Entries by Katie Romans

Posted by: Katie Romans

Last week, San Francisco nonprofit Next 10 released a study showing that the electricity consumed by commercial buildings makes up a staggering 37 percent of California's total electricity consumption -- a ringing endorsement for telecommuting.

For all of California's green creds, it seems like commercial buildings may be our weak spot. In fact, according to Next 10, only 60 percent of all new commercial building construction meets California's own energy efficiency standards. 

More than a few relatively simple retrofits could put us back on track. In fact, energy efficiency improvements could cut usage by 80 percent, according to the report.

Last week's study, upon digging a little deeper, was produced by Collaborative Economics, which also concluded in its annual Index of Silicon Valley for Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network that office vacancy rates in San Jose are at their highest since 1998 -- and were up 33 percent in 2009 over 2008.

As the study rated the various economic drivers for Silicon Valley -- foreign talent, investment capital, venture capital -- I began to wonder how energy efficiency would've been graded. Is the region a leader or a laggard, and how is that affecting its economic prospects?

Besides privately owned commercial buildings, many commercial buildings are owned by the State of California, which is in need of the savings projected in the Next 10 report. Plus, energy efficient buildings retain higher real estate value, command higher rents (six to seven percent) and maintain higher occupancy rates than less efficient buildings, according to the report. 

The California Building Industry Association said it believes California's energy efficiency standards for new construction should apply to older developments as well. Indeed, the Next 10 report confirms that California has no energy efficiency standards for existing building stock, which it cites as a substantial opportunity for energy savings. 

But, new commercial buildings are missing out on energy savings of their own.

With a minimal two percent increase in construction costs, new buildings can be designed to use one-third to one-half less energy than they use today. For example, the report notes that simply improving lighting technology could reduce energy usage by 20 percent.

While there is much opportunity, energy efficiency projects in commercial buildings also face serious challenges. The report goes on to suggest that such challenges can be overcome through actions taken at the federal, state and local levels that raise energy efficiency standards and support the broad application of high-efficiency products and practices.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Here's another "eco" to add to your list of buzzwords about the Smart Grid, as demonstrated in GE's Ecomagination event in San Francisco yesterday: ecosystem. As in, it will take one to build the Smart Grid.

At the event, Vice President of GE Ecomagination Steve Fludder described the "eco" in GE's idea of Ecomagination as compelling eco-nomical solutions for customers with eco-logical benefits.

GE didn't just talk about these solutions yesterday. It announced plans to commit $200 million globally to accelerate power grid technology through open collaboration -- open collaboration by a community of players that make up a sort of Smart Grid ecosystem.

Players in this Smart Grid ecosystem span technology companies, energy utilities, venture capitalists and government agencies. Representatives from each of these areas participated in a panel discussion at yesterday's event about accelerating clean energy deployment. They covered topics from what technologies and power sources "count," to the roles of government and capitalism in deploying clean energy solutions, to models of deployment used by other countries.

When the topic turned to deployment, PG&E Corporation's CEO Peter Darbee said the company has deployed six million SmartMeters to date, with the goal of deploying 11 to 12 million total. PG&E's SmartMeter deployment lays down the necessary infrastructure for the Smart Grid ecosystem.

From here, technology companies can layer the infrastructure with additional offerings. Director of Energy Initiatives for Google Dan Reicher talked about how the Google PowerMeter allows customers to see their real-time energy use remotely. He indicated that this technology can even be used with GE's Nucleus Home Energy Monitor. Many others are working on this kind of software, such as Microsoft's Hohm, which is a free Web-based beta application.

Enter the venture capitalists that fund the Smart Grid technology companies. General Partner of Foundation Capital Paul Koontz discussed the amount of capital needed to bring forward proven technologies that are also scalable. The concept of scale, which is key to affordability and widespread deployment, also makes venture capital a requirement for many small, start-up companies. 

Finally, government agencies such as the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)have a role in helping to ensure that innovators take enough risks to get technologies to the Smart Grid ecosystem. To that end, Director of ARPA-E Dr. Arun Majumdar explained that his agency provides hundreds of millions of dollars in grants every year. In fact, just yesterday, the agency announced 43 grants totaling $92 million for the grid.

Looking ahead, all panel participants agreed that electric vehicles could be a game changer for Smart Grid if we can acheive widespread adoption. It will take an ecosystem.

Posted by: Katie Romans

By now, most of us know that putting solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on our roofs can be a great way to lower bills and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But, many don't know about a more economical way to go solar -- solar water heating. It just got a lot more economical thanks to a new statewide program.  

Solar water heating has been widely adopted outside the US. In China, for example, there are 27 million rooftop solar water heater installations. According to Lester R. Brown of Earth Policy Institute, these installations generate the same amount of electricity as 49 coal-fired power plants.

In addition, millions of Europeans are harnessing the power of the sun to heat their water and interior spaces. The European Solar Thermal Industry Federation has set a goal of 500 million square meters of rooftop collectors by 2020. That's one square meter for every person in Europe. (According to Brown, Cyprus is the world leader today with 0.93 square meters per person.)

Yet, here in the US, the rooftop solar water heating industry is just getting started. This slow start is not because the technology is unknown. It's because the solar industry in the US focused on selling solar water heaters specifically for swimming pools and PV for rooftops. Between 1995 and 2005, the industry sold 10 million square meters of solar water heaters for swimming pools.

As explained by Peter Gleick, an international water expert and president of the Oakland-based research organization Pacific Institute, "All the focus here is on photovoltaics and solar thermal (power) systems, but solar hot water heaters...are far more cost effective than photovoltaics, especially in the Southwest."

In an effort to make up for lost time, California recently expanded its statewide solar initiative -- now limited to PV installations -- to include rebates for solar water heaters.
 
As the California Public Utilities Commission explains, the rebate program is designed to spur market transformation of solar water heaters. The typical system displacing natural gas will initially qualify for an incentive of $1,500, and the average electric-displacing system will qualify for an incentive of $1,000. Over time, as the market grows, these incentives will fall, so act soon!

Not just for swimming pools any more, solar water heaters finally seem ready for their debut in the American home.

Posted by: Katie Romans

While the dust continues to settle in the auto industry, the Google Earth Blog recently reported that General Motors released a project called the "GM Education Google Earth Project."

A far cry from bankruptcy bailouts, the project utilizes Google Earth technology to identify the various types of energy used around the world.

The project takes virtual globetrotters from the world's largest wind farm in Texas, to the world's largest refinery in Venezuela, to the Gobi Desert in China, where large-scale solar plants are proposed for construction. The project goes so far as to claim that the Gobi Desert alone has enough solar potential to supply almost all of the world's total electricity demand.

The Google Earth Blog has one gripe with the project. While the blogger calls it, "All in all...a neat project," the blogger thought the project should use different placemarkers for different sources of energy, rather than the default yellow pin for all sources.

It will be interesting to see how much traffic the project generates and from where. NEXT100 will be watching.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Over recent years, unprecedented growth in the global wireless industry has led to a mountain of toxic electronic waste. The Electronics Takeback Coalition reports that three million tons of electronics are thrown out each year, but only 16 percent is recycled.

Although cities like San Francisco have launched programs to encourage proper disposal, a survey from ABI Research shows that most US consumers will only recycle their old mobile devices if there is an incentive to do so. While 38 percent of those polled said they have at some point recycled outdated mobile handsets, nearly 70 percent of those said they had donated their old handset to a charity organization and received a charitable contribution tax deduction. According to one industry analyst, “Virtue is not seen as its own reward in this case.” 

To promote more cell phone recycling, two former chief executives of two major electronics companies -- Sprint and RadioShack -- have created a firm called eRecyclingCorps. Founded last year, eRecyclingCorps is promoting large-scale consumer buy-back programs and a global after-market to support the reuse and safe recycling of wireless phones.

The new eRecycling Corps program will work in Sprint's 1,100 stores and in 1,400 of its third-party dealers.

The concept is to work with carriers to offer consumers incentives to sell back their wireless devices, creating environmental benefit and economic opportunities that reward all who participate. The company's web-based system will integrate with the carrier's point-of-sale systems, offering consumers added convenience.

Posted by: Katie Romans

It looks like the Cash for Clunkers program now has a successor. Instead of promoting the sale of higher-mileage cars, this program's goal is to spur the sale of energy-efficient appliances.

The Department of Energy's Energy Savers program provides states with a total of $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to go toward rebate programs for energy-efficient appliances. The state programs began this month.

The program started in Texas last week, and rebates tapped out within hours of becoming available. The California Cash for Appliance Rebate Program begins on April 22, Earth Day.

California residents who want to cash in on their old refrigerator, clothes washer or room air conditioner should follow The California Cash for Appliance Program's three steps to savings:

1.) BUY an eligible energy-efficient appliance that is rated higher than Energy Star standards from a participating retailer or partner between April 22 and May 23;

2.) RECYCLE an existing, inefficient appliance; and

3.) SAVE by submitting the rebate package with a completed rebate application, a completed proof of recycling form, a copy of the original receipt or an original rebate request and a utility bill.

Plus, PG&E offers an additional $35 for old refrigerators or freezers, and $25 for old room air conditioners when customers arrange a recycling pick-up. Both the program's recycling requirement and PG&E's recycling incentive help ensure the appliances are not only taken out of commission for good (ahem, not simply plugged into a back-up outlet in the garage), but also properly recycled.

The program runs through May 23, or until funds are depleted. Based on the response in Texas, I'd prepare to submit your rebate package on Day 1 of the program, April 22.

Posted by: Katie Romans

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

Calling all U.S. grad and undergrad entrepreneurs! The MIT Clean Energy Prize is accepting entries for its fourth annual competition, and the prizes are nothing to sneeze at. Semifinalists get coaching from business and technology leaders. Finalists present detailed business plans to venture capitalists, policy experts, academics and corporate executives. The grand prize is $200,000 awarded by NStar and the federal Department of Energy. The deadline is February 25, so no procrastinating.

The new Silicon Valley? Livermore was recently designated one of six future Innovation Hubs for Technology Development (iHubs) by California's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. The city is hopeful the designation will bring with it the potential for additional funding for green energy technology. Livermore was chosen to be an inaugural iHub member for its development of the Innovation for Green Advanced Transportation Excellence (i-GATE) plan, which seeks to develop futuristic energy technologies and create an "open campus" area near the high-security federal labs where private, hi-tech business and/or academic development could occur.

