2nd Green Revolution

The Colorado Springs Gazette and The Denver Post report that the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs will spend $100 million (USD) over the next five years to produce 12-15 megawatts of power annually with the goal of achieving energy independence by 2015. The Academy’s approach represents a great test case for locally generated renewable energy. In order to accomplish the goal of energy independence, the Air Force Academy will need to diversify its energy portfolio. One major source of energy production will originate from flowing water that runs through their campus. On site hydroelectric power generation will provide approximately 1.3 megawatts of electricity to power the campus. Additional energy production will come from a number of other sources. Current plans include an undetermined number of wind turbines, which will be capable of producing upwards of 4 megawatts, a 2 megawatt photovoltaic system and waste-to-energy operations on campus. Read the rest of this entry »

Local utilities across the nation offer customers the option to purchase renewable energy instead of electricity generated from nonrenewable sources. Essentially acting as an offset, the company will purchase green electricity equal to the amount consumed by the customer. For instance, homes that use 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy a month can purchase renewable energy equivalents from their provider. These offsets typically invest in local energy generation in the form of wind farms, solar (photovoltaic) plants, biogas or other renewable energy programs. In previous posts, the issue of offsets has been discussed, but these programs purchase renewable energy from local producers, avoiding some of the concerns (i.e non local projects) broached by 2nd Green Revolution.
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2nd Green Revolution has added a Product Review section to its website.  Green and clean technologies will continue to grow and become intertwined in our everyday lives just like digital devices, electronics, and the internet have become indispensable to modern society. Given such a trend, there will be increased interest in finding out about the products and gadgets that will be coming to market as well as how well they work once available for purchase. It is with this in mind that we will periodically feature “Product Reviews”. The first review, on the 2009 Toyota Prius, can be found below this post. The reviews will also be archived in the Product Review link on our sidebar.

We hope the reviews are useful and we encourage comments about products you have used. Consumers have major influence in deciding which products and services become important and popular, thereby shaping the second green revolution. The Product Review section allows consumers to voice their opinion and influence the growing market for green goods.
- Justin Manger and Eric Wilson

Climate Savers Computing Initiative and the United States Environmental Protection Agency are offering a free “educational webinar designed to raise awareness of the benefits and savings associated with enterprise power management” on Monday March 30th, 2009 from 12 to 2pm ET. They market the webinar to Chief Information Officers; Vice Presidents of Infrastructure and Operations; Network Administrators; Desktop Administrators; or Energy, Sustainability, and Facility Managers, for the two-hour session. The webinar will focus on

• Opportunities to eliminate energy waste and save money/carbon
• Implementation obstacles and how to overcome them
• Best practices from companies who have already successfully implemented power management

According to their website, “[a]ll attendees of the IT Power Management Summit will receive a free copy of the Forrester Research report titled ‘How Much Money Are Your Idle PCs Wasting?’” To register click here.
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As reported on American Public Radio’s Marketplace, China hopes to drive down the price of wind turbines through mass production and cheap labor. The goal is to bring economies of scale to wind turbine production, thereby reducing costs and making wind generated electricity competitive with coal-fired electricity. (For more information on electricity generated via coal-fired power plants see this earlier post). China’s massive work force and cheap labor may enable it to apply a similar model to wind power as the Chinese have used on mass-produced consumer goods. This approach could result in wind turbines that are fraction of current costs.
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Five years ago the Extended Producer Responsibility mandate was enacted by European regulators. The legislation requires producers and car manufacturers to take back their vehicles at the end of their life cycle. In Necessary Revolution, Peter Senge discusses how businesses can be the driver of legislation. In particular, this mandate was first championed by members within the manufacturing community. European automakers and government regulators collaborated for more than a decade prior to official adoption of the legislation. Former BMW Senior Vice President Horst-Henning Wolf led the charge to have the European Union enact the mandate which requires producers to take back the objects they make, ostensibly reducing the need for raw materials. In fact, BMW started engaging in car recycling more than a decade before the directive took effect. In an article from 1993, the British news organization The Independent ran an article about BMW’s efforts. Read the rest of this entry »

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and building on last year’s participation by 35 countries, Earth Hour 2009 aims to have households and businesses around the world turn off their lights for one hour starting at 8:30pm local time tomorrow, March 28th.

The event is meant to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour 2008 was a big success with 400 cities taking part in the event. Major landmarks around the world turned off their non-essential lighting. These icons included the Empire State Building (New York City), Sears Tower (Chicago), Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco), Bank of America Plaza (Atlanta), Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia), Wat Arun Buddhist Temple (Bangkok, Thailand), the Colosseum (Rome, Italy), Royal Castle (Stockholm, Sweden), London’s City Hall (England). For 2009, some 82 countries and more than 2100 cities are committed to switching off. Read the rest of this entry »

Ford Escape Hybrid Taxi in New York

In the Fall of 2008, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced an initiative to “increase the use of fuel efficient and environmentally friendly taxicabs”. Reuters carried a story in May of 2007 quoting Mr. Bloomberg as saying that by October 2008 New York City would have 1,000 hybrids. The article estimates that New York City cab drivers could save up to $10,000 (USD) annually on gasoline as a result of the switch (depending on the price of fuel). At the time of the Reuters piece there were 375 hybrid taxis (out of a total fleet of 13,000 vehicles) in New York City. A year later there were nearly 1,500 hybrid taxis in the city. The city was well on its way to a fuel efficient fleet. Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to growth in China, the numbers are simply staggering. Given a population of over one billion, or roughly one-sixth of humanity, a China that develops in a non-sustainable manner means a world that develops in an unsustainable manner. Just take a look at these remarkable statistics from the Joint U.S.-China Cooperation on Clean Energy (JUCCCE):

• Each year for the past few years, China has built 7.5 billion square feet of commercial and residential space, more than the combined floor space of all United States’ malls and strip malls.
• 5,000 new cities and 50,000 new skyscrapers will be built by 2030, leaving an energy legacy for decades to come.
• To supply this rising energy demand, China opens a new coal plant (large enough to supply all the households in Dallas or San Diego) each week.

These few examples are enough to show that the economic development in China is unprecedented. It also shows the need to find ways to make such a phenomenal rush to modernize more sustainable. Read the rest of this entry »