the green skeptic

The Wal*Mart Game-Changer: How Green is Your Sustainability?

2009-07-14T09:10:00.001-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if anyone can make the transition to the new green economy work, it is Wal-Mart.

Oh, some argue that they are the evil empire, with their huge building footprint and their aisles upon aisles of cheap, sometimes useless stuff.

Others will ask, why don't they treat their workers better or their small business competition?

But no one can argue that the latest move by the bargain-dealing superstore isn't a game-changer: Wal-Mart is launching a Sustainability Index.

A Sustainability Index? That's right. Wal-Mart plans to track and rate the life-cycle of every product it sells in its stores and list the results on the shelf.

According to an article by Marc Gunther on Slate's The Big Money, Wal-Mart has been working with a consortium of consumer-goods manufacturers and universities to develop this index.

Wal-Mart's new CEO Mike Duke will unveil the Index this Thursday, July 16, at the company’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Measuring sustainability all up and down a product's chain is tough, especially if you factor in "people and communities" to the index, as Gunther reports is Wal-Mart's intention. But if anyone can do it the Bentonville Behemoth is probably up to the task.

Kudos to Wal-Mart for taking this next step. Let's hope it works and really changes the game.

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G-8 vows to cut emissions, but developing nations want more

2009-07-09T08:30:00.012-05:00

Perhaps it was the smiling French President Nicolas Sarkozy reaching out to grab Mr. Obama's arm, as if he'd just told the best joke the Frenchman had heard from an American since Jerry Lewis.

Or perhaps it was the beaming German Chancellor Frau Merkel giving an appreciative glance at the charismatic American president.

Or maybe it was British Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling the G-8's non-binding agreement "historic" and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pointing to "a clear step forward."

I couldn't help wondering whether the G-8 summit in the central Italian city of L'Aquila wasn't a well-orchestrated jab at the previous US administration and its resistance to 80 percent reductions. It all felt a little cloying.

At the end of the day, the US and other G-8 nations have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent or more by 2050, and agreed that global temperatures need to be prevented from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Of course, not everyone was happy with the agreement. Both environmentalists and developing nations took issue.

While environmentalists welcome the shift in US policy, they are critical of the big industrial emitters' failure to agree on more immediate goals. Developing nations feel that complying with major reductions will hamper their economic growth and keep their people in poverty.

According to sources close to the situation, representatives of developing nations, such as China, India, and Brazil still feel those who have benefited from 100-plus years of unbridled development should do more.

In other words, the burden of emissions reduction should be on those who created the problem, not on those who are struggling to catch up.

There is no question that China and India will be a major force in the upcoming negotiations. They have much at stake: both are still heavily reliant on coal to fuel their economies, but both also seem to be serious about investing in alternative energy development.

China and India seem to be serious about developing a low-carbon economy -- or at least seizing a large share of the market.

Last month, Zhang Xiaoqiang the vice-chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said that China wants to produce one-fifth of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

According to Lou Schwartz, of China Strategies LLC, the Chinese will spend over 3 trillion Yuan (roughly US$462 billion) on alternative energy development in the next decade. This includes 100,000 MW of installed wind power capacity by 2020.

Meanwhile, in a visit to the Solar Energy Centre in Gurgaon last month, Indian Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, pledged that "new and renewable energy will increasingly play a larger role in meeting the development aspirations of a growing economy like India."

The US and other G-8 countries need to take notice, listen to the concerns of developing nations and do more to enable those countries leapfrog dirty technologies, while doing more at home to facilitate their own swift transition.

Culitvating Innovation: Vote for Best Rural Solutions on Changemakers

2009-07-03T09:37:00.011-05:00

Ashoka's Changemakers announced the top ten finalists in their "Cultivating Innovation, Solutions for Rural Communities" competition.

In February, Changemakers launched a global search for innovative solutions to often complex issues facing rural development and sustainable agriculture, from food security to sustainably scaling-up production.

Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the competition uncovered 455 ideas from around the globe. The judges have settled on ten finalists and now it is up to you and the Changemakers community to vote to select three winners. But hurry: the voting closes on July 8th.

Here are the finalists:

Demonstrating technologies that work in transforming rural agriculture for sustainable development	Uganda Rural development and Training Programme, URDT	Uganda
Social Security for Rural populations through sustainable and interdependent livelihoods	Organisation for Awareness of Integrated Social Security (OASiS)	India
Building the movement for women’s land rights	SRREOSHI	India
Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP)	IPM CRSP(Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program)	Bangladesh
Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO): promoting rural livelihoods around a business partnership to achieve conservation	Wildlife Conservation Society	Zambia
Ensuring Food Security to small farmers through their own agri business company RUDI	SEWA Gram Mahila Haat	India
FONDO DE APOYO ALIMENTARIO	ECOSTA YUTU CUII	Mexico
Weaving Sustainability - Tramando sustentabilidade	Cooperativa central justa trama	Brazil
Mandalla’s Integrated Production System	Agência Mandalla DHSA	Brazil
Business School for Rural Women	The Mann Deshi Foundation	India

Vote here: Changemakers Cultivating Innovation (Note: you must join the Changemakers community to vote.)

