Bay Area Climate Collaborative Blog

Smart Meters accurate

rreyes@baclimate.org (Rafael Reyes) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:57:49 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 3, 2010

MEDIA CONTACT:
Rafael Reyes, 408-409-5534

BAY AREA CLIMATE COLLABORATIVE STATEMENT ON CPUC INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF PG&E SMART METERS

SAN JOSE – The Bay Area Climate Collaborative applauds the work of the CPUC to independently evaluate the PG&E Smart Meters. The evaluation – conducted by The Structure Group and commissioned by CPUC – included nearly 900 meters in laboratory testing, field meter testing, and end-to-end system testing. The study found that all of the tested Smart Meters and systems were working accurately and that customer billing matched the expected results.

“Smart meters save money and lower green house gas emissions by giving consumers and businesses the power to make smarter decisions about energy use. We welcome the independent report today which found the meters to be accurate. We ask PG&E to embrace the other findings about ways to improve customer communication,” said Rafael Reyes, Director of the Bay Area Climate Collaborative.

The Structure Group evaluation demonstrates the reliability of the technology and supports its continued rollout.

“Smart Meters are the key to a Smart Grid, which is the foundation of greater use of renewable energy, greater conservation efforts and the transition to emerging technologies like electric cars,” Rafael added. “The Department of Energy has stated that that these Smart Grid technologies can save $36 billion annually by 2025. That’s just how important this technology is to a greener California.”

More information on The Structure Group report is available at: www.cpuc.ca.gov. More information on the Bay Area Climate Collaborative is available at www.baclimate.org.

Sustainable Cities - Sept 2nd

rreyes@baclimate.org (Rafael Reyes) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:13:25 GMT

We are pleased to invite you to Sustainable Cities on September 2^nd. At Sustainable Cities you will be able to learn and share on how to improve budgets while advancing your sustainability goals.

Attendees will receive a 16 page, information-filled best-practices guide on financing, lighting, transportation and more - plus a glimpse of the new Sustainable Cities video. The program also includes exciting news from Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino. Media will be present.

Spots are limited so register at http://bacc-sustainablecities.eventbrite.com!

Please join us and bring your colleagues.

Learn and share ideas on cost-effective strategies for your community such as:

Advanced financing options to increase solar power, without up-front investment
Use of energy efficiency to reduce energy expenses
Green building and rooftop solar practices that reduce staff demands
Plug-in vehicle strategies that enable lower fuel and maintenance costs
Opportunities to advance green jobs

Sustainable Cities details:

Thursday, September 2nd

5:30 – 7:30 pm

Intero Real Estate Services

377 Santana Row #1180

San Jose

Click here for a map of the Intero Real Estate and parking at the Santana Row complex.

This program is made possible by the generous support from our sponsors Technology Credit Union, Solar City, Philips Lumileds and Xeralux.

Findings Published - Bay Area Green Building Survey

rreyes@baclimate.org (Rafael Reyes) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:32:08 GMT

Together with our partners, the BACC has completed a green building policy assessment for the 9-county Bay Area region, and has produced detailed maps illustrating Bay Area green building policies and a detailed matrix documenting the standards, levels and thresholds used by local governments throughout the region, including links to the policies where available.

Notable among the key findings:

Nearly all adopted standards use USGBC's LEED for municipal and commercial standards, and Build It Green's Green Point Rated for residential standards
Forty-four cities and counties have adopted required new commercial green building standards
Fifty-one cities and counties have adopted required new residential green building standards
Numerous cities and counties have adopted standards for residential and commercial remodels and improvements
Local approaches to standards typically require higher standards for larger buildings and more flexibility for smaller buildings

The BACC is indebted to its partners on the assessment - Build It Green, RecycleWorks, SF Environment, Sierra Club - Loma Prieta Chapter, StopWaste.Org, US Green Building Council N. CA.

The full-color maps, matrix and findings can be found here.

Extreme weather events consistent with climate change

rreyes@baclimate.org (Rafael Reyes) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:19:42 GMT

A spate of extreme weather events are have been impacting multiple parts of the world in a pattern consistent with scientific expectations of the consequences of climate change.

Prominent climate experts from the Met Office in the UK, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the U.S., the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and other institutions say the recent spate of extreme weather is consistent with manmade climate change.

