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Blue Hawaii getting greener every day
By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now
(HONOLULU) – Hawaii has found a new place in the sun. With a local in the White House and clean-energy tech booming, this sunny, windy island state is blossoming into an exotic garden of alternative power innovation with nearly $1 billion in clean energy projects underway. The aggressive new initiatives are driven by history and necessity.
Necessity, because Hawaii gets 90 percent of its energy from imported oil, while its isolation makes it vulnerable to frequent power outages (no neighbors to send in reserves – until wave power is tapped). Not-so-distant history, because native Hawaiian culture is rooted in respect for nature, a vibe that resonates “take no more than is needed and squander nothing that is taken”.
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Tags: · Biofuels, Blue Planet Foundation, Energy Conservation, geothermal power, Hawaii, Hawaii test site for renewable energy, Hickam Air Force Base, hydrogen vehicles, Punahou School, solar collectors, Solar Power, Sopogy, sustainable Hawaii, Wind Power
Ever-greener Seattle leads in LEED buildings, bike trails, climate action
By Harriet Blake
America’s urban centers are becoming ever greener, with the National League of Cities holding its first ever Green Cities Conference last month. While many cities have recently taken up environmental causes, some have been carrying the banner for years.
Seattle, home to such earlier innovations as the 60s Space Needle, Microsoft, and grunge rock, is one such green leader.
In 2008, Seattle was anointed the nation’s leader in LEED-certified buildings by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), culminating an eight-year-old sustainable building policy calling for city-funded projects to be LEED-qualified at the silver level.
Seattle also can boast about its:
- Impressive bike trails system with about 30 trails and 20 bike lanes, making bike commuting commonplace in Seattle, home to the Cascade Bicycle Club, which claims to be the nation’s largest bicycle club
- Community-based home energy efficiency program, called SWITCH, that started last year and has sent neighbors door-to-door with thousands of CFL light bulbs.
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Tags: · Carbon footprint, Climate Change, Climate Protection Initiative, Energy Conservation, global warming, Mayor Greg Nickels, National League of Cities, Seattle, trash reduction, Water Conservation
Church initiative helps congregations believe in renewable power and energy conservation
By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
Congregations of any faith may benefit from joining the nonprofit Interfaith Power & Light initiative. The non-profit group offers members a way to lessen energy costs and at the same time, promote renewable energy.
The IP&L initiative came into effect in 1998 when a coalition of Episcopal churches formed with the support of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. They joined together to purchase renewable energy. In 2001, the group grew into the California Interfaith Power and Light, helping people of all faiths in California organize to promote environmental change and address global warming. Today, under the umbrella group, The Regeneration Project, there is a movement to establish similar programs in all states. Today, 29 states have Interfaith Power and Light organizations.
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Tags: · Churches, Energy Conservation, faith, Interfaith Power & Light, renewable power, The Regeneration Project
Green jobs — Stories of hope
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
With unemployment at a 25-year peak, it’s sometimes difficult to find the good news. The silver lining.
You have to look for it. Sometimes you have to pull up a curtain, or crawl behind the scenes, but we believe it’s there: a green jobs revolution.
OK. Maybe the revolution is more of a restless assemblage, a loose gathering on the horizon than a storming of the palace. But we’ll take it. When we started looking into it, we discovered that green jobs are bubbling up in so many sectors. They’re rewarding, forward-looking and surprisingly well-paying.
The people we’ve been talking to about their planet-preserving employment are beyond enthused. Whether they’re in recycling, home building, organic baking, new energy or water conservation, so many green-collar workers in these new (and some old) jobs see a bright future. Just read their stories, which begin today on GreenRightNow in our Business section.
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Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Energy Conservation, Green jobs, Home/Commercial Building, new energy, Organics, Recycle & Reuse, Water Conservation
Let your local utility help you power down on energy costs
By Harriet Blake
Northerners dread opening up those utility bills this time of year. On the flip side, Southerners hate seeing theirs in summer. The local utility company is their arch nemesis. …Or is it?
 More and more utility companies are working to help customers save money when it comes to energy — even though it’s counter-intuitive because when customers trim their energy bills, utility companies collect less money.
Setting up a less profit-bound system involves a concept called “decoupling,” in which states step in to help the power companies become agents for change. Typically, the state offers incentives to companies to help customers become more energy efficient. When electricity demand falls, the state might replace profits or extend other financial assistance to the power company, thereby “decoupling” the profits from usage.
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Tags: · California Energy Commission, Con-Edison, Department of Energy, Energy Conservation, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Energy Star appliances, Florida Power Light, FPL, Pacific Gas & Electric, TXU Energy
UT Studies Green Roofs: A Cool Growing Idea
By John DeFore
The green roof concept — in which some form of plant is grown atop a building — is spreading in multiple directions in the States. Not just the realm of futurists (though we love this idea) or extravagant fashionistas (see some lovely examples here), the field is drawing interest from homeowners and corporations with a range of motivations.
Now a study by the University of Texas at Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has quantified some of the issues motivating folks to put plants on the roof and found that the benefits are substantial, although results can vary widely depending on how the roof is composed and installed.
At the Wildflower Center, a team led by ecologist Dr. Mark Simmons studied roofs made by six different manufacturers with an eye toward helping the fledgling industry make better performing products. “Just having a green roof may not mean anything in terms of preventing water from reaching the street level, for instance,” Simmons has said. “Green roofs have to be done right, and our hope is to help manufacturers understand how to improve their designs.”
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Tags: · Energy Conservation, Green Roof, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, runoff, University of Texas
Electricity Savings Is Blowing In The Wind
April 18th, 2008 · 1 Comment
By Bill Sullivan
Nancy Riddick leads a visitor to the power meter on the side of her rural home, set on two acres of prairie land in Hunt County, Texas. The mid-April wind is whipping at 30 miles an hour or more, so the timing of this demonstration couldn’t be much better.
Nancy points as the [...]
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Tags: · Energy Conservation, Small Wind Power, Wind Turbines
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