San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge at night. Now imagine it without the lights.

On March 29, inhabitants and businesses in around 380 cities—including Bangkok, Rome and Chicago—turned off their lights for at least an hour. At 8 p.m. wherever they were, various households, businesses, and governments were urged to flick the switch and to return temporarily to candlelight in order to reduce emissions caused by coal-generated electricity. Over 290,000 people and over 24,000 businesses signed up to participate in Earth Hour 2008, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-sponsored global movement that began last year in Sydney, Australia, when two million residents cut energy usage for that hour at about 10%. Kicking off this year’s campaign in Sydney, where it was also an event featuring candle-lit dinners and Aborigine performances on the beach, Earth Hour 2008 aimed to highlight the connection between energy usage and climate change and, organizers said, to show that communities indeed care about the planet. Even Google temporarily turned its ordinarily white background to black.

Critics, though, have dismissed Earth Hour as a “gimmick,” an event that gave vendors an excuse to hawk “green” products and consumers an excuse to do business-as-usual, except by the light of a candle rather than that of a bulb. Even WWF head Carter Roberts said that the energy saved by turning off the lights for an hour would be negligible, and Dublin’s banks and brokerages stayed brightly lit throughout Earth Hour, despite the city’s pledge of participation (most other Dubliners and many other Irish took part, however). Yet, if Roberts acknowledges that the direct effects of the event on energy usage are small, then the main point of it isn’t just to directly reduce energy usage. It’s also to raise awareness—whether by media coverage or simply word of mouth—not only on a grassroots level but on a governmental level as well.

Do you, readers, think that the image of a dark Golden Gate Bridge or Sydney Opera House is sufficient to turn lawmakers’ focus toward designing policies to promote renewable energy adoption/investment and reducing emissions? Or do you think that an ordinary consumer just “raising awareness” is insufficient at this point?

Over the past two weeks, hundreds of building professionals, students, and generally interested members of the public convened in New Orleans to kickstart the restoration of the Holy Cross Neighborhood in the Lower Ninth Ward. There have been many restoration projects in the Katrina-ravaged city, but what sets this one apart is how it brings green building practices to the efforts.

Historic Green New Orleans aims to “increase energy efficiency throughout the community; enhance the community by focusing on quality of life, housing and transportation; protect the wetlands; and help create the nation’s first carbon-neutral community.” It will accomplish this through a series of projects–currently, eleven are planned–that includes free consultation services for homeowners, bayou restoration, community education on rainwater gardens, and rebuilding a playground.

This ideal carbon-neutral community would be the lower Ninth Ward, one of the areas of the city hardest hit by Katrina. Over 6,000 people were displaced by the hurricane, and only about 20% have been able to return to their homes. With extraordinary damage done by three weeks of up to 10 feet of standing water, the area has attracted plenty of media attention as well as the notice of sustainable community activists.

The current focus on the neighborhood of Holy Cross is meant to serve as an example for reconstruction of the rest of the Ninth Ward. Holy Cross is a bit easier to tackle than much of the Ward because it sustained less damage (parts of the Ward were totally obliterated), due to its perch on the banks of the Mississippi rather than sunk below sea level. The selection was far from random:

Holy Cross was selected by specialists from Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in February 2006 as pilot project to demonstrate not only what could be done to restore or rebuild damaged neighborhoods elsewhere, but how it could be done. (from the complete report)

In addition to serving as an example for the rest of the Ninth Ward and other New Orleans neighborhoods still in dire need of restoration, there’s a chance that sustainable choices here could impact the greater building community. Over two years later, there is still a staggering amount of construction to be done. If new processes are implemented, alternative materials used, it could still be a goad to the industry to switch gears.

Green homes are healthier for the environment, but they’re healthier for people, too; coupled with the debacle of FEMA’s emergency housing, the stage is set for a serious change. The move for a sustainable reconstruction of Holy Cross is partially sponsored by government agencies, but it isn’t a government initiative; state, local, and non-profit environmental groups are behind this, and it’s gathering grassroots steam in a great example of what can happen when community initiatives are planned with and for, rather than separate from, the community itself. What happened to New Orleans was a tragedy. The least we can do is learn from it.

See also:

• holycrossproject.globalgreen.org
• www.zerocarbonnola.com
• www.helpholycross.org
• Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans

A growing energy industry will obviously produce jobs, and renewables like solar have been a crucial part of that growth. RedOrbit has put out the latest in a string of articles about the positive effect of the energy industry on national job growth. With worries of an upcoming recession having turned into worries about the now-present recession, this is even more important to keep an eye on.

