A (sensible) government regulation is keeping me from installing solar

My house is old. It was built before McKinley was shot...that's how old. Back then they used a phenomenal quality of wood to build things, they kept ceilings high, and they installed almost no insulation. (So that last one may be too general, but they certainly installed none in my house.) On the whole, home building is different than it was 120 years ago, but it's not better or worse on the whole...just different.

That said, building codes have changed drastically in the past 100 years. When my house was built, the structure holding the roof was perfectly logical, and given that it has survived 100 years, seems to have been particularly effective. Today, we would use a different system for the roof structure, and our codes reflect the knowledge we have gained from the past to establish a roof that will provide us safe shelter.

And that's where what killed my home solar project.

Without getting into too much detail, the roof structure used on my home would not meet today's building code, the law that establishes the minimum building practices that architects and builders have to follow to provide a safe and healthy home. Under normal circumstances, I am not required to redo my roof to meet the new code, however, if I decided to add weight to the roof...say through the installation of solar panels...then I would have to make sure my roof met the same level of integrity as the code-compliant roof does. Although this regulation affects my ability to put solar on my house, it makes complete sense to me.

As I previously noted, at the subsidized prices offered by the Solar Chicago program, my cost to generate would be less than utility, and it would be locked in for the life of the panels. Bringing my roof to compliance would negate that benefit. Economically speaking, it would not make sense to do solar on my house now. Some might argue that reinforcing the roof makes sense anyway and I should not consider it part of the cost of solar, but this ignores reality. When I set out to improve my home and my relationship with energy, waste, water, and other aspects of sustainable living, I promised that I would do things only if it was reasonable for anyone to do them. I could pay more for solar just to say I have solar, but then widespread adoption would rely on everyone to pay more for solar, which will not happen.

In addition, with solar now more expensive than utility-based electricity - at least until panel prices continue to drop and utility prices increase - it makes more sense for me to use the resources I would have put toward the project to better use improving the efficiency of the home. Installing a ground source heat pump system to replace my aging boiler might make more sense than solar, or replacing the upper-story windows, or looking at innovative ways to insulate the walls of the house. Any of these might be better uses for my investment...both economically and environmentally.

I am still committed to installing solar on the house one day. If a lighter-weight panel type comes along, or the price of the panel plus structural work drops below the price of utility, I will be the first in line. Until then, I will find the most economical - and legal - way to minimize how much grid energy my house needs.

Friday Five: September 19, 2014

This next week will be a telling one for the movement to stem the effects of climate change. Ahead of an international meeting in New York next week, environmental organizers have gone all in by collaborating with previously un-tapped partners to try and pull off the larges climate march in history. If they succeed, it could be a watershed moment for the movement, if they fail, it could spell the end. Or, it could just be another Sunday in NYC.
How to define success for the People's Climate March
"Organizers of the march have set themselves a high bar—two high bars, actually. First, they’ve proclaimed that this will be the biggest climate change demonstration yet. That means organizers have to turn out no fewer than 100,000 people—the estimated size of the Copenhagen march—or be judged a failure; a lower turnout would send the signal that the movement is waning rather than growing. Further, organizers have declared that the People’s Climate March will be “historic,” meaning it will be looked back on as a key moment in the climate struggle. This definition in turn requires that the March lead to more and better things down the road—that it be not merely one day of protest."

The numbers have been coming in, and it looks like somewhere between saving us 10% and costing us 5% is the range of net impact of addressing climate change on the economy. If you believe that eliminating fossil fuel emissions will do absolutely nothing, then it's a 5% add. If you believe that clean energy will eliminate most energy bills, improve human health, and increase property values, then it saves 10%. My best guess is probably not a 10% savings, but a measurable one.
Fixing climate change may add no costs, report says
"While the commission found that the requisite steps may make economic sense, that does not mean they will be politically easy, the report says. For instance, the group will recommend that countries eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels, which cost about $600 billion a year but are vigorously defended by vested interests.
It will urge nations to take a fresh look at the potential of renewable energy, whose costs are plummeting, and also recommend the adoption of initiatives to halt destruction of forests, use land more efficiently and limit wasteful urban sprawl, among many other steps."

