Electric cars good for economy

Electric cars would benefit the California economy according to a new UC study:

Electric cars are as good for the economy as the environment and could put $80 billion in consumers’ pockets by 2030, according to a new study from the University of California.

Not surprisingly, the oil industry would take a $175 billion hit under the scenario sketched by UC Berkeley’s Global Venture Lab, while a booming battery business would gain $130 billion as the internal combustion engine sputters out. “There will also be significant changes in the balance of payments among nations as petroleum imports decline,” the authors wrote. “We find the net imports of the U.S. will decline by $20 billion.”

This report was nicely timed with the announcement of regional support for Better Place.

Samceda's green business guide

Business group Samceda in San Mateo County just published a local guide of businesses offering green products and services.

Solar in the Bay Area

From today's Chron about solar power's rise in California:

"Californians have more than 60 percent of the nation's solar installations, and more than 66 percent of the state's solar applications are in Northern California, according to a report released Monday by the Northern California Solar Energy Association, a nonprofit advocacy group."

Here's the report. In terms of installations by county in the Bay Area, Santa Clara makes a good example. Here are the top five: SC, 2,462; Alameda, 1,699; Sonoma, 1,611; Contra Costa, 1,181; Marin, 1,109.

Agassi and Musk at Web 2.0 Summit

Shai Agassi of Better Place:


Elon Musk of Tesla:

Bay Area Better Place?

Project Better Place to come to the Bay Area?

Endorsed by all three of the Bay Area's big city mayors, the plan would provide the re-charging infrastructure that must be in place before most consumers would consider buying or leasing an electric car.

Better Place, headed by former high-tech executive Shai Agassi, plans to install about 250,000 charging ports, 200 battery-exchange stations and a control center to service Bay Area electric car drivers. The goal is to have most of the system in place by 2012.

This is a fascinating prospect. While one of these cars would not be useful for driving outside the Bay Area, they could be perfect for day to day commuting. And since most families have 2 cars, this could be the perfect second car. Also, the PBB model is to lease the cars so there should be no up-front cost. Could be a winner - bringing electric cars to mass reality.

GreenWombat has more.

Message from Barack Obama

Message from the President-Elect delivered by video to the Governor's Global Climate Summit.

The conference, which begins Tuesday in Beverly Hills with some 700 participants expected, is an attempt by the Republican governor to influence a U.N. gathering in Poland next month. Schwarzenegger has said he wants the summit to inform negotiations over a new global climate treaty, which the U.N. hopes to finish by December 2009.

Updated x2: Adaptation to get its day & more renewables

Virtually all efforts around climate change have been focused on mitigation - reducing emissions to minimize climate impacts - but adaptation efforts are beginning to pick up.

Governor Schwarzenegger has just signed on Friday an executive order requiring agencies to plan for sea level rise. The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Governor Schwarzenegger called for a comprehensive “Climate Adaptation Strategy” that would identify the state’s vulnerabilities and plan accordingly. To do so, the state will request a report from the National Academy of Sciences on the impact of rising sea levels on California’s coastlines. State agencies will take this report into account – due in December 2010 – when planning new infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and water treatment facilities.

San Francisco Bay has already seen a measurable increase of seven inches in the last century and this can be expected to accelerate dramatically.

Updated: Fortunately, the governator didn't stop there. He is also set a new target for state renewable energy - 33% by 2030. This is a tremendous, bold target.

Currently, we are at about 12%:

In 2007, 11.8 percent of all electricity came from renewable resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and small hydroelectric facilities. Large hydro plants generated another 11.7 percent of our electricity.

Webcor move on green building

San Mateo builder Webcor has struck up a partnership on green building materials and technology.

Under the agreement, Webcor will help Navitas identify potential investments in the green building space and Webcor’s Phil Williams will join Navitas’ advisory board. Williams is vice president of the sustainability and systems engineering group at Webcor.

Navitas wanted Webcor’s expertise in green building materials to better know if companies they’re considering investing have potential.

So what does Webcor get out of it?

“From their standpoint, they’re looking to be at the front-end of innovative materials they can spec into their projects,” said James Pettit, one of two partners in Navitas. “That has business power and marketing power in today’s business world.”

Weather, fires

As major fires burn in Southern California, those in Northern California are easing up after one of the worst fire seasons in the state's history. The San Jose Mercury reports:

Through last week, 1.24 million acres burned in California, the most since 1970, when consistent, modern records were first kept.

On a related note, the Bay Area gets record temperatures for this time of the year. Correlation?

Warming is bad news

Long-term costs to California from global warming are analyzed in a new UC Berkeley study. Cost estimates by 2100:

Water: An estimated $5 billion in levees, aqueducts and other water systems are at risk, and costs could reach $600 million a year in what the researchers call the "high-warming scenario."