Changemakers is a community of action where participants helped develop and refine and select solutions through a collaborative competition model.

(Disclosure: The author was part of the team that developed the partnership between Ashoka and the Gates Foundation for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and India.)

Obama's Energy Bill passed in the House Friday, but still has a long way to go

2009-06-29T22:33:00.005-05:00

In Earth2Tech this morning, Josie Garthwaite has a good piece on Reactions to the Energy Bill: Obama, Cleantech Biz, Environmentalists:

The energy bill passed the House on Friday, but the proposed cap and trade system and new incentives for renewable energy are still a long way from going into law as the Senate needs to pass its own version. As we transition to the next round of negotiations and lobbying, stakeholders from the White House to industry trade groups, environmental organizations and cleantech companies have been weighing in on the version that won approval in the House — and on where they’d like to see it go from here.

Since Friday’s vote, President Obama has continued his support for the legislation, as well as his efforts to win over lawmakers. (He phoned wavering legislators last week to help the bill clear the House.) This weekend during his radio address and media interviews, Obama called for senators to "come together" around the legislation, which he said "will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy." In an interview with a group of reporters, Obama also said the bill would provide "clarity and certainty" and would "end up being much less costly, much more efficient; technology is going to move much more rapidly than people anticipate."

Read the full piece here: Energy Bill Reactions

Review: Design for a Living World at the Cooper-Hewitt

2009-06-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Imagine sending 10 top designers out into the world to make something. Now imagine you give them just three criteria: it has to be wonderful, desirable, and...sustainable.

That's exactly what the Nature Conservancy did to create what is now an exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt museum in New York.

The designers, ranging from Yves Behar and Isaac Mizrahi to Maya Lin and Paulina Reyes from Kate Spade in New York were sent out to Nature Conservancy project sites from Maine to Alaska and from China to Bolivia. Each designer used materials found in the place and even employed local people to help fashion such useful objects as handbags, furniture, rugs, and jewelry.

Among my favorites from the exhibit: Maya Lin's red maple Terra Bench, Abbott Miller's FSC-certified wood chair, Mizrahi's salmon leather dress and matching shoes, Reyes'/Spade's wooden tiled handbag, and Ezri Tarazi's bamboo-totem wine racks and speaker tubes.

I also rather liked Hella Jongerius's failed experiment to find a design application for chicle latex from the Maya Forest of Mexico. You've got to admire her valiant efforts to transform this material, once the basis for most chewing gums, into a surface design element or even bonding material.

The exhibit is on view at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York through January 4, 2010.

For more information, visit nature.org/design or Cooper-Hewitt.

e3bank: A new bank built for the green economy

2009-06-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

You might think now is a terrible time to start a bank. The banking industry has gone from tailspin to government-owned in the past 8 months.

The collapse of one major financial institution after another -- either through mergers or failures -- has made the very profession seem like, well, something to avoid like swine flu.

But for the founders and principals at a new start-up bank that received its charter this past March, now is the perfect time to start a bank. If, that is, you're starting a bank based on a different value system.

Enter Sandy Wiggins and Frank Baldassarre. Of the two, Frank is the only one who resembles a banker, and that's because he is, and has had an extensive career as a banking professional with such regional institutions as Fox Chase Bank of Exton, PA, and First Financial of Downingtown. Sandy was the charismatic chairman of the US Green Building Council and has three decades of experience in the building industry.

Together, they are launching e3bank, set to open for business this fall and currently embarking on a $30 million private offering to shareholders willing to put up a minimum of $5,000. Their goal is to have a large number of shareholders, most of whom have made a modest investment.

"We don't want to have a single large investor who could call the shots and control too much," Wiggins told me in a recent interview. "We want to be inclusive, so we've made the minimum investment low enough to democratize ownership in e3bank."

So they are seeking a steady stream of small, $5,000-10,000 investors through what is, in part, a social networking campaign, trying to reach more people who understand and believe in the idea of a bank with a triple bottom line.

In fact, according to Wiggins that triple bottom line (enterprise, environment, and social equity) is the single greatest distinguishing factor for e3bank. They will couple that with world-class online banking service that "will be unlike any online banking experience on offer in the US," Wiggins says. "Think about it as Web 2.0 for the banking industry."

E3bank will have a limited building-based footprint. "It won't be your traditional branch bank, more like a resource center," reports Wiggins. "A place for public discourse and information about sustainability. A cross between a comfy living room or local cafe and an Apple store."

They will be few in number and location because, as Wiggins says, "The greenest building you can build is the one you don't build."

E3bank won't just be about atmosphere, Wiggins relates. The bank will offer a range of financial services designed to increase their customer's returns while reducing their customer's environmental footprint. They will also focus on what Wiggins calls "values-based financial incentives," such as interest rates to encourage sustainability choices and providing feedback on customer spending habits.

For instance, the bank will attempt to categorize expenses automatically online and recommend energy efficiency options for customers who have consistently high gas or electric bills.