As a bit of forewarning, the article does not deliver on the headline (which is rarely the author's fault), but it does raise particularly interesting issues relative to the conversation around almost every environmental issue...or for that matter, every economic issue. It paints an image of people on all sides who claim factual impartiality, but only from their decidedly isolated point of view.
How to talk about climate change so people will listen
"In the best of times, this problem—given its apocalyptic stakes, bewildering scale, and vast potential cost—would be difficult to resolve. But we are not in the best of times. We are in a time of legislative paralysis. In an important step, the Obama administration announced in June its decision to cut power-plant emissions 30 percent by 2030. Otherwise, this country has seen strikingly little political action on climate change, despite three decades of increasingly high-pitched chatter by scientists, activists, economists, pundits, and legislators."

Meanwhile, on a particularly practical front, consumer and environmental advocates in Illinois have teamed up to call for transparency on carbon emissions. Instead of pounding the table for widespread action, they ask just to know what is happening at each of Illinois' electric utilities.
CUB, EDF push for comprehensive smart grid metric on carbon emissions
"The greenhouse gas petition, filed by CUB and EDF Wednesday, is related to major power-grid upgrades, collectively called the "smart grid," that were approved by the Illinois General Assembly in 2011 and are now being launched by Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois. The improvements, including new digital electric meters, have the potential to make Illinois' electricity system cleaner and less costly."

And while we stage protests, denigrate scientists, and do so from the comfort of our 99.999% reliably electrified homes, people in non-electrified parts of the world are showing us the truth about solar economics...solar is cheaper.
There's a place in the world that is fighting poverty with solar panels.
"He laughed. It’s much simpler than that, he said. 'I just wanted electricity.'"

Happy Friday!

Tim McDonnell/Climate Desk

Friday Five: August 29, 2014

Our driving mantra in everything we do should be quality of life. If we improve quality of life, we will actually reduce population, decrease stress on resources, and avoid environmental catastrophe. Win/win/win/....
How can we stop the world from having too many babies? Feed more people
"We can make the pie bigger through scientific advances — increasing farm yields and finding more efficient sources of energy. We can reduce the number of forks with family-planning programs, providing access to contraception and giving women more power over their bodies and finances. We can promote better table manners, that is, more equitable sharing, through, well, either more government or less. 'The "better manners" school calls for freer markets or socialism (depending on taste),' Cohen writes."

The plastic bag is actually a marvel of design. It easily carries far more than it's weight, and stores easily. Trouble is, we had a couple other "marvels of design" in the past: asbestos, lead in paint and gasoline...sometimes the elegant solution masks the dangers. I am sure the asbestos industry was not happy when it was banned, but we are the better for it.
Banning the plastic bag shouldn't be this hard
"The opponents of the bill — mainly, bag makers — have said it would be a job killer, even though the legislation includes $2 million to help manufacturers transition to making thicker, reusable plastic bags ... A third of Californians, including shoppers in the city of Los Angeles, live in communities that have eliminated single-use plastic bags, and there has been little blowback to the bans."

It's really simple folks: do nothing, and if we were right - we are doomed...do something, and if we were wrong we get cleaner air, more reliable energy, and better quality of life. It's not that hard.
U.N. draft report lists unchecked emissions' risks
"The new report found that it was still technically possible to limit global warming to an internationally agreed upper bound of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius, above the preindustrial level. But continued political delays for another decade or two will make that unachievable without severe economic disruption, the report said."

Should I be scared when a bank agrees with me? Maybe they've been reading my blog.
UBS analysts: 'Large-scale power stations could be on path to extinction'
"UBS contends that centralized fossil-fuel generation will become “extinct” -- and that it will happen a lot sooner than most people realize.
The bank predicts that a significant number of large-scale centralized plants could be gone within a decade. 'Not all of them will have disappeared by 2025, but we would be bold enough to say that most of those plants retiring in the future will not be replaced.'"

