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The Magic of Sustainability at Disney
The Walt Disney Company has and always will be identified with the cute black eared mouse named aptly named Mickey Mouse. But what if Disney could have dual identifiers? One would be the adorable fun loving Mickey Mouse while the other would be sustainability. I know that may throw some of you readers for a loop, but anythings is possible!
The Disney Company over the last three years has maneuvered itself into a spot where it can be identified as a sustainable tourism leader. Sustainable tourism is defined as, making a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. The Disney Company is working to make strides in climate and energy, ecosystem protection, water conservation as well as waste management. Many of the items listed here are not noticeable to the human eye when you step into a Disney park or a Disney resort, but are being completed in the back lot of the locations by what Disney calls imagineers. Imagineers stands for - combining imagination with engineering.
Thanks to imagineers Disney has paved its way to a 31 percent reduction in emissions from 2012 levels. The companies over arching goal is to reduce net emissions by 50 percent by the year 2020, and is currently on track to meet that target. Now let us dive into some of the items that are helping Disney reach its goal.
Climate & Energy
Disneyland park and resorts have been around since 1955 and have continued to morph throughout the decades. Each year the park continues to reach record breaking attendance with an average of 44,000 people entering its gates everyday. Many may be shocked that the park can hold so many people at one time, but thanks to its 85-acres that size crowd is manageable. With that acreage there are a lot of items that need maintaining that consume energy.
Thanks to the imagineers that were previously mentioned maintaining and lowering energy usage becomes a lot easier. Forward thinking on behalf of staff as well as updated technology is keeping Disney at the fore front of sustainability.
Many attractions within the park are ran on cleaner gas resources or reused resources. Such attractions as the Disneyland Railroad steam trains as well as the Mark Twain Riverboat use bio-diesel. That diesel comes from used cooking oil from Resorts that then fuel their steam boilers, which eliminates an average of 150,000 gallons of petroleum diesel per year. Other attractions like lot trams, sailing ships, Rafts to Tom Sawyer Island, Jungle Cruise boats and Main Street USA vehicles run on Cleaner-burning compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG is a readily available alternative to gasoline that's made by compressing natural gas to less than 1% of its volume at standard atmospheric pressure.
On top of cleaner fuels and reused resources Disney also has attractions and rides that create NO EMISSIONS at all. Such rides as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage submarines as well as the Disneyland Monorail. Thanks to technology and innovation subs can use magnetic coils to propel and the monorail runs completely on electricity. These rides eliminate the use of on average hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel each year.
Water Conservation
Waste Management
I am sure when you think of waste management you think of disposal bins that are separated into trash, recycle and compost. Well let me tell you a little something... there is much more to the process than you would imagine. Management of waste consists of generation, prevention, characterization, monitoring, treatment, handling, reuse and residual disposition of solid wastes. After reading that explanation I am sure your saying to yourself...your right I had no idea that all of those items are covered under one umbrella. Disney wants to stress the importance of recycling and waste management that they partnered with Waste Management to put in an interactive exhibit named "Don't Waste It" in INNOVENTIONS at Epcot. At this exhibit you learn of the latest in waste disposal as well as green approached to garbage handling.
Resorts at Disneyland have created a partnership with the Clean the World Foundation, Inc. for recycling of bathroom amenities. So far Resorts have donated more than 1,000 pounds of partially used guest room soaps and bottled amenities each month. And YES they do clean and sanitize the items before they are reused and re-purposed. The recycled bath items are used to make hygiene items for others around the world that are in dyer need of such items.
Disney also recycles its mattresses and box springs from Resorts. These items are donated to a local LA non-profit for re-manufacturing. There are many in the community who cannot afford to purchase these items so they go to well deserving homes.
Let us also mention that Disney even gives back to pets. Staff members recycle food scraps from 60 restaurants that is converted into animal feed and can and bottle recycling goes to collect funds for Canine Companions for Independence. Disney makes sure to cover all of its bases when it comes to recycling and re-purposing.