Their "Green Assist" program is perhaps their most exciting innovation. Designed for residential and small business customers, e3bank will provide an energy audit, fund energy efficient and renewable energy projects, and automatically process all available subsidies, rebates, and tax incentives, as well as connect them with pre-screened contractors in their community.

One goal of the bank is to be a community bank, says Wiggins, "but a community bank of like-minded individuals rather than geography." They'll be coming together around the value system the bank espouses rather than proximity to some branch office.

It's an experiment worth watching. Can a bank tow the triple-bottom line? Other banks, such as Chicago's ShoreBank, San Francisco's New Resource Bank, and some community development corporations among them, have tried for a double bottom line approach. And only one, Triodus Bank in the Netherlands, has experimented with a third dimension, although ShoreBank is attempting to enter the green market as well.

E3bank has the potential to revolutionize the banking industry at a time when the banking industry is in dire need of an extreme makeover.

Ultimately, the goal of e3bank is to support the new green economy and a more sustainable economy and, as Wiggins puts it, his will be the bank for "everyone who cares about a sustainable world."

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Review: Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World by Amy Seidl

2009-06-18T14:45:00.001-05:00

It was late spring by the time I started reading Amy Seidl's book, Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World, but it was hard to tell.

April showers had given way to, well, May showers; and some of the warmest days of the year had produce intense clouds of pollen that were producing equally intense allergy symptoms in every one I met.

Dramatic and even extreme changes in weather patterns are one of the expected changes of a warming world. Seidl offers several others, including some terrifying possibilities involving insects, disease vectors, and pathogens. Oh my.

Seidl has written a book that is equal parts nature memoir, climate witness journal (a new genre!), and environmental impact study. Ultimately, it is a book that is both scientific and personal without being either dry or cloying. A none too difficult feat.

Seidl is an accomplished ecologist and field scientist, and her book is informed and made informative by fact and research.

But Seidl is also a mother and her observations are infused with a mother's concern and love for her children and their world.

The two aspects are complementary and together make for an engaging mix. Seidl explains the science of climate change as well as the potential impacts. She does so by bringing the impacts home in a way that makes it accessible to her readers.

Early in the book, in fact, she identifies this as a concern of hers:

"From my window I see no glaciers. I don't live near the ocean nor has my family's trip to coastal Maine been put on hold. The forecast of the scale of change that the earth will experience in the next century is unfathomable, and yet we are asked to believe it now because the risk of not believing is too grave."

From her window, in her farm, in her hollow in rural Vermont, Amy Seidl witnesses changes to her local climate and asks us to bear witness, too, in ours. Not to stand idly by and let it happen but

"to look to the landscapes where we live and ask: how they are signaling what the future holds; how do they contain indicators of the oncoming flux? By seeing these signals and rediscovering life in the landscapes where we live, we will expand our relationship to life itself and wake to what it means to live in a warming world."

Amy Seidl has written a powerful and approachable book about our 21st Century dilemma and a call for "a new set of values" with which to deal with it.

The Climate is a Changin': According to New Fed Study

2009-06-16T22:08:00.005-05:00

[This post was built from a press release by NOAA. My apologies, I'm traveling and wanted to make you aware of this new report.-GS]

Climate change is already having visible impacts in the United States, according to a new and authoritative federal study assessing the current and anticipated domestic impacts of climate change, and the choices we make now will determine the severity of its impacts in the future.

The report, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States," compiles years of scientific research and takes into account new data not available during the preparation of previous large national and global assessments. It was produced by a consortium of experts from 13 U.S. government science agencies and from several major universities and research institutes. With its production and review spanning Republican and Democratic administrations, it offers a valuable, objective scientific consensus on how climate change is affecting -- and may further affect -- the United States, according to a press release.

"This report stresses that climate change has immediate and local impacts – it literally affects people in their backyards," said Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "In keeping with our goals, the information in it is accessible and useful to everyone from city planners and national legislators to citizens who want to better understand what climate change means to them. This is an issue that clearly affects everyone."

The study finds that Americans are already being affected by climate change through extreme weather, drought and wildfire trends and details how the nation’s transportation, agriculture, health, water and energy sectors will be affected in the future. The study also finds that the current trend in the emission of greenhouse gas pollution is significantly above the worst-case scenario that this and other reports have considered.

The report is available for download online: http://www.globalchange.gov/usimpacts

Key findings can be found: here.

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PA DEP Secretary Hanger Speaks at REBN Mid-Atlantic Event in Philadelphia

2009-06-09T21:24:00.004-05:00

The Renewable Energy Business Network, Mid-Atlantic Chapter (REBN) held its third event tonight, a sold-out show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center here in Philadelphia. The event was held in onjunction with the PV America Expo, hosted by Solar Energy Industries Association.

Pennsylvania's newly appointed Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, John Hanger, addressed the crowd, which represented a good mix of entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers working in the clean tech and renewable energy space.

Hanger spoke about the availability of state and federal funding for projects and companies in this sector and the importance of business leaders in the sector to speak up in the debate about the new green economy.

"There are some who would dismiss this movement," Hanger said. "And they have loud voices and large audiences. You must counteract their statements with facts."

