Sunrise

I love my new job working as a solar energy system installer completing (with a little help from my friends) my first project this week! An Atlanta homeowner now has both hot water and electricity courtesy of old Sol.

The new photovoltaic system has 14 roof-mounted panels which are connected via a voltage inverter to the house's electrical system. This is a netmetering device, which means that the homeowner continues to purchase electricity from the local electric utility. The panels generate clean, no-cost electricity that displaces an equivalent amount of dirty electricity that the homeowner would otherwise have purchased from the electric utility company. At any given moment when the solar panels are producing more than the homeowner can consume, the extra electricity flows out to the utility grid, and the home owner's electric meter will run backwards!

The new solar thermal system has two panels on the roof filled with thin tubing that uses the sun's energy to heat a glycol fluid the same way a garden hose left out in the sun heats water. Our system pumps the glycol, which can reach temperatures of over 220 degrees Fahrenheit, through a pipe to a heat exchanger in the basement where it produces hot water.

The hot water then flows into an insulated storage tank until needed. Much like a conventional water heater, this tank contains an electrical heating element to boost the water temperature whenever the available sunlight cannot satisfy all the homeowner's needs.

The finished project is pictured here. The homeowner intends to remove some or all of the tree so that the panels are not shaded.

My job is to help people and organizations satisfy their energy needs using economical, environmentally-sound solar technologies. This week I worked on my customer's roof installing the panels, feeling the sun's intense warmth and an urgency to do more to capture it for our benefit.

I love this work!

Oh, Stimulus!

On Friday, I attended a Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable titled, Show Me the Energy Dollars: New financial incentives and policies for energy efficiency and solar energy resources. These monthly SARTs are usually very good, and July's was no exception. An overflow audience consisted mainly of public and private organizations seeking access to Federal funds and of contractors and suppliers eager to support the ensuing projects.

David Gipson of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) said that the U.S. Department of Energy has approved GEFA's plan to use $82.5 million of Federal stimulus (aka, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ARRA) funding for statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and $124.8 million for low-income home weatherization. GEFA is now responsible for administering the $82.5 million State Energy Program (SEP) and will release guidance and application forms for SEP programs “shortly.”

Gipson described eight different programs and grants that will be available under the SEP. Most of the SEP's $82.5 million will be applied to one program aimed at retrofitting state government facilities.

Of the remaining SEP programs, I was personally interested to learn more about the Clean Energy Property Rebate (GA HB 473.) This provides grants that will offset 35 percent of the cost of renewable energy equipment, up to a cap that varies by technology. Funding will be awarded on a first come-first served basis for projects that have been installed in the same year for which funding has been applied.

What's really cool is that this grant will not replace the existing state income tax credit that will continue to be offered to residential and non-residential applicants. Unlike existing tax credits, this rebate program can be used by nonprofit organizations, schools and churches, which was welcome news to the many Georgia Interfaith Power and Light representatives in the audience.

For renewable energy projects including solar, the Feds are removing the caps that currently apply to the 30% Federal Income Tax Credit. Gipson said that GEFA is also instituting a reservation of credit program, which removes some of the financial risk when applying for project financing.

An audience member asked for clarification about the types of renewable energy projects covered by these SEP plans, since they only mentioned wind and solar technologies. He was disappointed to learn from Gipson that biomass projects may be added “at a later date.” Upon visiting the DOE's web site, I see that biomass is covered under the Renewable Energy Grants program, which will pay up to 30 percent of the project's cost for large, visible and “shovel-ready” projects.

These grants offer project developers the option of taking tax grants in lieu of tax credits, which became less useful when the current economic downturn shrank tax liabilities and tight credit made it difficult, if not impossible, to secure financing.

Gipson also told us that:

• There is no need to “get in line” for ARRA energy funds that will be administered by GEFA, because all funding will be awarded based on a competitive application process.
• The competitive application process will begin after the DOE awards the ARRA funds to GEFA, probably during the week of July 12, 2009.
• GEFA still needs to develop its competitive application process and the criteria that will be used to evaluate applications.

During the Q&A session, many heads in the room nodded when an audience member mentioned that large renewable energy projects will not be planned in Georgia until PPA providers find a more conducive business environment here. Dave agreed but said that GEFA does not have a plan for addressing this. He said that the Georgia PSC and perhaps the Georgia Power Company needs to address this matter.