Out of the Park
Now that I have covered what is done within Disney Parks and Resorts let us talk about the other projects they have going on elsewhere on other campuses. Many forget that there are other locations that create the Disney magic. One such one would be the Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. At this location they have been playing with energy efficiency projects that involve fuel cells. They have installed a 1 megawatt fuel cell that will supplement electricity for the entire campus.
International Efforts
I am sure many have seen the Shanghai Disney Resort that debuted in early June. With this new venture Disney adopted a number of new technologies and design elements to enable reduction of its environmental impact, including a leading new technology to supply the resort with heating, cooling and compressed air, which is anticipated to improve the estimated energy efficiency for resort operation by 300 percent and reduce greenhouse emissions generated from resort operations by 60 percent.
So, now that I have covered all of the sustainability efforts I hope that I persuaded you to associate sustainability with the name Disney and not just the cute mouse. If you happen to have ventured into the world of Disney recently and noticed some of these efforts, let us know!
The Disney Company over the last three years has maneuvered itself into a spot where it can be identified as a sustainable tourism leader. Sustainable tourism is defined as, making a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. The Disney Company is working to make strides in climate and energy, ecosystem protection, water conservation as well as waste management. Many of the items listed here are not noticeable to the human eye when you step into a Disney park or a Disney resort, but are being completed in the back lot of the locations by what Disney calls imagineers. Imagineers stands for - combining imagination with engineering.
Thanks to imagineers Disney has paved its way to a 31 percent reduction in emissions from 2012 levels. The companies over arching goal is to reduce net emissions by 50 percent by the year 2020, and is currently on track to meet that target. Now let us dive into some of the items that are helping Disney reach its goal.
Climate & Energy
Disneyland park and resorts have been around since 1955 and have continued to morph throughout the decades. Each year the park continues to reach record breaking attendance with an average of 44,000 people entering its gates everyday. Many may be shocked that the park can hold so many people at one time, but thanks to its 85-acres that size crowd is manageable. With that acreage there are a lot of items that need maintaining that consume energy.Thanks to the imagineers that were previously mentioned maintaining and lowering energy usage becomes a lot easier. Forward thinking on behalf of staff as well as updated technology is keeping Disney at the fore front of sustainability.
Many attractions within the park are ran on cleaner gas resources or reused resources. Such attractions as the Disneyland Railroad steam trains as well as the Mark Twain Riverboat use bio-diesel. That diesel comes from used cooking oil from Resorts that then fuel their steam boilers, which eliminates an average of 150,000 gallons of petroleum diesel per year. Other attractions like lot trams, sailing ships, Rafts to Tom Sawyer Island, Jungle Cruise boats and Main Street USA vehicles run on Cleaner-burning compressed natural gas (CNG). CNG is a readily available alternative to gasoline that's made by compressing natural gas to less than 1% of its volume at standard atmospheric pressure.
On top of cleaner fuels and reused resources Disney also has attractions and rides that create NO EMISSIONS at all. Such rides as the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage submarines as well as the Disneyland Monorail. Thanks to technology and innovation subs can use magnetic coils to propel and the monorail runs completely on electricity. These rides eliminate the use of on average hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel each year.
Water Conservation
Here in California we know all too well about water conservation and recycling after going on year 4 of our historic drought. But Disney goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to conserving. Nearly all the water used at the Disneyland Resort is recycled! Disney has partnered with the Orange County Water District to use their already made one of a kind groundwater replenishment system. With the system already created engineers just needed to create the infrastructure to divert the waste water to the system. In all the project took a period of a few years to build. Thanks to Disney sharing we are actually able to get a quick description of how it all works "Water is released into Orange County’s groundwater aquifer then clean water is drawn from the aquifer by local water agencies and distributed to end-users such as homes and businesses."
It is great to see this type of partnership taking place to make a difference. I bet you wouldn't have know this fun fact about Disney's water if it weren't for this blog posting.
It is great to see this type of partnership taking place to make a difference. I bet you wouldn't have know this fun fact about Disney's water if it weren't for this blog posting.
