Bike-Share Surge

Bicycles parked on the pavement at Mackay, Queensland, 1948 by State Library of Queensland, Australia

Boston’s bike-share program has spread to Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline and Arlington. Boston was vying to be the first city in the nation with a wide, successful program, but has struggled with funding over the past two years.  Last July however, the federal government awarded $3 million to support Boston’s program, with the money earmarked for purchasing bicycles and docking stations.  The program would allow riders to borrow a bike from a docking station for a short, set period of time, afterwards returning the bike to a different docking station for another rider to use.  Minneapolis, Denver, Washington, D.C., and Montreal have launched similar programs and the Velib program in Paris, France has shown marked success with over 90,000 bikes currently in operation.

Nicole Freedman, Boston’s bike-share director, expects membership to reach 5,000 to 10,000 people in the first year of operation with fees ranging from $50 per year, to $10 per week, or, for the less frequent user, bikes could be borrowed by the hour for $5.  Trips shorter than a half-hour would be free for members.  With many U.S. urban centers looking to diversify their public transit portfolios, a robust bike-sharing program is key, particularly in a city like Cambridge where many bikers take to the streets on a regular basis.  That said, “It’s not [necessarily] about cyclists,’’ Freedman pointed out. “It’s about making cycling so inexpensive and convenient and attractive that it is the preferred form of transportation.’’

China to Enact Strict Plan for Energy Conservation

A Coal-Fired Power Plant in Shuozhou, Shanxi, China

A coal-fired power plant in Shuozhou, Shanxi, Chin

Unrest in the Middle East has yielded change in the region, but the effects of anti-government protests are slowly being felt globally as oil soars to its highest price in over 2 years. The New York Times reported that Chinese Energy Specialists revealed that the government plans to announce strict goals for energy conservation.

Make no mistake, this is not an altruistic attempt by the world’s leading energy consumer and greenhouse gas emitter to go green or make strides to curb carbon footprint (energy security far out ways climate change in Chinese policy priorities). China views energy as a national security issue; the concern here is how rising oil prices will effect inflation, export competitiveness, and the country’s pollution problems, according to the NYT article.

China still sees oil as its most important energy source, but as Zhang Guobao, former Energy Czar in China, said, “Oil security is the most important part of achieving energy security,”he went on to say, “Preparations for alternative energies should be made as soon as possible.” China is looking to avoid getting stuck trying to fuel a booming economy on oil while prices skyrocket.

Despite the fact that China is the world’s biggest producer of wind turbines and solar panels at the lowest cost, a majority of its electricity comes from coal. When oil use increased dramatically along with the rise of automobile use, the government pushed extensively for electric cars. This decrease in oil consumption only increased the use of coal. Still, electricity plants tend to be much more efficient than the combustion of gasoline, and stay within the energy use goals China has in mind.

Looking at China’s imported energy sources, the concern coming from Beijing is understandable. Oil from the Middle East, along with the increasing price, gets to China via shipping lanes controlled by economic rivals India and the United States. Iran is also a large importer of crude oil to China. The instability of Iran leaves Russia as China’s most stable oil importer, but only 3% of crude oil imports to China come from its neighbors to the north.

Some are worried that the mostly state run energy industry in China would have to start allocating the limits on energy use. This could cause the decrease in production of certain products, like metals for instance. Stuart Burns on MetalMiner explains;

But who decides, with no free market to set prices on the basis of supply and demand? The impact that could have for resource-hungry activities like steel, aluminum and zinc smelting could be profound in the first half of this decade. China may decide it would rather import metals than import energy, reversing the trend of the last decade. Having temporarily idled some of the 20+ million tons of aluminum capacity, could the Chinese really close a significant portion of it permanently?

As china responds to the effects of rising oil prices, the rest of the world may end up feeling the effects of China’s energy policy. In the more immediate future, China may be looking at energy shortages as their own supplies may not be able to keep up with its rapid economic growth. China’s efforts in lowering energy consumption will no doubt have a number of other benefits along with the primary goals of securing its energy future. The reducing of greenhouse gas emissions will save money not only on energy but on health care costs as the environment in China becomes cleaner and safer for its citizens. The decisions made here will have significant effect on China’s role in energy in the region, as well as its role as a major contributer to climate change.

Local Green Happenings for Spring

Oftentimes, I find myself wondering: what green happenings are taking place in and around Cambridge and Boston?  If you have similar sentiments, there are a number of leads that might satisfy your curiosity.