As of August 10, wildfires have killed 52 people in Russia and prompted nearly 750 more to seek medical care. The fires span over 1,740 km2 (672 square miles), nearly the same amount of rainforest burned in Brazil between June 2009 and 2010. Officials fear that soot from the fires could settle in the Arctic, hastening melting of glaciers and sea ice.
In Pakistan, the death toll from floods caused by unusually heavy monsoons reached 1,600 on August 11. Approximately 14 million people have been affected overall.
In China, 702 people have been killed as of August 10 by mudslides caused by record-setting rains. Over 1,000 more people are missing.
In western Africa, where millions of people are suffering food shortages induced by drought, seasonal flooding has killed almost 100 people and displaced at least 5,000 more as of August 10.
And finally, on August 5, a 97-square-mile (251 km2) chunk of ice — the largest since 1962 — calved from the Petermann Glacier on the northwestern coast of Greenland. Canadian officials fear that the massive “ice island” could pose a risk to ships and oil platforms.

While it “can still be problematic to blame a specific individual extreme weather event on climate change,” says Dr. Peter Stott, head of the Met Office, “the odds of such extreme events are rapidly shortening and could become considered the norm by the middle of this century.”

Read more about the connections between extreme events and climate change.

Climate change worsens smog

rreyes@baclimate.org (Rafael Reyes) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:40:51 GMT

A new study from UC Davis highlights additional impacts from climate change - degraded air quality.

The new study provides evidence of what is becoming known as the “climate penalty,” in which rising temperatures increase ground-level ozone and airborne health-damaging particles, despite the reductions achieved by programs targeting smog-forming emissions from cars, trucks and industrial sources.

This illustration shows projected ozone changes in California's south coast region due to climate change in the year 2050. Areas in orange and red could see ozone concentrations elevated by nine to 18 parts per billion.

More information: The full report and an executive summary are available at: http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/apr/past/climate.htm

Smart Grid radio: Mayor Reed, BACC Director, PG&E

rreyes@baclimate.org (Rafael Reyes) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:06:01 GMT

Listen in on the KLIV CEO Show for an informative discussion on "smart grid" - the key technologies to enable advanced energy efficiency, clean energy, and electric vehicles.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Bay Area Climate Collaborative Director Rafael Reyes, and Pacific Gas & Electric Director Andy Tang discuss benefits and opportunities to advance innovation which will create jobs, improve competitiveness in the region and improve our national security.

Listen in here.

Click here for all CEO Show podcasts.

A big win for Innovalight given intense global competition

rkreyes@yahoo.com (Tyler Savage) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:29:02 GMT

In the Bay Area it’s never a slow day for clean technology companies, especially on days when Innovalight announces another deal with a Chinese solar company. This time the Sunnyvale based company, known for its “solar ink” technology that increases solar efficiency levels by 1 percent, signed a technology, research and production collaboration agreement with Yingli Solar. The value of the deal was not disclosed but it’s an indicator of Innovalight’s growing presence in the international solar market.

In early July, Innovalight announced a three-year agreement with JA Solar, a solar cell manufacturer in China, to co-develop solar cells with an efficiency rate of more than 20 percent. This certainly signals a growing rivalry in the solar market as SunPower, another Bay Area solar cell manufacturer, recently set a new world record to convert solar to electricity at a 24.2 percent efficiency rate.

With the growing interest in the international solar market, perhaps it’s not surprising that clean energy investment in China last year amounted to $34.6 billion. In addition to private investment the chinese government hast set an aggressive agenda to invest $100 billion annually in clean technology research, which dwarfs U.S. investment of just $5 billion. A sign that the U.S. is lagging in clean energy is that it fell behind as the world leader in solar generation as Spain now has 432MW of solar power.

In the future, competition in the international solar market will continue to become more intense. The good news is that companies like Innovalight are propelling the Bay Area to remain a leader in solar around the globe.

PACE: federal government suspends home energy efficiency projects

rkreyes@yahoo.com (Tyler Savage) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:25:17 GMT

Homeowners expecting to begin energy efficiency projects are now delayed since an announcement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) suspended efforts by 23 states to implement the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. PACE, a national program that requires state approval, was designed for local governments to allow energy efficiency projects to be financed through property taxes. In California, AB 811 enabled the creation of CaliforniaFIRST. In fact, PACE has roots here in the Bay Area as it was modeled after the BerkeleyFirst program.