Obviously, as the article points out, a lot of the growth within solar specifically has come from government tax credits. But this support is crucial to all players in the energy industry – wind, oil, coal, etc. all receive government support in some form or another. Solar isn’t getting particularly special treatment, and it is making the most of the support it’s receiving. While I highlighted earlier this year the need not to worry excessively about the extension of a solar credit, and I still see little reason to worry that Congress won’t find the time to make this happen, articles like this help emphasize the importance of these credits and how crucial it is to extend them. In general, what’s good for solar is good for the country at large, and supporting the solar industry by making solar adoption easier will only continue to provide economic benefits across the country. And with the current economic climate, that’s something to pay attention to.

Articles like this, however, only fuel my optimism. 2008 is looking to be a crucial election year, with a lot of turnover possible. Leaders in many positions are nervous about holding on to their seats. Anyone in Washington who sees that failing to extend the credits will result in the possibility that “116,000 jobs and $19 billion in U.S. investment could be lost in a one-year span if the credits are not renewed” will have to stop and think about the wisdom of not voting for an extension. While this article highlights the negative impact of taking away the tax credits, it also makes it harder to see how a solution can’t be reached.

We’ll keep you posted with the latest regarding the tax credits for the rest of 2008.

Facing increased roadblocks to financial success and growth stateside, the U.S. coal industry is taking its business elsewhere: overseas. Coal exports jumped from a little over 49 million short tons (mmst) in 2006 to 53 million in 2007, according to the National Mining Association, and the New York Times reports that coal executives predict exports of up to 80 mmst for 2008. Quarterly production has generally increased, as well: the U.S. exported 13.5 mmst during the third quarter (July through September) of 2006 to 16.2 mmst during the third quarter of 2007, their highest quarterly level since 1988, according to the Energy Information Administration. Although the falling dollar has contributed significantly to this feeding international frenzy, a whole convergence of global events has led to a trend that does not appear as if it will disappear anytime soon.

This recently heralded growth in American coal exports has arrived partly because of tightened coal supplies around the world. China, the world’s largest consumer of coal, has begun to see its demand outstrip its supply, and actually imported more coal than it exported in January 2007. South Africa, a worldwide coal exporter, has had to focus more on satisfying local demand, because of power outages earlier this year. One of the world’s top coal-producing nations, Australia, has temporarily had to reduce exports as well, in response to domestic flooding.

While American coal may not necessarily be pouring into these countries—the New York Times reports that it is heading toward Europe instead, whose demand has traditionally been satisfied by South Africa and Australia—Europe’s demand is sufficiently high for spot prices of central Appalachian coal, a benchmark grade of American coal, to leap from around $40 a ton in 2007 to over $90 a ton at one point in early 2008. Prices at home look to increase soon, although the shock hasn’t come yet. Considering that legislation in the U.S. is finally leaning more and more toward energy and environmental regulation, domestic coal demand has been considerably constrained. The largest U.S. coal terminal plans to expand staff and operations in order to increase exports from 13 mmst last year to possibly 20 mmst in 2008. Luckily for Big Coal and unluckily for Planet Earth, the vast stores of American coal don’t look like they’ll stay on the back burner for long.

One of the most surprising aspects of this news for me—although it certainly shouldn’t be—is the fact that Europe is contributing greatly to the surge of demand for American coal. Considering that Europe—in particular Germany and Britain, two of the major coal-importing nations—is often heralded as a leader in adopting renewable energy and in mitigate climate change, this news is a reminder that it, too, uses coal—and a lot of it. Still, the story here isn’t that Europe uses coal. This news is also a reminder that coal won’t be going away soon, thanks to its low costs and developing nations’ necessity for cheap energy. Nevertheless, could rising American coal prices ultimately drive the world to seek alternate—and hopefully less polluting—forms of energy?

In a press release this weekend, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stressed the importance of coming to an international agreement on combating climate change, citing findings from the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in Switzerland that demonstrate ice loss from the world’s glaciers is not only continuing unabated, but has in fact been accelerating. Findings like these were covered in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report (2007):

Satellite data since 1978 show that annual average Arctic sea ice extent has shrunk by 2.7 [2.1 to 3.3]% per decade, with larger decreases in summer of 7.4 [5.0 to 9.8]% per decade. Mountain glaciers and snow cover on average have declined in both hemispheres. The maximum areal extent of seasonally frozen ground has decreased by about 7% in the Northern Hemisphere since 1900, with decreases in spring of up to 15%. Temperatures at the top of the permafrost layer have generally increased since the 1980s in the Arctic by up to 3°C.

So this isn’t exactly news, but it is certainly not news everyone has heard, and its implications and possible repercussions are the subject of heated debate. In America, the fact that some of our major water systems are synched to glacial cycles could be a real problem in the not too distant future. Although it’s not clear if this is only normal variation or a real trend, the sea level is also rising an accelerating level (the IPCC reports that the global average sea level rose 1.8 mm/yr from 1961 to 2003, and 3.1 mm/yr from 1993 to 2003).

