Yep, it’s been a while… with all of the preparation for GreenFest at Green Options, sustainablog got the short end of the stick. Still thinking about how to handle the situation with my little blog — I do miss writing here — but will have to keep it to an occasional basis for the time being.

Of the many great experiences that came out of last week’s festivities in Chicago was getting to meet fellow Treehugger writer Leonora Oppenheim. If you haven’t yet seen it, Leonora posted a photo of us from GreenFest at TH; I also put it up at GO:

Leonora and I will get to hang a bit more tonight — she’s in the Lou’ as part of Kallari Association‘s visit. Kallari is a Fair Trade cocoa cooperative in Ecuador, and Leonora, as well as a number of students from Washington University, are involved with it. Tonight, Kallari’s Director of Commerce Carlo Pozo will be speaking at the Missouri Botanical Garden (one of my favorite places on the planet, and not just because it’s only two blocks away). The title of his talk is “Sustainable Farming & Building: A Modern Kichwa Tradition in the Making.”

This all happens at 6:30 tonight in the Shoenberg Auditorium at the Garden. Come by, enjoy the talk, and, more than likely, the chocolate samples (it’s really good stuff).

Categories: fairtrade, missouribotanicalgarden, event, stlouis, sustainability

Obviously, I haven’t been posting as regularly as I’d like lately. While I hate to neglect sustainablog, I’m in that interesting position of having got what I asked for: I always thought that keeping my little blog might help me land a job in the green business sector. It worked… and, unfortunately, means I can’t devote as much time and energy as I’d like here.

That doesn’t mean I’m closing up shop here by any means — from the beginning at Green Options, I made it clear that I wanted to maintain sustainablog. I’m deeply grateful to the readers that have come by and even stuck around over the years. While I do hope you’ll make GO a part of your green web routine, I also plan to still give you reason to come by here. Maybe not as often, but I hope you’ll check regularly — I’ll post at least a couple of times a week.

I’ve thrown out the idea of bringing on another writer before, and am considering it again. Whaddaya think? Is it time for me to share my baby? As always, I value your thoughts.

JM-S

As I’ve mentioned before, Missouri is one of a handful of states that don’t have a net metering law. In other words, if you install a grid-tied renewable system on your home or business, utilities in the state are not required to credit your electric bill at the retail rate for excess energy produced — the current system that the state government calls net metering only requires utilities to credit energy-producing customers at the avoided-cost rate. That could change as early as this year, as Missouri Senate bill 674, the Easy Connection act, has been introduced, and is now under consideration by the Senate’s Commerce, Energy and Environment committee. According to the Columbia Missourian, the bill:

…would amend regulations for connecting alternative energy sources to existing power grids and require utility companies to give credit for excess electricity produced by homeowners through a process known as net metering. As it stands, Missouri law does not accommodate the practice. …

Sen. Joan Bray, D-St. Louis, said she chose to sponsor the bill because existing laws aren’t creating any incentive to use renewable energy.

“It’s a chicken-and-egg thing,” she said. “There aren’t a lot of people using it now, but if the law stays the same, there certainly won’t be many more.”

Net metering provides the best of both worlds for consumers who choose to invest in renewable energy technology: they have the security of grid connection, but are also compensated fully for excess power they produce that’s fed into the grid. As such, it provides an incentive for investing in small-scale renewables. Furthermore, it prevents utility companies from discouraging installation of renewable systems.

If you’re a Missouri resident that wants to support the Easy Connection Act, the organization Renew Missouri (which has already testified before the committee considering the bill) has information available on how to get involved. I’ll certainly be writing to my own Senator Jeff Smith, whom I’m inclined to believe would support the bill. I hope others will, too — it’s about time Missouri caught up with Indiana, Michigan, and the rest of the 41 states (in PPT) that have implemented net metering laws.

Photo credit: Todd Spink/NREL-DOE

Categories: renewableenergy, netmetering, politics, legislature, missouri

Even though I live smack-dab in the middle of flyover country, it’s easy to get entranced by all the green activity on the coasts, and miss what’s going on in my own backyard. Chicago’s certainly in the game, right up there with San Francisco, Portland and NYC, and now I find out that Indianapolis is looking hard at sustainability measures they might implement. Right now, the (very impressive) green roof atop the parking structure of the Indianapolis Museum of Art stands alone in terms of major sustainable development projects (and yet another example of a museum going green), but city leaders hope that roof sparks the imagination of citizens and government officials alike. According to the Indianapolis Star, the mayor and other officials are looking at a wide range of projects:

City officials hope the rooftop can help inspire a larger movement toward more environmentally friendly building practices in Indianapolis as part of Mayor Bart Peterson’s pledge to push a “sustainable” city agenda.

Following in the footsteps of cities like Chicago and Seattle, city officials are exploring various measures. Under consideration: switching to alternative fuel sources, planting more trees, upgrading walkways, overhauling the city’s recycling program and cutting government energy consumption.

All of these efforts are appealing not only for giving Indianapolis some green cred: they could also save a lot of money. Green roofs are expensive, but because they retain so much storm water, they’re much more affordable than drainage systems (of course, that also means that engineers and planners have to consider the water weight on the building structure). Then there’s the energy savings, the lessening of the urban heat island effect, the absorption of pollution… that’s all from just one technology that can be widely used.

Indianapolis is still very much in the planning stages, but they’re clearly thinking about a multifaceted approach to sustainable development, which is key — one technology won’t do everything. Combine those green roofs with cleaner fuels for public transportation and city vehicles, a more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly downtown, and some urban reforestation efforts, and Indianapolis won’t just have a greener city — they’ll have one that’s much more appealing to potential residents and business owners.

