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Turning green: What can make a Difference?

Franklin A Johnson

3-20-2009

“Green” is environment, climate change or conscious action to improve the environment.

The reference is now largely broadened to “sustainability”, that is, the rate at which

resources can be replenished.

The widely accepted definition of sustainability is "to meet the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Before we see if we can make a difference, we need to size up the problem. The world

population in 1600 was 550,000 million, whereas, today we are estimate at 6.07 billion.

By 2050, it is estimated that the population is expected to grow by another 3 billion

people. In other words, we will only have 25% of the resources per capita than people

had in 1950.

The key problem is the measure of carbon in the atmosphere. We are at the highest it has

been in over 800,000 years.

In the1900’s there were fewer than 50,000 vehicles on the road worldwide compared to

over 700 million.

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The US alone emits over 2 billion metric tons of carbon from coal per year and a metric

ton is 2240 pounds. By comparison, what does a ton of coal mean? It means it would

meet the electricity needs of an average US household for about 2 months.

Petroleum emissions, on the other hand, represent about 40% of the world’s carbon CO2

emissions. How much do you contribute? Well the average car driven 12,000 miles a

year produces about 5.5 metric tons of CO2.

Plants and trees absorb carbon dioxide, yet, we have removed 40% of the world

forestation or land surface.

So, what is the problem anyway?

The earth is protected by an insulating layer allowing just enough of the suns energy in to

sustain life and keep Earth’s temperature also at a sustainable level. The Earth’s heat

holding effect or ability is called the “greenhouse effect”. That is, the protective layer

allowing the sun’s energy and heat in and also allowing the return of some of this energy

and heat back through this layer into the atmosphere above the earth. Two things have

happened in recent years. One is that the emission of gases such as carbon has thickened

this protective layer not allowing the heat and energy to escape as readily back into the

atmosphere. Secondly, there are increasingly less reflective surfaces, particularly over the

ice and snow capped areas, to reflect this heat and energy back into the atmosphere, thus,

a more noted warming of the earth. There is little question that it is warming; however,

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there is controversy as to the cause. Natural or evolutionary versus human induced we

will not debate here, but, save as a topic for another quest paper. My title assumes the

problem of warming and challenges us to determine whether a difference can be made.

Thus, it is assumed that our dramatic and increasing production of “greenhouse gases”

through the burning of fossil fuels has begun changing the effect of this insulating blanket

by trapping more heat than is healthy for sustainability; therefore, the earth is getting

warmer.

A chart from the Museum of Natural History in New York City should be on your table

showing the graph line of atmospheric carbon over the last 400 years.

Energy production possibilities…

Coal, while carbon producing will still be part of our future. Carbon Capture and Storage

( CCS) will mollify part of the problem with future coal use by capturing CO2 before it

reaches the atmosphere and injecting it as a fluid deep underground. CCS can be used

with common fuels such as coal or natural gas. Ninty percent of the CO2 emissions from

the latest-generation of coal-fired power plants could be stored underground, but it adds

measurably to the cost.

At present, wind farms hold promise, but still cannot provide consistently, in any one

place, more than 20 percent of its electricity demands.

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Nuclear holds good promise, as a single pellet of uranium fuel (about the size of your

fingertip), can generate as much electricity as about 150 gallons of oil. Twenty five

percent of the global electricity needs this century could be met by nuclear power and

presently it is less than 20%.

Every hour the Sun provides Earth with as much energy as the world uses in an entire

year. One hundred percent of the global electricity needs could be met by solar power.

The earth’s interior is always hot, so geothermal plants can provide a constant supply of

electricity but it is not anticipated that it will exceed 5 percent of US electricity needs.

Natural gas is still there as a possibility and certainly has been amplified by T. Boone

Pickens as an increasing energy alternative. Natural gas does emit about 1.8 times less

carbon than coal.

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What can make a difference?

For every ton of paper that is recycled, 7,000 gallons of water is saved, 380 gallons of oil;

and enough electricity to power an average house for six months.

You can run a TV for six hours on the amount of electricity that is saved by recycling one

aluminum can.

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By recycling just one glass bottle and you save enough electricity to power a 100-watt

bulb for four hours.

Think about that extra stuff you carry around in the trunk or with you in the car. Every

100 pounds of cargo cuts mileage by 2 percent.

Purchase offsets, or, balance carbon emissions by purchasing products that

counterbalance i.e. planting trees or investing in alternative energy.

A case for going digital for everything… If every US household viewed and paid their

bills on line, solid waste would be cut by 1.4 billion metric tons and green house gases

would decrease by 1.9 million metric tons each year.

Buy local as anything that required heavy transportation to get here produced a lot of

emissions.

We love our entertainment and home electronics, but, they consume 82 billion kilowatt

hours of electricity annually. This is enough electricity to power seven million homes for

one year.

Phantom power, the power that electronics use even when they are “off,” accounts for 40

percent of the electricity used to power home electronics, and is equal to the output of 17

power plants.