Hanger also advocated for individuals to rally in support of things like House Bill 80, which would increase the proportion of electricity that electric distribution companies must purchase from renewable sources such as wind and solar to 20 percent by 2026.

But a show of hands through the crowd revealed that the community has a long way to go to influencing broader policies.

"You need to get to know the decision makers and let them know what's on your mind, that your businesses support Bill's like HR 80 -- the opposition is just to loud and has the ear of many in power."

He also shared his optimism for the region as a clean tech hub, suggesting that expanding Pennsylvania's Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards is a step in the right direction.

"Why wouldn't you want to get behind this, if it means jobs and revenue," Hanger remarked.

The Renewable Energy Business Network Mid-Atlantic Chapter enables business professionals, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors to connect with one another and to promote the growth of the renewable energy industry.

It hopes to catalyze efforts in the region and to spur further development in this sector. REBN believes the Mid-Atlantic region is poised to play a significant role in renewable energy, clean tech, and energy efficiency innovations in the years to come.

(Disclosure: I am a Founding Member of the Board of REBN Mid-Atlantic)

World Oceans Day: Imagine a World Without Fish

2009-06-08T09:46:00.006-05:00

On World Ocean's Day, it's important to remember just what an important resource our oceans are. The Guardian (UK) has a story about the state of the earth's fisheries:

Eating fish is good for us, but catching it in the way we do devastates the sea. Nearly nine tenths of European stocks are over-fished, and around a third are beyond safe biological limits: that is, the adult population is too depleted to provide replacement stock. Almost all cod caught in the North Sea have not had a chance to breed. Bottom dredging trawlers rip up everything in their path.

The south Pacific and American coastal waters have almost been fished out. West African fishing communities are being forced from the water by the industrial fishing fleets of Europe. Russian and Asian fishing fleets greedily scoop the fish from the Pacific. On the latest estimates, around a third of the world's oceans need to be closed to fishing, perhaps forever, to regenerate stocks.

According to Charles Clover, whose film "The End of the Line" is released today with the ambition of creating the momentum for reform, it is a moment that compares with the launch of the organic movement 50 years ago to fight the threat of the "silent spring".

Read the full article here: Over-fishing.

Here is the trailer for "The End of the Line"; looks like a powerful film:

And if you need a reminder of the beauty of our ocean planet, here is a slide show of one of my favorite places on earth, Raja Ampat, Indonesia. I was diving there four years ago. How I long to get back there: Raja Ampat.

And here is a link to the official World Oceans Day 2009 web site: A Sea Change.

Imagine a world without fish? I'd rather not, thank you.

GoodCompany Ventures Launches Social Enterprise Incubator in Philly

2009-06-01T15:43:00.000-05:00

"GoodCompany Ventures is such a good idea," Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told the crowd gathered on the porch of Building 101 at the Navy Yard. "I wish I'd thought of it."

GoodCompany Ventures, an incubator for businesses with social impact, launched today with a virtual ribbon cutting by Mayor Nutter. "We'll all close our eyes and imagine the ribbon being cut, because that's how business gets done these days," the Mayor quipped.

All kidding aside, Mayor Nutter seemed genuinely pleased today to be welcoming GoodCompany Ventures -- and the ten start-up social enterprises that will be working at the Navy Yard over the summer -- and recognized how this effort supports his overall goals to make Philadelphia the nation's greenest city.

He pointed to development at the Navy Yard, which he called "Center City South," an area the size of Center City, which has been redeveloped over the past ten years or so since the U.S. Navy closed its base there.

"I hope these companies will enjoy their time here at the Navy Yard this summer," said Pennsylvania Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) head Peter S. Longstreth, "And that they will want to move in as tenants as they expand their businesses developed here."

The Navy Yard is home to more than 80 companies employing 7,500 people, including Urban Outfitters and Tastykake, in 5.5 million square feet of renovated space. PIDC, is the developer of the Navy Yard and a partner in GoodCompany Ventures.

"GoodCompany Ventures is designed to demonstrate that you can make money and do good," said Jacob Gray of Murex Investments and a partner and co-founder of GoodCompany. "And I think the companies we have lined up for this first cohort exemplify that goal."

The GoodCompany Ventures incubator will provide guidance and support to a group of hand-picked social entrepreneurs each summer. Through group sessions, one-on-one mentoring, and providing access to pro bono services, GoodCompany will help businesses at varying stages of their development.

BlackGold Biofuels and the GoodCompany Ventures launch were featured in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday: read it here.

Other companies in the inaugural cohort of the incubator include BLOX, a partnership between Philadelphia developer Onion Flats LLC and modular building manufacturer Landmark Building Systems Inc; Cyrus-XP LLC, which is developing a computer information platform for the growing long-term care market; and Math Foundations, which was launched by Angela McIver, a former math teacher, to provide math-remediation consulting to schools and job-training programs.

More on GoodCompany Ventures can be found here: GoodCompany Ventures

Greentech Media's 150 Solar Startups: The Sequel

2009-05-27T21:52:00.004-05:00

Back in January of this year Greentech Media published a long list of VC funded and early-stage solar firms. They called it "150 Solar Startups" because the total number of firms was in that ballpark and it had a bit of a ring to it.