Worldwide clean energy investment was down in 2009, according to EnergyBoom.com's analysis of several studies. But the future looks bright as the brand new DB NASDAQ OMX Clean Tech Index was recently launched. The new index is made up of 119 companies that each derive at least a third of their revenues from clean technology.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Yesterday, the issue of job creation took the national stage at the White House Jobs Summit, as President Obama pledged to bring down the nation's 10 percent unemployment rate through a host of ideas, including green energy jobs and investments in the nation's infrastructure.

President Obama's message was directed to approximately 130 attendees, including small business owners, experts from green jobs sector, business leaders, academics, mayors and representatives from nonprofits. Attendees discussed the issue of job creation and expanding the economy in six breakout sessions, tackling such topics as: creating jobs through the rebuilding of America's infrastructure, expanding job opportunities for America's workers through exports and encouraging business investment, competitiveness and job creation.

PG&E CEO Peter Darbee participated in the White House Jobs Summit to speak of rebuilding America's workforce through investments in infrastructure and energy efficiency. 

Darbee identified several broad areas of opportunity to spur utility investment in infrastructure and accelerate job creation:

o        Passing a national climate change policy that puts a price on carbon emissions;

o        Improving processes around siting and permitting for key infrastructure projects, such as renewable energy projects;

o        Setting stable, long-range investment incentive policies in areas like distribution infrastructure, the smart grid and renewable energy; and

o        Developing the next generation of the utility workforce, including those skilled in low-carbon energy.

For a utility like PG&E, energy efficiency is also a tried and true source of jobs -- PG&E implements its approximately 85 energy efficiency programs both through our own employees and through a network of contractors and vendors that employ thousands of people.

Yesterday, Mr. Darbee shared with attendees a significant opportunity to stimulate the sale of energy-efficient products. It's something that PG&E has been doing for years and that is scalable to the national level: work directly with large retailers and manufacturers to buy down the cost of energy-efficient products. PG&E has applied this model to energy-efficient appliances, compact fluorescent lamps and business and consumer electronics most recently. Such midstream/upstream incentive programs have successfully driven market adoption of the next generation of energy-efficient products.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Since 1976, when PG&E became one of the first utilities in the country to offer energy efficiency programs, it has helped save more than 155 million megawatt-hours of electricity and 155 million tons of carbon pollution. But, to make the further savings needed to help curb global warming, our energy efficiency experts have to go the extra mile.

For these efforts, PG&E was recently recognized by Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for its outstanding service in providing energy efficiency programs to national chains -- an area that the chains believe to be critical to their operations.

In a press release, EEI President Thomas R. Kuhn said, "The winning utilities and individuals understand that the health of their business is dependent upon the health of their customer's business. With today's volatile energy prices and uncertain economic conditions, the winners know that they must continually work to make their customers more energy efficient, more productive, and ultimately, more profitable."

PG&E's strategic roadmap of energy efficiency over the next three years, the 2010-2012 energy efficiency portfolio, is specifically designed around customer segments and individual customer needs. PG&E will outline how it plans to meet the aggressive savings goals set forth in the portfolio in a compliance advice letter to be filed with the California Public Utilities Commission in December. Here's a sneak preview:

Business and Consumer Electronics: Electronics make up eight percent of PG&E's total electric load, and that number is growing. By contracting directly with major manufacturers and retailers, PG&E is today delivering mid-/upstream incentives for energy-efficient consumer electronics. 

LED Streetlights: LED streetlights are still expensive, but with the combined assistance of grants from the federal stimulus and incentives provided from PG&E, more cities are able to afford them. Most recently, the Town of Danville converted its streetlights to LEDs, realizing the benefits of a longer life span, reduced maintenance costs/energy use and better color rendition.

Behavior Change: Finally, some experts believe there are great energy savings opportunities to be mined through behavior change. In fact, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) estimates an energy savings opportunity of 20-30 percent through behavior change. The challenges of implementing behavior change are twofold: ensuring persistence in realizing that energy savings and mitigating the adverse effects that can come with time differentiated rates and behaviors.

As long as the success of PG&E and our business customers depend upon the company's success in delivering energy efficiency programs, we will continue to identify unique and growing opoprtunities for energy savings.

Posted by: Katie Romans

PG&E's ClimateSmart program, which helps enrolled customers offset the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions associated with their energy use, this week is announcing two new GHG emission reduction projects -- each of which tests a new kind of protocol under the Climate Action Reserve.

The first is a landfill methane capture project located in Vacaville. In its contract with Recology, a recycling company, the ClimateSmart program purchased more than 90,000 metric tons of verifiable GHG emission reductions on behalf of the program's more than 30,000 enrolled customers.

The second is an urban forestry project with the City of Arcata in which the ClimateSmart program purchased 40,000 metric tons of verifiable GHG emission reductions. 

This week's purchases brings the program's portfolio to more than one million metric tons of verifiable GHG emission reductions. The reductions all yield from projects that not only help customers offset their carbon footprint, they also roadtest protocols established by the Climate Action Reserve. 

"The ClimateSmart program has helped develop four protocols, making the program a testing ground for how to measure projects and reductions," said Robert Parkhurst, manager of climate protection and analysis for PG&E.

Those protocols include livestock and landfill methane capture, as well as urban forestry and organic waste projects.

Such protocols differentiate ClimateSmart program projects from similar projects that may be measured and credited on an individual basis outside of the watchful scope of organizations such as the Climate Action Reserve. Environmental groups such as Greenpeace have questioned the extent to which these individual projects can reliably reduce carbon emissions.

Another way that GHG emission reductions from the ClimateSmart program stand superior to others is that the reductions cannot be traded. Instead, the reductions are retired with the Climate Action Reserve on behalf of the customers enrolled in the program -- not to be traded on the carbon market.

The issue of GHG emission reduction standards came to a head this week. The non-partisan Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests proposed that Congress establish a sort of Climate Action Reserve at the federal level. The proposed body would focus on the structure and operations of the carbon market as it develops around the protection of tropical forests.

While the debate will no doubt rage on at the federal level, the ClimateSmart program will continue to diversify its portfolio with new projects, counterparties and locations -- all with an eye toward quality and quantity of reductions.

Posted by: Katie Romans

It's that time of year again. Yesterday, PG&E held its annual Richard A. Clarke Environmental Leadership Awards Ceremony to recognize PG&E employees that have made outstanding contributions to PG&E's environmental leadership efforts.

Nominations included more than 500 employees in 75 different departments across the company. Nominations ranged from efforts in compact fluorescent lamp recycling, to climate change studies on California's declining snowpack, to an Avian Protection Plan Training team, to a Bike to Work Day team.

Leonard Robinson, federal liason for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control delivered the event's keynote speech, concluding with a nautical metaphor for the audience. "As we sail in this green economy, we need to think of the three ships: leadership, partnership and stewardship. But, no matter what the ship, we're all in the same boat together." 

With this, Mr. Robinson provided a fitting transition to presenting the Clarke Award finalists and winners. Winners received a plaque made from recycled glass and Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood and a $10,000 contribution to an environmental or environmental justice nonprofit organization of their choice.

PG&E Corporation CEO Peter Darbee, Clarke Award Winner Jan Grygier and PG&E Utility President Chris Johns

The 2009 Clarke Award winner for individual environmental leadership is Jan Grygier for waste minimization at PG&E's General Office. Jan "trash talked" his way to the gold by conducting employee demonstrations in which he dug through break room trash cans to educate employees about composting, recycling and waste reduction. Jan chose to contribute his $10,000 donation to San Francisco Save the Bay, the largest regional organization working to protect, restore and celebrate San Francisco Bay.

Jan's fellow Clarke Award finalist for individual environmental leadership is JD van Wyhe for his Hydrogen Fuel Cell program, which provides cleaner back-up power for some of PG&E's telecommunications sites and automatically powers up during outages to keep company assets like radio and fiber optic equipment operational.

The 2009 Clarke Award winner for team environmental leadership is the California Academy of Sciences partnership team for collaborating with the Academy to support the grand opening of its world-class facility through environmental and sustainability education, with the goal of inspiring Californians to take steps to fight climate change. In her award acceptance speech, Team Lead Andrea Gooden noted PG&E's history with the California Academy of Sciences, which stretches back to the early 1950s. The California Academy of Sciences Partnership team chose to donate their $10,000 contribution to none other than the Academy of Sciences.

The team's fellow Clarke Award finalists for team environmental leadership include the Business and Consumer Electronics program team, which launched the nation's first program to address the growing energy load from electronics. Joining this team as a finalist is the Green Supply Chain program team, which boasts a voluntary engagement of more than 35 suppliers that have joined PG&E in implementing a variety of innovative projects not only to reduce the environmental impact of their operations, but also to generate bottom-line cost savings.

Left to Right: Peter Darbee, Stephanie Isaacson, Ken Brennan, Karalee Browne, Robert Parkhurst, Susie Martinez, Mariana Hernandez, Hal La Flash, Andrea Gooden, Brandon Hernandez, Barbara Contreras, Chris Johns

Congratulations to all PG&E's 2009 Clarke Award winners for their exceptional environmental leadership!

Posted by: Katie Romans

According to a recent BBMG Conscious Consumer Report: Redefining Value in a New Economy, 23 percent of US consumers said they have "no way of knowing" if a product is green or actually does what it claims.

Perhaps that is why, just four months after its public launch, PG&E's Business and Consumer Electronics program boasts participation from key national retailers -- from Best Buy to Sears to Wal-Mart to Sam's Club to Target to Costco. The program provides participating retailers with co-branded utility and ENERGY STAR labels that advise customers to "Save" and "Save More" on the most energy-efficient and cost-saving electronic products.

"Best Buy sees this partnership as yet another way to help consumers choose electronics wisely, encourage them to use more efficiently and advocate for the development of increasingly efficient products in the future." 

- Thad Carlson, senior manager of environmental affairs, Best Buy

PG&E publicly launched the Business and Consumer Electronics program with Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) in April, hoping to drive national retailer participation in the first utility-driven program designed to inform businesses and consumers about the benefits of energy-efficient electronics and introduce energy efficiency as an important consideration for these purchases. 

