The future is green
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Don’t Mess with Mother Nature
Nov 4th
To anyone who has been following what climate scientists have been predicting for years, the superstorm that devastated the Eastern seaboard this past week was no surprise, unfortunately. It’s exactly what the models said would happen, and now, is happening.
This doesn’t make me feel proud, happy or smarter than anyone else. It does make me feel a bit sad and forlorn but also hopeful that maybe, just maybe, America will finally wake-up to face this challenge.
It’s not going to get any better. Already, another storm is brewing. With the Atlantic five degrees warmer than normal in some areas, storms can now become super-sized to cause more destruction than they would have otherwise. Combine that potential power with the ever-increasing rising of the seas due to the Arctic ice melt, and it’s a recipe for a never-ending series of disasters like Hurricane Sandy, one worse than the next.
The message can’t be any clearer — don’t mess with Mother Nature. She can be ruthless enough without humanity’s help, so there’s no reason to make her wrath worse. But that’s what the carbon and other greenhouses gases we are still pouring into our atmosphere each day are inviting.
But even in Sandy’s aftermath, we are still facing the same three obstacles to meeting these climate change challenges:
Fossil Fuel Money – As climate change activist and author Bill McKibben so brilliantly pointed out recently, companies and even entire economies have already heavily leveraged the massive oil, coal and gas reserves that are still in the ground but will destroy us if they see the light of day. This “bank” of fossil fuel money exerts a huge force on government to allow the release of that carbon into the atmosphere in the next few years. It waits for us like a junkie’s last hit that may finish us off.
Fear of Drastic Lifestyle Changes and Deprivation – Most people who still deny the fact of global warming do so because they don’t see any alternative to the relatively cheap and plentiful fossil fuels to run our civilization. Let’s be clear — no one, including me, wants to suffer in the dark and cold with no modern amenities. But let’s face it, that is currently the way many New Yorkers are living at this moment, and that scenario may become the norm for all of us if Mother Nature’s abnormal strength continues to grow like some hitter on steroids. These folks don’t trust in the innovation engine of American capitalism to find a replacement for fossil fuels. Personally, I just can’t believe in this era of technological wonders that we can’t get renewable forms of energy up to speed in efficiency, cost and ubiquity to make a real and immediate difference if we wanted them to.
The Enemy Is Us – Americans like a clear-cut bad guy to fight. We had no problem spending untold trillions on defense during the years of the Cold War in our face-off against the USSR, and the same goes for domestic security and foreign wars to ostensibly fight terrorism in the wake of 9-11. But the bad guy in climate change, sad to say, is me and you. America has been by far the undisputed leader in spewing CO2 by large margins for decades until China, in trying to emulate our standard our living, recently surpassed us. WE are the ones who caused the worst of the explosion of greenhouse gases, and WE are the ones best equipped to finding solutions that will halt and reverse the course we and the rest of the industrialized world are on.
The only good news about Sandy is that the death toll was relatively low. But still too many people, especially the most vulnerable in our society — the poor, the aged and children — are suffering. To a longtime believer in climate science, this was all so avoidable. Now people, especially Americans, have to look deep into their souls and see what should be readily understood.
We created a problem and now it’s time for us to fix it.
Switching to Renewables Takes Work
May 18th
ReTechnology Engineering COO Shoshanna Gungur and CEO Mark Anderson talk with OC Renewables attendee Brian Yanity.
You’ve got to give a lot of credit to guys like Mark Anderson, CEO of ReTechnology Engineering in Carlsbad, Calif.
While many environmentalists wring their hands over the state of the world, Anderson is a businessman first and foremost who likes to get things done.
That’s the impression one got loud and clear at his presentation last week at the monthly meeting of the OC Renewables Society.
Anderson’s company focuses on developing utility-scale solar and other renewable energy projects in what were once called “Third World” countries, bringing cheap and clean energy to remote places and serving a market that the larger construction firms generally ignore.
It’s no business for the feint of heart. But Mark maintains that successful renewable energy projects are all about sticking to basic business principles that keep costs under control.
In Anderson’s business, that’s not always an easy proposition. In addition to the usual headaches associated with any major construction project, ReTech must also deal with relatively new and untested technology, at least at the utility scale, and working in different cultures with its own languages, regulations and customs.