You read right....MINNESOTA!
Power surge in Minnesota's solar industry
"The year-old solar array in Slayton, Minn., the size of eight football fields, could soon lose its mantle as Minnesota’s largest. Its output is 2 megawatts, or 2 million watts. Now, projects five times that size are planned. One project proposed by Geronimo Energy in Chisago County is rated at 50 megawatts, enough to power about 6,000 homes and an output equivalent to a small natural gas power plant. Minneapolis-based Xcel is considering several 'utility-scale' projects whose size offers economies of scale. 'The prices appear to be competitive,' said Dave Sparby, Xcel’s chief executive for the Minnesota region."

Happy Friday!

David Brewster/Star Tribune

Here comes the sun....and it's more than alright

We just signed up to participate in a program called Solar Chicago that looks to expand the installed, distributed solar capacity by bringing affordable installations to residential customers. Solar reached grid parity in southern US climates years ago, but is just starting to approach that here in northern Illinois. The program looks to help increase the demand for solar by incentivizing early adopters with financial terms that should help make the case for a future of distributed solar. On the surface, the numbers look good.

Currently, on the real-time pricing program with ComEd, we pay around $0.06 per kilo-watt hour (kWh) for electricity. That averages out to about 5% less than the ComEd flat rate, and just under the current City of Chicago municipal aggregation rate. The cold winter, surprisingly enough, was the major reason for the spike, as we have been paying about $0.055 per kWh this summer. If a solar project is to work, it would make sense for it to cost less than $0.06 per kWh as a starting point.

The Solar Chicago quote we received priced out a 3 kW system for about $13,500. If we participate, we get a $4,000 tax credit off our 2014 federal income tax, reducing the net cost of the installation to $9,500. An Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity rebate would offset another $3,500 in cost, lowering the final installed cost to $6,000. The program managers know this is an important target because a 3 kW system can produce around 4,380 kWh of total electricity over the year. Since the system will last a minimum of 25 years, that means that it will produce a total of 109,500 kWh over the lifespan. For the installed cost of $6,000, that equates to $0.0548 per kWh...just under the current market rate for electricity.

This financial analysis assumes that the price for electricity will remain constant relative to inflation. Since this has not happened in any decade over the past sixty years, and certainly not since the deregulation of the Illinois electricity market, the solar electricity will cost less than market price moving forward, meaning the installation makes better economic sense than remaining a full utility customer.

There are several concerns that must be addressed when making this decision as a homeowner. Unless one plans to live in the house for the full 25 years, it must make sense to pass on the value or the cost to a future homeowner. Solar homes have shown a propensity to higher market value than non-solar homes, but this is temperamental. It would be better if we had a market mechanism, such as property-assessed clean energy (PACE) which allows the homeowner to pay for the system using funds provided by the taxing body, then pay for the installation over the property tax bill for 25 years. Alternatively, the utility could get into the game and provide the system using on-bill financing, which would also transfer to the next tenant. Any of these would lower the risk to the new owner.

As for us, we plan to approach the bank to finance the project over a reasonable term, and hopefully using the system itself and not the home as collateral. We expect that to be a difficult conversation, but the financial community needs to find creative ways to finance these types of projects. The City of Chicago name on the program should help this conversation, and there will be financial entities willing to help. We just hope that it comes from our local bank so that almost everything we do provides some benefit to the community.

Stay tuned for more details as we move forward.

Friday Five: July 18, 2014

This week has seen a great number of stories about increased numbers of earthquakes, water shortages, and fracking chemical disclosure. With my birthday coming up, I am using my author's prerogative to focus on the positive and forward-thinking...it also helps that almost every one of these supports statements I have been making for several years now.

We start with the electric car revolution, and how it will not only change transportation, but also the ways we produce and use power at home. Combined with smart-grid communications technology, it will also change the way grid operators manage distributed resources. We have heard so much about the cost of battery storage for solar, and assumed it had to be a stand-alone battery system in the basement. What if the battery is sitting in your driveway surrounded by soft, bucket seats and an eight-CD sound system?
Electric cars will change the way you power your home
"The most striking data was from EV owners who also had solar panels. From 7 a.m. to midnight, they used about one-fourth as much power from the grid as the typical household, because they were getting power from their rooftops and often selling power back to the grid. In other words, they took very little from the grid when demand was high — at times even helping to increase supply — and took much more from the grid when demand was low. They helped smooth out demand."