A smart place to start is, of course, the Cambridge Energy Alliance Community Events Calendar, but on the off-chance you still can’t find what you’re looking for, there is still hope!

Whether you’re interested in a weekend afternoon outing, or changing your transit habits, look no further.  The City of Cambridge has designated May, 2011 as “Go Green Month” and the third week of May as “Climate Change Week.” During the month of May, (and hyper-concentrated in the week from May 13th to 22nd), you can find an array of local activities including nature walks, talks, workshops, and other environmentally-focused events.  Guests include Zipcar, MassRIDES, MBTA, CAC Gallery and Cambridge Bicycle Committee, to name a few.  There are also commuter challenges throughout the month, so take a look if you typically drive to work but instead want to try taking public transit, carpooling or biking.

In addition to Cambridge, Boston has an informative site complete with local area green event listings.  The Boston GreenScene also comes complete with a local green directory highlighting area companies and organizations that focus on green-related industry and services.  Services listed include green consulting, green building and green cleaning in addition to community groups such as Boston Green Drinks and various MeetUp groups.

Energy Star Rating Standards to Tighten

Energy Star Logo

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced updates to its Energy Star Rating requirements on televisions and cable boxes. The revisions are the first in a list of about 20 products that will receive updates to their Energy Star Rating requirements this year.

Currently, Energy Star rated televisions hold at least 70% of the Market Share. The stricter standards mean, according to the EPA, “substantial overall energy bill reduction, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reductions.”

The new standards are requiring a 40% reduction in watt usage. For example, a 60 inch television currently averages about 282 watts, but the come September the same 60 inch TV will be required to use less than 108 watts to receive an Energy Star Rating. Talk about saving a watt!

In its announcement, the EPA states that if all U.S. homes had Energy Star rated TVs and cable boxes under these new requirements, savings would reach $5 billion a year and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of taking over 700 million cars off the road.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival comes to Boston!

A possum and a movie camera 1943 by Australian War Memorial collection

For those of you itching to see some good, quality short films on everything from climate change, to sustainable, local farming to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charity, then look no further — the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is in Boston March 25th and 26th!

The event, sponsored by e-inc, consists not only of the film festival itself, but a series of panels, fund-raising events and guest speakers, including Robin Young, host of WBUR’s “Here and Now”.  Panelists include: David Cash, Undersecretary of Policy, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; Howard Herzog, Senior Engineer, MIT Energy Initiative; Namrita Kapur, Director Corporate Partnership, Environmental Defense Fund; and Alexander Taft, Climate Officer, National Grid.  There will also be a locavore tasting menu of foods and wine and a showing of Carbon Nation with a question and answer session with film producer Artemis Jouzinsky.

I saw the film festival when it came to Maynard last week and was thoroughly impressed by both the high quality of artistic expression and subject matter depth.  I highly recommend going if you can!  Tickets for the Boston showing range from  $10 to $30 depending on which day and events you chose to attend. For more information go to http://www.e-action.us/.

Japan Tragedy Highlights Nuclear Doubts

The Trojan Nuclear Plant on the Banks of the Columbia River Is Under Construction by Portland General Electric Environmentalists Strongly Oppose the Project 05/1973 by The U.S. National Archives

After the devastating 8.8 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan last week, millions are without power, adequate food or water supply.   The earthquake was so powerful, that Japan moved 8 feet and the axis of the Earth shifted. The human death toll is still being determined, however, recent reports are comparing this natural disaster to the massive destruction caused during WWII; nothing has taken a similar toll on Japan since.

To add confusion to chaos, Japan is now dealing with a number of nuclear power plans that may face possible meltdown.  A cause for local and global concern, Japanese officials have resorted to using sea water to cool a reactor that exploded a couple of days ago in hopes to keep it under control while electricity supplies remain down.  Countries like France have begun using Japan as an example of why nuclear energy is too dangerous too rely upon for energy use.  This argument however brings up the classic question:  If not nuclear, then what?  Nuclear does not contribute to harmful GHG emissions which contribute to climate change.  Do we then regress to using coal on a massive scale?  Nuclear, and proponents of nuclear energy, argue it’s the “cleaner” alternative to fossil fuels — although waste and potential nuclear meltdown, as what’s currently on display in Japan — remain serious concerns.  Solar and wind technologies, while actively in use in many countries including the U.S., still remain at a high market cost, particularly solar, and are thus not able to complete with the cheaper, fossil fuel competitors that currently supply the bulk of the planet’s energy supply.  It’s a sticky situation with many political and industry incentives at stake, but in the end, the fallout of nuclear energy may not be worth the energy it produces.

