My wife and I live in the Metro Vancouver. We park-and-rode into the downtown yesterday to get a feel of the crowds, the activities and the excitement just before the Opening Ceremonies on Friday. One of our stops was at the big downtown Hudson's Bay department store that had a half a floor dedicated to Olympics merchandise; 'The Bay' is a sponsor. I saw a Vancouver 2010 umbrella and cracked to my wife "you'll need this on Cypress" and she laughed. With even more rain and high temperatures forecast this weekend spectators and the athletes' retinues will need them.

The Orange County Register has called it right with a Feb.8/9 story 'Global warming a threat for the Olympics?'

"One morning last week, environmentalist David Suzuki looked across English Bay from his Vancouver home to Cypress Mountain, usually covered in snow this time of year but now left all but bare by a warm winter.

"I've watched in horror as the snow has just melted away from Cypress Mountain," Suzuki said, referring to the 2010 Olympic Games snowboarding and freestyle skiing venue.

"The view from Vancouver, Suzuki and others say, provides a glimpse into the future for the Winter Olympics.

"It's certainly an early warning sign and I think and a wake up call to the Olympic movement," said Ian Bruce, 

"Global warming has placed the future of the Winter Olympics and winter sports from the Sierras to the Alps in peril, according to interviews with environmental scientists, Olympic officials, historians and athletes in recent weeks.

"As the 2010 Olympic Games open this week in Vancouver and Whistler, there is a growing concern within the Olympic and environmental movements that the Winter Games are in jeopardy of being significantly diminished if not eliminated all together by climate change.

"The tenuousness of the Winter Olympics has become increasingly more obvious with global warming," said Derick L. Hulme, an Olympic historian at Michigan's Alma College. "It (the International Olympic Committee) should be very concerned about the Winter Olympics. I think many people look out 20, 30 years from now and are concerned about whether the Winter Olympics will still be viable."

The culprits are in the mirrors. The SUVs, the monster homes, sprawling subdivisions, the office parks, big box stores, and expressways we drive and select and with this the destruction of farmland, forests, open space and wetlands and the air, water and land that we depend on. The treating of the environment as a free lunch whose price is now becoming due but no one wants to pay, and the amount owed is climbing rapidly.

Ultimately the human species, as well as that of every other life form is doomed, as is our planet and solar system and the universe. There is the fatalism that 'in the long run we're all dead' that has created greenlighted wanton materialist, environment-be-d**ned attitude as evidenced in the bumper sticker 'The one who dies with the most toys wins'. The Algeria-born French philosopher Albert Camus summed it up nicely: "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide" and we're quickly collectively doing in ourselves before the sun going red giant, the collision between the Milky Way with Andromeda and heat death does us in.

So is there a reason to go green, to try and save the planet, when ultimately it is a futile exercise? The answer lies whether each of us has a reason to go on living, or to kill oneself, as Camus posits. We can decide not to look after ourselves and choose to ingest dangerous substances to oblivion too.

My attitude is that each of us are born without being asked into this world, a gift as it were, and we have an obligation to repay the givers if you like by making the best of it in the brief times we are here. Like Zen art just because life, like the planet and the cosmos is not permanent does not mean it is not worth while to create and maintain for it has a unique beauty that is to be cherished for that instant there is. 

And that means looking after ourselves and our planet.

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Once the primary means of getting around, streetcars were targeted for elimination by a combination of an apathetic public sold on the vision of unlimited mobility, not realizing that the dark side of congestion and environmental destruction lay just around the corner and by the beneficiary car and tire makers and petroleum companies. Now streetcars have been making a comeback in cities throughout North America. People and communities are once again finding them desirable.