Of course, in the future I see, there isn't a car in every driveway...but maybe we can adapt the plan a little bit to store cars around the city so they can balance out the grid and provide the same benefit as if they were parked right outside ones house.
Helsinki's ambitious plan to make car ownership pointless in 10 years
"Subscribers would specify an origin and a destination, and perhaps a few preferences. The app would then function as both journey planner and universal payment platform, knitting everything from driverless cars and nimble little buses to shared bikes and ferries into a single, supple mesh of mobility. Imagine the popular transit planner Citymapper fused to a cycle hire service and a taxi app such as Hailo or Uber, with only one payment required, and the whole thing run as a public utility, and you begin to understand the scale of ambition here."

Creating a space like this, powered by low-to-no cost renewable energy, with ubiquitous, low-cost public transportation, and full of the culture and activity that urban areas provide...it might just bring back a whole host of cities that we had left for dead.
What's the key to turning around Rust Belt cities?
"Some cities effectively prepared for this change, Piiparinen said. Pittsburgh’s educational institutions, for example, produced developers with strong tech skills who could create start-ups in Pittsburgh, especially in the areas of robotics. Buffalo just completed a clinical sciences building, part of $4.4 billion of medicine-related development announced in 2012. Cleveland’s new strengths are rooted in medical device companies, largely because of the Cleveland Clinic, which started doing heart research and married manufacturing and health sciences."

We can even look past carbon to other destructive forms of energy extraction, and if we trust our ingenuity, we can make sure that when we use energy to improve our quality of life, we do not threaten anyone's life or quality of life in the process.
As more nuclear plants shut down can distributed energy fill the gap?
"In the last couple of years, five nuclear power plants in the U.S. have been put on the list for closure. These plants are getting challenged from two sides: competitive natural gas and renewables are eroding the economics of merchant projects, while technical challenges associated with age are making the plants more expensive to operate. In this week's show, we'll look at whether renewables and efficiency are capable of filling the gap left by retired nuclear plants, including the SONGS plant in southern California."

As I predicted, utilities are at the crossroads: either get behind distributed renewables and energy efficiency, or go down fighting - but you will go down. We are already seeing that play out. We cannot life in a country based upon liberty and the pursuit of happiness, then tell someone they have to support a monopolistic business enterprise if it does not make sense to them. Those enterprises do not have to exist in that fashion...and the successful ones are already changing their business model willingly.
Green Mountain is a perfect example of how utilities can embrace distributed renewables
"Enter, Green Mountain Power, the leading electricity provider in the state of Vermont. Rather than simply working against the (likely inevitable) spread of distributed generation, the utility has been transforming itself a company with a business model that puts renewable energy and distributed generation at its core."
In Iowa, solar is fighting back against utilities, and winning
"IPL, the local utility, noticed the solar panels going up, and promptly complained to the Dubuque City Council. The local utility board agreed with IPL in March 2012, but Eagle Point appealed, and in April of last year, the Polk County District Court overturned the utility board’s decision, partly because, as the ruling put it, “The customer will still be connected to the grid, will still be an IPL customer, and must continue to purchase energy and capacity from IPL. Eagle Point is neither attempting to replace or sever the link between IPL and the city. it is simply allowing the city to decrease its demand for electricity from the grid.” In other words, the solar panels weren’t any more illegal than an energy-efficient appliance would be."

Happy Friday!

Friday Five: July 11, 2014

It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  After dealing with smoking, leaded fuels and paints, asbestos, and other things harmful to human health, we do not learn how to better predict and manage these things.  Economic value does not tell the whole story...ever.
Pesticide blamed for bee deaths now linked to bird declines
"The researchers found a strong correlation between pesticide concentrations measured in surface freshwater and lower or negative local population growth rates of 14 species of birds since the introduction of the pesticide imidacloprid in the Netherlands in the 1990s, according to a study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature."

The consequences of our dangerous and addictive relationship with energy and chemicals often fall on those at the margins.  If this plant and all the pollution generating industry in this town were located in the posh suburbs of our major cities, we would move more quickly to eliminate them.
Mysterious blast at Chevron plant shakes pollution-weary Texas town
"When the smoke clears from this incident, Kelley and the Port Arthur community will still have other pollution problems on their hands. Besides the pollution cluster that already exists there, and the planned terminus for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Kelley said the city just took a contract to take in chemical weapons waste from Syria. A few years ago, Kelley was instrumental in stopping tons of waste from Mexico from coming into the city to burned off in a city incinerator."