Now, with top national retailers signed on, the program is well-positioned to deliver energy savings in the fastest growing segment of electricity use in PG&E's service area. (Electronics load already accounts for eight percent of PG&E's total electricity demand).

In total, PG&E estimates that the total savings potential of the Business and Consumer Electronics program is on the order of 158,000 megawatt-hours in 2010 alone. As the program continues to expand nationally, the United States could realize even greater energy savings if all national utilities execute similar electronics programs.

Now, that's what I call saving more. Check out energy-efficient electronics on CNET.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Environmental consulting firms are looking at sewage-sniffing canines to help seaside communities in Maine and New Hampshire reduce the cost of their cleanup efforts by reducing the number of dye tests and follow-up lab work usually involved in detecting sewage.

One such dedicated dog is Sable, the three-and-a-half-year-old German Shepherd mix found at a shelter and trained to become a member of the field crew at environmental consulting firm Tetra Tech.

Where Sable comes in particularly handy is in cities with storm sewers that date back so far they have never actually been mapped. In these cases, the cost of cleaning up the underground network of pipes is significant. Because Sable is able to track the scent of sewage to where it originates upstream, there is no need for the labor and travel time associated with dye testing to navigate the storm system.

The occupational choice is not just a win for communities seeking to protect their shorelines from sewage. According to the dog's trainer, Sable is willing and eager to sniff out sewage every day -- all in a day's work for this doggy.

Posted by: Katie Romans

The below story on the science of global warming caught our attention this week:

Flying frogs is more like it -- just one of the 350 new species found in the Himalayas over the past decade. And, that's not all. Some say that further study of the eastern Himalayas would lead to the discovery of even more new species.

Unfortunately, these new species are not impervious to the negative effects of climate change, which threatens the fragile habitat of the Himalayas, which the World Wildlife Fund calls one of the world's most biologically-rich regions.

Some of the new fauna include a miniature muntjac, which is the world's smallest deer species. Smaller than Bambi, the mini muntjac stands just 25-30 inches tall and weighs a mere 24 pounds.

Also found was a Rhacophorus suffry, aka the flying frog. This new species of frog uses its long, webbed feet to fly through the air.

By reducing human impact in these fragile habitats, we can continue our discovery of even more species -- leaping lizards!

Posted by: Katie Romans

McKinsey & Company this week released a report on energy efficiency opportunities in the United States -- not solutions, which the report authors say will be up to policy makers, businesses and academia.

The report outlines widespread barriers to energy efficiency potential over the last several decades, including:

• substantial upfront investment in exchange for long-term savings
• fragmented potential -- across millions of locations and billions of devices in varied sectors
• inherent challenge of measuring and verifying energy not used

There are also opportunity-specific barriers relating to structural barriers, behavioral barriers and barriers of simple availability.

If we can overcome some of these barriers, how much energy efficiency potential are we talking?

At the press briefing, McKinsey Director Ken Ostrowski said, "The United States is the Saudi Arabia of energy effiicency." You get the idea.

More specifically, the full energy efficiency potential of the United States is greater than Canada's current non-transporation energy consumption, than either Mexico or South Korea's entire energy consumption and equal to "shutting down the world for two weeks." Wow.

Wondering how McKinsey came to such grand conclusions?

The team modeled more than 650 technologies and analyzed more than 20,000 micro-segments of energy consumption. They also benefited from the expertise and participation of PG&E, along with other government, non-government and private entities.

In fact, PG&E is already working hard to meet the challenges presented in McKinsey's report:

Posted by: Katie Romans

PG&E's ClimateSmart program, which allows customers, like Fresh Choice, to voluntarily balance out the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions associated with their energy use, today announced its first dairy contract for 75,000 metric tons of GHG emission reductions. The contract with California Bioenergy is the program's third GHG emission reduction project -- the first two were forestry projects located in Mendocino County and the Santa Cruz mountains.

What does this mean for ClimateSmart customers? I had a conversation with Neil Black, chief operating officer of California Bioenergy, and Robert Parkhurst, PG&E manager of climate protection and analysis, to determine just that.

--------------------------
Q: What will this contract do?
A: PG&E's ClimateSmart program has agreed to purchase 75,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions resulting from the capture and destruction of methane generated by an anaerobic digester on one of California Bioenergy's first projects.

This contract will balance out the GHG emissions resulting from the energy use for one year of more than 15,000 homes in PG&E territory.

Q: How does this project work?
A: Manure from the dairy cows is being flushed into a large, uncovered lagoon.  This water-manure mixture is an anaerobic (or non-oxygen) environment in which bacteria break down the manure and release methane, a greenhouse gas which is more potent than carbon dioxide. Under the contract with the ClimateSmart program, the dairy will trap and destroy the methane before it is released into the atmosphere.

Q: How will it trap the methane?:
A: California Bioenergy's first test site will be a covered lagoon.

Q:  What are the impacts on dairy's water use?
A: Dairy farms are carefully designed and monitored to use water efficiently. The farmers work closely with the Water Board to make sure that all nutrients are used at agronomic rates. The farm is a closed-loop process - where the water is used to clean the facility and flush the manure (and for other uses). This water is stored in a lined lagoon. This nutrient rich water is in turn used to irrigate and fertilize the farm's crops, which greatly reduces and often eliminates the need for oil-based commercial fertilizer. The crops that result are then consumed by the cows and provide the nutrition that cows need (in addition to other feed stocks) to produce milk. The result of the digester process, which CalBio is adding, is that the effluent water is an even a better natural fertilizer since the nutrients are more available for crops to utilize.

Q: What is a digester?
A: A digester is an anaerobic (non-oxygen) environment where bacteria break down organic material, in this case cow manure (it could also be food waste, agricultural waste), producing methane.  A covered lagoon is an example of a digester.  (Or you can build holding tanks made out of concrete or steel.  These plug-flow or complete mix digesters often heat and stir the components, breaking down more of the organic material, producing more methane and thus more renewable energy.)  More information is available at http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/anaerobic.html#digestion.

Q: What is the return on ClimateSmart customers' investment in this project?
A:  This project generates two environmental benefits. These two benefits require two distinct capital investments: (1) the capture and the combustion of the methane which converts the methane into a far less potent greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide, and (2) the use of the combusted methane to produce renewable electricity in a manner that displaces the use of fossil-based fuels.

The first level of capital investment involves the capture and combustion of the methane by the anaerobic digester and burning it in a flare. It works as follows: The methane is generated by the natural decomposition of manure in an anaerobic environment. To capture this methane, the anaerobic digester collects the manure by flushing, scraping, or vacuuming it into a lagoon or holding tank. The water and manure is then fed into the digester, which can range in design from a covered earthen lagoon to a steel tank. As the manure is digested, methane flows up into the digester gas line. It is then mixed with oxygen and burned (combusted) in a flare.  In this case PG&E is paying for the destruction of the methane.

An alternative to the capture and destruction of the methane by flaring it is using the combustion of the methane to generate electricity, which requires a second level of capital investment. In this alternative approach, an anaerobic digester installs additional equipment either (a) to combust the methane in a manner to generate electricity at the place of capture (e.g., with an engine) or (b) to process the captured methane for shipment in a gas pipeline, which is subsequently combusted to generate electricity. To use the methane to generate electricity, it must first be scrubbed to remove impurities and meet the gas quality specifications required for use in a generator or delivery into the gas pipeline. If a generator is used to send its total or excess electric generation to the power grid, it must be interconnected in accordance with the applicable interconnection standards. If the methane is injected into the gas pipeline, it must first be compressed. A gas meter at the pipeline tap records the amount of gas delivered to the pipeline. The investments needed to generate electricity are significant and additional to those needed to capture and combust the methane through a flare.

The effect of the generation of electricity from the combusted methane is a displacement of the use of fossil-based fuels that would have occurred if the combusted methane had not been used to generate electricity. In this case PG&E is also buying the renewable energy (either through buying the electricity or the cleaned up gas).

Q: What impact will this project have on air quality in the San Joaquin Valley?
A: Local air quality is a critical concern of both PG&E and California Bioenergy. Both companies believe in improving local air quality and combating global climate change.

We believe that both are achievable and that we can meet local air quality requirements while at the same time capturing and destroying the methane generated by the cows. We are working closely with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to demonstrate a new technology that burns the methane in an engine and releases a very low level of "criteria pollutants," in particular NOx.  Our technology partner is PMSI (www.pmsi-inc.com).

The Air District has seen the technology and thinks it is impressive and very well developed.  In addition, the District feels that California Bioenergy's professional approach to owning and operating digester power plants should make them a strong partner for dairymen, who can stay focused on their dairy operations while CalBio brings their expertise in power generation and the protection of air quality.

Q: What are the economic impacts of this project?
A: PG&E is doing something that is innovative. One of the roles the ClimateSmart program serves is to be an early leader in supporting new companies and new industries that will decrease greenhouse gas emissions.  PG&E's ClimateSmart program, by contracting for livestock methane projects as a promised buyer of GHG emission reductions, provides the guarantee of future revenues (paid once the project is approved and successfully running). PG&E's investment provides an incentive to development companies, like CalBio, to invest their time and money.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Televisions and computers have gotten a bad rap over the years from critics who say we'd all be better off if they were sent to the scrap heap. Today, they had their redemption...with a little help from their friends.

Today, PG&E and SMUD announced a joint launch of the Business and Consumer Electronics program. The program will provide participating retailers with point-of-purchase signage, in-store training and co-marketing efforts to promote and sell more energy-efficient desktop computers, computer monitors and flatscreen televisions. The program will also work alongside manufacturers to accelerate specs for the next generation of energy-efficient products.

Up until now, the kitchen has been the primary focus of the ENERGY STAR brand. Not any more. ENERGY STAR is stepping out of the kitchen and into the office and home entertainment center to help PG&E and SMUD in their effort to educate businesses and consumers about their energy-efficient options when purchasing electronics.

PG&E studies show that, while consumers are interested in purchasing energy-efficient electronics, they usually operate under the assumption that electronics are already as efficient as possible, due to the fact that they are high-tech products. Other surveys show that consumers will even pay a premium for electronics that are gentler on the planet. So, identifying which products actually fit the bill becomes a very important component in helping to drive the demand needed to transform the market.

And, transformation could be just what televisions and computers need to clear the rap sheet and get back in the green. 