The latest city to witness their return, if only for a short time, is Vancouver, B.C., Canada. The City of Vancouver and Bombardier have launched the Olympic Line, a 1.2 mile demonstration route from the Canada Line rapid transit near the Olympic Village to Granville Island, a popular shopping and entertainment hub long notorious for terrible parking. A pair of state-of-the-art 100 percent low-floor Bombardier streetcars, borrowed from Brussels, Belgium began operating last Thursday and will continue to do so until March 21, with the close of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympic Games. The service, which will be provided every six to 10 minutes from 6:30am to 12:30am, is free.

The tracks the streetcars use a rebuilt freight spur operated on by restored heritage streetcars in summer months. Vancouver lost its local streetcar system in 1955; its longer-distance electric interurbans in 1958. Rail transit, in the form of automated rapid transit, first returned in 1986 and has been expanded since.

Vancouver hopes to keep the streetcars going after March 21; it is planning a network that will connect offices, retail, transportation hubs, sports venues and parks in the downtown. City officials are keeping their fingers crossed that strong public demand and support will enable them to convince provincial and federal governments especially, for operating and capital financing. 

Vancouuver is eyeing The City of Seattle, some 2-1/2 hours to the south, which has greenlighted a second new streetcar line that will connect its King Street/International District Amtrak/commuter rail/LINK light rail hub with First Hill and Capitol Hill. The first streetcar line, connecting Lake Union with the Westlake Center, a retail/transportation center that joins LINK with the Seattle Center monorail, opened in 2007. They will be part of a network that Vancouver hopes to replicate.

The Seattle system could be receiving added funding thanks to Obama Administration transit financing rule changes. The Wall Street Journal reported it was revamping them "to funnel more of the money to streetcars, bus routes and other projects that promote 'livability.'

"Transit-industry officials said many projects had been stymied by a Bush administration policy requiring the government to evaluate projects based largely on reducing commuting times at the lowest possible expense," said the paper. 

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Symantec via its PR firm forwarded the green facets of its recently released findings from the firm's 2010 State of the Data Center report. Among them:

* 70 percent of enterprises mentioned energy savings as a somewhat/absolutely important initiative, which was one of the top ten

* 94 percent of enterprise said that reducing energy consumption was important, 89 percent said Green IT was important

* Green IT/energy savings came up in every cloud computing topic

36 percent are considering private cloud computing, 33 percent are looking at public cloud computing, 30 percent are considering infrastructure as a service, and 33 percent are considering platform as a service to become green. 

Also 32 percent of firms are using storage as a service and 34 percent are deploying storage virtualization while 32 percent of enterprises are using storage virtualization--all as ways to go green.
 
--

Also Tom Ciesielka has kindly passed on this release to me on green tech patemts: 
 
January 15, 2010 - Five weeks after the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) began a test program to fast track certain "green" technology patent applications, most of the 3,000 positions are still available. Only about one third have been applied for.
 
Businesses wishing to patent their proprietary green technologies are being given special "front-of-the-line" status in having their application reviewed. Unexamined pending applications that are accepted could have the processing time reduced by as much as one year.
 
"This may be used in conjunction with other governmental programs to speed the prosecution of foreign applications as well" said Paul Craane, attorney with the intellectual property law firm Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP. "Assuming your application falls within the proper class, this program is tailored for an application focused on a single invention," Craane said. Craane recommended that applicants contact their patent attorney and get their petition in as soon as possible.
 
The USPTO has indicated that if this program is deemed successful it could very likely be continued and expanded. For more information about the USPTO pilot program to accelerate the examination of certain green technology patent applications visit the website:
http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2009/09_33.jsp
 
 

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In 2007, Delta Airlines announced a corporate cans and bottle recycling program. (Our Techistan research team searched the Delta site and could not find any reference to it with either of these set of terms: "corporate recycling" or "recycling.") Read about Starbucks' explanation as to their ability or lack of ability to recycle at http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/pressdesc.asp?id=792.

The Toyota Prius as well as electric cars and other hybrid cars became popular the same year and more so in 2010, largely because of a USA tax incentive but also incentives by Canada, Jordan, UK and other countries.