But, writes Eric Wesoff on the Greentech blog, "as we kept looking and as our readers continued to bring more firms to our attention the numbers climbed – first past 200 and settling in at a grand total of 219. Subtracting newly departed SV Solar and Optisolar leaves us with 217 solar firms hatched in the last few years."

(Note that their list is for privately held firms with a focus of VC-funded or pre-VC startups. No public firms or OTCBB firms.)

Still, some names to keep an eye on: 150 Solar Startups: The Sequel

Make Loans. Tell Stories. Change the World: Vote for Epic Change on Ideablob

2009-05-22T08:32:00.000-05:00

Epic Change is terrific social enterprise started by social entrepreneurs Stacey Monk and Sanjay Patel. I've been watching and supporting Epic Change in various ways over the past year and a half and am exceedingly impressed with their results-oriented, innovative approach.

Readers of the green skeptic know that stories are important to me; in fact, I've written extensively about the power of stories to change the world and have developed and led workshops to help organizations learn how to tell their stories more effectively.

Epic Change helps hopeful people in need share their stories to acquire resources that will improve their lives. They believe that people's stories are assets that can be used as pathways out of poverty. They help people in need share their "epic," true stories in innovative, creative, and profitable ways to help them acquire the financial resources they need to create positive "change" in their communities.

Stacey and Sanjay's story has been told very well in a variety of places such as here and here. And they are leaders in using social media to spread the word about social change.

Now Epic Change has an opportunity to win USD$10,000 through the IdeaBlob competition currently up at idealblob.com.

But this isn't just about winning the money. As with everything I've seen from Epic Change, it's about OUTCOMES.

Epic Change plans to build a technology lab at a locally led primary school in Tanzania so that children, teachers, and parents in the community can access a whole new world of information and enter global conversations by using social media to share their stories online.

Already, the school's founder, Mama Lucy, is blogging on the Epic Change site (Updates from Mama), and even has a Facebook page where she's already posted a note asking folks to begin voting tomorrow.

According to Stacey, they've had "20 great laptops donated and have procured basic software through TechSoup - now we just need to get the computers to Tanzania, build a facility that will also serve as the school's first library, and imaginatively get this remote classroom access to the web."

So, what are you waiting for, got to IdeaBlob.com and vote for Epic Change.

This blog post is part of Zemanta's "Blogging For a Cause" campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

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Obama Plugs Up Tailpipes: Will Announce Auto Mileage, Emissions Standards

2009-05-19T09:43:00.005-05:00

The Associate Press (AP) reported this morning that "President Barack Obama's proposed new fuel and emission standards for cars and trucks will save billions of barrels of oil but are expected to cost consumers an extra $1,300 per vehicle by the time the plan is complete in 2016.

Today, Obama will announce the first-ever national emissions limits for vehicles, including an overall average of 39 miles per gallon for cars and 30 mpg for trucks by 2016.

According to AP, Obama's plan effectively puts an to the feud between automakers and statehouses over emission standards and "couples for the first time pollution reduction from vehicle tailpipes with increased efficiency on the road. It would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil through 2016 and would be the environmental equivalent to taking 177 million cars off the road, senior administration officials said, speaking anonymously ahead of the announcement."

I'm still looking for some data to back up these claims, but I agree that raising these standards is long overdue -- and may even spur innovation.

Read the AP story here: Emissions.

David MacKay: Let's get real about alternative energy

2009-05-15T10:19:00.007-05:00

David MacKay, a professor of physics at the University of Cambridge, offered a sober reminder to pay attention to the math when talking about alternative energy in a commentary for CNN.com this week:

We need to introduce simple arithmetic into our discussions of energy.

We need to understand how much energy our chosen lifestyles consume, we need to decide where we want that energy to come from, and we need to get on with building energy systems of sufficient size to match our desired consumption.

Our failure to talk straight about the numbers is allowing people to persist in wishful thinking, inspired by inane sayings such as "every little bit helps."

Assuming we are serious about getting off fossil fuels, the scale of building required should not be underestimated. Small actions alone will not deliver a solution.

Let's express energy consumption and energy production using simple personal units, namely kilowatt-hours. One kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the energy used by leaving a 40-watt bulb on for 24 hours. The chemical energy in the food we eat to stay alive amounts to about 3 kWh per day. Taking one hot bath uses about 5 kWh of heat. Driving an average European car 100 kilometers (roughly 62 miles) uses 80 kWh of fuel. With a few of these numbers in mind, we can start to evaluate some of the recommendations that people make about energy.

Read his full commentary here.

Professor MacKay's book, "Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air," is published by UIT Cambridge and is also available in electronic form for free from http://www.withouthotair.com/.

Green.Konnect.me Launches B2B Platform for Green Building Trade

2009-05-13T08:58:00.006-05:00

"A few years ago I was involved in the design of a green building at Drexel University called the Drexel Smart House," says Jameson Detweiler, CEO of Konnect.me. "Designing the house proved to be very frustrating at times. Finding information about previous buildings and building products, related to sustainability, was a time consuming and frustrating process."

