To find out more, consider attending a conference on local community-based solutions to the energy crisis starting at the end of October in Rochester, Michigan.

Plan C: Individual and Community Survival Strategies for the Energy Crisis

The Fifth US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions
October 31 – November 2, 2008
Rochester, Michigan
www.plancconference.org

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/12/conference-on-local-solutions-for-the-energy-crisis/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/05/join-the-peak-oil-pioneers-in-sacramento/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/05/join-the-peak-oil-pioneers-in-sacramento/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:23:53 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/05/join-the-peak-oil-pioneers-in-sacramento/ In less than three weeks, Sacramento plays host to the world’s largest conference on one of the most important societal issues of our time - Peak Oil. In late September, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas - USA (ASPO-USA) is convening its 2008 Peak Oil Conference at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento, California. The conference title - The Peak Oil Energy Challenge - The Future Starts Now! - says it all; it’s time for us to take control of our energy future and start dealing with our oil and energy predicaments.

I imagine ASPO-USA chose Sacramento since California is leading the nation in laws for renewable energy and combating global warming, thereby providing a model for other states. Perhaps if Peak Oil mitigation can get some traction in the California, it can also speed up action on the federal level which tends to be slower than molasses.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/05/join-the-peak-oil-pioneers-in-sacramento/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/03/five-of-the-best-reasons-why-we-need-to-localize/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/03/five-of-the-best-reasons-why-we-need-to-localize/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:25:24 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/03/five-of-the-best-reasons-why-we-need-to-localize/ Re-localization is the process through which a community reverts from ever increasing dependence upon the global economic system back to local networks of economic interdependency. Localization brings production closer to consumption obviating the need to rely on long supply chains and distant markets so that communities can largely provision themselves. Local production strengthens the local economy, creates worthwhile jobs, and increases local self reliance. Refocusing the economy locally will necessarily revitalize the community, increasing camaraderie, cooperation, and support for local culture and a sense of place.

The top five reasons we need to localize:

• Make our cities more resilient
• Reduce C02 emissions
• Reduce energy consumption
• Prepare for an energy scarce future
• Create a publicly-owned safety net

In the wake of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, regional officials have become increasingly concerned about how the San Francisco Bay Area would fare if another 1906-style earthquake were to occur. The San Francisco city government and CORE - Citizens of Oakland Responding to Emergencies (as well as the national emergency preparedness sector in general) are strongly recommending that people get prepared to live for 3 days without major infrastructural support (i.e., electricity, running water, supermarkets, etc).

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/09/03/five-of-the-best-reasons-why-we-need-to-localize/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/22/how-cities-can-help-residents-go-solar/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/22/how-cities-can-help-residents-go-solar/#comments Thu, 22 May 2008 23:03:35 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/22/how-cities-can-help-residents-go-solar/ Cities can develop their own renewable energy and energy efficiency finance programs suited to their residential and commercial needs. For instance, in November 2007, the Berkeley City Council authorized staff to develop a plan to pay for the installation of solar panels and solar hot water systems for any homeowner or commercial building owner. Property owners retain ownership of the solar systems, paying back the cost over 20 years through an assessment on the annual property tax bill. This program entails little risk on the part of the city or the building owner, and overcomes a common obstacle of a costly up-front investment which may take more years to recoup savings than the owner intends to keep the building.

Once accepted into the program, a property owner would schedule an appointment for a solar installer to determine the appropriate solar system for the property. The city would pay the homeowner for the system and its installation, minus any applicable state and federal rebates, and would add a special tax to the property owner’s tax bill to pay for the system.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/22/how-cities-can-help-residents-go-solar/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/15/peak-oil-is-gonna-make-it-a-big-world-after-all/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/15/peak-oil-is-gonna-make-it-a-big-world-after-all/#comments Thu, 15 May 2008 17:49:55 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/15/peak-oil-is-gonna-make-it-a-big-world-after-all/ In my talks, I have talked a lot about reinventing normal life and in particular our notions of mobility (among other things)…
Part and parcel is this idea that it’s a small world. We get this small world idea from Disneyland as kids (recall hearing mechanical children swaying to the refrain “Its a small world after all”) as well as from seemingly serendipitous encounters that are probably statistically ordinary in a world were people jet and motor around the country. It is easy to think that the world is small when one can get from point A anywhere in the global economy to point B anywhere in the global economy within a matter of hours (rather than days or months). It makes it easy for us spread out families and friends as people chase paychecks and jobs across the country if not the planet.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/15/peak-oil-is-gonna-make-it-a-big-world-after-all/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/08/how-marin-can-boost-renewable-energy/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/08/how-marin-can-boost-renewable-energy/#comments Thu, 08 May 2008 21:57:27 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/08/how-marin-can-boost-renewable-energy/ In 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law Executive Order S-3-05 which sets a long term greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Reaching this ambitious target will require that California embark on a comprehensive strategy to make aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next four decades.