We are all hoping a full nuclear meltdown at one or more of the nuclear power plants does not occur on top of what the Japanese are already enduring, but at present time, it’s unclear what the outcome will be.  Japan is receiving international aid, yet this tragedy will take many weeks, months, if not years to recover from.  If you want to help, the American Red Cross is accepting donations: http://www.redcross.org.

A Short Term Answer to Reduce CO2 Emissions

A new report (.pdf file) from The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), along with the World Meteorologist Association, and a group of scientists will be presented to the governing council of UNEP. The report states that reducing emissions of short lived particles from black carbon, methane and ground level ozone could reduce warming to a half degree within the first half of this century. However the efforts would have to be taken worldwide by all nations to reach the given numbers.

These emissions, known as soot, are particles of fossil fuels that are released into the atmosphere upon burning. Along with damage done to the atmosphere, they also take a toll on human health and damage crops. The report stresses the damaging effects these emissions have on the environment on a global scale. Among the points are;

  • The presence of black carbon in the lower atmosphere has disrupted weather patterns, like the Asian monsoon, for example, that have effected the livelihoods of millions of people.
  • The black characteristics of these particles has caused darkening of snow and ice decreasing their reflection of sunlight (increasing absorption), thus heating the atmosphere causing snow and glacier regions around the world to experience severe melting.
  • Ozone in the lower atmosphere damages human health, and has been a cause of premature death globally. This same particle causes damages crops, reducing yield.

The report says that even a “small number of emission reduction measures” for these particles would immediately begin to “protect climate, public health, water and food security, and ecosystems”.

While this report has netted little coverage (it is just another United Nations recommendation after all), some are hopeful that the United States government will make changes after recently cutting back the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget. Among the cuts to the budget was a program to update dirty diesel engines, a large contributor of black carbon.

While a worldwide cut of these short lived emissions seems a daunting task, UNEP stresses that it can be done with existing technologies, “but would require significant strategic investment and institutional arrangements.”

Hydrofracking Poses Serious Concerns

Photo by flickr.com/photos/arimoore/

On February 26th, The New York Times released a front page exposé on the new “gold rush” of natural gas exploration in the United States: Hydrofracking.  Natural gas is a relatively plentiful domestic energy resource and some environmentalists and policy-makers alike have heralded the recent jump in natural gas exploration as a means to curb carbon emissions (natural gas, supposedly, releases less carbon into the atmosphere than fossil fuels like oil and coal).

Nevertheless, the NYTimes article presents a disturbing case against such massive, and oftentimes unregulated, exploration. Hydrofracking, or the injection of water and chemicals under high pressure into rock formations to extract natural gas, can directly impact the quality of groundwater, and inevitably, our drinking water.  Drilling supporters have responded that no contamination of groundwater has been directly linked to the practice, however, the NYTimes reported that the EPA has been aware of the potential risk associated with this technique citing internal documents “from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers [that] show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.”

Potential dangers of hydrofracking include leaked radioactive materials and other drilling wastes, such as corrosive salts and carcinogens, which are inadequately treated before being discharged directly into adjacent rivers that supply drinking water.  Alarmingly, the NYTimes also disclosed a never made public 2009 EPA document that concluded some hydrofracking treatment plants in Pennsylvania could not remove wastewater contaminants and were thus violating the law.  Furthermore, other undisclosed studies by the EPA and a confidential study by the drilling industry found that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be completely diluted via discharge into rivers and other waterways.  Yet, despite these startling findings, the EPA has taken no action to safeguard public water supplies and water sources downstream of hydrofracking wastewater and discharge sites have not been required to test for radioactivity. “In other words,” the NYTimes concludes, “there is no way of guaranteeing that the drinking water taken in by all these plants is safe.”

To learn more about hydrofracking and action steps, you can watch Gasland or visit the Sierra Club’s hydrofracking group at: http://connect.sierraclub.org/Team/Hydrofracking_Team.

Convincing Businesses to Go Green

Toits de Bedzed

Solar panels are just one of many possible investments that can save businesses money in the futur

Business owners, when confronted with the decision of moving towards more sustainable practices, are sometimes weary of giving such an idea the green light. For owners, almost every decision is made with the bottom line in mind; a business that does not earn profit simply will not survive. The potential for high up front costs is enough for many owners to say “no thanks” and stick with the same practices that have been in use for years. Owners may think, “If a company is making a profit, why change anything?”