On a more positive note, the economics of solar continue to improve...
Hendersonville plaza to add solar parking canopies
"The systems at City Square are part of the TVA’s Green Power Providers program, which means TVA will buy 100 percent of the solar electricity generated for 20 years and pay a premium for the first 10 years.
Smith hopes the prominent solar canopies at City Square will spur more solar installations in the community."

...and improve.
Some go solar for savings, not the planet
"A December 2013 study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found a premium of roughly $25,000 on homes in California with rooftop solar panels. Ben Hoen, a staff research associate at the lab who co-authored the study, said that figure was market dependent and likely different in other parts of the country. Still, he said 'it is reasonable to assume' that houses in other markets with solar power could fetch a premium."

Anyone looking for the best financial ROI of any major investment should find a company that will replace rigs for major transportation companies.  The ROI over ten years exceeds that of any savings account, money market account, or even the equity market.  It is not the economics or logistics of energy improvements that prevent us from making them happen, it is just the entrenched inertia of a few doomed industries.
Big fuel savings available in new trucks
"The technologies to improve fuel efficiency are cost-effective. For example, a new truck that includes an advanced engine and transmission, new axle design, and improved aerodynamics to the tractor and trailer could save average tractor-trailer owners and drivers about $30,000 per year in fuel. In 2025, these new efficiency technologies would increase truck purchase costs by about $32,000, which is recovered by fuel savings in just 13 months."

Happy Friday!

Friday Five: June 27, 2014

It's not that we do dumb things that screw things up...it's that we do smart, well-intentioned things...

That screw things up.
Everything we know about neonic pesticides is awful
"The pesticides don’t just affect pest species. Most prominently, they affect bees and butterflies, which are poisoned when they gather pollen and nectar. But neonics’ negative impacts go far beyond pollinators. They kill all manner of animals and affect all kinds of ecosystems. They’re giving rise to Silent Spring 2.0."

And then we push it to scale and screw it up even more.
The brutal cost of cheap chicken
"American meat eaters live, for the most part, in happy ignorance of the system that grows animals for slaughter. When that ignorance is interrupted with a bit of information about the meat industry, we typically respond with outrage."

And then we build culture around it so that we hold onto it far longer than is practical.
The death of the American mall
"Dying shopping malls are speckled across the United States, often in middle-class suburbs wrestling with socioeconomic shifts. Some, like Rolling Acres, have already succumbed. Estimates on the share that might close or be repurposed in coming decades range from 15 to 50%. Americans are returning downtown; online shopping is taking a 6% bite out of brick-and-mortar sales; and to many iPhone-clutching, city-dwelling and frequently jobless young people, the culture that spawned satire like Mallrats seems increasingly dated, even cartoonish."

Finally, we do everything we can to try to hold onto it, even when it has never made economic sense. (Although, I will say that two of the points of the article: that there might be a way to produce energy without the damaging waste component, and that nuclear energy has to handle almost all of its waste products...they both have merit.  **Most, because they do not have to restore mined areas to pre-mining condition, and they do not have to account for the impact of the waste heat.**)
Is nuclear power ever coming back?
"According to those in the business of generating nuclear energy, other power producers should have to pay full price for the risks associated with their waste products. The way they see it, they’ve made their plants safer by prohibiting the release of critical, planet-damaging byproducts, and others should too."

I find it heartening when simple, time-tested mechanisms provide a path to a healthier future.  We need more electricity cooperatives and clean energy "building and loan" models to expedite the move to clean, community-based energy systems.  We have the knowledge, the technology, and now the economic incentive.  The only obstacle now are well-funded, obsolete industries.
Buying into solar power, no roof required
"The shared approach has its roots in rural electric cooperatives, said Elaine Ulrich of the Department of Energy’s SunShot program, but has only begun to take off in recent years, and still accounts for a tiny fraction of solar production. There are at least 52 projects in at least 17 states, and at least 10 states are encouraging their development through policy and programs, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the main trade group."