Waste Management
I am sure when you think of waste management you think of disposal bins that are separated into trash, recycle and compost. Well let me tell you a little something... there is much more to the process than you would imagine. Management of waste consists of generation, prevention, characterization, monitoring, treatment, handling, reuse and residual disposition of solid wastes. After reading that explanation I am sure your saying to yourself...your right I had no idea that all of those items are covered under one umbrella. Disney wants to stress the importance of recycling and waste management that they partnered with Waste Management to put in an interactive exhibit named "Don't Waste It" in INNOVENTIONS at Epcot. At this exhibit you learn of the latest in waste disposal as well as green approached to garbage handling.Resorts at Disneyland have created a partnership with the Clean the World Foundation, Inc. for recycling of bathroom amenities. So far Resorts have donated more than 1,000 pounds of partially used guest room soaps and bottled amenities each month. And YES they do clean and sanitize the items before they are reused and re-purposed. The recycled bath items are used to make hygiene items for others around the world that are in dyer need of such items.
Disney also recycles its mattresses and box springs from Resorts. These items are donated to a local LA non-profit for re-manufacturing. There are many in the community who cannot afford to purchase these items so they go to well deserving homes.
Let us also mention that Disney even gives back to pets. Staff members recycle food scraps from 60 restaurants that is converted into animal feed and can and bottle recycling goes to collect funds for Canine Companions for Independence. Disney makes sure to cover all of its bases when it comes to recycling and re-purposing.
Out of the Park
Now that I have covered what is done within Disney Parks and Resorts let us talk about the other projects they have going on elsewhere on other campuses. Many forget that there are other locations that create the Disney magic. One such one would be the Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. At this location they have been playing with energy efficiency projects that involve fuel cells. They have installed a 1 megawatt fuel cell that will supplement electricity for the entire campus.
International Efforts
I am sure many have seen the Shanghai Disney Resort that debuted in early June. With this new venture Disney adopted a number of new technologies and design elements to enable reduction of its environmental impact, including a leading new technology to supply the resort with heating, cooling and compressed air, which is anticipated to improve the estimated energy efficiency for resort operation by 300 percent and reduce greenhouse emissions generated from resort operations by 60 percent.
So, now that I have covered all of the sustainability efforts I hope that I persuaded you to associate sustainability with the name Disney and not just the cute mouse. If you happen to have ventured into the world of Disney recently and noticed some of these efforts, let us know!
Why We Need Tree Canopies | Part II
Welcome to Part II of "Why We Need Tree Canopies". This portion will go into a bit more depth of CA's current tree situation, benefits of living near green space and what other jurisdictions in the country are doing to mitigate tree loss and increase benefits from expanded tree canopies.
According to a study by the Carnegie Institution for Science, well over 50 million trees throughout California are at risk of dying because of the drought. Furthermore, drought allows bark beetles to thrive, creating more dire conditions for susceptible trees and, as of last spring, the U.S. Forest Services estimated 12 million trees have already died from a mix of both severe drought conditions and this resulting bark beetle infestation. Studies show that the vast majority of the areas affected have been in the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding Central Valley. Governor Brown declared a state of emergency over dying trees and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) have focused efforts to remove dead trees in the SJV to eliminate the area’s vulnerability for fire and wildfire outbreaks.
According to a study by the Carnegie Institution for Science, well over 50 million trees throughout California are at risk of dying because of the drought. Furthermore, drought allows bark beetles to thrive, creating more dire conditions for susceptible trees and, as of last spring, the U.S. Forest Services estimated 12 million trees have already died from a mix of both severe drought conditions and this resulting bark beetle infestation. Studies show that the vast majority of the areas affected have been in the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding Central Valley. Governor Brown declared a state of emergency over dying trees and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) have focused efforts to remove dead trees in the SJV to eliminate the area’s vulnerability for fire and wildfire outbreaks.
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| Tree loss and disease from drought. |
Tree loss results in increased forest fire susceptibility
and severity as well as decreased animal and insect diversity, water resources
and carbon sequestration. This imminent increase in fires, dying trees and
beetle infestations will only continue to produce more carbon emissions,
contributing to poorer air quality and climate change.
