- Determining the amount of greenhouse gases in products to allow for comparison is not so easy. This example shows that it took a year and $100,000 to do one type of product, so imagine how hard it will be to do this with all boxes, bags, and tins of foods in a grocery store. - Editor
Is Your Product Good for the Climate? Here’s How to Prove It
BSF manufactures a variety of window films, which are retrofitted to the inside of glass surfaces, allow sunlight to penetrate windows while reducing solar heat gain. BSF recently completed a climate declaration — the greenhouse gas emission portion of an environmental product declaration (EPD), a lifecycle assessment of a product’s environmental performance. The climate declaration analyzed film, finding that, when installed, the films prevented more GHGs from entering the atmosphere over time than was expended in their manufacture, shipping, installation and expected end of life disposal and recycling.  The cost to produce the climate declaration was just over $100,000. The document took a year of work to assemble, requiring a cradle-to-grave lifecycle analysis. One motive for BSF’s climate declaration came from the company’s customer base: queries, lots of them. “Our sales team was reporting increasing questions from our international customer base,” Fremont says. “Customers wanted to know if our product was really carbon neutral or carbon negative.” These questions have been raised around the globe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS212248723520100824

What Is A Climate Declaration

An increasing attention on climate change has driven the demand for new ways to provide information on products and services climate impact. Purchasers and consumers are asking for information to make climate conscious purchase decision.
Climate declarations are based on quality secured scientific methods. They provide a holistic approach on products and services climate impact and can be used by purchasers and consumers who want to take climate considerations in their purchases.
http://www.climatedec.com/  

- This may not be as precise as the above example, but this campaign is worth considering. Of course, less “stuff” in “Reduce” is often better, too. It’s no longer what you can afford- it’s what the Earth can afford to continue giving us. Think in what we call here “Earth Dollars”.  - Editor
 

Back-to-Cool- Shopping with Climate Change in Mind
Before you spend another dime, there are a few things you should know. The back-to-school shopping season is second only to the holiday shopping season in generating revenue. All that (“stuff”) requires energy, packaging, and transportation — all contributing factors in climate change.
The nonprofit organization Climate Counts is a collaborative effort to bring consumers and companies together in the fight against global climate change. In order to promote awareness among consumers, Climate Counts scores companies on their climate impact.
For the Back-2-Cool Campaign, Climate Counts is taking a look at back-to-school ads from the apparel, electronics, food products, and Internet/software industries to keep consumers informed about the actions of the companies behind the ads. Join the Back-2-Cool Campaign and become a climate-conscious consumer.
We’re getting results- between 2008 and 2009, 90 percent of companies scored by Climate Counts improved their scores by at least 22 percent. Those companies have taken steps to measure their climate footprint and reduce their climate impact.
Consumer choices matter. You can have an impact with your voice — call them, email them, tell them why you are taking your business to the competition… and you can have an impact with your wallet. When it comes to the bottom line, companies will take action to protect their brand and their reputation.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/back-to-cool-shopping-with-climate-change-in-mind.html

- We wrote about this innovative grid project months ago that now has added an important element- new powerful batteries that aim to solve the barrier that renewable energies of solar and wind have by storing the energy so it can be used when there is demand, not just when it is created. Exciting! If you have investment capability, there are opportunities here. - Editor
 

Xtreme Power
The startups that have teamed up to build a transmission hub to connect the U.S.’s three major grids in the east, west and Texas are adding another startup player for energy storage. This afternoon, Tres Amigas, the Santa Fe, N.M-based company behind the transmission project, announced that they have partnered with Xtreme Power, a startup which provides groups of batteries for energy storage for the power grid. Xtreme Power’s batteries would provide storage for the SuperStation to help balance the flow of electricity, and importantly, to enable the addition of more clean power, which is variable, depending on the wind and sunlight, which aren’t always available. Xtreme Power’s batteries would store and release power in response to fluctuations in demand and supply at the hub. For its batteries, Xtreme uses a PowerCell battery chemistry that it calls a “chemical capacitor,” which it says can beat lithium-ion batteries in terms of energy storage, efficiency, cycle life and cost. CEO Carlos Coe told us that Xtreme’s PowerCell battery tech acts more like capacitors: charging and discharging at high speeds, while at the same time, maintaining the qualities that make batteries better than capacitors for long-term energy storage.
http://earth2tech.com/2010/08/18/xtreme-power-joins-the-transmission-hub-project/