Detweiler's experience was not an isolated case. For anyone embarking on a green building or renovation project, access to quality information is key. Understanding the various certifications and product claims and even finding installers, suppliers, or others who have undertaken similar projects can be an unnerving experience.

"There were so many different types of product certifications, manufacturers all made different claims, and this information was distributed across thousands of sources," Detweiler relates. "To say the least, it was very confusing. This is why we decided to start Green.Konnect.me. We needed a place where all of this information was available, a place for the green building community to both visit and participate in on a regular basis."

Detweiler's Philadelphia-based startup dedicated to reinventing the B2B portal, Konnect.me, announced today it is launching Green.Konnect.me, a community built directory for professionals in the green building industry.

The goal of Green.Konnect.me is to provide accurate and comprehensive information regarding "Products, Projects, and People" in the green building industry.

Detweiler believes "that the greatest advances in sustainability can only be achieved by the transparent sharing of knowledge and ideas."

Prior to founding Konnect.me, Jameson worked as the CEO of Summalux, LLC, an LED Lighting Research Firm, which won first prize in the Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship's 2008 Incubator Competition at Drexel's LeBow College of Business.

I've watched Detweiler and his partners over the past eight months or so as they have developed Green.Konnect.me as part of Konnect.me, which they founded in 2008 to "revolutionize B2B information access and delivery." It's an easy-to-use platform that helps address a critical problem for those interested in green building.

Very exciting to see it launched today.

For more information, check out green.konnect.me

So What's a Smart Grid Anyway? It's More Power to Ya.

2009-05-11T08:15:00.005-05:00

Image by horizontal.integration via Flickr

What is a Smart Grid? Perhaps it is easier to start with what a Smart Grid is NOT.

A Smart Grid is not a bunch of one-way meters spinning around as you consume and a guy who drives around checking the meter periodically, sometimes correcting assumptions made by your electric company about your energy consumption and sometimes not.

A Smart Grid is not a grid that is subject to the whims of weather, mischievous squirrels, bird strikes or spikes in consumption by millions of users.

So, what is a Smart Grid, then?

The good folks at Inhabitat.com put it this way:

A smart grid delivers electricity using digital technology that tracks power consumption with smart meters, special electrical meters that instantly transmit energy usage information to utilities via wireless networks. Smart meters also let us track our own energy use hour-by-hour on the Internet and with third-party computer programs.

Basically, we're talking about real-time, two-way communication between you or your business and your utility provider. This helps manage usage and flow and consumption, can help predict spikes and shift sources rapidly in response to changing needs.

And if you have solar panels, wind turbines, plug-in hybrid vehicles or any other potential generating source, smart grid technology will help you feed that into the mix, so that you become a generator, not just a consumer.

Toronto Star energy writer Tyler Hamilton describes it this way:

The true vision of the smart grid is a self-healing, automated grid that can manage complex flows of electrons, from the hundreds — potentially thousands — of large and small sources of power to the millions of homes, businesses, industrial customers and, potentially, electric cars that require that energy.

Okay, so basically, a Smart Grid is like a brain for energy distribution. Nerve endings all over your body send information back to the brain telling the brain when you are too hot or too cold; that you need more energy in one part of the body or another (exercise and eating, for instance, have different requirements in different regions of the body); and helps you regulate your every action.

Many players are getting involved in the act, from the federal government, which recently allocated $3.3B to Smart Grid technology development, to start-ups and even large companies like IBM and Google.

Google's PowerMeter, which they describe as being in prototype, will receive information from utility smart meters and energy management devices and provide anyone who signs up access to your home electricity consumption right on your iGoogle homepage.

Imagine being able to track and manage your own energy consumption so that you know when it will be least expensive to do your laundry or watch that episode of "Lost" that you Tivo'd. (Of course, that time is probably overnight when you are asleep, but nevertheless...)

Essentially a Smart Grid will put more power in the hands of consumers and make them partners with utilities rather than simply customers or rate payers. In the last analysis, a Smart Grid is just what it sounds like: smart.

Here are more resources on the concept of a Smart Grid:

Wired article from March 2009

Earth2Tech.com FAQ, which includes a list of companies working on various components for making the grid smarter.

Agree to Disagree: Cap-and-Trade vs. Carbon Tax?

2009-05-05T08:12:00.002-05:00

NASA’s leading climate scientist, James Hansen, says he hopes that climate legislation proposed by Democratic Representatives Henry Waxman (CA) and Edward Markey (MA) to introduce carbon emissions trading to the United States fails.

Hansen says lawmakers should abandon cap-and-trade initiatives altogether and implement a simple carbon tax instead, according to Nathanial Gronewold, a reporter at Environment & Energy Publishing.

"Trading of rights to pollute...introduces speculation and makes millionaires on Wall Street," Hansen told an audience at a conference hosted by Columbia University climate policy students on Saturday. "I hope cap and trade doesn’t pass, because we need a much more effective approach."

This may be a nice way to curry favor with student environmentalists, but is it smart? According to Reuters, even the Chinese are considering a carbon tax over cap-and-trade. What's the difference, really?

