We need to do more

On November 19, 2006, the Massachusetts Global Warming Climate Change Conference was held at MIT's Stata Center. Here's a quick summary.

Global Warming is impacting our climate. We need to cut back CO2 emissions by 3% per year. Insurance companies like Swiss RE have hired 20+ climate scientists to evaluate long-term risks. This is more scientists than are employed by the Federal government on this issue. Europeans wonder why the United States refuses to recognize the facts on global warming. Energy companies like Exxon-Mobil try to frame global warming as debatable science. To 95+% of international and US scientists, there is no debate.

The United States is the biggest CO2 emitter by a wide margin.

The Northeastern US is the 7th largest CO2 emitter and is almost the same as India (5th).

Transportation and electicity generation account for 70% of CO2 emissions.

For the next couple years, 3% savings can be achieved by installing lighting fixture and appliance improvements. We can do better than that.

Quick high return-on-investment projects include improving home insulation and installing modern storm windows.

For transportation, savings can come from increased fuel efficiency, reduced driving, and cleaner fuels. 30 less miles driven per month is 3% for most car owners. Legislation to tie car insurance fees to miles driven is under consideration. Methanol is more efficient than Ethanol, yet rarely discussed.



Electric cars get 250 miles per 4 hour battery charge and cost 0.01 cent per mile when charged at off-peak/nighttime hours. Hybrid cars with plug-in option are the optimal solution for the near-term. States are providing tax-benefits for buying fuel-efficient cars. See teslamotors.com for an emerging electric car company. Also, see "Who Killed the Electric Car" which is now available on DVD.

Wind power is the most efficient energy source. Municipalities like Hull, MA are installing wind power turbines by 2008 to meet their energy needs. One speaker recommended that Senator Kennedy and Mitt Romney should to Hull for their objection to wind power. Wind is viable in coastline and mountainous areas.

For those outside Massachusetts, see http://www.smartpower.org/ for ways to purchase clean energy. For those in Massachusetts, donations to www.newenglandwindfund.org are 100% tax deductible and the Massachusetts Tech Collaborative (MTC) matches 100% of your donation with a grant to your city or town to fund clean energy projects. The MTC is funded by a $2/year clean energy development charge added on your energy bills for a $25MM/year budget.

Organizations like Tufts University are locking in clean renewable energy supplies at fixed rates for the long-term, as the cost of clean renewables is constant unlike oil. BedZed http://www.peabody.org.uk/pages/GetPage.aspx?id=179 in the UK has built a zero emission community.

Steven Strong's quote, "Businesses are wasting an untapped valuable resource. Grants are available to put solar panels on them for free and then lease the energy back to the companies for reduced rates, while selling the rest to the public grids."

The Massachusetts building code is outdated. Adjusting it to require EnergyStar efficiency levels would result in a 30% efficiency gain. Materials to meet the EnergyStar levels are available at equivalent cost to alternatives. The lack of building industry knowledge of more efficient building methods is the biggest barrier to adoption.

Vegetable oil is a clean and highly efficient option for home heating. New construction with this technology is in progress.

A barrier to reducing driving is the lack of inexpensive community public transportation options. Community-level shuttles need to be deployed to provide options for commuters to get from public transportation to and from their work locations.

On a side note, for motivating the next generation, see nochildleftinside.org ;-)

As initiatives at the federal government are stalled by politics, organizations like www.iclei.org are organizing municipal governments to collaborate on ways to improve energy use. Successful municipal initiatives are copied quickly around the world. ICLEI will soon be providing web-based online tools for municipal governments to compare their energy use with others. (Presently, they provide offline tools.)

Presentations from the Global Climate Change Conference will be available shortly at www.cleanenergychoice.org.