Nationwide, electricity generation is is the second largest contributor to greenhouse gases. It is incomprehensible how the 80% greenhouse gas reduction target could be reached without tremendous amounts of renewable energy and energy efficiency. I am not saying that greenhouse gas reductions and renewable energy are the same but they certainly are not apples and oranges. I’d say they are more like oranges and tangelos. If we want significant greenhouse gas emissions, we’re going to need to ramp up renewable energy and quick.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/05/08/how-marin-can-boost-renewable-energy/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/28/better-batteries-dramatically-boost-wind-energy/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/28/better-batteries-dramatically-boost-wind-energy/#comments Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:21:18 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/28/better-batteries-dramatically-boost-wind-energy/ The giant wind turbines on the west coast of Ireland stand not only on the geographical limits of Europe, but also on the cutting edge of a revolutionary technology that makes wind power more reliable and valuable. The 32 megawatt (MW) Sorne Hill wind park will be Europe’s first to integrate a large scale battery back-up system that ensures a reliable supply of electricity regardless of how the wind blows.

“The battery enables large amounts of energy from wind or solar power to be stored, managed, controlled and sent into the electricity grid when it is needed. It doesn’t matter whether the wind is blowing or not; the battery makes the electricity output predictable and reliable,” said Tim Hennessy, CEO of VRB Power Systems, the battery manufacturer based in Vancouver, Canada.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/28/better-batteries-dramatically-boost-wind-energy/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/24/what-we-can%e2%80%99t-see-we-can%e2%80%99t-consciously-change/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/24/what-we-can%e2%80%99t-see-we-can%e2%80%99t-consciously-change/#comments Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:08:00 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/24/what-we-can%e2%80%99t-see-we-can%e2%80%99t-consciously-change/ Nobody really knows what all was on the Cosco Busan when it sideswiped one of the supports of Bay Bridge, dumping about 58,000 gallons of oil into one of the country’s most famous and fragile ecosystems. That’s because globalization is grandfathered into our consciousness.

But at what cost? Solving the converging crises of climate change and peak oil, not to mention a plethora of others, would be an exceedingly difficult nut to crack even if we had full knowledge and information. Unfortunately, cracking this nut is probably impossible with our current level of thinking and understanding. We cannot hope to apply the necessary systemic thinking to our converging crises, because no one has a full view of the system. What we can’t see, we can’t consciously change.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/24/what-we-can%e2%80%99t-see-we-can%e2%80%99t-consciously-change/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/micheal-klare-on-new-world-order-based-on-oil/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/micheal-klare-on-new-world-order-based-on-oil/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:47:07 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/micheal-klare-on-new-world-order-based-on-oil/ Yesterday evening I went to hear a sobering talk in Berkeley by Five Colleges professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Michael Klare. Klare suggests in his newest book, Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, that we are now facing a new world order in which power transfers to net energy exporters (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kazakhstan) from net energy importers (e.g., the United States). He believes oil will peak between 2012 and 2015 at somewhere around 95-100 million barrels/day. Regardless of whether oil peaks then, he says supply will not be able to keep up with demand much longer.

From http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=76003

Klare points out that China will soon have the world’s largest fleet of automobiles - in decade or so - as they are following our model of auto-centric development. He had hoped that China would leapfrog oil to more sustainable mobility solutions but that is not happening.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/micheal-klare-on-new-world-order-based-on-oil/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/attend-an-earth-day-event-in-the-bay-area/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/attend-an-earth-day-event-in-the-bay-area/#comments Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:09:01 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/attend-an-earth-day-event-in-the-bay-area/ There are a plethora of Earth Day events happening in the Bay Area over the next two weekends. Check out this comprehensive listing for a celebration near you!