“You can’t believe how many holidays there are when you’re working with different cultures,” he said with a laugh.
Anderson said every utility-scale solar customer wants the same thing — the most megawatts possible on the smallest piece of land with minimal capital expenses. While a 5-megawatt solar project may cost upwards of $20 million, it’s not uncommon for that price tag to more than double due to unforeseen complications.
He shared some of the lessons he has learned in keeping costs down, including:
- Pre-qualify bidders so you don’t waste their time or yours
- If you have a multicultural workforce, do team-building exercises early on to encourage cooperation
- Ensure there are detailed RFPs, design specs and statements of work to avoid misunderstandings down the line
- Research and make sure you meet all local regulations (California has some of the toughest so that makes things easier for Cali-based firms like ReTech)
- Procure major equipment early because delivery times can sometimes be 18 months or longer
When asked about the recent negative news regarding the solar industry, Anderson shrugged his shoulders.
“The failure of Solyndra had nothing to do with the cost of a project,” Anderson said. “It’s not rocket science to build renewable energy projects. It’s just that we haven’t built a lot of them yet. Planning ahead is key.”
A Day at the (Green) Fair
May 27th
As the green blogosphere was buzzing last week about Joel Makeower’s article declaring green marketing is over (at least to consumers), I made my way down to the Santa Ana Civic Center to get a read on the ground at the second annual County of Orange Green Fair 2011.
What I found gave me reason for optimism, seeing vendors from a broad spectrum of green companies enthusiastically pitching their wares.
Solar was out in force with such firms as American Solar Direct and Home Depot making their case to attendees. As I’ve noted before, solar salespeople are looking for homeowners with a monthly electric bill of around $200 to make switching to solar cost-effective.
Simpler but effective solar products were available, too, including SolaTube that brings daylight from the roof into your home or business, reducing the need for electric light. There was also a solar-powered attic fan that reduces the temperature of your attic and, by extension, your air-conditioning bill as well.
All Green Electronics was on-hand to talk about its free e-waste removal for homes and businesses as well as its electronics recycling fundraising events for schools and charities. Sounded like a triple win to me.
There were several green business-to-business firms, including Miles Electric Vehicles which leases low-speed EV fleets to universities and corporations for use by staff at large campuses. Also, a company called Braille Signs, Inc. (BSI) was touting its LED lights as less toxic and generally brighter than the compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) commonly used today to reduce energy use.
Academia was represented as well with Cal State Fullerton promoting its Professional Development Sustainability Programs including those focused on green building, green data centers and green HVAC design. Irvine Valley College was providing information on classes leading to the Professional Certification in Resource Management to help students get their start in a green career.
In a unique combination of sustainability and cause marketing, Toshiba copiers was on hand to tout its ”Zero Waste to Landfill” program. Toshiba makes it easy for its customers to recycle their spent printer cartridges from any manufacturer by providing free packaging and shipping.
According to Tom Walter, director, aftermarket sales, marketing and operations for Toshiba America Business Solutions (TABS), the cartridges are then used to created “eLumber,” a patented composite product by Toshiba’s recycler Close the Loop used to build structures for local communities and non-profit organizations. Many of Toshiba’s recycled cartridges have been used to create park benches, fences and garden boxes for its non-profit partner Habitat for Humanity. See the photo above. Amazing.
So all in all, if we look at the American Marketing Association’s definition of marketing — “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large” — I think you have to say green marketing is alive and well.
I do believe, though, that green marketers need to get down to the customer level more often to discern what makes them tick — their motivations, desires and needs large and small.
That is why in my next Green Asteroid blog post and future ones, I will be speaking with customers of green products and services as often as I can to see if we can scrub some turpentine off the greenwash and discover what the true benefits and features customers are seeking and getting, or not.
I look forward to your suggestions and participation.
The Green Cowboys
May 12th
Green needs a macho makeover.
Forget the entrenched fossil fuel lobby and their money for lawmakers and other influence. I think the main reason America hasn’t wholeheartedly embraced a sustainable society yet is cultural — we just don’t consider it manly enough.
