This is the fiftieth issue of my free newsletter. Your feedback is most welcome!
EARTH & US: Energy Independence & Economic Development
What are local governments doing to stop global warming and address the looming need to lower our fossil fuel consumption? At a well-attended conference on "Energy Independence and Economic Development" at Western Carolina University this month, speakers suggested multiple strategies.
The problem: We learned from Ken Maxwell of Progress Energy that electricity heats nearly half (48.8%) of the homes in their service area of 3 million customers. This is unfortunate, since electricity is the least efficient way to heat a home. 95% of homes are air conditioned in summer. The "renewables" which they touted were limited to biomass (bamboo grass in Florida, waste wood burned with coal in North Carolina), and landfill methane. There was no mention of wind or solar power. They plan to continue building new nuclear plants and burning "clean coal"—which the audience clearly opposed. The speaker from the U.S. Department of Energy echoed the nuclear-coal formula with brief mention of alternatively fueled vehicles.
Energy Conservation: The words "low-hanging fruit" were invoked numerous times to describe the savings from energy conservation. Twenty percent of our current energy use can be saved in many areas, while saving money, according to Terry Albrecht of the Land of Sky Waste Reduction Partners (WRP). Since 2000, conservation improvements in Asheville and Buncombe County have decreased municipal energy usage by 45.5 million kilowatt hours per year, with savings of $2.5 million per year. Energy efficient lighting cuts energy use by 26%, more efficient HVAC systems save 35%. The WRP does energy audits which help organizations determine where the greatest energy and cost savers are. He pointed out that nuclear power plants are 7-10 times more expensive than energy efficiency, to say nothing of the safety and health problems.
$600,000 per year was saved by just installing efficient lighting at one plant, according to George Ford. He advocates heating water with natural gas, not electricity, and placing water heaters on timers so they are not heating water all night long. Some HVAC systems are so inefficient that they use both heat and air conditioning at the same time! Energy audits should be done in the winter, to detect problems such as that. Computers should be turned off when not in use to prevent "phantom load."
Transportation: Bill Eaker of the Clean Cities Coalition praised compressed natural gas (CNG) for its low emissions, as well as biodiesel and ethanol. Biodiesel is currently being used by Warren Wilson College, Buncombe County, Progress Energy, Cherokee school buses and transit. NC Department of Transportation will soon use B20 (a 20% biodiesel/80% petroleum diesel blend) statewide. Five new biodiesel pumps are planned for the region. Asheville already has 300 alternative fueled vehicles (AFVs), including electric and CNG; with just 100 more, it will attain "Clean City" designation. They are promoting anti-idling policies for school buses and truck stop electrification so that drivers are not forced to run their motors in order to have heat or air conditioning (or refrigeration for their cargo). Idling trucks use 1 gallon per hour.
Anne Tazewell of NC Solar Center, chair of Triangle Clean Cities, reported that 24 counties in NC fail to attain Air Quality standards, placing 36% of the population at risk. Thirty-four stations now sell biofuels (biodiesel and ethanol blends) and fifteen sell CNG. In 2005, 1.5 million gallons of pure biodiesel was sold (mostly in blends, and mainly sold to local and sate governments). 5 million gallons of ethanol, mostly E10 (10% ethanol) were sold. B100 (pure biodiesel) decreases CO2 by 78%, compared to diesel fuel. E85 (85% ethanol) decreases CO2 emissions by 30%. Some electric vehicles now can go up to 130 miles per charge. UNC-Charlotte is now using small electric "plug-in" vehicles; 15 of these are expected to yield a savings of $158,000 over their 8-year lifetime. Plug-in kits for hybrid vehicles can now boost their electrical capacity by 7 times! The Honda CNG car has practically zero emissions, and can be refueled at home. CNG costs a dollar less than diesel fuel.
NC Green Power is the first statewide multi-utility green power program, involving 38 electric utilities. They sell consumers "blocks" of 100 kwh; residential users pay $4 per block, while businesses pay $2.50 per block but must buy a minimum of 100 blocks. These funds are then invested in solar, wind, biomass, and small hydro-electric plants. One block offsets 972 pounds of coal per year, resulting in decreasing CO2 by 2497 pounds yearly. Solar is the most expensive, at 18 cents per kwh. There are only three small wind projects statewide, 20 photovoltaic projects, one wood waste, and several methane.