Marine Science Institute Earth Day Celebration: Saturday, April 19, 2008
The Marine Science Institute invites one and all to come celebrate the Earth, San Francisco Bay and all things marine science. The day is jam packed with activities for the entire family, including four 2-hour discovery voyages on San Francisco Bay aboard our 90 ft. research vessel the Robert G. Brownlee, a lunch-time performance by the Banana Slug String Band, shark feedings, interpretive tables, fish and shark touch tanks, juggling and vaudeville presentation, ocean crafts, canoe demonstrations, environmental info faire, plankton shows, traditional Pacific Islander dancing, and much, much more.
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
For more information visit our website at www.sfbaymsi.org, or contact Aaron Tinker at (650) 364-2760 x16 or by email aaron@sfbaymsi.org. Entrance is FREE, but there is a cost for the boat trips. Pre-registration via website for the Discovery Voyages is strongly recommended.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/attend-an-earth-day-event-in-the-bay-area/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/14/its-irrational-that-we-dont-build-ecocities/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/14/its-irrational-that-we-dont-build-ecocities/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:50:10 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/14/its-irrational-that-we-dont-build-ecocities/ I often ask myself why I continue getting the paper. Getting the newspaper is supporting an unsustainable practice of harvesting trees and manufacturing them into disposable items. And then something magical will happen.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to write tonight. A few minutes ago I found myself reading the book review section of the Chronicle. The article “Gender Identity and Phantom Genitalalia” initially caught my attention and ended with a great quote from V.S. Ramachandran, a neurologist and psychologist at UC San Diego and a leading authority on phantom limb sensations, who says it has long been known that some people who are born without arms have vivid phantom arms.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/14/its-irrational-that-we-dont-build-ecocities/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/10/pictures-from-the-berkeley-permaculture-bike-tour/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/10/pictures-from-the-berkeley-permaculture-bike-tour/#comments Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:32:51 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/10/pictures-from-the-berkeley-permaculture-bike-tour/ This post is a photo gallery from the East Bay Permaculture Guild’s Permaculture Bike tour in Berkeley this past Sunday. It was glorious day and a slew of people came out.

But first a little background on permaculture:

The word permaculture, coined by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the 1970s, is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture as well it is was permanent culture. Through a series of publications, Mollison, Holmgren and their associates documented an approach to designing human settlements, in particular the development of perennial agricultural systems that mimic the structure and interrelationship found in natural ecologies.

This tour shows what some folks in Berkeley are doing to live more sustainably: growing their own food, raising chickens, capturing, heating, and conserving water, and generating electricity.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/10/pictures-from-the-berkeley-permaculture-bike-tour/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/08/sonoma-eyes-wastewater-as-an-energy-source/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/08/sonoma-eyes-wastewater-as-an-energy-source/#comments Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:18:55 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/08/sonoma-eyes-wastewater-as-an-energy-source/ Paul Fenn of Local Power called me first thing this morning. Paul wrote California’s Community Choice Energy law (AB117) and his firm is a finalist to operate San Francisco’s Community Choice Energy program, which will build 360 MW of local renewable energy. But thats not what he called about.

Paul was excited about Sonoma County’s plan to achieve “carbon-free” water by 2015 - that is, using renewable energy sources such as solar and geothermal to power the county’s entire network of treatment plants and pumps. The plan is close to being released and today the SF Chronicle reported on one of the key initiatives to take the waste out of wastewater.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/08/sonoma-eyes-wastewater-as-an-energy-source/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/04/pge-moves-to-subvert-community-choice-energy/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/04/pge-moves-to-subvert-community-choice-energy/#comments Fri, 04 Apr 2008 03:07:59 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/04/pge-moves-to-subvert-community-choice-energy/ I hope PG&E is not an advertiser on Green Options, because they almost certainly would want to censor this post. I feel compelled to do the post because a lot of folks in the Bay Area are concerned about PG&E’s effort to subvert California’s Community Choice Energy law (AB 117). So is the Attorney General; see the article below!