In a continuing legacy from our frontier heritage, the American cultural ideal is the cowboy — tough, resilient and fiercely independent. It’s a man of few words who is sometimes pushed by circumstances to kill the bad guys and/or destroy everything in his path. He doesn’t want to resort to violence, but he will if that’s what it takes to protect the larger community.
Think of John Wayne in “The Searchers,” or just about any Clint Eastwood movie. These guys don’t mess around (though many have a fatalistic sense of humor like Bruce Willis in the “Diehard” movies). They see an evil or danger to society and they eradicate it. America likes a man of action. It’s one of the reasons Obama’s poll numbers climbed among all demographics and party affiliation after bin Laden was killed.
But how does this cowboy ideal translate into confronting the dangers of global climate change for instance? It doesn’t easily. Climate change is slow and diffuse — it’s not a killer roaming the town. Climate change undermines our frontier assumption that we can take and use what we want when we want as much as we want for as long as we want it. Solving climate change means taking a long, hard road of transformation rather than one simple act of heroism. Climate change also means possibly confronting who the real villains may be, unwitting or not.
Greening society is dangerously close to nurturing, and that just doesn’t capture the popular imagination in a culture steeped in macho cowboy mythology. But I think the answer may lie in the testosterone flipside of nurturing — protection. Because what all those Westerns were really showing was a lone hero bent on finding a way — any way — to protect his family, his friends, his community.
Now accept my submission for a replacement icon for today’s sustainable frontier — the green cowboy. We need to rally behind the men and women who are re-shaping our world to keep it inhabitable for generations to come. People taking extraordinary measures using only their wits and determination to come up with new and better ways of doing things, from clean energy to recycling to sustainable buildings.
When you take a step back and watch these environmental heroes at work, it really is a glorious thing to behold. They are everywhere, and working in your city and your neighborhood right now. You may be one of them. They do it because they know it’s the right thing to do. And they won’t be deterred. Like the indomitable heroes of the old West, they will find a way.
Solar Comes a-Knocking
May 6th
Like the Fuller Brush man and the encyclopedia salesman of years past, solar power has joined the ranks of products being peddled door-to-door.
Recently, a representative from American Solar Direct (ASD) knocked on mine. But unlike most every other door-to-door sales pitch, and likely to the surprise of the salesman himself, I was very interested in hearing him out. In fact, as I peppered him with questions, I probably wore out my welcome with him.
Once the salesman, who I’ll call Joshua (he asked me not to use his real name but approved the use of his photo), told me he was selling solar, I relaxed the usual sales defensive posture. And the pitch was interesting. ASD will plan, install and maintain solar panels on your roof to create all the electricity you may need for the foreseeable future at “no additional cost” to the homeowner.
Sounded great. The only catch is that your monthly electricity bill must be around $200 for the program to make financial sense. Essentially, that money that would’ve gone to Edison for your electricity would go to ASD.
How does ASD make its money? I asked. Joshua said that the company takes advantage of all the rebates and incentives that a homeowner receives from federal and state programs when solar panels are added to the home. The company also sells back any additional electricity produced by the solar panels that goes unused by the homeowner back to Edison.
Besides doing your part for the planet with no upfront costs or additional outlay of cash, Joshua said solar-powered homes tend to increase their equity over the years. When you sell your house, that $200 monthly bill is then transferred to the new owner as part of the sale.
All well and good. I’ve been interested in adding solar to our home for some time, and this seemed to offer a risk-free way to do it. The only problem is our monthly electricity bill averages about $60 a month. We may have one month where we come anywhere close to $200 – generally during the dog days of August when we’re using the air conditioner.
I was surprised to hear Joshua say our neighbors had expressed interest in the program. I had to think it was nearby neighborhoods with larger homes than ours because we reside in the largest model in our tract. I couldn’t imagine other families using triple our electrical power each month to meet the $200 minimum.
Here’s where the rubber meets the road in green marketing, I thought. No matter how green someone may consider themselves, it has to make financial sense to implement a greener way of doing things. Only the wealthy with green leanings or those with the right electricity bills would be able to take advantage of the deal he presented. Most families have to consider other priorities such as monthly bills and putting away money for a child’s college education or retirement. If it was simply a break-even proposition with enhanced home equity and green street cred, I might’ve gone for it (after some discussions with the wife and some additional due diligence, of course).