The telecom industry, often ahead in technology than other industries, has had many role models, has made many promises, and has or has not followed through in green technologies.  Energy may become cleaner and more powerful as more people, endpoints, and technologies are connected within the particular network.

Bob Metcalfe's Law states that the value of a telecom network is proportionate to the square of the number of users in a system: the more distributed users there are on the system, the greater the value of the network and of those endpoints themselves. Services and companies that fit into this scenario very well include TelX, Stealth Communications, Voice Peering Fabric, DIDX, Facebook, Arbinet, eBay, Skype, and Google, of course, with a huge gap between lowest value to highest, but still accurately defined.

Companies that take not only an environmentally-friendly view of providing service to the world but also a philanthropical push to empower the less fortunate include Vocati Communications, Global Crossing, ActivePort, and BetterWorld Telecom LLC (of which Techistan has interviewed the first three and looking forward to the third). BetterWorld Telecom LLC was the first carbon-neutral carrier in the United States. In 2007, it claimed to use VoIP, wireless, and unified communications to shrink its infrastructure, utilities, and energy needs. It had planned to get rid of paper billing. It was using an Internet-based and paperless system. Whenever paper was needed, its preferred was 100% recycled paper. Also in 2007, it was giving 3% of revenue to nonprofit activities that benefitted education, children and the environment. It had set a goal to donate at least one million dollars by the end of 2012.

The Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a nonprofit group of consumers, businesses and conservation organizations, is dedicated to promoting smart technologies to improve the power efficiency and reduce the energy consumption of computers. Some of the organizations involved in 2007 were Intel Corporation, Google and other PC companies. In early 2010, others include the same, plus Dell, EDS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA), Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Microsoft, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), World Wildlife Fund and more. See the complete updated list at http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/about/member-directory/. The goal was and is to educe energy consumption by computers by 50 percent and reduce global CO2 emissions from the operation of computers by 54 million tons a year by 2010.

For more information, consider registering now for http://www.itexpo.com in Miami Beach, Florida on January 20-22, 2010 to participate in Virtualization, SmartGrid, Cloud Computing, and other sessions and summits that involve green technologies and resourceful uses and types of technologies, services, and products. An additional and powerfully-informative and action-oriented event is the IEEE Green Technology Conference scheduled for April 24-25, 2010 in Dallas, Texas. Make your company promises and follow through with action whether in green technology areas or helping those who need help. Be respected and the choice to do business with.

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A new report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010 covered on TMCnet  illustrates why staying or locating in traditional suburban sprawl office buildings is a bad financial idea. It paints a bleak outlook for investors, owners, and landlords for office space.

"[D]on't expect any spikes in this recovery given the dearth of employment generators and rising vacancies. New demand could stall well into 2011 or even 2012. Employers continue to seek outsourcing and productivity gains, especially in the financial industry.

"Big companies pursue various options to reduce costs, use space more efficiently, and increase "people-per-seat metrics. They count on young employees to adapt to paperless environments as well as more work-at-home and open space hoteling strategies." These secular trends could "mitigate any office rebound."

Suburban office markets are in a much worse position than those in downtowns and accessible on transit. The central cities have and will outperform suburban sprawl, which it has done since 2007, as an investment prospects, with vacancy rates tracking approximately five percent less downtown than on the fringes.

 "Avoid suburban markets," recommends the report. "Urban and infill areas should benefit from demographics changes and economic shifts working against many suburbs. The "move back in" by echo boomers and empty nester baby boomers continues, and office tenants migrate toward suburban nodes with more urban amenities. Rising car-related costs (gas, insurance, user fees, loans) and increased congestion don't help the suburban office story, either. In particular, obsolescence threatens older office parks."

Yes, there are deals to be had, and landlords are willing to bend over backwards. But Diety forbid you have to pull up stakes--a key consideration because how quickly things change--the chances of finding someone to take over your lease or if you decide to own a building, you'll have your finances dragged into the mud by this white elephant.

