 World Trade Center (WTC) building is expected to reach it full height soon, whereupon its 408-foot (124 m) radio antenna will be installed on top to complete the structure.

The WTC central chiller plant will circulate 30,000 gallons of Hudson River water every minute – enough to flush about 15,000 toilets.
The electricity generated by the 1 WTC’s fuel-cell plant will be able to continuously light 52,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs.
At least 75% of 1 WTC construction waste is recylced.
Everything from the gypsum boards to ceiling tiles at the WTC contains a minimum of 20% post-industrial recycled content.
At least 50% of the wood for 1 WTC comes from Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainable harvested forests.

Study: Selective Logging Could Help Mitigate Ecological Impact

by Chris DeArmond on May 17th, 2012

Despite pressure from governments and environmental groups, illegal logging and deforestation are facts of life in many developing countries around the world. However, according to a study led by University of Florida professor Jack Putz, selective logging could potentially address these issues.

Selective logging, as the name suggests, is not a perfect solution. In a selective logging operation, only the trees of commercial value are removed. The goal is that the forest will have enough trees left to regenerate so it can be harvested sustainably. (Journal of Applied Ecology). A 2005 article in the Stanford Report cited a study revealing the previously-hidden destruction of selective logging. At the time it was published, satellite images had just begun to detect areas where selective logging had gone undetected. Speaking on the topic of logging, Putz stated, “We aren’t advocates for logging…we’re just acknowledging that it is a reality—and that within that reality, there is a way forward.”

“Learning Journey in Tohoku” Applications Accepted Until May 20th (JST)

by Justin Manger on May 16th, 2012

Japan for Sustainability (JFS), “a non-profit communication platform to disseminate environmental information from Japan to the world,” is trying to make something good come out of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.

The organization is sponsoring a Learning Journey in Tohoku which aims to offer students from both Tohoku and other parts of the world a learning journey; to observe change in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and today. They will meet and listen to people who experienced the disaster and are working for the recovery of the disaster-affected area. At the end of the journey, there will be an opportunity to report what they have learned in the disaster area, and to present their hopes and dreams for creating a sustainable society in the future.

It sounds like a great opportunity to go abroad, learn firsthand, and think about how the area can comeback from disaster in a sustainable way. Here are the instructions for overseas students.

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KiOR Update: Stock Closes Up 10%

by John Basalla on May 16th, 2012

KiOR, which was profiled on this website two weeks ago, closed up nearly 10% Tuesday. The big move came after KiOR released its 1Q2012 earnings. While revenues were non-existent, which is to be expected from a start-up company, the CEO Fred Cannon stated in the conference call that the demonstration plant was completed ahead of schedule and on budget and will be begin producing fuel in the months to come. This news was responsible for the large jump in the stock price.

Read about how KiOR is turning trees into oil and what other companies are doing in the nacent and highly active alternative energy market through our Green Tech Company Spotlight.

EPA’s Green Power Challenge

by Eric Wilson on May 15th, 2012

Over the course of the past academic year, 30 collegiate athletic conferences comprising more than 70 universities competed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) College and University Green Power Challenge. The competition, which is an offshoot of EPA’s Green Power Partnership, wrapped up last month with the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania taking the top spot.

Winners were determined by the amount of “green power” they purchased. Smaller schools with lower consumption were at a disadvantage, although the percentage of green power purchased was also calculated. The EPA defines green power as “electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.”

The top conference in terms of total green power purchased was the Pac-12. Although only four schools from the conference participated, they collectively purchased in excess of 228 million kilowatt-hours. Here are the top five conferences and their green power purchases:

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