Yet still it warmed my green heart to see something as once foreign to the American daily experience as solar go mainstream with door-to-door salespeople now pushing it. From all reports, solar is soaring and will continue to well into the future. At some point soon, I hope, it will make financial sense for my family.
Joshua did a great job answering my questions and, to his credit, never pushed after I told him our electric bill didn’t match the baseline for going forward. I thought later, though, that as electric cars become more ubiquitous, it might make a lot more sense.
Imagine “re-fueling” your car every night and powering your home with solar panels. Just the satisfaction of never stopping at another gas station in your life would be well worth it, especially as the price of gas edges toward $5 a gallon.
Powering your home and car while benefiting both the environment and your wallet? To paraphrase “The Godfather,” that’s an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Nissan Gets a ’10′ for ‘Zero’ Ad
Apr 26th
I saw this commercial for the new all-electric Nissan Leaf on TV recently and was blown away.
It comes across like a short by a talented film school student with a Greenpeace agenda, then ends on making a pitch for both humanity and a car. Not an easy thing to do, but it works.
Traditional marketing tells us that consumers only buy products to meet their personal needs and desires. But they’ve overlooked the strong altruistic streak that runs through the race. In other words, people can be as motivated by helping others as they can by helping themselves. We wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have without it.
The Nissan Leaf ad turns the traditional marketing focus on its head by boldly asking us to consider what “zero” pollutants can do for the planet and the children yet to be born. (If it sounds familiar, that is the voice of “Ironman” actor Robert Downey, Jr.)
There’s a lot of subtleties going on as well, which makes the ad all that more captivating and memorable. Sprinkled amid the powerful images of nature is a child’s alphabet block and bicycle, as well as a recycling can. Images of food and water are featured as well, tying a healthy natural world to our ability to subsist.
When Downey says, “Imagine zero dependency on foreign oil,” there’s a quick cut to a $10 bill. When he refers to zero pollutants in our environment, the uglier images of gas and oil are shown. A frog raises his eye when zero depletion of the ozone is mentioned, which has been tied to the disappearance of frog populations around the world.
Things get even more pointed with images of a melted iceberg and a terrifying-looking, massive, swirling hurricane seen from above. After several more images, the ad transitions to the belly shot of a very pregnant woman.
You get it. The preciousness and precariousness of life, the dependence of humans upon a functioning natural world. And then the money shot, literally. A gas pump meter going backwards and the last “zero” or circle – the round electric plug being removed from a Leaf.
“Innovation for the planet, innovation for all,” Downey says.
This is sophisticated green marketing, and a milestone as well. Congrats to ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day for the work.
California Greening
Apr 22nd
There is good news in California this joint Good Friday and Earth Day: California keeps zipping along the path of greater economic prosperity and a clean future for our kids.
We were doing well under Governor Schwarzenegger with his support of AB23, the most aggressive climate law of any state, and to his credit he gave a spirited and winning defense of the law during the last election as the failed Proposition 23 tried to take it off the books. Schwarzenegger also wrote a great article on the topic of a greener California in his last days as governor.
Now, things are speeding up even more under Gov. Brown.
This week Brown signed Senate Bill 2X that will increase California’s use of renewable energy to a third by 2020. State Senator Joe Simitian of Palos Verdes worked long and hard to get this bill passed and I will let him do the crowing:
While a new Congress covers its ears and shuts its eyes to global warming, power-plant pollution and turmoil in the oil markets, California has seized the national leadership in clean and sustainable energy by committing itself to obtain 33 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.
On Tuesday, when Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 2X, a longstanding goal became law. It is essential to address climate change, reduce air pollution, diversify our sources of energy and stimulate the economy. And it is readily achievable.
As any energy wonk in Europe or China would tell you, Simitian knows this law is important not only for reducing carbon but for increasing investment in the state:
SunPower CEO Tom Werner, at whose brand new solar manufacturing plant in Milpitas Governor Brown signed the bill, said the new plant is a direct result of the commitment the 33% mandate represents. Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of the Independent Energy Producers Association, has said that his members have billions of dollars invested in biomass, solar, wind and geothermal generation, and that they are looking to expand here in California.
