Mar 26 2010

The Green Seen

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

The San Francisco Bay Area ranks third in the nation for commercial buildings qualified for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star label for energy efficiency. The Bay Area had 173 green buildings at the end of last year, down from 194 in 2008, and behind Los Angeles and  Washington, D.C. The number of buildings that earned the Energy Star label nationwide rose from 6,200 in 2008 to 9,000 in 2009. "Across the U.S. the numbers grew, but we want to put out a call to action," says EPA spokeswoman Maura Beard. "We're off to a good start, but we need to improve."

It's tough to find a taxi in San Francisco but if you can flag one down it's likely to be a hybrid or a compressed natural gas car. The city's taxi fleet is now 57 percent alternative fuel vehicles -- 788 cabs out of a fleet of 1,378. Mayor Gavin Newsom says the fuel-efficient cabs have reduced gasoline consumption by 2.9 million gallons per year and lowered greenhouse gas emissions by  35,000 tons annually, the equivalent of taking 4,700 cars off the streets. In 2004, San Francisco taxi companies Yellow Cab and Luxor Cab were the first in the nation to introduce hybrid cabs.

California water utilities are installing smart meters to track water use hourly or even more  frequently, according to a forthcoming report from the California Energy Commission. Facing a state deadline for California cities to cut water consumption by 20 percent by 2020, more than half of the state's water agencies have some smart meters installed in their service areas. The meters should make it  easier to detect leaks and save water and money, the Green Inc. blog says. California utility Glendale Water & Power has received a U.S. Department of Energy stimulus grant to automate 33,400 water meters to communicate over a wireless network and replace all of its electric meters, which serve 84,500 customers, with smart meters.

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