While the drought has exacerbated these conditions, an
increased population of well-maintained, native and drought-tolerant trees will
help mitigate some of these issues and provide substantial benefits to
communities that plant these types of trees, increasing the local urban canopy.
The USDA’s
report Effects of Drought on Forests
and Rangelands in the U.S.: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis notes that
while native, drought-resistant plants do require some water and will increase a
community’s necessary allotment, forests, including urban forests, are
naturally resilient and resist effects from drought. Forests also help manage
erosion and water runoff, supply and quality.
The San Joaquin Valley is home to many who both suffer
greatly from asthma and live in poverty. Tree canopies, as previously
mentioned, improve local air quality through CO2 sequestration,
reducing respiratory-related illnesses and deaths. Tree canopies also provide
widespread cooling and temperature control. Tree
Fresno, a local environmental agency, shares the information that open,
cemented areas can be over five degrees Fahrenheit warmer than similar areas
with green space. This causes a reduced quality of life. Community
members are less able to take advantage of outdoor amenities, exercising or
interacting outdoors; people are more likely to suffer from health problems
because of high air-pollution levels and daytime temperatures as well as
minimized nighttime cooling; energy bills are higher due to a great need for
air conditioning; and city resources become more limited.
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| Tree Fresno is the "regional resource for trees, trail and greenbelts". |
To combat these severe results, Tree Fresno has also shown
that a single fully-grown tree can have a net cooling effect of 10 single-room
air conditioners each running for 20 hours a day and that shade reduces UVB
radiation exposure by up to 50 percent. Pacific
Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) shares an emissions factor of 457
pounds CO2 per MWh. This means that 10 500 Watt air conditioning
units running for 20 hours a day is 100 kWh, which is about 45.7 pounds
of kWh-related CO2 avoided with every tree planted.
By providing temperature control, the surrounding community
is more willing and able to take advantage of outdoor activities and services
and less likely to suffer from heat exhaustion and other related illnesses.
Health benefits do not stop here. Environmental
Health Perspectives recently published a Harvard University study
illustrating a link between lower mortality rates as a result from respiratory
illnesses and cancer and living near greenery. Living near greenery decreases
air pollution and allows for more physical activity and social engagement. The
study also found a much lower prevalence of depression in those that lived near
greenery.
Additionally, trees reduce road maintenance costs. The Journal
of Aboriculture shared a field study conducted in Modesto, CA, which showed
that an unshaded street required 6 slurry seals over a period of 30 years and a
tree-shaded street only required 2.5 seals over the same time period. This is a
58 percent reduction. So, let us consider the City of Clovis, which has over
120 Million square feet of roads. If the cost for slurry seals are approximately
$0.66 per square foot, the City could see potential savings of nearly
$80,000,000. Moreover, in its 2014
Regional Transportation Plan, Fresno COG indicated that over $1 Billion
needed to be put towards road operations and maintenance projects. Projects may
be avoided or have reduced costs with an increase in tree-lined streets.
I also must point out that since the San Joaquin Valley suffers from
high unemployment and poverty levels, we need to shed light on the extensive
economic benefits provided by expanded and properly maintained tree canopies.
Trees provide natural and low-cost energy efficiency benefits to homes and
properties protected and shaded by them. Properly placed trees can
reduce cooling costs by 30 percent and can even lower heating costs by up
to 50 percent. Lower utility bills put more money back into the pockets of the
community, which then goes back into the local economy. Tree-lined streets also promote a higher level of business activity and increase
home and property values.
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| Louisville suburb south of Bowman Field |
Louisville,
Kentucky adopted a Tree Canopy Ordinance and has since formed a nonprofit
organization dedicated to expanding the City’s tree canopy. In support of
this effort, the City released a study
that outlined many of these benefits in detail. As of 2015, Louisville’s canopy
covered about 37 percent of the City, which equates to approximately 147 square
miles with nearly 6.2 million trees. This canopy provides the community with
over 67 million kilowatt hours (kWh) and over $5 million in energy savings each
year as well as a $240 million increase in property values citywide. Additional
savings have been reported from nearly 7 million pounds of pollutants and
400,000 tons of CO2 removed from the atmosphere each year and a near
19 billion gallon reduction in storm water runoff each year. The City of
Louisville estimates that $330 million in savings will be seen annually from
just maintaining the current tree canopy. Expanding the canopy will only
increase these savings across all sectors.