I used the phrase “heated debate”, but where is this debate happening? Do a simple internet search for “glacial ice loss” and you get one recent result from the UK paper The Independent, and one from an Irish paper, both based on the UNEP press release mentioned above. All the other results are from early 2007 or before. Try “receding glaciers” or “rising sea level”; nothing much better. For the poster child topic of global warming, isn’t it a little strange that there’s not more dialog about it?

It’s not so much that the science can be challenged or discussed endlessly, but the effects of glacial loss are not just long-term. There’s a possibility that they could be quite short-term as well: UNEP’s press release warns that “a two degree C warming by the 2040s is likely to lead to sharply reduced summer flows coinciding with sharply rising demand.” This is well within the purview of current generations. If “do nothing” is Plan A, I believe it’s the responsibility of current generations to start working on a Plan B.

Imagine a future where, instead of being added on to a home once it’s built, solar panels are integrated into the very materials that are used in its construction. Solar shingles are but one example of building integrated photovoltaics (PV), and they’re becoming more and more popular in the green build world…

The article continues here.

The official start to the trade show segment of the NESEA’s conference was an address from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. One government official with more than twenty-five years’ worth of experience echoed the general sentiment when he said that Governor Patrick’s speech was a “shot in the arm”. Alternative energy has had little support from the last few state administrations, so Governor Patrick’s commitment to, and enthusiasm for, moving forward with renewables is going down pretty well indeed.

Hour and a half long sessions scheduled three times throughout the day are arranged on different tracks, like “Integrating Good Building & Renewables” and “Green Communities: Think Global, Act Local.” I went to “Offshore Wind: The Path Forward,” which looked at the history of wind power, its current status in the Northeast, America, and Europe, and its potential future from scientific, administrative, and technological vantages. For an hour and a half session, it was more than educational–it was illuminating.

Complementing the sessions today and tomorrow is the trade show, where more than 150 exhibitors are offering expert run-downs on their products or businesses. This trade show is open to the public for a minimal fee, so if you’re in Boston and curious, definitely stop by–the Seaport World Trade Center is right on the Silver Line, and the trade show doesn’t close its doors until 7:00pm tonight (4:00pm tomorrow).

I have to admit I was a little mystified while wandering the aisles: stationed among booths extolling the virtues of wind, geothermal, and solar energies, among booths touting their green architectural practices, among booths providing you with information on environmentally friendly building materials, is a booth for…Wal-Mart. Apparently, the fact that you can buy “green” cleaning supplies cheaply at Wal-Mart somehow makes up for the corporation’s untold environmental impact from shipping, quick and dirty development and construction, and usage of almost exclusively imported goods and materials. It’s a touch out of place, though I’m glad to know, at least, that you can buy green products there as well as conventional.

An afternoon session on how to use the tools of marketing to help our society, with all of its consumerism and associated values, move successfully towards a low-carbon economy. Emphasis was placed on the importance of the teenage demographic here. Did you know that our nation’s teenagers take 45 minutes’ worth of showers every day? Focus groups have been encouraging: they want to be inspired rather than lectured, and informed and left to make their own choices rather than told what to do. Sounds pretty reasonable. If the rest of our country’s population could be that open-minded about learning about the effects of our actions and habits on energy consumption and the world, it would be a good thing.

A London-based marketing expert suggested we should be using marketing to make conservation and clean energy really, really, really cool. The sooner it becomes a true status indicator, the sooner real people will actually buy into it. Figuratively–but also literally. Energy efficient homes, wind energy from clean-option utilities, solar panels, hybrid vehicles: right now, it’s just the people who are educated and passionate about a healthier future who are buying. Everyone and their neighbor has to be doing it because it just looks so darn cool. We won’t see societal change until the ugly green label is ripped off a low-impact lifestyle, and a shiny new one slapped on.

Next came a run-down of Northeast state incentives and efficiency programs–primarily New York, Delaware, and Massachusetts–you’re better off visiting DSIRE.org than listening to me recap here, if you want to know what’s going on in your own neighborhood. Besides, the trade show is winding down, and I want to go see who won the recycled chewing gum wrapper handbag at the silent auction. Come by tomorrow, or come next year: NESEA knows how to throw a conference.