Posted by: Katie Romans

Yesterday, E&ETV posted U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu's remarks about the need for greater efficiency in all sectors, followed by an expert panel discussion about incentives to drive efficiency, specifically in the utility sector.

Of note, Secretary Chu mentioned that in discussions with EPA's Energy Star program, he proposed an energy superstar category, which would give companies bragging rights for ultra-efficient products that would save consumers even more money over their lifecycles.

Chu was joined by a panel of experts from a cross-section of organizations, including the Electric Power Research Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the New York State Research and Development Authority and the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates.

Ralph Cavanagh of the NRDC, clearly stated the business case for decoupling, the regulatory structure in California that creates and aligns incentives for utilities to drive energy efficiency. "If you're a for-profit utility, and you're good at energy efficiency, and good at helping your customers do more of it, I think you ought to be more profitable than companies that are less effective," Cavanagh said.

Angela Beehler, of the Energy Regulation section of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., spoke with great optimism at what the future holds for energy efficiency and stated Wal-Mart's commitment to make a difference and keep energy efficiency on the agenda going forward.

Francis Murray, of the New York State Research and Development Authority, piled on, highlighting this commitment as part of the public and private sector support the country will need to accomplish nationwide energy efficiency goals.

Finally, David Springe, of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, gave the audience something to ponder -- the role of the current economic recession in demand reduction and the role of decoupling in protecting utilities from the adverse effects of this demand reduction.

From this discussion it is clear that, as the new Administration sets forth to help the United States gain energy security, energy efficiency will be the first line of defense.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Shortly after First Solar last week announced bringing the cost of manufacturing solar modules to 98 cents per watt, shattering the one dollar per watt barrier, the state of California, in conjunction with PG&E, launches its own Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) program to bring solar to the masses.

In an ongoing effort to lessen the blow of the up-front capital required to "go solar," government, industry and utilities are all exploring innovations in technology, manufacturing, policy and financing structures in the search for affordable sun.

PG&E's most recent contribution, the MASH program, is part of the California Solar Initiative (CSI) and offers three incentive levels for multifamily affordable solar housing projects, ranging from $3.30 per watt for common load offset, up to higher, grant-style incentives for projects that provide a direct tenant benefit.

Through the MASH program, PG&E hopes to stimulate the adoption of solar power in the affordable housing sector. No longer are the benefits of solar prescribed only to those who can afford the hefty upfront investment formerly needed. Breaking down this barrier will help improve the energy utilization and overall quality of affordable housing through solar and energy efficiency.

Between the technological innovations brought to us from the solar industry, and policy innovations made by the state of California and its utilities, solar just may become a household product.

So, go on, have some sun.

Posted by: Katie Romans

National homebuilder KB Home announced yesterday that all homes it builds in the coming year will meet Energy Star specifications. The initiative was originally proposed in KB Home's Sustainability Report, released in July 2008, which includes a host of the company's additional sustainability efforts.

Many homebuilders are beefing up their green offerings in an attempt to woo back cautious homebuyers. But, now there's a green standard for those that want to bloom where they're planted.

The National Association of Home Builders now has a new certification standard for remodeling projects. Part of the National Green Building Standard (NGBS), the new certification standard includes residential remodeling projects for single and multifamily homes and site development projects.

The certification takes into account such factors as energy efficiency, water efficiency and indoor environmental quality. These measures could drastically increase the value of your home, as green homes become the standard by which all other homes are judged.

In fact, McGraw-Hill Construction claims that green building has grown in spite of the market downturn, projecting that green building will continue to grow over the next five years despite negative market conditions to be a $96 billion-$140 billion market.

Hang on to your low-flow showerheads, and try to keep up with the Joneses.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Better than a shiny, red apple, PG&E this month announced its Solar Schools Teacher Holiday Wish Grants to 300 teachers chosen for funding at Solar Schools throughout northern and central California.

Facing especially tough economic times, a record 1,100 teachers applied for the $250 grant for classroom supplies. PG&E answered with a commitment of $75,000, triple the amount of the grant program in 2007. Checks were mailed earlier this month.

However, just as your teacher always told you, giving is its own reward:

"From the depths of my heart, THANK YOU! These kids are my life, at Bret Harte Middle School. We have had a need for microscopes since I began in 2002. Thank you again and Happy New Year."  -- Adriana Gilmete

'Tis the season -- earlier this week, Bill Gates provided an overview of the work the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has done in the education arena in recent years, and what we can expect in the upcoming year.

In a letter released Monday, Gates makes the statement, "It is amazing how big a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. ... If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school."

We couldn't agree more, and we're proud to contribute to those teachers in our communities. Congratulations to our 2008 Solar Schools Teacher Holiday Wish Grant recipients.

Posted by: Katie Romans

As reported by William Brent, on his Search for Cleantech blog, the term 'green' finally made Lake Superior State University's list of four-letter words for 2008 -- officially, the 34th annual List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness.

But, this isn't the first time 'green' has suffered a black eye from overuse.

According to Wikipedia, initial backlash came more than 20 years ago, when suburban New York environmentalist Jay Westerveld coined the term 'greenwashing' in an essay about hotel green placards, promoting reuse of guest towels to "save the environment." In hindsight, this infraction seems relatively mild compared to some of the cases of greenwashing we have seen since then.

From my cube here at PG&E, located squarely at the intersection of communications and energy, I have unique insight into this issue. It is truly embedded into our day-to-day work -- ensuring there is substance in the promotion of our environmental efforts and transparency in communications about potential environmental issues. For example, we try to make sure customers know the energy efficiency benefits of CFLs, but also about their mercury content and the need to dispose of them properly to mitigate potential environmental impacts. PG&E's Corporate Responsibility Report has more on our environmental efforts.

Now, back to the list...

Other environmental buzzwords on the naughty list for 2008 are 'carbon footprint' and 'carbon offsetting.' Not surprisingly, 'maverick' topped the list for campaign-speak. But, perhaps more amusing than the list itself are the quotes testifying to the unctuousness of each word.

My personal favorite comes from Ed Hardiman of Bristow, Va.:

"If I see one more corporation declare itself 'green,' I'm going to start burning tires in my backyard."

Yikes. Here's hoping for no tire fires in 2009.

(Note: William Brent and I worked together at PR/IR firm Weber Shandwick, where he started the firm's cleantech practice.)

Posted by: Katie Romans

PG&E has new digs in Stockton and boy, are they green! In fact, PG&E's new customer service center is the first building in Stockton to receive LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Yesterday, the City of Stockton, community leaders and customers welcomed the company's state-of-the-art new customer service office with a celebratory ribbon cutting and dedication. Among those in attendance were San Joaquin County Office of Education Deputy Superintendent Mick Founts, Stockton Mayor-Elect Ann Johnston, Greater Stockton Chamber CEO Doug Wilhoit, various local student artists and local PG&E employees.

Now, customers can pay bills, find information on PG&E's suite of environmental products and services, and even take advantage of a QuickPay kiosk for cash or electronic check bill paying options -- all in one convenient and environmentally friendly location.

Among its LEED-worthy accoutrements, the customer service center boasts recycled carpet, tiles, wood framing and insulation. It also utilizes natural light to help decrease energy use and offers bike racks for its two-wheeled commuters.

While the PG&E customer service center is Stockton's first foray into LEED certification, it certainly isn't PG&E's. PG&E announced earlier this year that its historic General Office Building and Annex, located at 245 Market Street, San Francisco, was awarded Gold-level LEED certification for existing buildings (LEED-EB). This makes PG&E's General Office Building and Annex the largest building in San Francisco and one of two within the city to be LEED-EB Gold certified.

More recently, during West Coast Green, I also posted about two initiatives that will help northern and central California communities achieve LEED certification. PG&E will help build LEED-certified Habitat homes through a partnership with Global Green USA and Habitat for Humanity International. In addition, PG&E's business customers can now receive LEED credit by enrolling their natural gas accounts in its ClimateSmart program.

With LEED-ership like this, Stockton is sure to continue its green building momentum.

Posted by: Katie Romans

What's this? Did you know that the typical northern California home's annual energy use emits the same amount of greenhouse gas as an SUV?

PG&E is hoping more people will realize this with the recent launch of the ClimateSmart program's new ad campaign, which seeks to educate people about their homes' carbon footprint and how they can reduce, then offset that footprint.

Keep an eye out for the ads online and on local TV stations throughout northern and central California. As you can see here, the ads literally portray a home as an SUV, illustrating the cumulative emissions that result from normal, everyday activities. The ads also encourage customers to take advantage of PG&E's new online carbon calculator to calculate their own homes' carbon footprint, enroll in ClimateSmart and join the fight against climate change.

PG&E's ClimateSmart program is not alone in its efforts to educate the public about the benefits of third-party verified carbon offsets. As GreenBiz reports, Brighter Planet kicks off its One Day campaign today, where people are invited to go carbon neutral for a day. For each person who signs up, Brighter Planet will donate 136 pounds of carbon offsets (the emissions Brigheter Planet claims is for the average person for one day).

The Brighter Planet blog outlines 12 conservation tips for the holiday season. Like PG&E's ClimateSmart program, these tips outline many other opportunities for reducing your carbon footprint before offsetting it.

December could be your month to make a difference in the fight against climate change by putting your own home's emissions into neutral through PG&E's ClimateSmart program.

Posted by: Katie Romans

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) yesterday released a new report on California's readiness to deal with the impact of climate change.

Moving quickly from studies on how to address and help slow the effects of climate change, to actually preparing ourselves against those effects, it feels like we are now staring climate change square in the face -- a chilling thought.

The report examines California's readiness to face the challenges presented by climate change in six particularly vulnerable areas -- water resources, electricity, coastal resources, air quality, public health and ecosystem resources. According to the study, many aspects of the state's society, economy and natural environment are vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

The PPIC report finds that institutions such as power utilities have a significant role investing in and managing those resources that can help potentially vulnerable populations adapt (e.g. tools for staying cool and hydrated). Since the 2001 energy crisis, utilities have worked to improve reliability, reduce load during peak periods and add renewables. As California's population and sea level continue to rise, such measures will only become more important.

In order to face these challenges head on, the PPIC recommends that California policymakers implement policies that seek to both slow climate change and protect against its effects at the same time. PG&E will continue our work alongside these policymakers and others to help fight climate change -- and help the state mitigate its effects.