Are you impressed by these benefits of tree canopies? Would you like your city to adopt a Tree Canopy Ordinance? Let us know!
Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update
!
Here are your wEEkly updates:
1.
Webinar on Energy Technology Competition 8/28: The U.S. Department of
Energy will present
a live webinar titled “JUMP SIEMENS Call for Innovation” on Friday,
August 26th. The Call is seeking innovative ideas for the use of
personal “smart” devices to interact with public spaces.
2.
Webinar on Hydrogen Infrastructure 8/30: The U.S. Department of Energy
will present
a live webinar titled “International Hydrogen Infrastructure Update”
on Tuesday, August 30th.
3.
Energy Storage Summit 12/7-8: The 2016 U.S. Energy Storage Summit will be
held in San Francisco this December 7th and 8th – and early bird prices for
registration end August 31st! Get
the agenda, more information, and/or register.
4.
CPUC Decision on the EE Rolling Portfolio Now Final: The CA Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC) Proposed Decision Providing Guidance for Initial
Energy Efficiency Rolling Portfolio Business Plan Filings (R.13-11-005) was
voted on this week and was passed. Whether you are developing a business plan
for energy efficiency funds and programs in the coming years, or providing
feedback on one - or simply plan on seeking energy efficiency program funding –
this decision covers a number of topics (Regional Energy Networks, issues by
sector, pay for performance programs, third party and statewide programs,
M&V) that may be of interest. You can access the Proposed
Decision – and its table of contents – here.
5.
Rolling Portfolio Background: Need a refresher on R-13-11-005 and the
rolling portfolio? Check out coverage on this Proceedings,
Decisions, and Legislation page. You can also get involved with
current proceedings through the CA Energy
Efficiency Coordinating Committee. Or, learn how to interpret CPUC
documents and proceedings in this
helpful 101 webinar.
6.
CEC Staff Report on SoCal Electric Reliability: A new CEC staff
report has been made available in preparation for the August
29th workshop on Electric Reliability in Southern California.
7.
New Proposed Energy Storage in SoCal: Southern California’s utilities are
turning to energy storage developers to get battery projects up and running at
a record speed. This week, utilities Southern California Edison and San Diego
Gas & Electric officially asked the California Public Utilities Commission
to approve contracts for more than 50 megawatts’ worth of lithium-ion battery
projects. Learn
more from Greentech Media.
8.
$1.2B in Cap and Trade Proposed by CA Senate: This Wednesday, California’s
State Senate proposed
a series of clean energy funding initiatives totaling $1.2 billion to
address greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector and air
pollution in urban environments.
9.
Connecting Home Buyers with Metrics to Value EE: We’ve seen a
lot of recent studies on how energy efficient homes are worth more;
but, communicating this value has been a challenge, making the market slow to
respond and leaving dollars and energy efficiency opportunities on the table in
our communities. (This is especially unfortunate in low-income households,
since connecting homes energy efficiency can help fight poverty.) This
week, Greentech
Media explores options for creating a easy metric to help home buyers
include the value of energy efficiency in their decision making.
10.
Low-Rise Mandatory Energy Code Measures Summary: The California Energy
Commission (CEC) has just released the 2016
Low-Rise Residential Mandatory Measures Summary – this is a great
document to share with your buildings departments as a resource to help
designers and permit applicants in your jurisdiction comply with the new energy
code.
11.
California ZNE Milestone Achieved: The California Public Utilities
Commission, California Energy Commission, and the New Buildings Institute (NBI)
announced earlier this month California continues the march toward its zero net
energy (ZNE) goals, with 108
new and renovated commercial buildings that have been either verified
as generating as much energy as they consume or are working toward that target.
More on zero
net energy here – or, learn about ZNE
tracking tools.
12.
Waste Collection Zones Reduce GHGs: A new
study of New York City reveals that commercial waste collection zones
may reduce truck traffic and greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste
collection.