Here's another green-in-many-ways-tip: if you have to have your staff travel, for short trips put them on buses and trains instead having them fly (or drive) to ensure that they can work productively enroute.

A new report from DePaul University also reported on TMCnet found that the ability and ease of bus and train customers to use portable electronic devices as compared to those who fly is prompting their greater use. So much so that it is offsetting the longer travel times resulting it says growing market share for bus and rail.

The study: Is Portable Technology Changing How Americans Travel? A Survey of the Use of Electronic Devises on Intercity Buses, Train, and Planes reported in the transit trade magazine Metro, says curbside bus and high-speed Boston-New York-Washington, D.C. Amtrak Acela Express trains travelers are the heaviest users of portable technology. At randomly selected points during trips, it said that 39.6 percent of passengers on curbside buses are using some form of portable device. This is two percentage points more than on conventional Amtrak trains and more than twice that on commercial flights and traditional Greyhound buses.

In contrast to rail and bus users, on the average commercial flight, only 17.6 percent of passengers are using technology at any given point. The report points to the requirements that devices must be deactivated after leaving the gate and remain off for an extended period. Also the aircraft design makes power outlets and centralized computer-equipped work stations impractical to install.  While airlines make special allowances for passengers to travel with laptop and notebook computers but when flights are full, keeping such equipment at seats can be awkward. Even the seemingly simple act of retrieving a laptop from an overhead compartment can be difficult, as many are filled to capacity.

"Due to gradual reductions in seat pitch, escalating load factors, and the "hassle factor" of airport security in the post-9/11 environment (requiring travelers to complete a series of tasks before boarding the plane and taking their seat), many travelers opt to bring only the smallest devices, such as cell phones and iPods, with them," says the report.

The trends identified by the DePaul report will accelerate. It came out just before the attempting bombing of Flight 253 and the resulting added security measures that has added to the total air travel time, and the resulting hassle. Both Amtrak and Greyhound are accelerating their Wi-Fi deployments notes the report. Wi-Fi provisioning came up at a meeting last month in Vancouver, B.C. Canada on improving cross-border intercity rail. Washington, Oregon, the province of British Columbia and Amtrak have been working together to drive more customers into the spiffy Amtrak Cascades Talgo trains that operate between Eugene, Oregon and the Canadian city, which is home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, by way of Portland and Seattle. 

If one does need to fly, and one's destination is the Seattle area, Sound Transit has just opened its LINK LRT to SeaTac airport. It offers a 36-minute ride to the downtown. Flying to Seattle, then riding LINK and taking Amtrak can be a less expensive as well as a scenic, if longer option to reaching Vancouver, B.C. 

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The newspaper reports that a fair-sized portion of that land had been donated to the federal government a decade ago by an environmental group, which had purchased the property from Catellus Development with private and federal money. The rest has been protected in some form or another.

The rub comes with commitments for conserving this wide open space when the land was accepted and goals for green energy from two Administrations.

The Times said the federal government "made a competing commitment in 2005 when President George W. Bush ordered that renewable energy production be accelerated on public lands, including the Catellus holdings. The Obama administration is trying to balance conservation demands with its goal of radically increasing solar and wind generation by identifying areas suitable for large-scale projects across the West."

"Not only is the desert land some of the sunniest in the country, and thus suitable for large-scale power production, it is also some of the most scenic territory in the West," adds the story. "The Mojave lands have sweeping vistas of an ancient landscape that is home to desert tortoises, bighorn sheep, fringe-toed lizards and other rare animals and plants."

Sally adds that some believe the desert is the best place for utility scale wind and solar. "But that is not true, especially solar," she said. "Especially for solar thermal. Because the kind of solar proposed for that area needs lots of water and lots of new power lines. Neither of which exist where the power plants were proposed."