Under a cap-and-trade program, the government will set the overall emissions cap and issue allowances or credits to businesses to pollute at a set amount. A company that reduces its emissions quickly and cheaply can auction their extra credits to another that, because of the nature of its business or available technology, may find it more difficult to comply with the caps.

This market-based approach helps ensure that overall caps are met at the lowest possible cost. Cap-and-trade has been modeled after the U.S. effort to control acid rain pollution, which saw greater reductions at lower costs than originally anticipated.

Under a carbon tax, such as that proposed by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), emitters are required to pay a tax for every ton of pollution they produce. Carbon taxes lend predictability to energy prices, according to supporters, who claim that cap-and-trade systems will simply aggravate price volatility and adversely affect consistent investments in less carbon-intensive electricity generation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

But, argue cap-and-trade supporters, such a system also provides certainty: it fixes the ceiling on emissions (stepping it down over time) and lets the price vary with demand.

Despite rhetoric on both sides, neither system is really more complex than the other, as each requires often difficult monitoring and enforcement.

Cap-and-trade and carbon tax do share another issue: what to do with the proceeds? The Obama administration seems to favor distributing 10 percent of the proceeds to American citizens; others, including Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), would return 90 percent to Americans. Still others call that highway robbery.

Now, Jim Hansen says we'll create a bunch of robber barons on Wall Street if we go this route. But a carbon tax will simply create bigger government, or at least help pay for the biggering and biggering the government has done since last fall.

As readers of the green skeptic know, I firmly believe we won't make the shift until one of two things happens: 1.) we can make boatloads of money off of addressing the issue or 2.) oil prices go through the roof and supply plummets to worse than anticipated levels.

Rep. Markey claims his Bill, the Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act (HR 6186), or iCAP, is a cap-and-invest strategy.

President Obama has already included a line item for cap-and-trade in his budget, which clearly signals the Administration's preference for capping global warming pollution, auctioning all the emission allowances, and investing $15 billion per year in clean energy.

Wither a tax? It's probably, as every politician knows, an idea that is dead on arrival. And it is looking less and less likely we'll get a decent cap-and-trade program in place any time soon. So, perhaps we should just focus, as blogger Gar Lipow suggested in Grist, "on pushing for green infrastructure, paid for the moment by 10-year bonds with a 3 percent interest rate."

If time is money and we're running out of time, then why not support an approach that will generate more money and maybe, just maybe, buy us some time?

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On Learning to Fail Fast

2009-04-30T08:42:00.003-05:00

The best advice I've heard all week? Learn to fail fast.

A couple of weeks ago, in this blog I was wrestling with the question of whether my idea for a green investing platform was a failure or not.

After a few conversations with advisory board members and investors, I realized that I need to give myself permission to declare this idea a failure -- for now -- and move on. Why?

Everyone I talked to says the investing climate is the worst they've ever seen. Deals are taking longer, money is staying on the sidelines, and valuations are completely out of whack.

As I understand it, deals that took two months are now taking six or nine, while many investors play a waiting game. This just exacerbates the slowing rate at which deals can get done and makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to close deals.

And for an idea like mine, which is really still in its infancy, the current climate makes it nearly impossible to get the jump start it needs.

Then I came across Brad Feld's post of a couple of nights ago, on Mark Pincus and the concept of failing fast.

If you haven't read this piece or watched Pincus's interview on Vator.tv, do yourself a favor and go do so now.

It doesn't matter whether you are working on a start-up, a business unit in a big company, a social enterprise, or developing a product, the advice is golden: learn to fail fast and learn from the experience.

I'll be back with another idea and will be, as Feld says in his post, "super-extraordinary-amazingly hungry for a success."

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Philly to be America's Number One Green City by 2015, Says Mayor Nutter

2009-04-29T08:20:00.001-05:00

Philly Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability today announced Greenworks Philadelphia, an ambitious, comprehensive framework to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the United States of America by 2015.

It sets goals in five areas — energy, environment, equity, economy and engagement — and encompasses more than 150 initiatives. Together, they will reduce the city’s vulnerability to rising energy prices, limit its environmental footprint, and reposition its workforce and job development strategies to build upon Philadelphia’s competitive advantages in the emerging green economy.

"Greenworks Philadelphia is a vision for how Philadelphia can and should seize this moment, building on the assets of the city left to us by the past and creating a better future for ourselves, our children and generations to come," said Mayor Nutter.

Greenworks Philadelphia seeks to make more homes and buildings weather-tight, increase recycling and minimize trash, give residents better access to parks and fresh food, and capture the benefits of solar and geothermal energy. It envisions planting thousands of trees, equipping the municipal fleet with less-polluting engines and expanding green job training, so plenty of Philadelphia’s workers have the skills to retrofit buildings and install solar arrays.

For more info: www.phila.gov/green/mos.html or www.greenworksphila.org or a full copy of the report.

Clean Coal: Like It or Not, We Need to Figure It Out

2009-04-28T06:30:00.002-05:00

We burn coal. We can't ignore it. It's a plentiful resource and fuels the cheap electricity we use everyday. Like it or not, that's the way it is.