13.
New Research on Water and EE: Increased coordination between the water and
energy sectors breaks down traditional silos and paves the way for an
integrative approach to saving energy and water. This week, ACEEE
has released a new summary of water-energy efficiency research and
best practices, The Energy–Water Nexus: Exploring the Stream of Opportunities,
which summarizes past research (see below) and discusses new opportunities,
including joint energy and water utility collaboration.
14.
Job Announcement: MCE is hiring for a Marketing Manager! Learn more here.
15.
RFP Announcement: The City and County of San Francisco Department of the
Environment (SFEnvironment) announces
a Request for Proposals for As Needed Energy Services for the
Department’s energy and climate programs, including energy efficiency,
renewable and alternative energy components, and climate protection
initiatives.
As always,
you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being
added daily on the EECoordinator website –
including past WEEkly Updates.
That’s all for this week!
Why We Need Tree Canopies | Part I
The San Joaquin Valley suffers from urban heat island (UHI)
affect; pavement and other dark-colored surfaces throughout the Valley absorb
sunlight, trapping heat and increasing local temperatures. This adversely
affects local air quality as well as energy efficiency capabilities, energy
consumption, public health, climate resilience, and quality of life, among
other measures. Furthermore, the SJV not only generates its own pollutant
emissions, but is also impacted by transport of pollutants around the Valley
and from the Bay Area. Although air quality in the region is slowly improving, SJV Counties still have
not met federal ambient air quality standards for pollutants such as PM2.5
and PM10 as well as 8-hour ozone.
There is no better (and cheaper!) solution to both increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than protecting and expanding our existing tree canopies and developing additional canopies. In addition, trees provide extensive water, economic and crime reduction benefits to urban areas.
There is a clear need for mitigation policies. Increasing tree growth in parks and making use of open non-green space, such as medians, public streets and plazas, by expanding tree canopies and creating a landscape in which jurisdictions understand how and why urban canopies are so important and beneficial will improve energy efficiency, local temperature and air quality, minimizing adverse effects of greenhouse gas emissions and urban heat island effect.
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| This is an ideal canopy, no? |
Native, drought-tolerant trees will not only thrive in
our region, but also contribute to necessary air quality improvement and
widespread cooling, especially in summer months. Tree canopies sequester CO2,
reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. They are
natural air conditioners, shading and cooling both buildings and streets and
reducing summer temperatures of and, therefore, cooling costs for the entire tree-lined
neighborhood or community. Trees also provide windbreak, reducing heating costs, and absorb sounds, greatly reducing noise pollution.
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| Greater the canopy, greater the benefits. |
Additionally, streets and medians lined with trees require significantly less watering than those with grass. Trees help capture rainfall and
recharge aquifers through filtering water through their roots. This also
contributes to reduced storm water runoff, decreasing potential flooding, storm
water management costs and flow of polluted water.
Drought
conditions shouldn't stop the planting of trees. A lack of tree
canopy will not only negatively contribute to issues such as poor air and water quality, but
the continued loss of trees due to forest fire, bark beetle infestations and
bacterial infections, such as fireblight, will
worsen these effects on the local communities.
There is a clear need for mitigation policies. Increasing tree growth in parks and making use of open non-green space, such as medians, public streets and plazas, by expanding tree canopies and creating a landscape in which jurisdictions understand how and why urban canopies are so important and beneficial will improve energy efficiency, local temperature and air quality, minimizing adverse effects of greenhouse gas emissions and urban heat island effect.
Do you like the sound of this? Stick around for Part II where I will describe benefits in greater detail!
Gas Pump Warning Labels
Big Oil hasn’t had a lot of competition in the past and even
with great advancements and improved technologies in alternative and renewable fuels and vehicles, people
still love their gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs and the lower price tags of regular vehicles.
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| Source: http://grist.org/ |
A retired transportation engineer from Oakland, Jack Fleck,
decided that he could do something about the immunity of oil companies by
placing warning
labels on gas pumps. He likened this to the labels on cigarette packages.
