51% of all renewable energy in Germany is owned by individual citizens or farms. Can we do that?

There is a lot of talk in the United States about renewable energy sources, especially solar, since the Solyndra debacle last year. In Germany they are doing something different, and succeeding. But not in the United States.

A lot of people here worry. Politicians worry about business competitiveness and government "picking winners and losers" in the market. Fossil fuel companies argue solar PV and wind can't provide the service 24-7 that oil, gas, and coal can. Climate scientists, environmentalists, wildlife observers, and people in movements like Transition Towns worry we aren't ameliorating climate change and preparing for a post-carbon economy. In the northeast where we live, a lot of people think there just isn't enough sun to make it worthwhile, even though Pennsylvania receives about 70% of the sunlight New Mexico does annually. Can Germany provide a model that gets us over that worry?

According to Paul Gipe at Wind Works, "51% of the renewable energy generation is owned by its own citizens." [See chart below for breakdown. Image from Wind Works.] They will be holding a conference for people to learn about the German "Stromeinspeisungsgesetz, literally the "law on feeding in electricity" (to the grid) was introduced by conservative Bavarian farmers frustrated with their utility's intransigence to connecting their small hydro plants with the grid."

He continues,

"The "feed-in" law was passed overwhelmingly by the conservative government of Helmut Kohl, and quickly ushered in a revolution in the way electricity was generated in Germany, spreading rapidly from Bavaria in the south all the way to the Danish border in the north.

Farmers, individuals and community groups could, for the first time, emulate their Danish neighbors by installing their own wind turbines and selling the resulting electricity at a hoped-for profit. These electricity rebels, Stromrebellen as they're called in German, began appearing all across the country, even in the former communist East Germany."

Could there be an opportunity in the United States for community solar or in individual states or communities? First, we are in an economic recession and people are looking for work and construction companies need work. Second, local governments need long-term cost-cutting measures and renewable energy sources can provide that after initial implementation costs. Third, Transition Towns and community organizations are on the rise domestically, many of whom focus on community energy resilience and community food security. Fourth, electricity companies are incentivizing efficiency and paying back homes that feed back to the grid. Maybe we need more collaborations like this.

But there are things like it happening. There are parks in Seattle where pavilions are being outfitted with solar PV. The New Rules Project has created a guide for implementing a local community solar project. Northwest Community Energy works to increase access to solar energy, to reduce up-front costs for participants, improve economies of scale, increase public understanding of solar energy, and generate local jobs. Our former guest, Janaia Donaldson of PeakMomentTV has a 4-disc series called "The Renaissance of the Local" some of which details how to build energy resilience into your community.

Imagine this patchwork of initiatives getting more support. Imagine getting 20% of our energy from renewable community initiatives and half of that owned by you, me, our farmers, and indirectly through outfitting our parks with solar PV. We pool risk through insurance. I think it's time to pool burdens for energy sustainability and a clean environment. The Germans have done it at a large scale. Can we?

How would you contribute to pooling sustainable energy projects?

$4.4 million in funding for "alternative" fuels

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has granted $4.4 million for "alternative" fuels. They've granted $15,600 for a solar electric charging station project in Dauphin County, $100,000 for biodiesel, $700,000 for electric cars, and about $3.6 million for natural gas related projects. Read their press release here.

The electric infrastructure grant of about $240,000 will go to Pittsburgh Regional Clean Cities for the Energy Corridor 376 project to establish 45 electric vehicle charging stations along Interstate 376 and surrounding areas. The pollution savings from electric vehicles are impressive. Also, "350 Green LLC will receive $450,000 for the development of the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure. This project will include the construction of approximately 20 Level III fast-charging stations and 72 charging stations."

DEP reports "Berks County Intermediate Unit will receive $100,000 to support the continued use of B20 biodiesel in its fleet."

On the natural gas front, several projects will receive grants. They include switching or augmenting several diesel fleets to natural gas fleets and aiding the construction of compressed natural gas stations.

“These projects are terrific for the state’s economy and the environment,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “We have an available, abundant, domestic, economical and clean-burning source of energy under our feet, and these projects put those resources to good use.”

In the world of sustainability, is this what you've envisioned for switching to alternative and sustainable fuels? What would you award money to for alternative energy sources and more sustainable use?

Does ozone create the no zone?