Sally and the other environmentalists who want to preserve the vistas have a valid point. Just because the power source is green it doesn't mean the power is green.There is not only the habitat destruction and the visual pollution--"utility sprawl"--but there's also emissions from the service vehicles. 

This isn't new for those of who live in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia especially. Our rivers have been dammed (damned?) for decades for green hydroelectric power, which have wreaked havoc on the salmon runs and the salmon fishery. And there are few scars uglier than the tree stumps and other remains when the water levels drop in the reservoirs. Except for the slopes stripped and despoiled with wires and pylons.

Senator Feinstein is striving to balance the green and the green. The Times reported that she had shrunk the parkland from 2.5 million acres; her bill would provide a 30 percent tax credit to developers that consolidate degraded private land for solar projects.

"I strongly believe that conservation, renewable energy development and recreation can and must co-exist in the California desert," Mrs. Feinstein said in a statement.  "This legislation strikes a careful balance between these sometimes competing concerns."

The Senator has a point. The green energy developers would be better off in more ways than one if they brownfielded their projects instead. For (and ironically) they are falling into the same lazy and environmentally destructive pattern of commercial and residential developers by focusing on greenfields.

Further to the legislation why not look for alternative power sites at the huge parking lots at malls, 'office parks', and distribution centers many of which are vacant and whose landlords are hungry thanks to the downturn. Couldn't panels be mounted on new rooftops to create covered parking? Or wind turbines erected on towers that also carry power/voice/data, cell repeaters, and lighting. One big benefit is that the utility infrastructure is already there, which minimizes construction costs and line losses.

Here is another option: how about locating these plants over and by the massive amounts of publicly-owned 'freeways' throughout the region? The 'power rights' can be sold to support California's planned new high-speed rail (HSR) line, and when the trains begin to roll, to supply electricity to them. The same concept could be deployed in the Northeast with supplemental power to help power the region's large electrified high-speed and commuter rail networks. And in Texas where LRT lines are expanding in Dallas and Houston. With creaking progress now being made towards HSR in Florida perhaps solar power in the Sunshine State can help make that a reality. 

Going green does not have to mean destroying green.

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Premier Power's new panel microinverter system is a set of small units that connect directly to each solar module to convert DC power into grid-compliant AC power. It transmits valuable performance data on each module to the system owner. 

The payoffs? Increased solar output by as much as 25 percent over traditional inverters, not to mention a more reliable system, and the ability to monitor and respond quickly to performance issues. Also the distributed microinverter design readily permits expanded solar power generation. And, if one microinverter fails, the rest continue to operate as usual and can be replaced during routine maintenance or when convenient.

The key to making technology effective and popular is not so much big leaps but rather steady advances like these that make a difference in the ROI achieved by the purchasers. In the case of green solutions that increase in results, leading to more individuals and firms acquiring them, benefits all.
 
 
 

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Comments on this Entry:

(Recycled Products on Dec 22, 2009 11:09 AM) Solar is a fantastic way to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, but its way too expensive and the payback is far too long! Plus do we have enough sunshine in England to make it work properly?

Recognize the environmentally responsible Telecommunications and Information and Communications Technologies companies who have implemented practices or programs in benefit of the environment in Mexico.

1. Requirements:
All the national and international telecommunications and information and communications technologies companies whose initiatives and activities are performed in the Mexican Republic may participate in the GREEN COMM AWARD MEXICO 2010.

2. Categories:
The GREEN COMM AWARD MEXICO 2010 will be awarded under the following criteria:
A. Companies developing equipment, products or systems with elements or components which contribute to the conservation and protection of the environment.

B. Companies applying technological residues management and usage programs.

C. Companies participating in environmental program's initiatives.
The participants in the first category may be private organizations who manufacture equipment and systems inside or outside of the country, but traded within Mexico.
The participants in the second category may be private organizations, whether manufacturers or not of equipment and systems, who apply these types of programs.
The participants in the third category may be private organizations who participate in social responsibility and environmental care programs (technological wastes programs, recycled products, efficiency of electrical consume, toxic-free devices, flora and fauna preservation), who will be awarded with a special recognition and do not participate against the other two categories.