Green Energy Park on Landfill: One of the most passionate speakers was Timm Muth, who is involved in creating a green energy park on a small landfill in Dillsboro using methane, currently 40 cubic feet/minute. The methane will be used by 6 potters, 4 glass-blowers, 2 blacksmiths, and support staff, creating up to 25 jobs. Rather than simply using the methane to generate electricity, this will provide a local business incubator. Future plans include reclamation of waste heat, and canola seed crushing for biodiesel; canola is easily grown as a winter cover crop and yields 100 gallons of oil per acre, while the crushed meal is usable as animal feed. When the methane is all gone, they plan to build waste digesters to make their own.
Policy changes needed: Ivan Urlaub of NC Sustainable Energy Association decried the 19 new nuclear power plant proposals in the U.S. The good news is that between 2005 and 2006, there has been a 25% increase in renewable energy in the U.S. (24 gigawatts), with another 49 GW in the planning stages. 54 more GW of renewables will be required by 2020. "Currently, 66% of our energy is LOST due to inefficiency--even compact fluorescent bulbs are only 8% efficient, and incandescents are about 2% efficient," he reported. To illustrate how far we have to go, he pointed out that California uses half the electricity per person that NC does! The Southeast emits over 500 million tons of CO2 per year. NC alone is the 24th biggest CO2 emitter in the world; 9 of the 30 largest emitters are southeastern states. He pointed out the need for Renewables Portfolio Standards, which are unknown in the southeast but common in other states like California. To overcome barriers to the policy changes necessary, he advocates pilot programs, incentives, and replications of models working elsewhere. Benefits of such programs will include improved worker health and productivity and job creation.
"North Carolina imports all our fuel, spending $10-$15 billion per year," said Larry Shirley of the NC State Energy Office. He spoke of the need for state and local governments and universities to lead by example. There is a potential of 2500 MW of wind power in the mountains of western NC. He estimated 1800 MW worth of biomass from forest, agriculture, and landfill. Daylighting schools can cut 50% of their electrical bills. He also advocated solar hot water and passive solar buildings, and green buildings which exceed the energy code standards. For the cost of one nuclear power plant, 400,000 solar hot water systems could be installed.
"We need to create economic incentives for energy efficiency," Avram Friedman of the Canary Coalition (a clean air advocacy group) pointed out. Electric rates need to be restructured to reward conservers instead of large users, perhaps by having a threshold rate and then charging higher prices above the threshold. Utilities do not have a mandate to address the environment, or our health; they can’t make money on conservation.
What’s Missing?
According to many scientists, we have at most ten years to act in order to reverse global warming and meet the challenge of declining fossil fuel stocks. Alisa Gravitz, editor of Co-op America
Quarterly, writes: "We have to move at a scale that is astounding—across all sectors of the economy from buildings to transportation to agriculture. We need to rapidly scale up all forms of energy efficiency and safe, renewable, non-carbon energy…in solar energy alone, we need to scale from installing 1,000 megawatts a year to 1,000 megawatts a day, in less than ten years." We already have the knowledge and the technology, but do we have the will?
The early effects of the global climate crisis are striking "third world" countries in the form of scarce water supplies and crop failures in some areas, flooding in others. In some South Pacific islands, the sea has already risen 60 meters and fresh water is becoming saline. The Quechua, an indigenous Amazon people of Ecuador, are suffering from water scarcity. Bangladesh faces the flooding of 10% of their land within years. And while the world’s poor suffer most, we—the richest country, with 6% of the globe’s population—are producing 25% of carbon emissions, with no commitment even to the very minimal Kyoto protocols.
The Carbon Mitigation Initiative (Princeton University) calls for doubling the fuel economy of the world’s cars, decreasing car travel to 5,000 miles per year, increasing wind power capacity 50-fold, and installing 700 times the current capacity for solar electricity. They want carbon emissions reduced by one-fourth in buildings and appliances, a halt to deforestation, and a doubling in forest planting. There are bills in Congress, submitted by Rep. Henry Waxman and Senators Jim Jeffords and Barbara Boxer, that would require phased reductions of global warming emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by mid-century.
And yet, just a handful of windmills are being planned for North Carolina. No subsidies for solar electricity were proposed. In the hugely consuming area of transportation, no mention was made of mass transit, car-sharing schemes, van-pooling, or commuter shuttles.
By contrast, take a look at the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan. Kinsale, Ireland is a village of about 7,000 people who have devised a plan for dealing with the twin threats of climate change and declining fossil fuel, in a detailed plan that takes them to 2021. Best of all, they are beginning to implement some of these action steps! See the website: www.transitionculture.org.
Postscript: Changing Travel Plans to Cut Carbon Emissions
I did a little research and found out that buses produce from one-half to one-fifth as much greenhouse gas emissions as jet planes, per passenger mile. So I am taking the bus up to visit my family for Thanksgiving!
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Cathy Holt
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there's a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the words 'each other,' have no meaning."
- Rumi
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