- Yes! Making the right decisions can be tough but so very necessary! We all must support politicians who are determined to make tough but right decisions. The goals being set now in the U.S. are far too timid- even non-existent.- Editor
 

Portugal Rocks Renewables: 45% Renewable Electricity by Year’s End
For the past 5 years Portugal has been pushing a dramatic shift to renewable energy. Compared to the standard “20% renewables by 2020” targets that are often brought out at press conferences, its accomplishments are impressive: By the end of the year nearly 45% of its electricity will come from renewable sources. That’s up from 17% five years ago.

If you think of it as a recipe, there are three key ingredients of Portugal’s success:
• 1 part opening up of the energy sector to market forces (including the privatization of energy utilities)
• 1 part technological modernization (in particular the creation of a smart-grid able to handle diverse sources of renewable energy), and
• 2 parts savvy country-wide energy policy (including guaranteed rates for renewables, and the EU Carbon Trading System).

Photo- wind farm in Portugal
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011498.html

- The many government leaders who read Climate Today may want to read this report for its analysis of policy effectiveness. - Editor

Feed-in tariffs responsible for 75% of solar deployment
The lure of feed-in tariffs (FITs) has been responsible for around 75% of solar photovoltaic (PV) deployment around the world and 45% of wind power, according to a study by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). FITs are the most widely used renewable energy policy, in operation in over 75 countries, outweighing both tax incentives and renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies. But the widespread introduction of European-style FITs in the US is hampered by the Federal Power Act (FPA) and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), which would require an investigation and specific rulemaking or declaratory order. Alternatively, Congress could take action and had the Waxman-Markey climate bill – the 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act – been passed this would have clarified a number of the issues. NREL’s guide provides a complete overview of the policy options for FITs, and the key elements that US states should consider if introducing FITs.
For the report: www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/44849.pdf
http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/power-generation/i/3302/

As much as 12 percent of the world’s human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset by producing biochar, a charcoal-like substance made from plants and other organic materials. That’s more than what could be offset if the same plants and materials were burned to generate energy, concludes a study published today in the journal Nature Communications. The study is the most thorough and comprehensive analysis to date on the global potential of biochar. Biochar would be most beneficial if it were tilled into the planet’s poorest soils, such as those in the tropics and the Southeastern United States. Adding biochar to the most infertile cropland would offset greenhouse gases by 60 percent more than if bioenergy were made using the same amount of biomass from that location, the researchers found.
For the report- http://www.nature.com/ncomms/index.html
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1903066/charcoal_takes_some_heat_off_global_warming/index.html?source=r_science

The Solar Bug is a solar-electric vehicle which travels more than 30 miles on a full charge at speeds up to 35 miles per hour, and can carry two passengers and a small amount of cargo. It has 200 watts of roof-mounted solar power and a proprietary regenerative braking system which converts braking energy into battery storage. The Solar Bug can travel up to 10 miles per day on solar power alone. The Solar Bug is the first commercially available solar powered vehicle in North America.
Very upbeat video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHKdFFIuOxA
http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=23794

The Partner jurisdictions of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) today released a comprehensive strategy designed to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), stimulate development of clean-energy technologies, create green jobs, increase energy security and independence, and protect public health. he Design for the WCI Regional Program is the culmination of two years of work by seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. Supported by their jurisdictional goals, the objective of the WCI Partner jurisdictions’ plan is to reduce regional GHG emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
For the Program Release Statement- http://westernclimateinitiative.org/component/remository/general/program-design/Program-Design-Release-Statement/
http://www.westernclimateinitiative.org/news-and-updates/121-wci-partners-release-their-comprehensive-strategy-to-address-climate-change-and-spur-a-clean-energy-economy