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What can we do? Get energy efficient light bulbs. Get an energy audit. Get a smart

meter, because, if you see your consumption conveniently, then, your habits tend to be

watched more closely..

Improving the average fuel economy of vehicles in the US from about 25 miles per

gallon to about 49 miles per gallon over the next 10 years would be the equivalent of

taking more than 40 million cars off the road.

What some corporations and some cities have done to make a difference…

Bank of America Tower in NYC collects rainwater, gray water from sinks, air

conditioning units and steam units and uses waterless urinals, saving approximately 7.7

million gallons of water each year.

By purchasing clean, renewable energy, Wal-Mart will avoid producing carbon the

equivalent of taking approximately 25,000 cars off the road or the equivalent of

eliminating the CO2 produced by 18,000 homes annually.

Locally, Chuck Surack of Sweetwater has created an example that is inspiring to all

commercial construction and will encourage others to achieve LEED Certification

(Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design). His impressive structure is geo-

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thermal, water recovered and power conserving to the most impressive standards. A must

to tour if you have not already had that experience! In addition, Swiss Re has major

innovation planned with full LEED Certification.

Mayor Daley is determined to make Chicago the “greenest city in the world”. i.e. green

roofs, renewable energy, combined heat and electric generation, transportation oriented

development and access to public transportation, exceptional water management and the

“heat island” effect, which includes replacing dark-colored surfaces with light colored

reflective surfaces, planting trees, rain barrels and increasing impervious surfaces. So far

over 500,000 trees have been planted and over 3.5 million square feet of green roof are

constructed or in the works.

Of note, the famed Sears Tower, now the Willis Building is about to seriously undertake

a huge “green” renovation which will likely even change the color of the building to

absorb less heat to a more reflective surface. (No longer dark glass and dark exterior, but,

brighter more reflective surface and environmentally conscious.)

The Merchandise Mart, owned by the Robert Kennedy interests, will accept Daley’s

challenge and is undertaking major renovation to bring “green” into play.

Landfill gas is a renewable energy source. Waste Management's landfill gas-to-energy

projects generate enough energy to power 160,000 homes every day. That translates into

almost 5 million barrels of oil per year.

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Wal-Mart has undertaken numerous initiatives…

25 billion pounds of cardboard from the back of our stores and distribution centers

recycled saved approximately 216 million trees.

Reusable bags eliminating the need for more than 1.5 billion disposable bags has meant

the equivalent of annual energy use of more than 25,000 homes in the United States

The compact florescent light program initiated by Wal-Mart was comparable to taking

700,000 cars off the road, or saving enough energy to power 450,000 single-family

homes.

NAHB

The National Association of Home Builders advises that housing contributes about 21%

of the overall greenhouse gas emissions.

A 2008 study for the California Homebuilding Foundation revealed that retrofitting

existing homes with energy-efficient features is four to eight times more carbon and cost-

efficient than adding further energy-efficiency requirements to new housing.

Obama…

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Obama said that the Stimulus plan would put 460,000 Americans to work on energy

projects and double the amount of alternative energy produced over the next three years.

In the short term, the plan would provide funds to "weatherize" 2 million homes by

improving things such as insulation and leaky windows. The government also would

improve the efficiency of 75 percent of federal buildings.

Another provision would pay for 3,000 miles of transmission lines to move electricity

from wind farms and solar installations.

President Obama has set a goal of slashing our greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent

between now and the middle of the century. That means phasing out most fossil fuels or

going to the vast expense of burying carbon dioxide underground.

One idea that was not promoted out of Washington, but probably should have, is the

harvesting of “poop”. A cow typically produces 150 pounds of manure a day. This

produces one huge pile of smelly waste, which, with methane digesters, the gas can be

harvested to provide the electricity on the farm. The livestock sector emits about 9

percent of the world’s total.

SOME OF THE SPECIAL PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE:

Dr. George W. Taylor, founder and CEO of Ocean Power Technologies, is pioneering the

conversion of ocean wave movement to generate power. The thought is that as much as

10% of the energy production may be able to be supplied by the technology.

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Steve Park, Architect, and founder of “Basic Elements LLC”, promotes the construction

of “net-zero” buildings; the use of wind turbines and the engineering of water leaving the

facility cleaner than when it was entering faciltiy. As one of the founding members of the

Northeast Indiana Green Build Coalition with numerous sustainability initiatives under

way, not the least of which is the proposal to redevelop an old building on the former

Indiana State Development Center property as a sustainable construction lab. Park had

worked with Culver to build a $12 million equestrian center that used sustainable lumber

with future plans for a wind turbine to supply the school’s energy needs and to also use as

an educational tool for students.

William McDonough, designed the world’s largest green roof comprising 10 acres

covering Ford Motor Company’s historic River Rouge industrial complex. His work has

ignited a wave of construction and innovation, which has incorporated the environmental

value of green roofs.

Activist, Van Jones has come up with a plan to save the inner city youth and at the same

time the environment. His best selling manifesto, The Green Collar Economy, talks of his

goal to bring environmental principals to the rescue of urban communities by training

youth on the principals of eco construction.