I recently discussed this with a friend of mine who works at Georgia Power. My friend said that the PSC is largely responsible for Georgia Power's delay in expanding its existing net metering tariff.

Specifically, the PSC needs to update the formula it uses to compute how much GP pays independent power producers, and this is an issue that the utilities and the solar industry can get behind, together. I am sure that we will also address this within the Georgia Solar Energy Association.

As more information becomes available, GEFA will post it on their ARRA Energy Information web page where you can also sign up for their ARRA energy programs email list.

A ripping good storm

Throughout yesterday evening, a succession of severe thunderstorms hit Atlanta. I drove home from dinner in Decatur amidst flooded roadways, the surging water forming vortices around low-lying storm drains. The torrent covered the street in front of my house from curb-to-curb, sweeping away bags of yard waste and splashing hard against parked cars.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an amazing photograph of lightning striking the SunTrust building — as seen from Irwin Street near Boulevard. Despite what their caption reads, I think the lightning is shown striking the Omni Hotel, not the SunTrust building.

Ryan Leech is my hero.

Mountain biking fans know Ryan Leech as a foremost innovator of trials riding, the sport of bicycle-based acrobatics. Leech's work has been featured in dozens of mountain biking movies and live competitions, where he negotiates unimaginably-difficult jumps and obstacles using his trademark combination of power, grace and imagination.

As much as I enjoy watching him in action, this does not make him a hero. He became my hero after I read Mountainbike magazine's June issue, with an inspiring story about how a professional mountain biker becomes a global citizen.

The article explains how Leech recently had an epiphany while filming a new trials movie in British Columbia that was set in an old-growth forest soon to be logged. Leech was struck both by the forest's majesty and by the sense of impending loss, realizing that he would be one of the last to enjoy the forest once it is clear-cut: for a long, long time.

He determined himself to learn more about it, about logging in BC, about resource extraction in general, and about the environmental movement. He read one of my favorite books, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, by Thom Hartmann and hooked up with the David Suzuki Foundation, a very cool nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people about the environment.

For a guy who never graduated from college, Leech hit the books hard and got himself up-to-speed using the same determination and self confidence that makes him a world class mountain biker. I appreciate how he understands himself, his strengths and his limitations, and about his fellow humans.

Leech knows that, as passionate as he is about saving the world, he does not want to simply preach. Instead, he is summoning a skill that few wield more prodigiously: his keen sense of balance. He is searching for the ways to effectively use his sport to deliver his message about the need for us to live more in harmony with nature. He is searching for the best way to entertain, inform and inspire.

Leech is a hero, because he is realizing his true potential not just as a mountain biker but also as a human being, and this gives him a clear idea about how he will make his life truly meaningful.

I wish him godspeed!

Pedaling Revolution

Last week in the NY Times Book Review, David Byrne reviewed a new book about the resurgence of bicycling and how it is changing American cities. Pedaling Revolution, by Jeff Mapes, sounds like an engaging read and has taken top position on my to-read list.

I most appreciated Byrne's comments, as he is a dedicated NYC bike commuter of 30 years. Using his keen pop culture sensibilities, Byrne posits that bicycling's macho extreme sport image impairs its ability to gain popularity as a legitimate form of transportation.

He welcomes how bike manufacturers have finally begun introducing commuter-friendly designs "for the rest of us." He toasts the way that Mapes re-frames the tired language of bicycle commuting into the more results-oriented active transportation. In the minds of the non-bicycling public, the latter suggests fitness and practicality: the former, kooks and outliers.
Byrne suggests that popular attitudes about bicycling will really improve when it becomes more woman-friendly.

I can ride till my legs are sore and it won't make riding any cooler, but when attractive women are seen sitting upright going about their city business on bikes day and night, the crowds will surely follow.

And he cites a few promising examples involving well-known actresses and models.

Tabloid fodder does not a revolution make, but it's a start.

Viva the revolution!

High Sticking the Future

This week's ZOOM'D Leadership Radio Show (arranged

by Avastone Consulting) resumed a conversation with Chris Martenson, who comments about current and future events in a body of orignal work that he calls the Crash Course.

I blogged about the previous conversation with Martenson here.