Tobacco companies can still sell their product, but need to warn people of the
harmful effects on both themselves and others. So, Fleck thought, oil
companies must also be upfront about the harmful effects on the
environment when using their product. These labels don’t need to be aggressive;
a purely informational label could work just as well to spread the message.
 |
| Source: http:grist.org |
While these labels might not affect even a small percentage of people and the way they buy cars, it’s a step in the right direction and it will encourage people to contemplate their duty and responsibility to help mitigate climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Big Oil won't stop producing, but we can stop using. Whether we buy an alternative fuel vehicle or simply bike, carpool and use public transportation more, we can make all the difference moving forward. If just 10% of us did this, we could save over 25 million tons of CO2 emissions each year!
There has been a lot of negative backlash on this idea,
including Fox News contributor and political blogger Michelle Malkin going so far as to ask “‘Why don’t they just ban gas
stations?’” Unfortunately, there are lots of people who think this is an
appropriate response – they don’t see or feel the urgency of this issue. Additionally, the oil
companies sponsor political candidates to spread a much less grim picture of
them, thus affecting the thoughts of many Americans on this subject.
Despite this, plans and mock-ups of such labels are being developed in San
Francisco and Vancouver as well as other cities and Fleck is sure that we will start to see them at gas
stations soon. Hopefully they'll get more attention than these parking signs that have been popping up in L.A.
Advanced Transportation RICO Grant Overview
The California Workforce
Investment Board and the California
Energy Commission are working with the California
Labor and Workforce Development Agency to fund the AB 118 Regional Industry
Clusters of Opportunity (RICO) grant program. If you’re unaware of Assembly Bill 118, it
created an ARFV (Alternative and
Renewable Fuel and Vehicle) technologies program that funds innovative fuel
and vehicle technology projects so that California’s climate goals can be met.
I know that was all a mouthful, but consider this: the RICO
grant program will develop and implement ways to strengthen local economies and
build the alternative fuel and vehicle workforce in California.
What does that mean and who cares, you ask? Well, transportation
fuels account for 38% of greenhouse gas emissions in California. So if we build the ARFV
industry, we’ll find cleaner, more efficient ways to transport goods and people.
To design and manufacture these new methods of transportation, we’ll need
skilled engineers, chemists, machinists, salespersons, etc. Hello new, expanded
workforce! And hello stronger economies!
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| Photo Source: http://www.energy.ca.gov/ |
The San Joaquin Valley has been taking charge when it comes
to developing new alternative fuels and new fuel production methods. For
example, an old beet sugar plant in Mendota is making a comeback with a new
output. Instead
of converting sugar beets into various forms of sugar, a team of farmers are
using a state grant to turn beets into ethanol. The demo plant is set to
start production early next year and, if it’s successful, a commercial plant
will follow in 2016-2017. Production at both would use local beets and run all
year long.
The SJVCEO’s role
is to promote and generate focus on this grant program through education and
outreach. Now that we are nearly a year into this grant process, we have found several industry employers all over the Valley interested in our efforts. We launched a CNG Partnership, a Biofuels Partnership and an EV Partnership. While the EV Partnership has had the most success, we are still dedicated to expanding the efforts of all ARFV industry employers throughout the Valley. Our air is so polluted and we contribute to it daily with how much we all individually drive, it has only become necessary to bring alternative and renewable fuels and vehicles to this region.
Keep an eye out for press releases about Partnership meetings and join us! We hope to see you and hear from you about our efforts and how we can expand this industry in the Valley.
Keep an eye out for press releases about Partnership meetings and join us! We hope to see you and hear from you about our efforts and how we can expand this industry in the Valley.
SJVCEO Monthly Update - What Have We Been Up To?
Over the past month our new SJVCEO team has been on the move and pushing forward! Our team members have been learning the new technologies our utility partners are rolling out, gearing up for community events as well as moving forward with some of our grant extensions.
Our team has completed the Energy Insight training with one of our utility partners; PG&E. Energy Insight will allow our team members to have a clear picture of where our energy efficiency projects stand with our outside contractors and PG&E. This database allows our members to follow projects from cradle to grave to make sure our customers are fully satisfied.
