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

University of Maryland Wins the 2011 Solar Decathlon

by Eric Wilson on October 8th, 2011

Much like the World Track and Field Championships, which are held every other odd-numbered year and boast the world’s greatest athlete (i.e. the decathlon winner), the Solar Decathlon in Washington D.C. also takes place biannually on years ending in odd numbers. Two years ago, the team from Germany was victorious for the second straight competition. This year’s Solar Decathlon yielded a hometown winner. Nearby University of Maryland was announced as the victor by U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu.

The competition, which took place from September 22nd through the first of October, featured 19 teams. Many of the competitors were from universities in the United States, although there were several international teams as well. The “Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an award-winning program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.” The competition was first held in 2002

Five Friday Facts: Sewer Water, Drought, and San Antonio

by Justin Manger on October 7th, 2011

Even in the middle of a historic drought, San Antonio, Texas has managed to keep the San Antonio River flowing through the River Walk area of downtown. What’s their secret? Treated sewage water. Here are a few facts from an NPR article on the river.

To keep the river flowing, the city used to have to pump up to 5 million gallons a day from its precious supply, the Edwards Aquifer. Now, by using a state-of-the-art water treatment plant, the city produces high-quality, recycled water that’s just shy of being drinkable.
San Antonio’s River Walk is not alone in using the treatment plant. Big industrial customers like the Toyota manufacturing plant, Microsoft Data Center, USAA Insurance and the city’s golf courses also take part. More than 60 miles of recycled-water pipeline built in the last decade now snake through San Antonio.
The plant is hitting it’s goal to save a billion gallons of water every single year.
The number of gallons per consumer in San Antonio per day that is used has gone down from just over 200 to about 130 over the last two decades.
As important as the conservation is, what’s really saving San Antonio right now is its aquifer-storage system. During times when the rains are plenty and the Edwards Aquifer is full, San Antonio aggressively pumps the water out and stores it 40 miles away in a sand formation called the Carrizo. Nobody knows how much water the Carrizo could ultimately store, perhaps as much as 65 billion gallons.

Bonus fact about Sea World in Texas:

Review of Organic IPA from Eel River Brewing Company

by Mac Maloney on October 6th, 2011

After a long lay off, Revolutionary Spirits returns with its latest column reviewing a beer from Eel River Brewing Company (ERB), the first certified organic brewery in the United States. ERB is nestled in the town of Fortuna, in Humboldt County, California. Humboldt County is traditionally known for another type of herbal refreshment, however it is now home to a number of award winning craft breweries (interestingly enough, all containing “river” in their names). Started in 1995 by home brewers and friends Ted Vivatson and Margaret Frigon, ERB began winning national recognition and hardware a mere two years after its incorporation by snagging the Silver Medal at the Great American Beer Festival for its Ravensbrau Porter. In 1999, they started brewing their organic Amber Ale, and have since added six other beers to their organic repertoire.

The beer on review is ERB’s Organic IPA, poured from a 22 oz. bottle. The beer poured a cloudy golden orange/copper, not unlike a brand new penny; it created some decent, if not thin head, but left solid lacing. It smelled a bit earthy with citrusy sweet overtones, similar to fresh cut young pine. The IPA had very good mouthfeel, low carbonation, smooth, not syrupy, as a more carbonated cask ale would have. The taste is

Book Review: Alice Waters’s Edible Schoolyard

by Eric Wilson on October 6th, 2011

Toward the end of the summer I started reading Alice Waters’s Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea from Chronicle Books. It’s not long, but it is powerful. Waters is the proprietor of Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California that focuses on local, seasonal, and organic ingredients. In addition, Waters is a former teacher at a Montessori school in Berkeley. After seeing what she thought was an abandoned schoolyard, Waters got involved in creating a garden at Martin Luther King Middle School, which serves as the impetus for the book.

Over the course of several years, numerous people, including the school’s principal, many of its teachers, students, a master gardener, and others worked tirelessly to transfer a one acre plot of land from an asphalt patch turned garden turned outdoor classroom brimming with produce.

The following represent the principles of edible education:

MIT Invention Harvests Energy from Vibrations

by Justin Manger on October 5th, 2011

Bridges, overpasses, walkways…we’ve all felt the rumble or the shaking as people and vehicles cross these structures. Slightly nerve-wracking and sometimes annoying, is there any real use for these vibrations? After all, it is a form of kinetic energy. MIT has thought outside the box yet again to rig up a miniature energy-harvester that can pick up the low-frequency vibrations produced by a bridge and convert them to electricity. That electricity can then power wireless sensors that measure the strength and condition of the bridge. These wireless sensors are being used more and more to monitor everything from oil pipelines to pollution to factory machines.

Batteries in these sensors need to be charged every so often, even though they have become more efficient over time. Wouldn’t it be nice to do away with batteries all-together, or let the device charge the batteries itself? We may be on the way there. Here’s how the MIT blog put the invention (full, more technical explanation here):

Researchers at MIT have designed a device the size of a U.S. quarter that harvests energy from low-frequency vibrations, such as those that might be felt along a pipeline or bridge. The tiny energy harvester — known technically as a microelectromechanical system, or MEMS — picks up

Los Angeles to Build 1st Carbon Neutral Stadium

by Eric Wilson on October 5th, 2011

Several past posts have dealt with the idea of sports stadiums and arenas. Some of these have highlighted the advancements in green building techniques that have been incorporated into the design and construction, including LEED certification for numerous facilities throughout the country. In hopes of luring a football team back to Los Angeles, the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) has been in the process of getting approval for a stadium in downtown Los Angeles, near their own Staples Center, which has a vast solar array on its roof.

