By Zachary Shahan •
August 28, 2009
The “Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch” lies about 1,000 miles from the coast of California. It is in the North Pacific Ocean Gyre, which is one of the oldest and most diverse ecosystems in the world. The garbage patch has gotten a lot of media attention in the last year. However, due to the fact that one must get on a boat and go all the way out to the patch to study it, there hadn’t been any in-depth scientific analysis of the patch,… until now.
The Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) went on an in-depth search of the “Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch” this month. Their findings were varied.
By Gavin Newsom •
July 13, 2009
Last July, the City & County of San Francisco launched the first local solar energy incentive program in the nation, The results are in, and, the program is an unequivocal success.
In the year since our solar energy incentive program GoSolarSF launched, we have seen a 450% increase in applications for solar installations in San Francisco over the previous year, from 200 to 850. And despite the current recession, 56 applicants met our low-income standards and will receive incentive payments.
By Greg Nickels •
July 10, 2009
Editor’s Note: This is the first contribution to gas2.org by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Mayor Nickels is President of the US Conference of Mayors and was awarded the E-Visionary Award by the World Electric Vehicle Association. For more, see electriccarrace.org.
When it comes to electric transportation, Seattle has a significant advantage.
Our city-owned utility, Seattle City Light, was the first large electric utility in the country to become carbon-neutral using hydropower, innovative energy efficiency solutions, and carbon offsets. When you are driving on City Light electricity, you are truly driving a zero emission vehicle.
As a new generation of electric vehicles prepare to enter the market, cities along the West Coast from Vancouver B.C. to San Diego are taking steps to get plug-in ready. Because of Seattle’s partnership with Nissan, we will be leading the way and expect to be one of the first markets in the country to see Nissan’s highway-capable EV for sale in fall 2010.
By Ariel Schwartz •
May 15, 2009
The whole thing is happening without flashy ad campaigns, so it’s not surprising if you’ve never heard of municipal solar financing. But the financing program, also known as “property tax” financing, is a veritable underground solar revolution.
Editor’s Note: The is a guest contribution by Angiolo Laviziano, President and CEO of REC Solar Inc. This is the third post in a series from the CEO’s of major solar companies. The first post was by the SolarCity CEO, Lyndon Rive, and the second was by groSolar CEO Jeff Wolfe. You can follow the complete series here.
Two phrases that are often repeated in the solar industry are “Grid Parity” and “Cost Roadmap”. Grid parity is generally considered to be a key goal of the solar industry. Grid parity will be achieved in the U.S. when customers are motivated to buy solar because the investment has a sufficient return WITHOUT any subsidies from the federal or state government. At present, most people consider PV to be a financially acceptable investment only if federal, state and rebate incentives are applied.
Currently, the rebates and tax credits offered by the government improve the financial return of a solar project together with other factors, such as the solar electric system cost (lower is better for the return), sun exposure on site (higher is better) and the cost of electricity that the solar system is substituting (higher is better).
The cost of electricity is of particular importance: solar substitutes for electricity demand on the customer’s side of the meter, where it competes with the retail price of electricity. This is in contrast to wind power, which is generated on the utility side of the meter, and therefore competes with the much lower wholesale rate of electricity.
By John Ivanko •
May 6, 2009
When they caution people about sitting in the “splash zone” at SeaWorld San Diego, believe it. Really. They should call it the soak zone. It’s a great way to cool off on a hot day, but it can ruin any electronic device you own not placed in a watertight case.
My family and I had an opportunity to visit SeaWorld San Diego this past January. Among the most popular attractions in San Diego, SeaWorld San Diego welcomes over 4 million visitors a year with their sea animal performances, aquariums and a few amusement rides. SeaWorld San Diego’s aquariums feature more than 5,700 fishes representing 434 species.
While SeaWorld San Diego has a long way to go to earn the distinction of being an ecotourism attraction, the park uses revenues from its admissions to actively implement conservation and animal rescue initiatives, even if they’re only softly mentioned throughout the park in signs and during announcements before animal performances. After all, we can’t start caring about nature if we don’t have an opportunity to interact with it. And for that, SeaWorld has honed its craft to capture the imagination of young and old alike and rekindled for many an awe and wonder that many of the avid conservationists and naturalists enjoy daily.
Instead of volunteer docents associated with living history museums providing interpretive programs, highly trained communicators and performers narrate the story of Shamu and friends as well as other exhibits throughout the park. In a world where a connection to nature couldn’t be more important, SeaWorld can jump start a greater appreciation of it, even if our understanding comes with splashes and tricks. Like they say at the Shamu Show: “We belong to the same family…”
There’s a lot to fascinate a small child or family at SeaWorld San Diego. But I was more amazed by what most visitors never witness, at least not directly, in the park: the SeaWorld Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program and a water filtration system that actually makes the water cleaner than when it first enters the park.
By Nick Chambers •
April 28, 2009
Oregon, Sonoma County, Tucson, San Diego, Phoenix, and now Seattle. Nissan has been on a media blitz over the last few months adding partners to its growing list of electric vehicle cooperators. In doing so, a clear picture of the company’s “West Coast Plan” has emerged.
By Ariel Schwartz •
April 17, 2009
Do you live in San Diego, CA and want to buy a solar panel system but just don’t have the cash? Congratulations, it’s your lucky day–or rather, it will be your lucky day beginning in July. That’s when a revolutionary program goes into effect that allows residents to pay for solar panels through property tax bills over a period of 20 years.
1 Block Off the Grid, the low-cost solar group-purchasing program, just launched a new campaign in San Diego.
1BOG expects to choose a solar installer around April 18th, and have them evaluting homes by the end of the month. The more people that sign up, the better the discount for anyone buying solar through the program.
If you aren’t familiar with 1 Block Off the [...]
By John Chappell •
February 16, 2009
San Diego Food Not Lawns, a group promoting sustainable growth, food justice and self-sufficiency in Southern California recently hosted a potluck lunch on a recent sunny San Diego weekend. This may not seem terribly noteworthy except for the fact that all the potluck dishes were cooked using nothing but the power of solar energy.
Ingredients were added, recipes were followed and by lunchtime a variety of dishes were available to taste and share. Lasagna, chicken casserole, and chocolate chip cookies were all made in solar cooking devices of all types just for this potluck event. Solar cooking devices can run the gamut from a pot from your kitchen with added aluminum foil wrapped pieces of cardboard, to professional units with built-in thermometers to monitor internal cooking temperature.
The common theme of all solar cookers is that they are passive cooking devices that require no fossil fuels or wood to turn raw food into a cooked meal. During the solar cooking exhibition, blueprints on do-it-yourself solar cookers and solar cooking recipes were exchanged and passionately discussed. The solar cooker pictured above concentrates the rays of the sun and focuses it on the pot, which can raise the internal temperature to over 300 degrees.
By Tom Schueneman •
December 23, 2008
California utility Pacific Gas and Electric announced yesterday it is signing a 20-year agreement to purchase the first 10 megawatts of electricity from Sempra Energy’s El Dorado Solar project near Boulder City Nevada.
The plant was built by Tempe, Arizona-based Firsr Solar using thin film solar panels made of low-cost cadmium tellurium as the material converting sunlight to electrical energy, requiring only 1% of the silicon used in crystalline solar cells. The El Dorado unit is North America’s largest thin-film solar plant, and has plans to expand by another 50 megawatts next year, all part of Sempra’s plan to eventually produce 500MW of thin-film solar power, CEO Michael Altman told Reuters, adding “The size and scope of this new solar generation facility clearly demonstrates that we can build projects on a scale that helps utilities meet their renewable energy goals”.