3. Submission of the proposals:

The proposal shall contain the following documents:
Application letter: providing the full data of the company, category in which it will participate (each company may participate in the three categories), actions supporting the deserving of the award, contact name, address, telephone number and e-mail.

Statement letter: stating that there are no environmental administrative procedures in course. This letter shall also affirm the non existence of legal conflicts or issues with any authority or entity which are contrary or may discredit GREEN COMM AWARD MEXICO 2010

Summary document: The participating companies shall send a two page document containing the general description of the program or project and including the purpose, scope and benefits achieved or expected therefrom.

Full document: The participating companies shall submit a ten page document providing the backgrounds, purposes, scope of the program, environmental elements being preserved or improved, concrete actions performed, applied processes or methodologies, achieved results and provable benefits of the program.

All the documents will be send by PDF (mail) or USB, we do not accept print materials

Supporting material: To reinforce the proposal, it is recommendable to include printed, audiovisual or graphic material, publications and statements, when available, to support the program.

Please send your information in Spanish.

4. The proposals shall be directly submitted at:
Insurgentes Sur No. 664 4° Piso
Col. Del Valle, Delegación Benito Juárez
México, D.F. C.P. 03100
The proposals shall be submitted from the date of this summons to February 1st, 2010. Should you have any question regarding the GREEN COMM AWARD MEXICO 2010 you may request information to the e-mail greencomm@ejkevents.com or contact the telephone number (52) 55-1087 1650 Ext. 1115.

.... My attempt at translating into Spanish.

....

BANDA ANCHA PARA LAS EMPRESAS foro Powered by EXPO COMM 2010 invita a las Telecomunicaciones, Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones las empresas con operaciones en México a participar en el fin de obtener la adjudicación GREEN COMM AWARD MÉXICO 2010.

Reconocer las Telecomunicaciones del medio ambiente y Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones las empresas que han implementado prácticas o programas en beneficio del medio ambiente en México.

1. Requisitos:
Todos los sectores de telecomunicaciones nacionales e internacionales y de la información y tecnologías de la comunicación las empresas cuyas iniciativas y actividades se realizan en la República Mexicana podrán participar en el GREEN COMM AWARD MÉXICO 2010.

2. Categorías:
El GREEN COMM AWARD MÉXICO 2010 será concedida con arreglo a los siguientes criterios:
A. Empresas equipo de desarrollo, productos o sistemas con elementos o componentes que contribuyen a la conservación y protección del medio ambiente.

B. Empresas aplicación tecnológica de gestión de residuos y los programas de uso.

C. Empresas que participan en las iniciativas del programa ambiental.
Los participantes en la primera categoría pueden ser organizaciones privadas que fabrican equipos y sistemas dentro o fuera del país, pero que coticen en México.
Los participantes en la segunda categoría pueden ser organizaciones privadas, ya sean o no fabricantes de equipos y sistemas, que aplican estos tipos de programas.
Los participantes en la tercera categoría pueden ser organizaciones privadas que participan en la responsabilidad social y los programas de cuidado del medio ambiente (residuos tecnológicos de programas, productos reciclados, eficiencia de consumo eléctrico, dispositivos sin tóxicos, la flora y fauna, conservación), que serán premiados con un especial el reconocimiento y no participarán en contra de las otras dos categorías.

3. Presentación de las propuestas:

La propuesta deberá contener los siguientes documentos:
Carta de solicitud: proporcionar los datos completos de la empresa, categoría en la que participará (cada empresa puede participar en las tres categorías), las acciones de apoyo a los merecedores del premio, nombre de contacto, dirección, número de teléfono y correo electrónico.