Happy Friday!

Flashes: May 28, 2014...National Lab Update

Americans using more energy according to Lawrence Livermore analysis

Berkeley Lab climate scientist: More extreme heat and drought in coming decades

Flexible, transparent thin film transistors raise hopes for flexible screens

NREL Assembles Industry Group to Explore Solar Lending Potential

Enjoy the journey!

Friday Five: May 2, 2014

This week we learned a great lesson of economics: it is not a predictive field of study, only a reactive one.  As much as we like to think we can foretell the future, when it comes to basing our quality of life on the availability of limited commodities, we build our houses on sand instead of rock.
Factbox: Energy Future Holdings' road to bankruptcy
"Energy Future Holdings filed for Chapter 11 protection on Tuesday, seven years after it was taken private in the largest-ever leveraged buyout. Over the last five years, the company used a number of financial maneuvers to manage a significant debt load, but ultimately could not convince its many and disparate creditors to restructure its balance sheet outside of bankruptcy court."

Case in point...six years ago when several of us were talking about the looming horizon of grid-parity for solar, the vast majority did not believe. Now, it is a reality. Next up: buildings that need no outside energy source other than what's available on site. They will be so widely available that they will be a code requirement within 10 years.
When it comes to solar power, the market is finally making environmentalism easy
"Little Sun is a good example of how the market and environmentalism don’t have to compete: Both the company and its evangelists are motivated to propagate an affordable form of non-polluting energy. The economics are working in concert with solar’s advantages of sustainability and independence over traditional power sources. And, suddenly, that intersection of efficacy and impact is making solar power as a whole more desirable than it’s ever been before."

One of the greatest challenges to a clean energy economy has come from unchecked conservatism. Conservatism that demands proof before implementation provides great value to society; conservatism that in the face of science, economics, and law holds onto a harmful status quo has no place in our society.
WSJ overruled by Supreme Court on clean air laws
"The regulations of smog and soot pollution will yield up to $280 billion in health benefits nationwide by preventing hospital visits and avoiding lost work days, according to the EPA's cost-benefit analysis. The human benefits are just as stark, with The American Thoracic Society estimating the new transfer rule could prevent upwards of 40,000 premature deaths annually."

I believe this in large part because of the bad business decisions that such extreme conservatism begets. Utilities can play a strong and stabilizing role in the transition to a clean energy future. However, as long as their leaders cling to the entitlement that they deserve guaranteed return on bad investments, we will continue to threaten the quality of our existence.
What future role for today's utilities
"Maybe our current utilities will provide enabling infrastructure, or maybe they will become insignificantly small players – or disappear. After all, the grid as enabling infrastructure might get smaller, and communities can own the grid and provide other enabling services – storage comes to mind. In the end, what is at stake in the energy transition is not just a choice between various low-carbon sources of electricity. It is also a choice between 1) corporations promising consumers low energy prices (and you can go to hell if you don’t want the giant project near your home) and 2) local renewables that may look more expensive, but you pay those higher prices back to you and your neighbors – and you have input into what gets built in your community."

Sound business thinking not only recognizes and accepts, but fully embraces, the limitations of the natural systems that underpin our entire existence. Requiring business leaders to act responsibly when it comes to protecting our quality of life does not place unreasonable obstacles in the way of progress any more than requiring a credit check places an unreasonable restriction on borrowing money. We need to mandate a minimum amount of protection to continue our existence, and not allow irresponsible behavior to jeopardize our future.
The one thing every business dies without
"So take a day this week to think hard about how the planet underpins the business, and how your company and sector should deal with that reality. Consider three steps. First, ask some leading questions: What do climate change and extreme weather mean for your business, your customers, and your supply chain? How do growing resource constraints like water shortages, or rising commodity prices, affect your value chain and your margins?"

Happy Friday!

(Photo: raulbaenacasado/Shutterstock)

Friday Five: July 20, 2012

Do we really need apocalyptic consequences to take action?
Wildfires ignite debate on global warming
"For some, climate change will become a fact only when its effects hit close to home. For this reason, perhaps we should expect an awareness of the need to adapt to climate change to precede a wider commitment to mitigating climate change itself. If that is the case, reporters are, finally, asking the right questions."