And Brown has set the bar even higher. After signing California’s new renewable energy requirements into law , Brown sent a letter to California’s legislators stating that he wants to see higher commitments to renewables:
While reaching a 33 percent renewables portfolio standard will be an important milestone, it is really just a starting point—a floor, not a ceiling. With the amount of renewable resources coming on-line, and prices dropping, I think 40 percent, at reasonable cost, is well within our grasp in the near future.
With the BP Gulf oil spill still fresh in everyone’s minds, and the ongoing struggles to contain the Fukushima nuclear disaster in the news for the foreseeable future, renewables are getting more attention than ever before from investors, governments, utlities and consumers. In fact, according to Forbes, solar is now the fastest-growing industry in the country!
So while some still fight tooth and nail for the Old Energy Economy, the New Energy Economy is taking shape here in California. With any luck, California’s success will be an example to the rest of the country that clean energy is not only doable, it’s essential for the long-term health and viability of the nation’s economy.
(Photo courtesy of Associated Press.)
Fukushima and Murphy’s Law
Apr 14th
There’s no way to sugercoat it — Japan’s nuclear nightmare is depressing as hell.
While the media gives most of its attention to bombing campaigns in Libya, Fukushima plays out like a train wreck in slow motion.
The news regarding the nuclear plant from the past few weeks since Japan’s terrible earthquake and resulting tsunami cuts like a knife with each revelation — cooling system failures, hydrogen explosions, possibly exposed uranium rods, radiation leaks, evacuations, fire hoses and helicopter water dumps, the brave and selfless Fukushima 50, radiated vegetables, babies unable to drink tap water in Tokyo, radiated ocean water, paper and sawdust dumps…
And then the news that I already suspected weeks ago — Japan raised the level of the disaster to 7, equal to Chernobyl this past Monday. And we aren’t out of the woods yet.
Where do we go from here?
First, my thoughts and prayers go to the Japanese people during this terrible time. I encourage everyone to help any way they can.
Second, let us hope that the plant operators at Fukushima with help from the Japanese government and outside experts can somehow contain this monster in the very near future.
Third, despite what I believe are the best attempts by the plant’s operators to down-play this disaster, it’s obvious to me from the desperate solutions being tried that we are in unchartered territory here and a much worse situation, God forbid, could still be around the corner.
Fourth, it’s not too early to start a global discussion on what we can and should learn from Fukushima.
One of my first reactions was this: if the only nation on Earth to ever experience the horrors of nuclear weaponry and that also boasts some of the best technological minds in the world can’t handle nuclear power safely, what does that say about the future of the nuclear industry?
I’ve read the rationales that they built Fukushima wrong, or that the latest nuclear technologies are exponentially safer. But the problem with nuclear is Murphy’s law: what can go wrong will go wrong at some point in time. And nuclear power’s worst-case scenarios can be really bad, with the ability to poison vast swaths of land and sea and humanity for generations.
That’s a huge downside that alternative energy industries such as solar and wind just don’t have. And while coal and oil extraction have their environmental risks (exhibit A: the BP Gulf spill), they can’t conceivably rise to the long-term environmental destruction a malfunctioning nuclear plant can cause.
If somehow the nuclear industry survives this monumental public relations disaster, Fukushima may make nuclear power economically unfeasible due to new safety requirements that will inevitably be enacted for any plants slated for construction.
If there’s any positive news it’s that the renewable energy industry is now front and center in the eyes of investors as the only viable alternative to the fossil fuel industry and nuclear power. It’s an extremely tall order but encouraging signs continue that we are on the path to an era of clean, safe energy.
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Hard Numbers: 150 and 350
Dec 16th
I hate to burst the bubble of any of you young folks out there, but there comes a time in life that you actually start to come up against some limitations.
These brick walls of reality involve more than just the fact that you never going to be a rock star or professional athlete. Sometimes they involve life itself.