Well, when looking at a switch to sustainable business practices as an investment rather than a cost, the decision can be a lot more beneficial to the bottom line than one would think. This is exactly how L. Hunter Lovins presents the switch to sustainable practices for businesses. She recently sat down with The New York Times to talk about the non profit Natural Capitalism Solutions of which she is president. In order to promote sustainability, the company provides “innovative, practical tools and implementation strategies for companies, communities, and countries”.

NCS’s strategy is to present the switch to sustainability as an investment, and focuses on finding the areas of a business that can be more efficient, thus effecting the bottom line in a positive way. It is important to show that there can and will be a return on the investment, not just a large up front cost. For example NCS worked with Scandic Springs, a metal manufacturer in California. The company made a small change in the amount of cardboard used in their packaging, saving them $8,000 a year. While they paid very little to make this happen, other investments in sustainability can cost a lot more up front, so it takes more to convince some businesses.

Lovins says that they stay away from presenting any arguments about climate change or global warming, and choosing instead to stick to the economic benefits. This way, business owners who may not believe in global warming can still be swayed to make changes towards greener practices. It has become another way to help solve climate change without actually talking about climate change. In fact, according to Lovins, it is easier to convince those who are skeptical or may not know much about climate change, rather than those who consider themselves believers.

With their success working with businesses, NCS is able to show interested companies the progress of others who have worked with them to help find a place to start. Even small businesses can start changing towards more efficient practices and get a quick return. According to Lovins, one of the quickest returns is efficient lighting by switching to compact fluorescents from old fluorescents or incandescent bulbs.

Lovins also stresses the importance of following trends in your area. Local, state and federal laws regarding energy efficiency are changing, so it is important to stay ahead and be prepared to make changes to comply with new efficiency codes. Also, keep up (or better yet, ahead) of competition. On top of the savings from sustainability, there may also be a competitive advantage especially if a business is in a community where it’s important to residents that companies do good within the community.

Today, energy efficiency and sustainability are more than just fashionable trends. They are good business. More and more local small businesses are doing it, and even large worldwide corporations are making green changes. As Lovins said, “Why is Wal-Mart going green? Trust me, it’s not out of the goodness of their heart. They are going green because they are saving money.”

Ultimate Greening Your Home Seminar

Residents of Cambridge, MA were introduced to a new opportunity on February 8th, 2011. Energy efficiency is on the minds of renters, condominium owners, and homeowners alike as the environmental, financial, and physical benefits become more prominently appreciated. Usually when energy efficiency information is available, it is more general and further discussion with specific professionals is suggested, since the process of making home energy efficiency improvements is tailored to unique home and ownership characteristics and often entails several detailed levels of complexity. On February 8th, those professionals were brought together in one place for an evening of sequential enlightenment for curious attendees, with an added bonus of networking amongst their industry peers and less-assumed partners, Green real estate agents.

When the Cambridge Energy Alliance and Coldwell Banker Agents Amy Tighe and Robin Miller designed this new collaborative seminar, their focus was on approaching one seemingly under-served demographic: condominium owners and associations. [This group will, luckily, begin to be served more as the NSTAR 5+ unit (“Multifamily”) energy assessment program rolls out.] That said, this successful design would clearly be valuable to other demographics (e.g. home owners) in addition to condominium owners/associations.

Beginning with the simplest in-home steps and leading to discussion of assessments, retrofits, and financing of projects, Sustainable Life Solutions, Next Step Living Inc., S & H Construction, CPCU Credit Union, CEA, Robin, and Amy engaged enthusiastic condo owners and association representatives in energy efficiency learning in a way that simply made sense. Speakers explained each of their areas of expertise thoroughly in their limited time, intermittently questions were asked and answered comprehensively, sometimes by the several professionals that were in the room, and when presentations were through, meaningful inquiry-fueled conversation rounded out the evening. A happy closeout to the seminar was the drawing of the raffle winner, who took home a wonderful green-living package that was generously donated by Whole Foods.

The results of this innovative event were remarkable: A valuable seminar was put together by unprecedented collaborators in a replicable format; speakers were able to answer significant questions jointly, and see how they might work together effectively in the future; seminar attendees were able to walk out with a mental arsenal of energy efficiency tools, feeling utterly aware of a previously mysterious process, with proper contacts in hand, and ready to share with their peers. This type of event is unquestionably beneficial for all involved, so watch out for announcements of the next installment in months to come!