I am so convinced about this from prior personal experience, I am trying to get a roofer to tackle making the roof white while adding insulation to the stylish but dysfunctional flat roofs of Santa Fe.- Editor
 

The Roof as White Knight
Since Dr. Chu, a Nobel laureate in physics, took over as energy secretary last year, he has urged Americans to help cool the planet by painting their roofs a lighter color that reflects sunlight. Now he is following his own advice: on Monday, Dr. Chu directed all Energy Department offices to install white roofs during new construction, when replacing old roofs and wherever an installation is cost-effective over the lifetime of the roof. The secretary urged other federal agencies to follow suit.
“Cool roofs are one of the quickest and lowest-cost ways we can reduce our global carbon emissions and begin the hard work of slowing climate change,” he said in a statement.
As climate change remedies go, whitening roofs is the proverbial low-hanging fruit.  Lighter-colored roofs not only reduce air-conditioning bills for individual buildings but also lessen the “heat island” effect, in which the ambient air in cities is hotter than that of surrounding regions because of a high concentration of dark, heat-absorbent surfaces like asphalt.
A 2009 study found that retrofitting 80 percent of air-conditioned buildings in the United States with white roofs would save $735 million annually in reduced energy bills while achieving an emissions reduction equivalent to removing 1.2 million cars from the road.
Another study found that increasing the reflectivity of those surfaces in urban areas with a population of over one million would offset the heating effect of 1.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide emission annually, the equivalent of taking 300 million cars off the road for 20 years.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/in-a-climate-quest-the-roof-as-white-knight/

- We all have idols, and last week, I got to listen to one of mine. It was partly the ground-breaking Club of Rome work that influenced me away from my intended career and on to population, environment, and climate change. With such an important message, why weren’t all the City decision makers there at the talk? How do we get other cities to listen? Dr. Meadows had read our Sustainable Santa Fe Plan- great! - and while he congratulated us on its importance and value, he said that if population and consumption levels are not included in a climate plan, we can not become sustainable. It’s true. If we cut our emissions, for example 50%, but double the number of people, we have not become more sustainable.

For those of you who have been reading Climate Today for at least a year will not have had any surprises- his talk covered Peak Oil, population growth, the lag time of climate change, the need for local adaptation and relocalization, voluntary simplicity with reduced consumption, etc.

Here are a few gems from his talk that are worth remembering and sharing:
- 50% of all the oil consumed by humans has been consumed since 1984, creating a world we now view as normal, but this high energy usage can not continue.
- We are moving into the “Post Petroleum Age.”  In 2006, 9 billion barrels of oil were discovered, but we consumed 31 billion barrels that year. World consumption of oil is currently 5 to 6 times the amount that is being discovered, so we are using up our savings account, which can not continue.
- Prepare yourself for less available energy. It appears now that the government in the coming years will have to resort to some kind of rationing or quotas, similar to World War II. Just raising prices harms the poor.
- The “biocapacity” of the earth has been surpassed, and we are currently overshooting, which, if continues, is always followed by collapse. We are now consuming 140% of resources with demands accelerating against the world’s ecosystems. These trends include not only fossil fuels but also groundwater, greenhouse gases, the destruction of agricultural soils, the degradation of natural resources, the gap between the rich and the poor, the supply of fish, etc.
- Embodied energy is the energy used to create and ship the things that we import. We have to fully recognize the energy and resources used in other places like China if we are to reach sustainability.
- The world’s population will be going back down this century. It is only a matter of how.
- It is unlikely that waiting for the Federal government will work. Politicians want to get re-elected, and therefore fail to make the essential significant structural changes required to convert to sustainability.
Thank you Dr. Meadows for speaking so frankly. - Editor