Photo credit: Charlie Nye/Indianapolis Star

Categories: indianapolis, greenroofs, cleanfuels, urbanplanning, sustainability, museum

Posted by Dave (in Ireland)

Here’s the challenge – on May 27th, join other whale defenders in a global gathering to support the whales – by taking to the streets for the Big Blue March.It’s a simple task – make contact with other whale defenders, and get together in your city or town wearing a blue t-shirt to form a Sea of People!

You can join Big Blue marches planned from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires – or organise your own event. Some folk aim to march down a major street, others to hold a family “fun day”. In other places, whale events with food, music and guest speakers are happening. People are even having whale parties at their house! Run, dance, swim, skate – do whatever you gotta do, just do it blue!

Why May 27th? While the Big Blue March takes place, the International Whaling Commission Meeting (IWC) will be in session in Anchorage, Alaska. At the IWC, diplomats from around the world make crucial decisions on the fate of whales throughout in our oceans.

Continue reading Join the Big Blue March: Ocean of Whales, Sea of People…

© Greenpeace Photo by Melanie Duchin

50 million years after their ancestors forsake the land, it looks like whales have crawled back onto land, just time for this month’s International Whaling Commission meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. This one seems puzzled by the scary owl…

In other rumours – Blue Whales have been spotted as far inland as Montana. What devil’s going on?

Tell your government that you vote NO to commercial whaling »
whales.greenpeace.org »

Filed under: MPG, Legislation and Policy

The US federal government has for too long enabled the domestic automakers to keep up their inefficient and gas-guzzling ways and may now need to spend billions to bail them out. That’s what California Attorney General Jerry Brown said yesterday as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on a lawsuit against supposedly weak federal fuel efficiency standards.

Brown’s exact quote, as reported by Reuters: “The American auto industry is in deep trouble and they may require subsidies. They may have to be bailed out by the federal government that has just enabled their inefficiency and their gas guzzling. … It may be to protect jobs, to protect our own domestic industry, they (US automakers) are going to require billions of tax support.”

12 states have filed the lawsuit, which claims that the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “failed to meet federal laws requiring the government to determine the impact of regulation on fuel conservation and the environment,” according to Reuters. NHTSA says it doesn’t need to do that because the standards worry about energy conservation, not environmental protection.

Related:

• California AG not giving up on automaker greenhouse gas lawsuit

[Source: Brisbane Times]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Ethanol, Transportation Alternatives

Paul Sr: “Pauly, I swear, if you knew half as much about biodiesel as you think you do, we wouldn’t be screwing around with your corny ethanol bike.”

Jr: “Whatever Pops, you haven’t built anything cool in your entire life! You wouldn’t know cool if I hit you over the head with a corn stalk.”

Sr: “Keep talking, and you’ll get up close on my size 13 diesel up your…”

Jr: “Go back to your office and sniff some more french fry fumes, why don’t cha!”

Mikey: “I thought hydrogen was the new fuel…”

Jr and Sr: “Who asked you Mikey!!!”

Vin and Rick – shake their heads. No words are necessary at this point, right?

Will this scenario be playing out anytime soon? No. But, Orange County Choppers will be building a new bike which is to be powered by E85. This news comes courtesy of Clean Air Choice, and the bike will be shown all over Iowa. So, if you are a Hawkeye, keep an eye out! The Teutels may be nearby – don’t get caught in the cross-fire!

Thanks for the tip, Bob!

[Source: Clean Air Choice]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, MPG, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive

By now plenty of people have seen concept vehicles like the Chevy Volt and Ford HySeries Drive Edge. One of the biggest advantage of the series hybrid drivetrains in these machines is the flexibility they provide in choosing an auxiliary power unit. With the battery system providing the primary energy source to the electric motor the transient load demands of acceleration are taken off the range extender. This allows the range extender to operate in a constant mode doing nothing more than driving a generator to keep the battery charged.

When an engine operates in a constant mode like that it can be optimized for those conditions. However while the original Volt showed a fairly conventional three cylinder flex-fuel engine, there is also the possibility of using something radically different. We recently covered work being done on homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines that can provide significantly reduced fuel consumption and emissions. Unfortunately getting HCCI works best only under certain light load conditions. However the series hybrid may well provide the perfect application for something like HCCI.

During a conversation with GM Vice President of R&D Larry Burns I brought the idea of HCCI and E-Flex and he agreed that the series layout could be a potential application for the new combustion process. Burns said that GM is investigating many different possibilities for the E-Flex power-train because the constant rpm duty cycle allows many ideas that might not have been feasible before suddenly become a real possibility. A whole new world gets opened up by this setup so thing only thing that’s certain right now is change.

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Ethanol

If you find yourself in Iowa today, about 35 miles east of Des Moines, why not get some cheap ethanol? From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., at the new E85 pump at the Kum & Go in Grinnell, a gallon will cost you just $1.85. The store is located at 715 Lang Creek. You can also maybe meet Governor Chet Culver and talk story. Execs from Kum & Go and GM will also be on hand. Each driver is limited to 30 gallons of the special price ethanol per vehicle.

E85 is available at many other Kum & Go stores, and the company started selling the biofuel in 1997.

Related:

• 28 new biodiesel pumps open in Iowa, hydrogen comes to Chicago
• Broin Companies to add cellulosic ethanol production to Iowa plant

[Source: American Lung Association of Iowa]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.