Don't get me wrong, I hate things like mountaintop removal and the dangers coal-miners have to face every day. But I'm a realist and I don't believe we're going to be able to transition fast enough to alternatives to completely eliminate coal from our energy diet.

My pal Gregor MacDonald had a stimulating post on Earth Day that generated some lively dialogue on the subject in which he argued that it's hard to win a fight against a cheap BTU. Gregor is smarter than I am on this subject, so you should definitely check out his blog: Gregor.us.

Readers of the green skeptic know that I think there is a need for some serious R&D into Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and that we need to figure out whether we can really make coal clean.

As I wrote in my comment on Gregor's post: I know this isn't a popular view, but coal is still so cheap and plentiful that it's hard to ignore. Of course, there are those who say it can't be done and others who say we'll hit peak coal before getting the technology right. If we do nothing, however, and others continue to ramp up coal production in its dirtiest form, where will we be?

On Sunday night, 60 Minutes featured a story on Clean Coal, including interviews with both Duke Energy's CEO Jim Rogers and NASA's climate scientist James Hansen:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Worth watching.

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Energy Use in Buildings Can Be Cut by 60 Percent, WBCSD Study Says

2009-04-27T08:34:00.004-05:00

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) announced the results of a study that shows how energy use in buildings can be cut by 60 percent by 2050, but noted that it will require immediate action to transform the building sector.

The four-year, $15 million research project released its report today in Paris at the Alliance to Save Energy’s EE Global Forum and Exposition. Transforming the Market: Energy Efficiency in Buildings, as the report is known, uses new modeling techniques and provides a roadmap to transform the building sector.

"Energy efficiency is fast becoming one of the defining issues of our times, and buildings are that issue's 'elephant in the room'," said Björn Stigson, president of the WBCSD, in a press release. "Buildings use more energy than any other sector and as such are a major contributor to climate change."

According to the WBCSD, the "project took a bottom-up, market-driven approach to understanding the barriers to lower energy use, based on the most detailed view ever of the current state of energy demand in buildings. Energy use by building type was analyzed for millions of existing and new buildings and projected out to 2050, accounting for differences such as climate and building design."

Researchers used computer simulations to show the market response to various financial, technical, behavioral, and policy options, identifying the optimum mix to achieve transformation for each market studied, according to WBCSD.

The project's report makes six principle recommendations:

Strengthen building codes and energy labeling for increased transparency.
Use subsidies and price signals to create incentives for energy-efficient investments.
Encourage integrated design approaches and innovations.
Develop and use advanced technology to enable energy-saving behavior.
Develop workforce capacity for energy saving.
Mobilize for an energy-aware culture. (Whatever that means - GS)

The full report is available on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development website: EEB Report

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DOE Announces $3.3B in Grants for Smart-Grid Initiatives

2009-04-21T09:23:00.001-05:00

"The Smart Grid is the iPod of the energy industry," Audrey Zibelman, CEO of Viridity Energy, said last week. Getting a sophisticated, two-way communication system that matches knowledge with efficiency, and maybe even gets better information into the hands of energy consumers is a critical step in ensuring we have reliable power to meet increasing demand.

Now the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is getting into the act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to be precise, as they announce plans to distribute more than $3.3 billion in so called smart-grid technology development grants and an additional $615 million for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability.

Read the Full Story: DOE & Smart Grid.

Business Week Profiles 25 of America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs

2009-04-16T08:32:00.003-05:00

Business Week is featuring 25 of America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs and asking readers to view a slide show and vote "for the business you feel holds the most promise, from now until Apr. 26."

They will announce the top five vote-getters on May 2.

Here's a description from Business Week:

"Social entrepreneurs—enterprising individuals who apply business practices to solving societal problems such as pollution, poor nutrition, and poverty—are now 30,000 strong and growing, according to B Lab, a nonprofit organization that certifies these purpose-driven companies. Together, they represent some $40 billion in revenue.

"Not surprising, then, that they've caught the attention of venture capitalists such as those at Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that invests in companies that try to alleviate poverty, and Bay Area Equity Fund, which backs businesses aiming to make social or environmental improvements to San Francisco's needier neighborhoods. President Obama has even suggested starting a new government agency to help socially conscious startups gain more access to venture capital."

Go watch the slide show of these very inspiring people and their ideas. You won't be disappointed.

Speaking Today at Nationwide Town Hall on a Just and Clean Energy Future , Drexel University

2009-04-13T09:08:00.005-05:00

Today, I'm speaking at Drexel's Town Hall on a Just and Clean Energy Future, part of Focus the Nation's Nationwide series of Town Hall meetings.

I'll be part of a panel on the Clean Energy Economy, with Audrey Zibelman, Viridity, LLC, Jason Brady of the Blue Green Alliance, and Kate Houstoun of Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter is scheduled to lead the a Town Hall style discussion before my panel. I will be interested to hear his remarks and hope the focus is on energy efficiency, innovation, and private sector investments to jump start the new green economy.

Will try to update with a post tonight.