The PACE program was designed as an incentive for homeowners as it would provide the necessary funding for energy saving projects upfront, making costly retrofits more affordable. The homeowner would then be responsible for making monthly payments towards the loan until completely paid off.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac raised concern over the program because if a home were to go into foreclosure the PACE loan would be repaid first. This possibly could mean a risk for financial institutions like Fannie and Freddie, even though the amount would be a very small portion of the total value of the home. The good news is that the PACE program does include safeguards to prevent lending to high-risk homeowners which makes foreclosures highly unlikely.

As a result of the FHFA decision, California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit claiming that the agency’s actions to prevent homeowners access to the PACE program is breaking California laws. In an attempt to find a compromise, the U.S. Treasury Department has handed down a mandate to banks to decrease homeowner’s line of equity to account for any financial risks posed by PACE.

The decision by the FHFA to prevent mortgage lenders from participating in the PACE program might send homeowners a confusing message. In October 2009, the White House released a policy framework for PACE and President Obama allocated $100 million through the American Recovery Act to support the program. Governor Schwarzenegger expressed his concern for FHFA’s decision by saying that “this decision not only puts at risk millions of dollars of Recovery Act funds but sends a message to local governments and private businesses that energy independence is not a priority.”

California Congressman Michael Thompson (D-CA1) introduced H.R. 5766, “The PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2010,” which if approved would require lenders to support PACE. Grassroots organizations like PACENOW are encouraging community members to reach out to congressional representatives to vote to support PACE. In the end, the future of PACE will either be in the hands of Congress or the courts.

Tesla adds the Toyota RAV4 to its fleet of electric vehicles

rkreyes@yahoo.com (Tyler Savage) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:49:37 GMT

The Tesla-Toyota partnership continues to grow as the companies announce that Tesla will be producing Toyota's RAV4 electric crossover-utility vehicle. The new RAV4 will join the the Tesla Model S as the two electric vehicles to be released in 2012.

This is good news for those drivers who were fans of the RAV4 EV during the vehicles first production run in the late 1990s. Toyota's increasing partnership with Tesla is perhaps even better news as it signals a growing presence in the EV market for both automakers. Additionally, it allows Toyota to focus its attention on commuter cars which is likely going to be a significant portion of the consumer market.

Toyota's U.S. sales division president, Jim Lentz, said "a lot of our electric-vehicle work has been in small, commuter-type cars, because that's the direction we think most consumers will want to go."

Lentz highlighted the importance of the partnership as it gives Toyota the ability to "go in different directions at the same time." He said that if consumers are looking for something other than commuter cars Tesla will help Toyota "have alternatives in play."

There was no announcement as to the price of the new RAV4 EV, but it will likely be an affordable option for consumers looking for the versatility of an SUV that has the benefit of a zero-emissions vehicle.

GE introduces WattStation and establishes $200 million for clean-energy innovation

rkreyes@yahoo.com (Tyler Savage) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:43:39 GMT

The world of electric vehicles received another boost as General Electric introduced its own version of an EV charger to the public. GE's WattStation is expected to rollout in 2011 and will likely be just one of many more clean technologies to come as the company plans to double its spending for research and development to $10 billion from 2010 to 2015.

GE also announced that it will provide $200 million for a clean-energy contest to spur innovation in the sector. Venture capitalists RockPort Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which both have offices in Menlo Park and fund Bay Area companies like Solyndra and Silver Spring Networks, are helping to fund and sponsor the clean-energy contest.

"GE, one of the world's biggest companies, with a large stake in the electricity industry, touted what it called the "GE ecomagination challenge" in an event that also featured venture capital firms that are teaming up on the project, which will promote production of clean energy and energy efficiency."

GE's entry is a direct challenge to BACC partners Coulomb Technologies and Better Place. Coulomb received federal funding for the ChargePoint America project which will allow nearly 5,000 Coulomb ChargePoint stations to be installed in nine regions across the US. Also, Better Place, which specializes in battery switch stations, has made inroads in Asia and Europe through partnerships with Chinese automaker Chery and the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Coulomb and Better Place are no doubt making significant progress, though with GE's announcement it will certainly increase competition in a growing market.