Declaración de la carta: indicando que no hay procedimientos administrativos medioambientales en curso. Esta carta también se afirma la no existencia de conflictos legales o problemas con alguna autoridad o entidad que sean contrarias o puede desacreditar GREEN COMM AWARD MÉXICO 2010

Documento Resumen: Las empresas participantes deberán enviar un documento de dos páginas que contiene la descripción general del programa o proyecto y en particular el propósito, alcance y beneficios que se obtienen o se espera de ellos.

Documento completo: Las empresas participantes deberán presentar el documento de diez páginas que proporciona los antecedentes, objetivos, ámbito de aplicación del programa, los elementos medioambientales que preservar o mejorar, las acciones concretas realizadas, los procesos aplicados o metodologías, lograr resultados y beneficios demostrables del programa.

Todos los documentos se envían por PDF (correo electrónico) o USB, no aceptamos el material impreso

Material de apoyo: Para reforzar la propuesta, es recomendable incluir impresos, audiovisuales o material gráfico, publicaciones y declaraciones, cuando estén disponibles, para apoyar el programa.

Por favor, envíe su información en español.

4. Las propuestas se podrán presentar directamente en:
Insurgentes Sur No. 664 4 ° Piso
Col. Del Valle, Delegación Benito Juárez
México, D.F. C.P. 03100
Las propuestas serán presentadas a partir de la fecha de esta convocatoria al 1 de febrero de 2010. Si usted tiene cualquier pregunta sobre el GREEN COMM AWARD MÉXICO 2010 puede solicitar información a la greencomm@ejkevents.com e-mail o póngase en contacto con el número de teléfono (52) 55-1087 1650 ext. 1115.

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I received an e-mail last week from Jim McGilligan, who has a degree in engineering from the University of Delware, who just came across this article on water and energy titled: "What is your water footprint?" published in the (Lafourche Parish, La.) Daily Comet. Written by Tom Rooney, president and CEO of SPG Solar in Novato, Calif the article is "the best I've ever seen" on this topic, Jim tells me.

The article raises the key points that we should consider water consumption and concern ourselves with the amounts of energy required to heat and cool water when looking at shrinking our carbon footprints i.e. 'water footprints'.

For most types of commercial electric power the story says you need water: to turn into steam i.e. coal, gas, nuclear, oil or to push turbines i.e. hydro. In the former grouping this water which must be cooled and reused rather than dumped into lakes, ponds, and streams, harming aquatic life. 

While the articles doesn't mention this in the latter example i.e. hydro, water must be dammed, interfering with fish runs and turning farms and forests into eerie liquid landscapes, whose remains can be seen during low levels. There has been and continues to be costly efforts to provide for or restore salmon on rivers blocked by hydro projects.

The story says that it takes at least a gallon of water to create one kilowatt hour of power: enough to run your air conditioner for one hour.

It cites estimates from Rachelle Hill and Dr. Tamim Younos of Virginia Tech University that "fossil fuel thermoelectric plants use between ... 8 to 16 gallons of water to burn one 60-watt light bulb for 12 hours per day. Over the duration of one year this one incandescent light bulb would consume about 3,000 to 6,300 gallons of water."

"So we use water to create energy, and we use energy to create water -- to create more energy to create more water," says Rooney. "And on and on and on it goes in a downward spiral that completely distorts the way we think and act about water and power."

Rooney, perhaps not surprisingly given his company recommends using photovoltaic cells. While these solutions will not replace water-based power sources (not in my part of the world i.e. the Pacific Northwest where in winter the sun is that weird object we know is out there) he does call attention to the need to cut down on water use and on the energy consumption in turning water into energy. Not when we have other uses for that water i.e. drinking, to sustain life forms that we eat. 

With growing populations and global warming that has led to droughts--and the Moon a little far away for a pipeline--we can't afford to waste that ultimately life-given commodity.

Thanks Jim!
 

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Comments on this Entry:

(Heriberto Boyl on Jan 4, 2010 10:27 PM) Grand post about SEO. I'm frankly amazed that this has not been said earlier.

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