Community Choice enables cities and/or counties to pool their purchasing power and collectively bulk purchase electricity from their selected providers. It is structured as a private-public partnership in which cities do their own procurement, opting for greater quantities of renewable energy than they could with PG&E, and PG&E continues to do the transmission, distribution, metering, billing, and customer service.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/04/pge-moves-to-subvert-community-choice-energy/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/02/permaculture-bike-tour-in-berkeley-this-sunday-6-april-2008/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/02/permaculture-bike-tour-in-berkeley-this-sunday-6-april-2008/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:38:11 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/02/permaculture-bike-tour-in-berkeley-this-sunday-6-april-2008/ This tour brings together two things that I think are very important - biking and permaculture. A $5 donation is requested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. We’ll have a snack break around the middle of the tour, with light snacks provided. Please bring water, weather appropriate clothes, your favorite munchies and your thirst for knowledge. See you there…

That’s right, it’s time for this year’s East Bay Permaculture Guild bike tour in Berkeley.
The complete schedule is listed below.

We still need volunteers to help watch the bikes (one for each site we visit) and also someone to ride in the middle and back to make sure everyone is safe and together. If you donate your time, no need to donate money.

Don’t forget to bring water. munchies and warm clothes - it’ll probably still be cool on Sunday - http://tinyurl.com/234g33

To volunteer or for questions, e-mail Josh - yNaught@gMail.com

For a bird’s eye view of the route on Google maps:

You are welcome to join us for any part of the tour, but please do not arrive at any of the sites when we are not scheduled to be there, thanks.

11:30 Meet at North Berkeley BART Station - 1750 Sacramento St,
Berkeley
www.bart.gov - We’ll meet in front of the main entrance.

12:00 - 12:20 - Private backyard - 2111 7th St.
Sheetmulched by the East Bay Permaculture Guild last year, planted with trees and annual veggies.

12:30 - 12:55 - Berkeley Youth Alernatives garden - Bancroft Way between West and Bonar
After school program, perennials and annuals, community volunteers. -
www.byaonline.org

1:00 - 1:30 - Backyard by Earthly Arts - Mabel St and Derby St.
Guest room made from salvaged materials, water catchment, greywater,
chickens and a rabbit - www.earthlyarts.com

1:45 - 2:15 - Fort Awesome - 3090 and 3088 King St.
2 houses owned by the non-profit Cooperative Roots, garden, solar
electric and hot water, chickens -
cooperativeroots.org

2:15 - 3:05 - Snack Break at Fort Awesome
Rest and munch on lite snacks from Food Not Bombs. Optional tour of
garden on Sacramento - www.ebfnb.org

3:15 - 3:45 - Christopher Shein’s home - 1526 Fairview St
Straw bale office space, bamboo chicken coop and shower, intensive
garden, nursery, greywater - www.wildheartgardens.com -
www.merrittlandhort.com

4:05 - 4:45 - Mariposa Grove - 828 59th St, Emeryville
Cohousing community with garden, chickens, 3 buildings contain
apartments and shared space. - healthyarts.com/mariposagrove

5:00 - 5:30 - Halcyon Commons - Between Webster & Prince St on Halcyon Ct
Community designed and initiated park dedicated in ‘96 after 4 years
of community involvement. - www.bpfp.org/affiliate-groups/Halcyon

The Ecology Center is having a greywater tour from 10-11 on Sunday as well:
www.ecologycenter.org/calendar/event.php?eventID=24747
If you are interested, you MUST pre-register.

]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/02/permaculture-bike-tour-in-berkeley-this-sunday-6-april-2008/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/01/mayor-wants-to-take-london-off-grid/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/01/mayor-wants-to-take-london-off-grid/#comments Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:30:51 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/01/mayor-wants-to-take-london-off-grid/ Normally, I focus my posts on what’s happening here in the Bay Area but I find the article below remarkable for two reasons.

First, the thought of taking a entire city off-grid would be almost incomprehensible in the United States. True, Stockton is trying to municipalize their power system and their is a growing movement for Community Choice Energy in the Bay Area (San Francisco, Marin, and the East Bay) and elsewhere in California (San Joaquin Valley). All these efforts are facing formidable and sometimes illegal opposition by PG$E because they would reduce shareholder value.