While the official reception and opening festivities–like an address from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick–aren’t until tomorrow, the intensive half- and full-day workshops at the NESEA’s conference and trade show in Boston are well attended. The thirteen workshops focus on specific areas in the renewables industry. Architects, engineers, and contractors can get get tips and discuss the benefits of using an advanced 3D modeling tool that takes into account the whole lifecycle a building. A workshop and panel dicussion directed at municipal officials and urban planners discusses the intersection of institutions and climate change. More casual attendees can get walked through the process of retrofitting existing single family homes for greater efficiency, or get introduced to building science or domestic hot water systems.

The last mentioned workshop on domestic hot water systems has been educational for your correspondent; the presenter, Connecticut-based Everett Barber of Sunsearch, Inc., designed a presentation to take his audience through the nuts and bolts of system mechanics, through cost-benefit analysis of different systems, and into the realm of performance measurement tools and system payback. Workshop attendees included engineering students, contractors, interested homeowners, professional architects and engineers, and public sector employees. Solar domestic hot water is a technology so old in its essence that I feel comfortable referring to it as “ancient”. Its cost efficiency and range of applications in modern homes is outstanding, and it’s valuable to have an industry pro walk you through the details. The data is not always what you might expect: highest tech does not always equate highest efficiency, for instance.

NESEA decided to put their preaching into practice, as it were, and this year’s conference is officially carbon neutral through donations. Electricity was offset with the purchase of wind power from the New England Wind Fund program, and carbon offsets were donated for heating and travel impact. Conference planners encouraged attendees to make use of SpaceShare, a sort of hub for carpooling, roomshare, and information about the impact of travel and carbon offset options. Even the venue is in keeping with the generally green theme. Boston’s Seaport World Trade Center is highly environmentally conscious, thanks largely to tips from the NESEA that followed the organizations’ 2005 conference: low impact cleaning products, extensive recycling and efficiency measures–like high R-value windows and CFL’s throughout–complementary bikes for patrons, and even a waste reduction system that uses microorganisms to convert waste into liquid (appropriate for a facility just across the harbor from Deer Island, Boston’s progressive municipal waste treatment facility). It’s a pleasant space into the bargain, full of natural light and integrated outdoor elements. It’s certainly easier to listen to talks on how much harder we could be trying to introduce efficiency measures into our buildings when the proof is all around you.

The NESEA (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association) is hosting its 33rd annual Building Energy Conference & Trade Show in Boston this week, from March 11-13. The parameters on the breadth of the conference, stemming from the NESEA’s dedication to issues particular to the Northeast, allows for remarkable depth of education. Workshops and sessions are offered for everyone from the greenest beginner (…sorry) to the savviest pro. You can attend the free, broadly informational public forum on Tuesday whose theme is the Green Revolution with a nod to that most staunchly New England revolution, the Boston Tea Party; and then on Wednesday, go to an “Interactive Load Calc Party!” in which participants can see for themselves how different variables affect peak loads and annual energy usage. The first day of the conference focuses on intense all- or half-day workshops, while Wednesday and Thursday offer a wealth of shorter sessions as well as the very well populated trade show.

The value of regionally focused trade shows like this one is dual: they bring the best of professional networking together with community awareness building. This is especially important for the world of sustainability issues, in which grassroots organizations are pushing incredibly hard for commercial acceptance of the industry’s services and products. And while geographically more diffuse conferences might provide opportunities to learn from the examples of other countries and states, it’s good for the Northeast to be able to focus on its own successes and challenges.

So NESEA is presenting the conference, but it’s always interesting to look at who’s helping to foot the bill. The title sponsor is the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. the state-run development agency “for renewable energy and the innovation economy” whose programs are many, but include their keystone Renewable Energy Trust. The secondary sponsor is Steven Winter Associates, Inc., a building consulting firm that emphasizes sustainability. Tertiary sponsors seem pretty evenly divided among state advocacy groups, utilities, and private firms. What I wonder is, who paid for the Elvis impersonator?

Yes, you heard right. The official conference reception is due to be enlivened by an Elvis impersonator who strives to make his Kingly tours carbon neutral. You’ve got to wonder if he eats bacon and peanut sandwiches made with locally farmed pork and organic peanut butter…If I find out, I’ll certainly report it here.

Sky News reports that a solar-powered lawnmower has debuted in the United Kingdom. This is the first product of that kind in the world.

The real fun of following solar news lately has been seeing people apply the technology in some very strange and cool ways. There’s no real reason that the world desperately needs a solar-powered lawnmower; somehow I feel that we would have been quite alright without it. But with the possibilities of solar the question suddenly becomes why not? All kinds of devices exist that could be powered by solar, all it takes is ingenuity and the prospect of a potential set of customers. And for those of us who won’t be rushing out and buying solar-powered lawnmowners, at least there’s the knowledge that slowly but surely scientists and researchers are making good on all the diverse possibilities that the technology provides. The solar product that wins you over could be right around the corner.