Posted by: Katie Romans

PG&E last week announced the winners of its 7th annual Richard A. Clarke environmental leadership award. The award recognizes employees for extraordinary commitment to the company's various environmental initiatives.

Perhaps the only thing more inspiring than the work of the Clarke Award winners is the breadth and depth of the finalist pool. Just to name a few:

Karalee Browne, Program Officer, was recognized for her leadership in advancing PG&E's Solar Schools Program. Karalee's leadership efforts demonstrate PG&E's continued support of renewable energy and environmental education.

Karen Guedmin, Building Superintendent, was recognized for her leadership in making the San Ramon Valley Conference Center one of PG&E's greenest facilities and a certified "green business" in Contra Costa County. The facility's advancements in waste reduction and water and energy conservation have demonstrated significant cost savings, while shrinking the center's carbon footprint.

The PG&E and Audubon Habitat Restoration Partnership Team was recognized for its leadership in the development of an innovative "restoration license agreement" to allow Audubon California to restore 30 acres of native habitat at PG&E's Pleasant Creek Underground Gas Storage Facility in Yolo County. The agreement is replicable and can serve as a model for future restoration projects on PG&E lands.

The Safe Harbor Tulare Team was recognized for creating PG&E's first Safe Harbor Agreement (SHA) with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The PG&E Tulare Safe Harbor Agreement is one of only five SHAs in California and thirty in the United States.

And, finally...(drum roll) ... this year's individual and team Clarke Awards go to:

Kadi Whiteside, Water Quality Supervisor, was recognized for her leadership in spearheading the development of new practices and techniques to protect water quality, plants and animals at construction sites. Her innovative designs and management practices have benefited both PG&E and the environment -- saving the company time and money on construction projects and reducing potential environrmental impacts.

The Change a Light Campaign Core Team was recognized for its leadership in implementing a campaign during October and November 2007 to encourage PG&E customers to buy and use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). The campaign helped save more than 400,000 megawatt-hours of electricity -- enough energy to power almost 60,000 homes for a year -- and avoid 200,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of taking 31,000 cars off the road for a year.

Full disclosure: I had the esteemed honor of being a member of the Change a Light team.

Posted by: Katie Romans

With the holiday shopping season slowly creeping earlier and earlier each year, it is with excitement, disbelief and -- let's face it -- trepidation that I begin to consider my shopping list for friends and loved ones.

It was while cruising the latest toys in consumer electronics that I stumbled upon a new generation of energy-efficient television sets that also require ENERGY STAR-labeled accessories. The new TVs hit store shelves on November 1 and can be up to 30 percent more efficient than conventional counterparts. While this new release represents the third generation of energy-efficient TVs, it is the first generation that actually works to decrease the power used when the TV is turned on.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) wasted no time in praising the new standard of television sets, citing a staggering claim from the U.S. EPA in their press release:

"If all televisions purchased by consumers in 2009 met the new ENERGY STAR standards, the savings in greenhouse gas emissions would be equal to removing one million cars from the road."

Also, David Katzmeyer of CNET.com had the opportunity to test drive a number of HDTVs that fall under the new standard and determined that the Sharp LC-52D65U is the most efficient. As far as price goes, the Sharp ranges from $1,517 to $2,099, which Katzmeyer calls relatively inexpensive. And, even though he cites lighter blacks than some LCDs, he calls the Sharp "a solid value among bigger-screen LCDs."

Offering both form and function, the new generation of energy-efficient televisions may just move the front lines in the fight against global warming to the couch.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Just last week, I posted an entry on PG&E hitting our 25,000 milestone for net metered solar customers. And, this week, the hits keep on coming...

The Solar Power Electric Association (SEPA) today named PG&E winner of the 2008 Solar Business Achievement Awards in the category of Solar Portfolio Leadership. PG&E's award-winning solar portfolio boasts more than 25,000 net metered customer-owned solar installations and more than 2,500 MW in utility contracts for solar power, including both solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies.

Presented today at the Solar Power International conference in San Diego, other award recipients included:

Congratulations to all SEPA award winners. As for PG&E, we will continue to diversify our portfolio.

Posted by: Katie Romans

PG&E hit a mighty milestone in solar this week -- 25,000 customer-owned solar installations and counting.

What does this mean for an energy utility? It makes our customers the leading adopters of solar energy in the country, making up approximately 50 percent of the customer-owned solar in the nation. But, it also helps solar generation become more cost effective and reliable than ever.

Well, don't take our word for it...

Check out what California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had to say about what it means to the state and the city, respectively.

"I applaud this significant solar energy milestone, which goes a long way toward helping California meet its long-term renewable energy and climate change goals. Thousands of California homeowners are choosing to 'Go Solar' because it's good for their pocketbooks and for the environment, and they are a huge part of the reason that California continues to lead the nation in solar adoption." - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

"The City of San Francisco's solar incentives, combined with PG&E's incentives provided through the California Solar Initiative, allow us to infuse the city with a clean and reliable source of energy. PG&E solar customers are national leaders in customer-owned solar generation, and San Francisco is proud to support solar adoption as part of our larger environmental commitment." - Mayor Gavin Newsom

And, of course, the customer, the customer, the customer.

David Bower is nothing short of a case study in smart energy management and environmental leadership. Mr. Bower has completely retrofitted the 130-year-old Victorian home with state-of-the-art energy efficiency upgrades -- no small task. Now, with his new solar installation, which qualified for federal, state and local incentives, Mr. Bower will enjoy even greater energy savings.

We'll handle solar installations. I'm guessing Mr. Bower is busy counting some green of his own.

Posted by: Katie Romans

If you are as reliant on your morning cup o' joe as I am, you will be just as happy to hear that coffee has a new ally in the fight against climate changes that can put the precious crop at risk.

According to the October issue of BioScience, and as seen on the Medical News and Health News blog, shade trees can actually help improve crops' resistance to the higher temperatures and changes in precipitation that have resulted from intensified production over the years. Starbucks: take note.

The Daily Green takes the power of java one step further in its recent post, which cites Ivette Perfecto of the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, who makes the claim, "Shaded coffee is ideal because it will buffer the system from climate change while protecting biodiversity."

So, not only is shade-grown coffee more resistant to the elements, it also fights climate change by contributing to a richer ecosystem.

Make mine a double!

Posted by: Katie Romans

Among all the new reports and parties, such as those from Earth2Tech, not to mention former Vice President Al Gore coming out at the West Coast Green conference currently underway at the San Jose McEnery Convenion Center, PG&E has a bit of our own news.

So, in the spirit of tooting our own horn...today, we announced two initiatives that will help communities achieve LEED certification by the USGBC.

The first combines charitable causes with environmental efforts: in a double-dose of green, PG&E is granting $200,000 to Global Green USA for the LEED-Silver certification of 14 Habitat-built homes. This will help Habitat homes in Oakland, Strawberry, Fresno and Cotati achieve LEED certification.

In addition, PG&E will become the first utility to enable customers to receive LEED credit for a natural gas GHG emission reduction by voluntarily enrolling in the ClimateSmart program. I can save trees AND receive LEED credit for it?? Thanks!

For those planning to attend the conference, don't miss the shipping container house. PG&E's own Lead Hydrologist/Systems Engineer, Jan Grygier, thought this was such a good idea, he built one of his own. Not sure of his LEED status, but pretty sure he is well on his way to Gold!

Lesson of the Day: Green things come to those who LEED.

Posted by: Katie Romans

The ever-growing Oracle OpenWorld descends upon San Francisco today, complete with its full cadre of patrons, partners...and, this year, green techies.

As part of an overarching green focus, leading panelists will discuss topics such as data center efficiency, smart meters and other ways to "green the enterprise."

In fact, PG&E will be one of few accepting Oracle's Empower the Green Enterprise award for our SmartMeter program. Presented to select customers and partners that utilize Oracle's products to take an environmental lead, while reducing costs and improving business efficiencies, the award will be presented to PG&E for managing billing, payments, credit/collections and meter inventory using Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing on an Oracle enterprise grid.

Oracle's OpenWorld will also feature such fodder as laptop-charging stationary bicycles and other interactive tips and tricks for reducing the conference's -- and one's own -- carbon footprint. While many of these displays serve more of an "edu-active" purpose, the need for such large-scale conferences to control their carbon footprint is very real. Check out the numbers, per today's San Francisco Chronicle: 

• 43,000 local and out-of-town attendees, each with a host of chargeable electronic equipment
• 72,000 lunches, complete with disposable packaging and utensils

Then, there's the conference crowds and traffic, likely more of a headache for locals than a significant environmental threat.

With this footprint comes great opportunity for sustainable practices. Oracle's efforts to balance out some of its own environmental footprint have the potential to make a big -- or smaller -- impact compared to that of last year.

Usually met with moans and groans of local SOMA-ites, this year's more sustainable OpenWorld should be welcomed with OpenArms.

Posted by: Katie Romans

I recently read on ecorazzi.com that the DOE launched a new campaign, featuring PSAs with that twinkling little Tinkerbell and friends, for kids who want to save energy.

Harnessing the themes of friendship, fairies and magic, the PSAs encourage energy efficiency through energy-efficient light bulbs, power strips and simply turning off lights and gaming equipment. And, ever so slightly more sophisticated than those Captain America energy conservation PSAs of my childhood. From shutting the refrigerator door to turning off gaming equipment, energy efficiency for kids has come a long way.

Upon further investigation, I discovered the Tink PSAs are joined by another group of PSAs with the theme, "What's Your Excuse?," characterizing energy efficiency as easy and simple.

Though it may not be a new idea, engaging children on a level that is fun for them allows educators to reach a demographic that is still essentially forming their energy use habits.

Both websites feature PSA shorts and also invite kids to play various energy games and provides links to kid-focused sites that seek to educate and build a young, online community around energy efficiency -- from Greenpeace UK to Energy Quest, USA.

Keep an eye out for Tink as she flexes her pixie power for kids who want to save energy.

Posted by: Katie Romans

A roundup of green headlines that caught our eye this week.