Case in point: blood cholesterol. There are medical experts who claim that the only way you can reliably halt or prevent heart disease (and likely a host of other modern maladies) is to keep your total blood cholesterol below 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
Now, if you know anything about cholesterol, that’s a mighty tall order to fill. The average American’s blood cholesterol is 200 mg/dL. That’s the average. Unfortunately, my family is filled with skinny guys with terrible cholesterol. On top of that, none of us seem able to take the popular statin drugs like Lipitor that reduce cholesterol.
What to do? Well, in October my brother sent me a book by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. titled Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. In it, this former surgeon and researcher at the Cleveland Clinic shares his conclusion that the Western diet is responsible for most if not all the heart disease we suffer from. He makes a very good case, showing studies how the disease is nearly non-existent in places that eat a low-fat, no oils, plant-based diet. Then he provides numerous recipes and plenty of tips how you can eat like that as well.
My brother was on the good doctor’s diet for a month and reduced his cholesterol from 245 to 133 mg/dL. Amazing. I got on board as well and have been at it for five weeks. I aim to keep going until my regular check-up in February and see where I stand.
What I’ve found on this diet is that I’ve had to be resourceful, creative, persistent and full of initiative to meet the 150 number. I’ve discovered things I hate about it (shopping and constant food prep) and some things I liked (looking and feeling younger by the day).
In any case, it’s the reality of my situation. Which brings me to the environment.
Like the many doctors who claim 150 is the limit for cholesterol in the bloodstream, there are many climate scientists who believe 350 is the highest number of parts per million (ppm) of CO2 allowable in the atmosphere to maintain a climate similar to the one humans evolved and thrived under. We are currently at 388 and climbing.
Again, a hard number to reckon with. But while many governments dither and the population looks for simple answers, most of the largest companies on the planet have accepted this reality and are rapidly looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
Why? Companies are competitive creatures as well as survivalists. They’ve seen the writing on the wall and know that in 10 years EVERY company will be judged by their customers and legislators by how well they are treating their environment. They want to get a head start on self-preservation, as well look for profit opportunities in reducing waste, implementing more efficient processes and helping other companies do the same by selling them their eco-friendlier products and services. Of course, the public perception pay off is always nice as well.
Hard realities. Inventive, energetic responses. Isn’t this the essence of life?
‘Sub-Nationals’ like California Leading the Way on Clean Energy
Dec 7th
Sometimes it just feels good to live in California.
I love the fact that Californians rejected Proposition 23 earlier last month that would have set back the most forward-looking framework to stop climate change of any state in the union.
Then our lame-duck Gov. Schwarzenegger writes a gem of a blog post. For one of the few times in my life, I can say I agree with every word a public figure has written. And a politician no less.
After first pointing to the failed climate talks in Copenhagen, the Governator rightly points with pride at California’s rejection of Proposition 23 by an impressive 22-point margin. It was obvious, as the Governor says, that Californians voted to send a clear message that we don’t want a dirty energy future. We want a clean one utilizing the latest home-grown technologies that creates new businesses and jobs.
Then the Governor uses a term I haven’t seen before – “sub-national” – to describe the power and influence of regions like California when things are stymied at the national level. As he says in his blog post:
“…as the world’s eighth largest economy, California’s size and global presence has the clout to shape environmental change around the world. We may only be a little spot on the planet, but California, as a bellwether state and outpost of innovation, has the influence of an entire continent.”
He’s right on the money. What I didn’t realize is that the Governor helped to spearhead a “sub-national public-private alliance that will work toward climate change solutions and building the global green economy” called R20 — Regions of Climate Action. As the press release from their recent gathering says, R20 is a global coalition of sub-national governments and private and nongovernment partners committed to “fast tracking the development of clean technologies, climate-resilient projects and green investment, and influencing national and international policies.”
I like it. Especially because it is actually happening. In this era, whether we realize it or not, all of us are spectators to a fight to the finish between the old fossil fuel industry and a young clean-energy industry. While many national governments have reacting cautiously to this grudge match, smaller government entities with big influence have made their choice which industry is the right one to back.
So while the rest of the country seems to have re-embraced the old fossil fuel crowd for now, California is going it alone. Proud to be living here.
(Photo courtesy of California Energy Commission)