Do so few of us really care that we threaten our future with inaction?
Why Do Generation X Americans Not Care About Climate Change?
"Sociologist Jon Miller, the study's author, sees this as a sign of victory for the climate disinformation campaign. "I was optimistic beacuse this group of people is more scientifically literate; they've grown up in an era of of science and quantitative discussion, unlike their grandparents," Miller says. But the complexity of climate science, the long time scale it takes to play out, and seeds of doubt sown on the nightly news have caused many Gen Xers to simply tune it out."

The fact is: we can develop an energy system with no harmful emissions that is 100% renewably based within 20 years, and reach a 50% level in 10....while growing our economy.
Why do ‘experts’ always lowball clean-energy projections?
"Every time there’s a new air or water regulation proposed, industry predicts a level-10 economic apocalypse. EPA counters by saying it will only be a level-5 economic apocalypse. Invariably, it’s a level-0 economic apocalypse — low costs, lots of lives saved. Yet the political class approaches each new regulation with a peculiar Zen-like no-mind, as though it is the first such argument and all perspectives are equally supported by past experience. Same with projections of energy efficiency and renewables."

It will take some policy level decisions....
Illinois Net Metering Law Helps Grow Residential and Small Business Solar Energy Systems
“The net metering law Governor Quinn signed leads the way to more solar energy development in Illinois,” said Howard Learner, Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC). “It provides a common-sense, economic incentive for businesses and homeowners to invest in solar and small-scale wind power systems.”

And some simple choices at home.
Cooking On The Sunny Side: How Solar Chefs Put Food On The Table
"McArdle lost power at her home in Arlington, Va., for four days during the infamous 'Snowpocalypse' that hit the Northeast in 2010. Fortunately, the retired Foreign Service officer had multiple solar cookers in her house from training sessions she had done in Afghanistan and the U.S."

Happy Friday!

Friday Five: July 6, 2012

Thankfully, from a resource efficiency point of view, we are returning to more density in our urban areas.
Central cities now growing faster than suburbs, confirming trends for walkable lifestyles, shorter commutes
"But the biggest change of all may be demographic: the portion of the housing market claimed by families with children, the prime market for suburban living, has been shrinking at the same time as the Millennial generation, which strongly favors walkable lifestyles and urban living, has been coming of age. Retiring baby boomers are also in many cases giving up large-lot living in favor of city life."

And as we find ways to provide quality food even in low income areas through creative social entrepreneurs....
Let them eat kale: In Harlem, a farm share for the people
"The folks behind Harlem-based Corbin Hill Farm don’t see sustainably grown local produce as a passing craze for the foodie elite; on the contrary, they’re figuring out a way to make it accessible to low-income communities on a large scale."

Hopefully we can understand how tenuously we currently organize our communities...
Another Way of Looking at the Blackouts
"In some ways, America is much richer and stronger relative to the rest of the world than most people think. But in lots of aspects, to a degree that many Americans really have a hard time imagining, the U.S. has become a backward place. (Roads are bad; cell phone coverage is really bad; internet access is slow compared with Japan or Korea; health-care system is a PITA.)"

And adopt solutions that make us stronger.
Utility Works to Unlock Smart-Grid Potential of Solar-Storage
"It's day six of the storm-induced power outage that has crippled much of the Eastern United States under unrelenting heat and painfully slow repairs. The unmistakable irony for more than 1 million people still without power on Thursday is that the sweltering sun that followed the brutal storms was tailor-made for rooftop PV with battery storage — a combination that keeps the lights on even in a blackout."

In honor of Independence Day, I admit that for all their negative impact, I love fireworks, and would welcome any change that makes them less damaging.
Green Fireworks-Environmentally Safe, That Is
"One rarely gives much thought to the toxic environmental pollution that accompanies a fireworks display. Amidst the choking black-powder smoke and sulfurous stench of a pyrotechnic Independence Day celebration, pounds of volatile compounds and heavy metals go up in smoke to make colorful explosions that pollute the air and contaminate ground water."

Happy Friday!