Our team has completed the Energy Insight training with one of our utility partners; PG&E. Energy Insight will allow our team members to have a clear picture of where our energy efficiency projects stand with our outside contractors and PG&E. This database allows our members to follow projects from cradle to grave to make sure our customers are fully satisfied.
With
October being energy awareness month we are gearing up for our community
outreach events. These community outreach events allow the SJVCEO team to get
out into the community and show how easy and affordable it is to make energy efficiency
updates. We hope you will stay tuned to the SJVCEO website as well as social media sites, twitter and facebook, for upcoming events.
SJVCEO
along with the other SJV Action Team Members – Fresno State Office of Community
and Economic Development (OCED), San Joaquin Valley Clean Cities Coalition (SJVCCC),
San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD), and the Kern
Community College District (KCCD) – for the Workforce Investment Board Regional
Industry Clusters of Opportunity (WIB RICO) grant have received an extension of
funding to continue supporting and expanding the Alternative and Renewable Fuel
and Vehicle Technology (ARFVT) industry in the Valley. We have created two new
Valley-based Partnerships to support this effort; the CNG Partnership and EV
Partnership have gained interest from dealerships, fueling and charging station
manufacturers and deployment, automotive repair establishments, school
districts, etc. Our goal is to clean up the Valley’s air, cut down on GHG
emissions from transportation, build a more extensive and sustainable network
of alternative fueling stations, and educate the Valley’s residents about the
importance and benefits of owning and/or using a cleaner vehicle.
SJVCEO
is conducting preliminary research on developing a Cool Roof Policy in the
Valley. The Valley suffers from Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, which
contributes to poorer air quality, quality of life, life expectancy, and a
higher demand for cooling capabilities. Introducing a Cool Roof Ordinance could
decrease cooling costs in the summer, improve air quality and decrease number
of health issues related to excessive heat. In addition, a Cool Roof Ordinance
could include measures such as cool playgrounds and parking lots, which would
extend people’s abilities to stay outside and enjoy outdoor activities thus
improving their quality of life in the Valley.
Lastly, SJVCEO is continuously
developing a project tracking database. This database will provide a
centralized location of data from multiple sources including Energy Star Portfolio Manager and the Utilities Program Management. Current plans of the database
will be ready to share at the Local Government Commission for Central California in
Paso Robles on October 10th.
Stay
tuned for next month’s update on what the SJVCEO team has been up to!
Can high GHG offsets make high-speed rail worth it?
Last Wednesday the list serve featured a story from Environment and Energy Daily covering the state's projection that the high-speed rail line will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the first year of full operation. According to the article the line will displace carbon emissions equal to 31,000 vehicles in the first year.
Upon reading that I thought, "that's great!" but I also commented to a coworkers that I have the equivalent to cars, equivalent to trees analogies. As I've shared before I love me some hard numbers! So, for those fellow data geeks here you go:
- 4.5-8.4 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent divert by 2030*
- 27.1-44.9 million tons of displaced carbon emissions by 2050*
Pretty impressive numbers. But, because someone always thinks to ask, what about the emissions that will be generated constructing this line? The plan is that this line will eventually run 800 miles from Sacramento to San Diego, and according a report ordered by state lawmakers the first 29 mile leg is estimated to generate 30,107 metric tons of CO2e. Now, I could call our newest team member, Sarah into the office to work this out for me (she does hold a MS in Applied Mathematics after all) but I think I can run the rough numbers on my own, so lets give this a try, shall we? For ease of my math I'm rounding and saying every mile built produces 1,000 tons CO2e in the process. Given that,
Well then. Even if construction produces double the estimated 800,000 C02e there's still a huge rate of diversion of GHG emissions!
There's a lot of controversy over high-speed rail. Especially in our region, but on the value of GHG emission reduction alone it looks like a pretty good thing. Additionally the state intends to buy renewable power to run the line with an assumed mix of
- 20% solar
- 40% wind
- 35% geothermal
- 5% biogas converted
DISCLAIMER: The SJVCEO has publicly supported high-speed rail in California since 2008.