• Professors and execs sound off about energy-efficient data centers.
• T. Boone puts forth a national wind energy policy.
• Duke announces wind plans of its own -- expanding its use of wind-produced electricity and purchasing more wind turbine generators.
• Energy experts urge legislators to use renewables and efficency to handle high fuel costs.
• Toyota's plug-in hybrid launch carries with it UK's hopes for becoming number one location for low-carbon vehicles.

Posted by: Katie Romans

I recently read on Peak Energy that Google is rumored to be exploring computing at sea, using wave power. I always thought water and electricity were a bad mix, but Google sees a match made in data center heaven.

According to Big Gav, Google engineers calculate that an array of pontoons, with pumps to convert wave motion into electricity, spread over a square kilometer could produce 30 megawatts of electricity, enough to operate a single floating data center. To give you a sense, 1 megawatt of electricity powers roughly 750 homes for a year -- that is a lot of energy. I wonder what effects this could have on the temperature of the ocean if we shipped all our data centers out to sea?

Also envisioned is equipment to use the direct current electricity to run DC-capable computers, which some people consider more energy-efficient than using alternating current. Now that could be something land lubbers could get behind as well.

Posted by: Katie Romans

As an ever increasing number of electric customers, both in California and across the nation, realize the environmental and economic benefits of rooftop solar power over the long haul, adoption could come to a screeching halt as the sunset for federal tax credits for customer-owned PV looms heavy on the horizon.

Today's Gristmill reports on how the uncertain future of the investment tax credit is playing into campaign stumping across the patchwork of red and blue states. Perhaps most recently, far away from the Presidential limelight, Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall of Colorado outlined a plan whereby money saved by eliminating oil and gas subsidies would go to the investment tax credit, which would, of course, help jump start these industries.

But when can we expect to see 1.) elimination of oil/gas subsidies and 2.) resulting savings? While many of the candidates seem to have a long-term plan that re-infuses the ITC, few account for the fact that, come December 31, there is no ITC.

Not to be daunted in the face of adversity, industry and investor response has only been to pick up the pace, as Todd Woody recently reported. In a continued flurry of industry activity...

• Nanosolar recently secured another $300 million in funding and already has plans to supply solar panels to AES Solar for medium-scale PV plants.
• Kiplinger's named FirstSolar one of the Top 10 Stocks for the Next 10 Years.
• Belgium-based research institute IMEC is teaming up with Pittsburgh, PA's Plextronics to develop a process for making thin-film solar.

• Suntech Power just sealed a seven-year polysilicon supply deal with DC Chemical.

Hopefully, the net effect of campaign stumping and industry activity will be a heroic ITC rescue. Meanwhile, utilities are taking steps to prepare for the expected end-of-year rush.

Posted by: Katie Romans

A roundup of green headlines that caught our eye this week.

• Google injects more than $10 million into geothermal projects with Sausalito, CA-based AltaRock Energy and Redwood City, CA's Potter Drilling.
• Reuters reports, in a story from London, criticisms of carbon offsets associated with air travel, claiming calculations miss important factors in carbon measurement.
• Support for California's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions weakens under pressure of higher energy prices, according to a new survey of California voters.
• Spoiled food = wasted water, as rich and poor countries throw away more food, The New York Times blog, Dot Earth, reports.

Posted by: Katie Romans

On Friday, Governor Schwarzenegger announced at the 26th Annual Border Governors' Conference, that the State of California signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PG&E, the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) and the six Mexican Border States that would allow PG&E's ClimateSmart program to contract for greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in Mexico, pending CCAR protocols and CPUC approval. (Deep breath) So...

Basically, PG&E customers will now benefit from a larger range of greenhouse gas emission reduction projects and PG&E will benefit from the opportunity to lead a global problem with a more global solution, thereby driving innovation in the voluntary carbon market, both in California and beyond.

And, the implications for PG&E's strategy on California's AB 32, the first mandatory greenhouse gas reduction law in the country?

Since the ClimateSmart program is a voluntary program for our customers, all of the greenhouse gas emission reductions are retired on behalf of our customers and will not, in fact, be used to meet regulatory requirements under AB 32 or any other regulation. However, it is important to note that the learnings gleaned through this proposal will help further the work of CCAR, the State and Border governors to develop stringent protocols that can be enforced in a mandatory carbon market.

If we are to adequately address the global issue of climate change, it will continue to be important to engage our global environmental partners -- across borders.

Posted by: Katie Romans

A roundup of green headlines that caught our eye this week.

• The Governor of Oregon recently unveiled the country's first solar highway installation
• Reuters reports that the Department of Defense claims to be the only entity with the federal mandate and the size to develop new energy technologies and products on the scale needed for mass adoption.

• The Associated Press reports that McCain pledges to negotiate trade deals favorable to farm commodities, even though he does not believe in ethanol subsidies...other things to hold in disbelief, the 1,253-pound boar named Freight Train and pork chop on a stick featured at the Iowa State Fair.

• Kite power! Not the newest cartoon superhero, but rather a technology that could potentially power 100,000 homes.

Posted by: Katie Romans

As presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain continue to stump on a host of issues across key states, each has unveiled their own -- and reviled the other's -- energy plan.

Here's the Cliffs' Notes version of where the two candidates stand on just a of couple of hot spots in energy:

McCain

• Proposed lifting ban on offshore drilling
• Called for building new nuclear reactors
• Primary Goal: Decrease dependence on non-domestic oil and foster investment in domestic exploration

Obama

• Would consider offshore drilling if it were part of a larger strategy to lower energy costs
• Proposes exploring nuclear power as part of the energy mix
• Primary Goal: Eliminate the need for non-domestic oil in 10 years

Of course, one of the questions that will emerge from this dialogue is which issues will be left up to the states to decide. Here's looking at California.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Hot on the heels of naming its 44 finalists last week, the California Clean Tech Open keeps the momentum alive with an Energy Efficiency symposium tonight at PG&E's own auditorium.

Beginning with opening remarks from California Public Utilities Commissioner Dian Grueneich and PG&E Director of Customer Energy Efficiency Roland Risser, the symposium hopes to draw together researchers and engineers, industry professionals, and entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs.

The topic du jour? Energy efficiency.

From companies like Power Assure, which claims their pending software can cut Data Center electricity bills by 50 per cent, to Serious Materials, which develops eco-friendly building materials -- CCTO finalists are bringing cutting edge energy efficiency technologies to the market. And, with a backdrop of skyrocketing energy prices, carbon consciousness and regulatory mandates, their timing couldn't be better.

Tonight's energy efficiency symposium will engage key players in this dialogue and also bring us one step closer to making the winner's technology a reality.

Posted by: Katie Romans

The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) today announced its first annual "Top Ten Solar Electric Utilities" in the US. (Drum roll, please...)

You guessed it. PG&E received top rankings in the following categories:

• #1 for Solar Electric Capacity on the Customer Side of the Meter (MW) -- All Utilities and Investor-Owned Utilities
• #1 for Solar Electric Capacity per Customer on the Customer Side of the Meter (MW/customer) -- All Utilities and Investor-Owned Utilities
• #2 for Total Solar Electric Capacity (MW) -- All Utilities and Investor-Owned Utilities
• #3 for Total Solar Electric Capacity per customer (MW/customer) -- All Utilities and Investor-Owned Utilities

What do these categories all mean?

According to SEPA, the "customer side of the meter" refers to solar electric systems that are configured to first offset onsite consumption at retail rates, with any remaining excess exported to the distribution grid.

Conversely, the "utility side of the meter" refers to systems located on the utility side of the meter on either the distribution or transmission system, where utilities are the end purchasers of the solar electricity. Southern California Edison leads the pack in this category.

Not surprisingly, California utilities swept the race as early solar adopters. However, as CNET's Elsa Wenzel reports, others in the west, mid-west and mid-Atlantic regions are making their presence known.

Today, the Top Ten. Tomorrow, the Top Twenty.

Posted by: Katie Romans

A roundup of green headlines that caught our eye this week.

• Associated Press reports: Maryland touts the benefits of hybrid buses.
• Abengoa Solar to Feds: Extend the ITC for eight years, or the solar-thermal plant gets it. 
• PG&E CEO expresses concern about T. Boone's big plan to get the U.S. off oil.
• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory features newly-launched Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 that will provide a global view of Earth's sea surface height every 10 days.
• WSJ Environmental Capital reports on California's new green building code.
• Al Gore's call to action -- America's electricity must be 100% renewable in 10 years.

Posted by: Katie Romans

How do you turn a mission into a movement? I'm not sure, but it includes a lot of meetings. And that's exactly what we've seen this week.

Beginning with the G8 Summit in Japan, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced at today's press conference that the G8 set a goal to slash global GHG emissions in half by 2050. Recognizing that cutting emissions globally will require a robust global market, G8 leaders indicated that they will remain committed to responsible macroeconomic management and structural reforms:

• expanding oil production
• further promoting energy conservation and alternative energy development, and
• improving market transparency through increased scrutiny by international institutions.

There's a start.

Back on the ranch, the UPI reports that a group of US Senators came together to turn the number one issue on the minds of Americans (i.e. $4.60/gal) into an energy plan that will be palatable for both sides of the aisle. Sick and tired of being blamed for gas pump pains felt across the country, the bipartisan group of Senators succomb to voter pressure and seek out a legislative solution.

Oil and renewables, Democrats and Republicans. Who knows? Maybe climate change will be the driving force behind the next generation of togetherness. Kumbaya.

Posted by: Katie Romans

US to Nevada: But, I thought you needed me -- my sprawling generation and transmission networks?

Nevada to US: Now, I have it all -- investment, economic development, clean energy. Really, it's not you, it's me.

US: Sigh.

And that is how Nevada declared it's energy independence...um, well, something like that.

The country's boom in solar has created a boon for Nevada and its wide, open spaces. In fact, CleanTechnica.com reports that solar projects totaling more than 10,000 MW (about 500 power plants) have land requests from the Bureau of Land Management in Southern Nevada, potentially promising more than $40 billion in investments to Nevada. With 10,000 MW of clean energy and $40 billion in investment, Nevada may just cede from the US grid.

Not only that, but Nevada can stimulate its economy with the green jobs that go along with such an influx of investment and solar projects. As factories open to produce the kind of giant mirrors and absorber tubes used in solar power plants, they employ factory workers. And, as more solar plants are constructed, more solar plant construction jobs are created. Strike two for the US energy industry.