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A champion who made community recycling work is Ron Gonen, CEO of RecycleBank,

who made community recycling work by adding a chip to the free container given each

resident. The chip weighs the owner’s deposit and awards recycle points. Citizens

actually get paid to recycle.

Luis Neves, the Chair of GeSI, or the Global eSustainability Initiative, and Steve

Howard, CEO of the Climate Group, in their paper, SMART 2020: Enabling the low

carbon economy in the information age, ties carbon with the economy..

Information and Communication Technologies could deliver approximately 7.8 GtCO2e

of emissions savings, that is 7.8 100 billion tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent savings of

emissions in 2020, or economically translated, into $946.5 billion of cost savings.

SOLUTIONS:

Daniel Goleman, a PhD in Psychology, wants to challenge the world to revolution as he

notes in his just released book, Ecological Intelligence, to think beyond organic, recycle,

fair trade and to seek a deeper understanding of how the products we buy, use and discard

effect the environment. When looking at turning down the thermostat, using canvas

shopping bags and recycling paper are we making a difference? Goleman feels we will

look back on these efforts as baby steps and realize that it takes a gas furnace 24 hours at

2000 degrees to make that glass jar…a huge consumption of energy. He feels we will

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better understand “Greenwashing”, or the illusionary process of creating market appeal

for a product by emphasizing its attributes such as the label saying, “100 percent

organic”, when it takes 700 gallons of water to grow the cotton for one t-shirt in addition

to the dye which rinses off to the factory wastewater. We need to embrace life-cycle

assessment where the entire range of the product’s impact is taken into account. What

was introduced, what was used in the process and what energy and resource was

generated or consumed in the process. He offers to get a software program called

“GoodGuide” that can calculate the specific ecological impact of a product during its

manufacture, transport, use, and disposal. GoodGuide is a bit revealing in that it shares

information as to the health concerns with the product, ingredients, how far it traveled,

how the workers were treated, the social impact of the product, etc. It is so advanced that

you can text the barcode from your cell and get back an environmental rating, health and

social impact within seconds.

Goleman, comments on who can make the most difference in the “green revolution”…

His prediction, wisely, stated will be an army of “eco-moms’. “In most families, it’s the

moms who shop, and the moms care about the well-being of their families. The real

leaders are not the Al Gores; they’re the moms.

When it comes to climate change, there is no easy solution. If we all work together, we

can indeed reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To really make a difference, it will take

more than reducing personal consumption and adapting to more efficient building

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methods. Countries need to take bigger steps, including rethinking our policies and

priorities. In particular we must transition from the use of fossil fuels.

Can we make a difference? Yes! Will it be large enough and timely enough to avert

potential disasters along the way? Probably not, because the top scientists in the world

still can’t agree on this. Is it prudent for us to still try? Without question!

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Edmond A. Mathez,

Curator, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences He is the author of the soon-to-be-published book, Climate Change: The Science Behind

Global Warming and our Energy Future (2008).

The Earth Machine: The Science of a Dynamic Planet (2004).

Michael Oppenheimer,

Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs,

Woodrow Wilson School and the Department of Geosciences, Princeton

University He served as a lead author of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and is a member of the

National Research Council's Panel on Alternative Liquid Transportation Fuels.

Dr. Oppenheimer is the author of more than 90 articles published in professional journals and

is coauthor (with Robert H. Boyle) of Dead Heat: The Race Against The Greenhouse Effect

(1990).

www.fueleconomy.gov Hoosier Environmental Council “an inconvenient truth”a global warming

“Global Warming” The signs and the science.

OED Indiana Wind Working Group.htm

National Toxicology Program U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Sustainability in the South Pacific Hungry for Leadership.htm Luis Neves, the Chair of GeSI, or the Global eSustainability Initiative, and Steve Howard, CEO of the Climate Group, in their paper, SMART 2020: Enabling the low

carbon economy in the information age Loving “Environmental Lovins”.htm

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www.energystar.gov Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) The U.S. Green Building Council

www.computertakeback.com

worldwakingup.com

Daniel Goleman, a PhD in Psychology, book, Ecological Intelligence U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) www.sharetechnology.org

www.techsoup.org

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

http://www.wm.com/wm/takeback/locationlist.xls

www.LGusa.com/green

Waste Management, Inc www.wm.com

www.sony.com/recycle

www.usgbc.org

U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®))

Greenopolis and the Environmental Media Association (EMA)

Van Jones, manifesto, The Green Collar Economy

The Huffington Post

Good Clean Tech

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Green Daily

NPR

• EPA Personal Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator

All Things Considered, April 16, 2008

1201 15th Street, NW | Washington, DC 20005 | 800-368-5242

www.nahb.org

Theology and Ecology, John B. Cobb, Jr.

Christianity and Ecology: The Emergence of Christian Biopolitics, Kenneth

Cauthen

Major support has also been provided by The Rockefeller Foundation.

Additional support for Climate Change and its related educational programming has been provided by Mary and David Solomon, the Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation, the Linden Trust for Conservation, and the Red Crane Foundation.

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