Furthermore, all of these efforts would still be connected to the regional grid from which Community Choice Energy programs would purchase greener electrons that PG$E can provide. Green electrons would likely come from solar concentrating plants in the Southern California desert, wind farms in the Tehachapis, geothermal plants in Sonoma country, etc… Connecting to the grid enables us to get energy from somewhere else.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/01/mayor-wants-to-take-london-off-grid/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/31/are-we-crash-test-dummies/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/31/are-we-crash-test-dummies/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:05:36 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/31/are-we-crash-test-dummies/ Sunday night and time to knock out an Ecolocalizer post! Melia is safe at her mama’s house. I just got out of a friend’s hot tub. I am still a little tired from last night but had the best time! I know this may seem a bit off topic, but I had the opportunity to watch an amazing, all-Maori roots reggae band out of New Zealand. Katchafire is about to blow up! Meaning that they are gonna make it big. Massive ups to my girl G Fizzle who introduced me to their music!

After the show, I was backstage hanging out with several of the band members. I was telling them that they really needed to play Reggae Rising - the world’s largest reggae festival (five hours North on Highway 101 where Eel River snakes along the highway). They had just put on an amazing show at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz, that often felt like a massive sing along.

As I was chatting backstage, my mind flashed to Melia (as it often does) and our earlier visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science:

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/31/are-we-crash-test-dummies/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/28/why-i-localize/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/28/why-i-localize/#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:08:29 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/28/why-i-localize/ As you may know, blogging on ecolocalizer.com is relatively new for me. Its been fun, but hey I think it could be better with a little more back and forth. So I thought I’d introduce myself one post at a time as I talk about localization here in the Bay Area. And I invite you to ask questions, make comments, and tell me what you think needs to be covered. If you’ve got a localization project in the Bay Area and you want folks to know, post a comment or send me an email at daveroom (at) gmail dot com. I aim to please.

Without further adieu… My name is Dave Room (and that’s my daughter in the photo). I have been working on localization for the past four years. Sometimes it has felt like I am swimming upstream. Actually it still feels like that - the difference is that now the current is not quite as strong. As the financial underpinnings of our society unravel, as food prices soar, as oil prices regularly hit new highs - it seems like I am living a prophecy. Everything that is happening now has been more or less accurately predicted by a large International community of people who have been following our oil predicament. Another name for our oil predicament is peak oil, but its really all about the oil depletion and the coming imbalance between supply and demand. Sometimes I call these folks “the depletionista”.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/28/why-i-localize/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/23/increasing-water-security-with-rainwater-catchment/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/23/increasing-water-security-with-rainwater-catchment/#comments Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:24:48 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/23/increasing-water-security-with-rainwater-catchment/ By Dave Room and Ingrid Severson, Bay Localize

Rainwater catchment is an ancient practice used widely around the globe to harvest and store rainwater for human consumption and irrigation. Dating as far back as 4,000 B.C., it is now commonly used in Australia, New Zealand, parts of Europe, Japan, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand as well as the Caribbean, Central and South America.

With more than 250,000 practitioners in the U.S. alone, rainwater catchment is experiencing a revival in parts of North America including Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Canada. Hawaii, North Carolina and the more dry regions of New Mexico, Arizona and Texas already boast government incentive programs. Although maintaining water supplies for increasing population demands is one of the California’s biggest challenges, the Golden state does not have government-backed, financial incentives for rainwater catchment.

photo credit: Rumsey Engineers

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/23/increasing-water-security-with-rainwater-catchment/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/18/how-a-south-bay-neighborhood-saved-thousands-on-going-solar/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/18/how-a-south-bay-neighborhood-saved-thousands-on-going-solar/#comments Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:14:03 +0000 The Dave Room http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/18/how-a-south-bay-neighborhood-saved-thousands-on-going-solar/ Recently, a neighborhood group - the Downtown San Jose Solar Project - banded together to purchase solar in bulk and find their own solar installer through a competitive bidding situation. They put their collective requirements for three solar systems out to bid by several solar companies to get the best price, equipment, warranty, and service.

As of February 20, the project included 24 San Jose homes producing 99kW of electricity. The 24 systems in San Jose will produce 3,560,000 kWh over the systems’ lifetime and will eliminate, according to today’s current fuel mix, about 5,055,861 pounds of carbon dioxide. The community group wants to see this program spread across the Bay Area and held a training for people interested in setting up their own community discount programs.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/03/18/how-a-south-bay-neighborhood-saved-thousands-on-going-solar/feed/