So, who is enabling this sudden rash of independence? Companies like Ausra, which opened a solar thermal power factory just earlier this week in Las Vegas. I'll come back to that project in another post, but it is the biggest little plant of its kind in the world -- and no, not like Reno. Ausra and others in the solar industry are the ones tempting Nevada from the grid, with their jobs and their money and their clean, clean energy.

And, they lived happily ever after. The End.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Focusing light onto a small, special photovoltaic cell that can absorb large concentrations of sunlight -- bring on the giant ball of popcorn kernels.

Not unlike the 1985 classic movie, Real Genius, Discovery News reports that MIT students recently demonstrated their idea of a good time, not by cooking a giant ball of popcorn kernels with a laser, but by vaporizing wood through solar concentration. Cool.

While the means would surely seem to justify the end, these overachievers have loftier applications in mind. Starting the aptly named Raw Solar company to sell their patented dish design, the students plan to focus on boiling water to create 'wet steam' for industrial and commercial applications. In fact, it's estimated that the solar collector could generate temperatures higher than 1,300 degrees C (2,372 F), hot enough to melt steel. Way cool.

Far from the old magnifying glass trick, these real geniuses could bring about a cheaper and more efficient form of solar energy.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Apparently, they do make them like they used to -- at least how the Three Little Pigs used to. And that big, bad wolf can huff and puff all he wants. These houses aren't coming down.

According to the Kansas City Infozine, the latest in energy efficient building materials: good, old fashioned straw bales.

A few qualities that make hay:

• In hot places -- like Tuscon, AZ -- houses built with straw bales use only a minimal amount of air conditioning.
• In cold places -- like Colorado or Maryland -- straw-bale homes require minimal heating and even just a small space heater in some cases.
• In shaky, wet and windy places -- like earthquake, hurricane and tornado country -- research so far has found straw-bale buildings are safer than traditional buildings because they are strong, yet have some movement that would give people more time to escape than a brick building would.
• In moderate places, like Switzerland, some houses built out of straw bales need no additional heating besides sunlight through the windows.

What will come of housing as we know it? The continued exploration and development of viable energy efficient materials may just take its breath away.

Posted by: Katie Romans

As solar technology continues to race ahead and companies continue to throw R&D dollars behind the next big thing, here's a quick snapshot of a just a few recent headline grabbers...

Intel / SpectraWatt

• Investors: Intel Capital, Cogentrix Energy, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund and Solon AG
• Technology: super secret, cheap and easy silicon-based solar cells
• Funding: $50 million
• Timeline: Product ready mid-2009

Brightsource Energy, Inc. / Luz II, Ltd.

• Investors: VantagePoint Venture Partners, Google.org, BP Alternative Energy, Chevron Technology Ventures, StatoilHydro, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DBL Investors, and Black River
• Technology: large scale solar plants that deliver low-cost solar energy in the form of steam and/or electricity to industrial and utility customers (including PG&E)
• Funding: more than $160 million, of which $115 million came from its most recent round of financing last month
• Timeline: Luz II, Ltd. concept is in the final testing stage. Results expected by end of summer. Full-sized facilities in California's Mojave Desert to be completed by 2011.

IBM / Kogyo Co.

• Investors: IBM and Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK)
• Technology: licensing of CIGS (copper, indium, galium and selenide) solar power technology that could be applied to building material
• Funding / Timeline: According to earth2tech's Craig Rubens, IBM hasn't attached any production dates or funding estimates to its new research program.  

And, there's plenty more where these came from. Clearly, these announcements not only present different solar technology options and alternatives, they also present a clear trend of high-tech and other companies tripping over themselves to bring about the next big thing in solar.

Posted by: Katie Romans

We all know the movie...picturesque Camp Crystal Lake, young summer camp counselors frolicking in the night, then...the lights go out.

And nobody thought to thank that thoughtful Jason Voorhees?? Teenagers.

The International Dark Sky Association, a group dedicated to preserving and protecting the nighttime environment, might even argue that the notorious Friday the 13th villain, Jason, did that campground a favor by eliminating all that pesky light pollution.

In fact, the group will host a Congressional Briefing on the subject next Friday, June 20. Among the topics to be discussed are consequences of light pollution on human health and the environment, as well as energy wasted as a result of light pollution. Of those presenting will be representatives from the Bassett Healthcare Institute (New York) and The Urban Wildlands Group. PG&E will also present, addressing IDA's estimate that more than $10 billion is wasted annually on unnecessary lighting.

Call me devil's advocate, but I think that poor Jason was misunderstood.

Posted by: Katie Romans

In the great game of green, perhaps least noticed is the work done at the community level. Such is the work of the Sacramento River Cats and Raley Field -- not only in following the lead of many major league stadiums by going green, but also in raising community awareness.

Having lived in Sacramento for a time myself, I write this as a tried and true River Cats fan. I have seen firsthand the great influence of this ball club in its community -- from the loveable Dinger, to the $7 lawn seats on Home Run Hill, to the rally of the games.

So, when "yooouur Sacramentooo River Caaats" host a Green Awareness Weekend, the community listens. At a time when green means so many things to so many people, this level of community engagement is perhaps the home run the movement needs.

Recognizing this, PG&E helped the River Cats host a weekend focused soundly on education and awareness. By packaging the fan-favorite games with green education such as a pre-game ceremony on Saturday and a solar seminar on Sunday, the River Cats and PG&E were able to reach out to the community in way simply not possible on a larger stage. 

Hopefully, other ball clubs and community icons will follow suit. Their role in translating an increasingly global dialogue to local action will be crucial. In the meantime, GO CATS!

Posted by: Katie Romans

Call it a phase, but somewhere between the Seabear and the North Sea, I've found myself on a Scandinavian kick lately. This brings me to my most recent discovery, compliments of my friends across the pond...

Floating wind turbines in the North Sea. What a concept -- windmills out at sea, far away from the critical eyes of landlubbers and the wandering routes of migration birds. But, will it work?

With an investment of about $78 million, StatoilHydro takes on the task of building the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine prototype to test for two years. The Hywind design uses a three anchor moorings that hold a 200 meter tall steel tube with an attached turbine and three 60-meter-long blades. 

It will take a village to bring such a massive project to life by Fall 2009. 

To be assembled in Norway (in Åmøyfjorden near Stavanger and located about six miles offshore Karmøy in the county of Rogaland), the wind turbine itself will be built by Siemens. Technip will be charged with floatation element building and offshore installation. Nexans will lay cables to shore, and Haugaland Kraft will be responsible for the landfall. Enova will support the project with about $11.5 million.

StatoilHydro admits that floating wind power is not a mature technology yet and anticipates a long road to large-scale development. Among the key issues are price, servicing and the wear and tear of Mother Nature. However, success will be a major step in moving the wind power industry offshore. 

With more projects like this coming to commercialization, it looks like clean power may go the way of oil -- out to sea.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Wineries are developing a palate for energy efficiency and clean energy, looking into some pretty innovative ways to leverage their facilities and surroundings to realize energy savings. And, with 1,100 wineries in the state of California, which collectively produce 500 million gallons of wine, the movement can have a huge impact on California's energy use.

As reported in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle, the Far Niente winery in Oakville recently covered their irrigation pond with a floating solar installation, designed and installed by SPG Solar of Novato, using the "Floatovoltaic" technology developed by Thompson Technology Industries Inc.

Not only will the Floatovoltaic arrays provide the winery with up to 447 kw of clean renewable energy, it is also likely to result in less water loss due to evaporation, according to the article, and less algae growth. Dividends.

In related news, PG&E's own Emerging Technologies group is also working with wineries to help them realize energy savings through energy efficiency. The team conducted two studies at two major yet-to-be-named NorCal wineries that show that the use of a European technology called electrodialysis in the process of eliminating tartaric acid in wine is 99 percent more efficient than the refrigeration process regularly used, called cold stabilization. To put a finer point on it, that's 8 watt-hours per gallon v. 22-1,200 watt-hours per gallon.

As such projects become more and more feasible through financing mechanisms and rebates, hopefully more California wineries will get snobby on their energy use -- and pass on the savings. Cheers to that!

Posted by: Katie Romans

Trite, I know, but who can resist the excitement from Sunday's Indy 500? Not only did Danica's strut down pit row make it into one of the all-time greatest female moments in sports, perhaps lesser known though no less exciting is the role of ethanol in this year's Indy.

As reported by DomesticFuel, ethanol was the official fuel sponsor of the 92nd Indianapolis 500 for the second year. Who knew? Admittedly, a sport featuring high-performance vehicles screaming around a racetrack over and over, burning through tires and occasionally bursting into flames does beg the question: Is there something we can do to make the Indy more earth-friendly? Even so, race cars and renewables seem like strange bedfellows.

At the forefront of bringing ethanol to the Brickyard -- and to the masses -- is VeraSun CEO Don Endres, interviewed by DomesticFuel onsite at the race. Among the challenges and controversies faced by ethanol, according to Endres, is misinformation. He lauds Indy sponsors' understanding that ethanol is the only alternative to fossil fuels available today, making up about 6 percent of the total fuel stream.

Addressing the viability of ethanol long-term, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures said at the recent The Future In Review conference that he is looking toward technologies like cellulosic ethanol rather than food-based ethanol, according to CNET. The key differentiators between cellulosic and food-based ethanol to Khosla seem to be two-fold: cellulosic ethanol's ability to scale to utility-grade levels, and its ability to compete with the cost of fossil fuels without subsidies.

Predictions for next year's Indianapolis 500: Clean fuel solutions such as cellulosic ethanol pick up where fossil fuels left off. Danica finishes what she started.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Today's Gristmill featured a post addressing the argument that solar takes too much space, a common gripe about today's generation of solar technology.

While admittedly imperfect, the side-by-side comparison with coal production engages an interesting discussion -- solar production per square foot is not only cleaner, it yields more energy than coal mining.

For this reason and others, PG&E continues to sign contracts with utility-scale solar thermal power companies like Silicon Valley solar start-up Ausra. Backed by green investor Vinod Khosla and VC firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, Ausra is under contract to build 177 megawatts in solar power plants in central California for PG&E. And, we continue to sign contracts with companies capable of developing and deploying clean energy on this larger utility scale.