Energy: $21 billion in transmission lines, power plants and grid components are at risk, with annual damage ranging from $2.7 billion to $6.3 billion. Potential impacts could include less hydropower due to less rainfall; more hot days requiring greater use of air conditioning; and more winter storms causing more power outages.


Transportation: $500 billion at risk to ports, airports, roads and bridges.


Tourism and recreation: $98 billion in assets are at risk, with annual damage ranging from $200 million to $7.5 billion. "In the highest warming scenario, California's ski industry collapses," Roland-Holst writes. Beaches, golf courses and state and national parks, will be impacted, too.


Real estate and insurance: $2.5 trillion in homes, office buildings, warehouses and other structures are at risk, and water damage could cost $1.4 billion a year, while fire damage could result in $2.5 billion in damages.


Agriculture, forests and fisheries: $113 billion in crop land and orchards, livestock, forests and squid and salmon fisheries are at risk, with annual damage ranging from $300 million to $4.3 billion.


Public health: Annual costs due to atmospheric changes range from $3.8 billion to $24 billion a year.

Morgan Hill's Carbon Offsets Gets Attention

Prompted by recent local media coverage, CarbonNeutralDigest.com today posted an interview with Morgan Hill's environmental programs coordinator on the city council's decision to pursue offsets.

Clean-tech: VC continue to invest, urgent for economy

Even amidst the dramatic down-turn and overall reduction in venture capital investment, clean-tech remains a bright spot according to the San Jose Mercury report. Over $1 billion flowed into clean-tech companies in the third quarter setting a new record.

Of course, it's not all roses as the credit crunch is complicating things for many renewable energy as financing is essential for building solar and wind installations. However, PG&E is looking to assist.

Then the CEO of one of the nation’s largest utilities stepped up to the podium and delivered a reality check. “As we all know the capital markets are in disarray,” said PG&E chief Peter Darbee, whose utility has a contract to buy 177 megawatts of electricity from Ausra. “They’re down 40%. The capital markets are going to distinguish between high-risk projects and low-risk projects and the high-risk projects are not going to get financed in the future.”

But he added, “PG&E stands ready to take on the challenge of financing renewables.”

The economy is clearly a challenge for moving clean-tech forward but it's also apparent that the underlying drivers of peak oil and climate are leading things to continue forward. In fact, there's a strong argument to be made that we are in an economic hole because of oil which makes it all the more clear that clean energy is essential for our economic health.

Change - here it comes!

San Francisco based Sierra Club or California's Air Resources Board may get a powerful voice in the Obama administration. According to the Washington Post, under consideration for EPA Administrator:

Other names under consideration for the administrator slot include: former Sierra Club president and environmental activist Lisa Renstrom; California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty; and Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles.

The other major name in the mix - Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Obama: we can't solve global warming because I f–––ing changed light bulbs

Tuesday was a big day. Newsweek is now preparing a behind the scenes of the Obama campaign. One tidbit:

I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' Instead of being appropriately [*the tape is garbled*]. So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about *personal*.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f–––ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'.

Hat-tip The New Republic.

Rumors of Tesla's death

...are greatly exaggerated.

But that didn't help 24% of its workforce.

End of Pinot Noir?

Napa Valley has moved from temperate to sub-tropical weather in the past 50 years. This may have been good for the wine industry in the last few decades but going forward maybe the loss off California jewels like the Pinot Noir will cause more people to take notice. Temperature changes and loss of water are likely to have a big impact on California wines.

In Northern California Wine Country, growers are seeing unusual and extreme weather rather than significant warming.

Current studies by Jones and Gregory B. Goodrich of the Western Kentucky University, among others, only show a 1 to 2 degree Fahrenheit average rise in temperatures in Napa Valley, mostly in nighttime temperature, not days. Some growers believe that Napa Valley might actually cool as interior valleys warm and draw cold coastal air and fog; the last few years have been unseasonably cool, in fact. Yet cumulative degree-days, a measure of overall heat accumulation, are up significantly; 585 more degree-days in St. Helena from 1930 to 2004. That increase means higher sugar - and more alcohol - and riper grapes, unless steps are taken to reduce the impact.

Now some may conclude that the shifts in California wine growing are not a big deal, but the cumulative impact to California agriculture is likely to be big. California is the biggest agricultural producer in the US by far and estimated annual losses are in the 15% or $750 million range. Reduced frost will compromise fruits like apricots and nuts such as almonds. Expanded range of invasive species like the cotton bollworm could devastate the state's $1 billion cotton crop.

KQED offers a video segment on California wine and climate.