In order to expedite the permits for building the new stadium, California Governor Jerry Brown, signed legislation that will fast track any legal challenges in exchange for a carbon neutral stadium. According to ESPN’s website, “In exchange for an expedited legal review, AEG has pledged to build a carbon-neutral stadium with more public transit users than any other stadium in the country and has committed to making Farmers Field one of the only stadiums in the country to have a net-zero carbon footprint.”

Beer Wrapped in Roadkill: The Ultimate in Recycling or Ultimately Grotesque?

by Justin Manger on October 4th, 2011

What to do with animals hit and killed by vehicles on the roads? Throw them in the woods to decompose? Leave them on the road to eventually be flattened away by car tires? Send out roadkill teams to clean up and dispose of the animals? Wrap them around $765 bottles of beer?

If you’re looking for something different and like the taste of 55% alcoholic beverages, “The End of History” from the Scottish company BrewDog could be for you, if it weren’t already sold out. The 12 bottles that were made have already been purchased and have been shipped to their customers in various “taxidermied” animals: four squirrels, seven weasels, and a hare, all of which were roadkill. At 55% alcohol, “It tastes more like a whisky and you have got to handle it in that way as opposed to the way you would handle a normal beer,” according to an MSNBC interview with the company. “It contains juniper berries and nettles, and its taste has hints of cinnamon, orange and an ‘American hops’ flavor.” And as for the use of roadkill? “We wanted to

Google Invests Big in the Green Energy Revolution

by Chris DeArmond on October 3rd, 2011

Last week, Google announced a $75 million “initial investment” in San Francisco-based Clean Power Financethat will help as many as 3,000 homeowners secure financing for solar installations. Google stated the move “makes business sense” and will help accelerate residential solar installations. It also will bring its total investment in the development and deployment of clean energy to over $850 million.Even with government subsidies and tax credits, the cost of a residential solar array is often too high for most homeowners. For instance, if Google’s investment reaches 3,000 residences, that equals a price of $25,000 per home. Moreover, solar installers can’t always provide customers with financing options due to lack of capital, and the highly fragmented solar market makes it difficult for outside lenders to enter the marketplace.Fortunately, Clean Power Finance has developed an open platform that addresses these issues. It works by connecting solar installers (who sign up to gain access to customers) with investors like Google, thus giving customers better access to financing.

Essentially, Google purchases solar arrays for homeowners (while retaining ownership), the installer builds it on the homeowner’s roof, and homeowners agree

Sustainability – Hijacked by the Establishment

by Eric Wilson on October 2nd, 2011

Sustainability has (un)officially become a buzzword. It feels like this happened a few years back, perhaps around the time 2nd Green Revolution was founded. However, evidence points to a more recent and sinister shift. The term has seemingly been hijacked by the “establishment.” This is not a conspiracy theory mind you, just an observation. Companies that do not have sustainability as a core component of their business model have realized there is value in exploiting the term. It is important to ask if environmental concerns are indeed compatible with the market economy. Taking this a step further though acknowledges that there are multiple components to sustainability, not just the environment.

Sustainability has hundreds of definitions, but the truest in terms of environmental sustainability refers to harvesting goods (energy and raw materials) at the rate they are replenished, while economic sustainability is defined by benefits outweighing costs. As the economy slowly shifts to a sustainable one, and perhaps a regenerative economy, there will be a role for nonrenewable resources. These serve as the foundation of the current economic system. However, labeling oil and gas companies as sustainable energy (or clean energy for that matter) is a complete misnomer. Yes, they will be vital in the transition to renewable and hopefully sustainable fuels. But they are not sustainable energy sources. Deriving oil and gas from plants and animals on the other hand is renewable. Whether it is ultimately sustainable remains to be seen. Just because a fuel comes from a renewable source (i.e. it is replenished within our lifetime), does not mean it is sustainable. Good luck capturing methane from a cow’s flatulence.

October 2011 Clean Energy and Sustainability Events

by Eric Wilson on October 1st, 2011

As we mentioned earlier this week, the 21st annual Solar Tour is taking place throughout the Washington DC area. This is one of several events in and around the nation’s capital. Check out the 2nd Green Revolution’s calendar for more information. The big annual event in the green building industry, Greenbuild, takes place early in the month up in Toronto. There are a few other conferences taking place in Canada, including “Moving Business Toward Sustainability” which is listed below.

There are several education based conferences as well this month. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, which 2nd Green Revolution covered last year, takes place this month in Pittsburgh. In addition, the North American Association for Environmental Education is also holding its annual conference in October.

While the calendar has quite a few listings, it is far from complete. Let us know of any conferences, events, or festivals in your area. We will gladly add them to our green events calendar. Please send us an email with the event’s name, date, location, description, and website.

Here are a few of the events happening around North America (and one in Germany):

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