This is not to leave distributed solar out of the party. Distributed solar can absolutely provide the same benefits as utility-scale solar and help address some of those pesky size/scale issues that come with sprawling solar farms. While we are still working through the policy and financing kinks of this relatively young industry, PG&E encourages the adoption of distributed solar as a viable clean energy option for customers through the California Solar Initiative (CSI).

So, to those who complain that solar energy is simply too big, I would encourage them to consider the benefits and, perhaps more persuasive -- consider the alternative.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Okay, so it's not a slogan for the visitor bureau, but my Reno Gazette-Journal today reported that this year's runoff has hit peak and will be on a diminishing trend from now on.

I'm not sure if this forecast took into account the May snow I drove through on my way here or the cloudy skies above, but certainly a few flakes has little effect on a 72-mile, 1,000-ft-deep lake.

Aside from being a disappointment for Lake Tahoe, with river runoff projections as low as 38 percent, this will undoubtedly impact hydroelectric capacity as we look into summer. Apparently, last week's heatwave burned right through the snowpack, causing a quick and final rise in stream and river levels before they begin their steady drop with rising summer temperatures. It seems that the optimism of early winter's heavy snows went down the proverbial drain.

As for Tahoe, the Federal Water Master's Office in Reno reports that, after the couple of inches that should come with this weekend's thunderstorms (great), the rate of lake evaporation will exceed river and stream runoff, and Tahoe will begin to drop. A sad reality, though definitely not a first for this Cal-Neva treasure.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Yesterday, the American Gas Association (AGA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) came together in a press conference to highlight the importance of energy efficiency in combating global warming.

"By using a clean fuel, and using it efficiently, America's natural gas utilities and their customers are leading the way in the fight against global warming," said Laurence Downes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New Jersey Resources. 

Posted by: Katie Romans

PG&E's ClimateSmart program announced our second RFP for up to one million tons of new GHG emission reductions during California Climate Action Registry's Annual Conference last week.

Projects in forest conservation, conservation-based forest management and reforestation projects in California are eligible for consideration, as are projects that include the installation of a manure biogas control system for livestock operations, such as dairy cattle and swine farms. Side note: More than 19,000 dairies in California + less than two dozen of which currently capture the methane they produce = a lot of opportunity for poop! 

Bidders' conferences for those interested will be held in SF on May 28, Sacramento on May 29 and Tulare on June 2.

Since PG&E launched the ClimateSmart program last year, the momentum around similar market-based solutions for climate change continues to grow.

One good example of this can be found in Saturday's LA Times article by Elizabeth Douglass on Edison's proposal for eight GHG emission reduction projects. In the article, V. John White of the Center for Energy Effficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) raises the question of ratepayer v. shareholder contributions, to ensure that the program operates at its maximum potential. This issue is exactly why, in addition to modeling ClimateSmart as a voluntary, opt-in program for our customers, PG&E enrolled as the first participant in the ClimateSmart program by committing approximately $1.5 million of shareholder funding from 2007-2009 to make all of the energy use in our offices, service centers, maintenance facilities and other company buildings climate neutral.

I feel cooler already. (Pun intended.)

Another great example of this momentum is demonstrated in a recent interview by Cleantech Blog's Neal Dikeman with EcoSecurities Co-Founder Marc Stuart on the carbon offsets market and project mechanisms worldwide. My personal favorite quote in response to concern about "carbon market millionaires:" Capital markets exist to reward innovation and punish underperformance. Stuart aptly points to the very real work EcoSecurities has done to get the market where it is to date and the very real emission reductions that have occurred as a result.

As we continue to recruit projects and mechanisms in the market-based war against climate change, let us also brace ourselves for the bumps that are sure to come with driving a market that is still taking shape.

Posted by: Katie Romans

So, today I experienced my first foray into my dual role as Environmental Communications Representative for PG&E and Reporter -- how sweet it is.

While attending the California Climate Action Registry Annual Conference on behalf of PG&E, I found myself merrily amidst the key players in others Navigating the Carbon World, as is the theme of this year's conference. In speaking with The Climate Registry's Executive Director Diane Wittenberg and Board Member Doug Scott, director of Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, I was able to glean a few insights into the carbon market today and what we can expect in the future.

And what I was able to glean is that we cannot have the market until we have the regulations to drive that market in a meaningful way -- which is what The Climate Registry seeks to develop. The U.S. needs standard, voluntary carbon reporting in order to create markets that are responsive to the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Diane's words, "you've got to measure what you've got first."

In some sense, The Climate Registry must serve both masters -- voluntary and mandatory markets. A couple of months ago, we were able to see this happen with voluntary carbon offsets in California, with the signing of the first ever forest projects verified under California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) protocols. However, according to Doug Scott, we are still working on mandatory protocols.

The good news: The Climate Registry is working with the US EPA on its charge to develop reporting and is looking to the work already done, here in California and elsewhere. In fact, through The Climate Registry's work, 4/5ths of the country -- and the country's emissions -- is already working with The Climate Registry on these protocols...nothing to sneeze at. Bottom line is that The Climate Registry's objective is to stay nimble enough to sustain any changes at the Federal level. Amen.

When I safely positioned The Climate Registry as a sounding board for all regional protocols, I was promptly corrected that The Climate Registry is not just a sounding board, but an actual working mechanism for regions to create working policy that will hopefully translate to a national paradigm.

We will see what tomorrow holds but, as is the case with my dual-identity, today's news is indeed daunting and also enlightening on Navigating the Carbon World.

Posted by: Katie Romans

In yesterday's San Jose Mercury News, Matt Nauman wrote about the future of energy-efficient lighting and the VC rush toward light-emitting diodes, more commonly known as LEDs.

As consumers experience growing pains with the transition from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), they are already looking for the next generation of energy-efficient lighting. I can't help but be reminded of the vehicular fuel debate, pitting that which is readily available today (i.e. natural gas) against that which we hope will be available in the future (i.e. hydrogen). At what point do we let R&D...you know, develop...and embrace the best option available to us today? Conversely, does this pressure for what's next have a positive impact on driving innovation to market

The fact about energy-efficient lighting is, and Nauman reiterates this in his article, CFLs are the most environmentally friendly way to light your home today. Yes, they do contain trace amounts of mercury, but few realize that more mercury is released by coal-burning plants that power incandescent bulbs than by CFLs. Yes, that means they must be recycled properly, but PG&E is working with the State of California and local counties, such as Tehama and Santa Clara, through the Take It Back program to provide the education and infrastructure needed to make the proper disposal and recycling of CFLs easy.

On the commercial side, LEDs are a much more realistic energy-efficient lighting option in the now. As Nauman points out, LEDs work great in commercial refrigerators and freezers in grocery stores. In fact, PG&E's Emerging Technologies group last year conducted a pilot study of LEDs with Safeway showing that replacing fluorescent lights in refrigerated cases with LED lights can cut lighting energy use by 40 percent or more.

So, it seems that everything has its place. As energy-efficient lighting continues to develop, hopefully we can spare the rod on today's technology, without spoiling the technology of tomorrow.

Posted by: Katie Romans

I'll be the first to admit it -- I don't really get all the fuss around big school rivalries. Yet I am surrounded by them through friends and family: UCLA-USC, Boise State-Univ. of Idaho...and, of course, UC Berkeley-Stanford.

While they may not play nice on the field, Berkeley and Stanford came together (for the second time!) in a meeting of the minds on cleantech, specifically "Big Solar," as this year's conference was aptly named.

PG&E, along with GreenVolts, SunPower and others working to bring solar to the masses discussed issues such as state policy and innovations in solar technology -- all as related to utility-scale solar. The idea is: by bringing together today's thought leaders with up-and-comers of tomorrow, not only can we work to address the framework issues of the day, we can also start sketching out a picture of what utility-scale solar power generation technology will look like in the future. Pretty exciting stuff.

I think most interesting was probably the 'Innovations in Technology' panel, which was moderated by Eric Wesoff of Greentech Media. During the panel, Eric raised the question of how the financing process and PPAs are able to integrate new technologies. As Hugh Kuhn of Solar Power Partners also pointed out at Greentech Media's Solar Finance & Forecast event: PPAs, while extremely complex, have lead to improved design and performance from integrators as well as new products, processes and services from manufacturers. Implication: change is underway in the solar industry, and we could see it unfold in a way that marries financial structures and technological innovation...cool.

So, paint your face, bust out the pom-poms and sound the rally cry. Big Solar is taking the field.

Posted by: Katie Romans

Do I want for things? Sure, who doesn't? Do I worry about losing electricity for a quarter of a day every day? Nope.

But, that's exactly what's happening in Indian suburbs like Bhandup, Mulund, Thane and many other cities and towns across India. The "good" news seems to be that residents of these areas can enjoy 24-hour electricity supply -- provided they pay premium rates. The bottom line is that "bijli," the Hindu word that refers to electricity, is in short supply in India, and policymakers are now looking to proven energy efficiency models in California to help ease demand.

And, as noted in a recent blog post from Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, the timing couldn't be better. The increase in oil prices and potential effects of climate change stand to wreak even further havoc on India's economy and population:  Enter PG&E's Customer Energy Efficiency program...

Roland Risser, PG&E's Director of Customer Energy Efficiency, recently returned from a summit in India as part of an effort by USAID to develop energy efficiency policies that will help India address some of its power problems. Focused primarily on the state of Maharashtra, with a brief foray into Delhi, and in response to an aggressive directive from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for the state's four utilities to put together a comprehensive energy efficiency filing in five short days, the summit featured a series of workshops with representatives from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories and PG&E. Roland's directive: provide real-world examples of energy efficiency programs that work -- not just in theory, but in practice.

In order to combat the daily blackouts and diesel-run generators that characterize India's energy landscape, Roland outlined integrated demand-side management -- industry-speak for utility measures to meet future electricity demands. With the help of emerging technologies such as high efficiency water pumps, with timers that would also avoid overuse; bulk purchasing of power by utilities; and mandates for more efficient equipment, among other measures, India could slowly transform its current energy nightmare into a low-carbon dream, specifically tailored to Southeast Asian markets.

The future can be bijli for India, but we cannot assume that India's path will be the one that continues to work for California. We can only offer insights into energy efficiency policy and systems, as well as help identify the quick wins that can be easily implemented. Hopefully, this will help set the tone for energy policy globally.