On today's show, we will discuss air quality in the United States and in Pennsylvania.

A lot of the United States lives with a lot of smog a lot of the time. That puts a lot of people - especially children and elderly Americans - at risk for health problems like asthma and other respiratory illness. That's the gist of a new report Danger in the Air, released on Wednesday, from PennEnvironment.

The report tells us that some of our large and mid-size cities have pretty awful air from smog. Not surprisingly, cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Houston have bad air a lot more often than they should. But even idyllic places like State College, PA have higher levels of ambient air pollution more often than we might suspect.

The report takes aim at the Obama administration for its recent decision not to tackle ozone standards. As Charlie Dorsaneo of PennEnvironment said, "They chose to kick the can down the road until 2013." PennEnvironment recommends policy makers take positive action to alert the public with a stricter standard, to reduce air pollution through tighter regulation on emissions sources like cars, trucks, industry, and power plants, and finally to invest in renewable and less wasteful energy sources like solar and wind.

On that last note, you might be interested to see that even in the wake of the Solyndra controversy, that Republican Congressman Joe Barton agrees:



Sustainability Now's Peter Buckland joined State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham, Sierra Club Moshannon's Gary Thornbloom, and PennEnvironment's Charlie Dorsaneo at the State College press conference on the report. Buckland;'s remarks are included here:

I don’t know if anyone here knows, but this week is No Impact Week. It’s a funky approach to reduce our individual and collective negative impacts and increase our positive impacts. I think those are just plain good things to do.

PennEnvironment’s report today shows us some challenges we face from our society’s and our economy’s impacts. This is about us.

Every year, thousands of people get sick from ambient air pollution. Every high-risk ozone day brings thousands of asthma attacks. It harms elderly people and young children disproportionately. 92% of ozone comes from fossil fuels and the lion’s share from transportation and industry. We in central Pennsylvania live downwind from coal plants and industrial hubs to our southwest. The pollution they pour into the air hurts us. It illustrates how we all live downstream, or downwind in this case.

Now I don’t know about you, but I love being outside. For years I have been riding mountain bikes like they are going out of style. I quit smoking and have since ridden my bike more than most people think sane. It’s fun. It’s also healthy. My wife rides. I have ridden with hundreds or thousands of people across this lush and verdant state. Just about every day, my wife and I play outside with our four-year-old son. We play baseball. A lot. He and the other kids on Chestnut Street run around constantly. Riding, running, and playing should to be healthy.

But what the Danger in the Air Report shows us, and I am not being an alarmist, is that I might actually get sick from exercising. Moderate to intense exercise for a few hours puts people at higher risk of respiratory dysfunction on high pollution days. As we’ve just heard, the alerts are lower thresholds than they should be according to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. In places like Philly and Houston, you’re talking about regular health threats to people doing the right thing. I quit smoking for a reason.

Governor Corbett says Pennsylvania has the opportunity to be the next Texas because of the Marcellus and Utica shale natural gas booms. Take note of Pennsylvania’s air quality now. It’s not so different from Texas’. Philly is just a bit worse than Houston but Fort Worth is just a little worse than Pittsburgh. Now add tens of thousands of wells, compressor stations, pipelines, and the trucks to service it all and let’s talk about Pennsylvania air quality. As a bike racer I like to rank high. But this is no race for Pennsylvania to win. I say “No thank you” Mr. Corbett. So should you.

We need real action for health. Regulations are structured for polluters’ exorbitant profits. They say they fuel progress. More asthma and chronic breathing conditions – in humans or otherwise – is not progress. Progress is not pollution.

Health and happiness are progress. Congress and the President must act. We must also call our power companies to initiate switches from toxic power to less wasteful and renewable energy.
It can’t stop with phone calls, policies, and techno-fixes. Just like healthy diets and exercise, live to reduce pollution. Don’t go for no impact. Go for better impacts. Today, eat lower on the food chain. Tomorrow carpool, ride the bus, or ride a bike. Next week, figure out ways to throw away less stuff. Trash here travels 75 miles to Somerset county in 4 mpg trucks. Next month, get an energy audit and work your way toward a high efficiency low impact house.

Those impacts aren’t no impacts. They are much better impacts. That’s progress. It’s work. Let’s work together.

Listen in today from 4-4:30 pm on The Lion 90.7. Call in at (814) 865-9577.