He builds upon his explanation about the mathematical effects of compound growth, and why the more sanguine of economic forecasters (i.e., most economic forecasters) fail to recognize the interrelationships amongst the environment, the economy and energy supplies. Important attributes of each of these areas, Martenson argues, currently exhibit troubling compound growth trends: for example in the destruction of ecosystems, financial debt and the availability of cheap petroleum.

More importantly, these attributes of our civilized world have mutually turned a corner in the "hockey stick" profile of their compound growth trends. Thus, Martenson says it has hit the fan.

So what happens when we go too far up the "hockey stick?" Volitility increases and system events (shocks) happen more frequently. At best, we will continue to socialize private debts, and the economy recovers slowly.

A gloomier scenario portends a currency crisis in the next 4-5 years, as faith in the Dollar as the world's reserve currency crumbles under the load of massive U.S. Federal debt. It is made even worse by another spike in oil prices, possibly staying high as supplies of cheap oil must be replaced by more expensive deepwater and unconventional reserves.

Martenson predicts this oil shock in the next 2-3 years, based on the peak oil theory. He also warns that coal reserves, long thought to be an ace-in-the hole for U.S. domestic energy policy, may be smaller than previously estimated. This is the first time I have heard a suggestion that coal supplies are in trouble, and I have not yet examined the basis for this claim.

Obviously, Martenson sees the need for radical changes in public policy and individual behaviors on a mass scale. This change, he argues, will not originate from Washington policy wonks, academics and politicians.

The winds which guide their actions push them towards the political Center, creating an effective stabilizing force for the status quo. Martenson instead sees the change originating from a broad-based social movement which is already underway: an amalgamation of activist groups with no central philosophy other than the individual desire to contribute to the public good in any way they can.

This vision for a social movement is both powerful and alluring, and I wish that Martenson had more time to explain. It echos the ideas that Paul Hawken poses in his latest book, Blessed Unrest.

Common Mistakes and Solutions

The latest weekly ZOOM'D Leadership Radio Show (arranged by Avastone Consulting) featured James Quilligan, a distinguished analyst and administrator in the field of international development who sees the need for new methods of solving global problems, outside of the usual governmental and private entities. In particular, he advocates for a stronger governance of the Commons.

Like the other two guests featured in the ZOOM'D series (refer to my previous blog entries here and here), Quilligan is cautious about declaring a bottom to the current global economic crisis too soon and expects continued instability for some time.

Also, he sees the linkages amongst the ongoing monetary crisis, damage to ecological systems and global poverty. Our consumption-driven economy propels these problems, because the demand for constant growth outstrips the ability of natural systems (energy, water, air, etc.) to sustain it.

This, Quilligan argues, has necessitated the ongoing privatization of the Commons: areas of shared space and worth that difficult or impossible for governments and businesses to repesent on a balance sheet. We may easily recall how all the sources of fresh water from rainfall, rivers, lakes and underground aquifers represent a common resource that is increasingly being threatened by privatization efforts, especially in arid locales.

Quilligan explains how the Commons represent water, air, mineral and energy resources but goes beyond natural resources. It also represents consumer purchasing power, indigenous wisdom, community health, intellectual property, public trust, slots in the over-the-air broadcasting spectrum, and so on.

The Commons encompasses most of what we need to function as a human community. The Commons has mental, social and ecological components. As such, some of it can be replenished, some cannot, but much of it is fragile.

The Tragedy of the Commons is a well-known article by Garrett Hardin which explains how the Commons can be unintentionally damaged by those who rely on it through abuse and overuse. Quilligan sees this as a clear reason why the Commons needs to be carefully governed, and current history strongly suggests that we are failing at this. We usually view this question as a matter of economic theory.

Lately, we have seen the shortcomings of this approach, regardless of whether your economics lean in the direction of free markets or that of Keynesian government interventions. The Public Sector, in Quilligan's opinion, cannot deal effectively with the Commons: bureaucrats and politicians lack proper expertise, and they are limited by man made political borders. And, we know what happens when private managers must answer to shareholders above those who depend most on the Commons.

Quilligan sees less of a distinction between public and private sectors than commonly perceived and cites this coziness as a threat to our Democracy. For anyone interested in sussing this out further, I strongly recommend reading Thom Hartmann's excellent history of corporate power, Unequal Protection.

Besides, neither sector appears ready to accept the fact that the Commons may lack the capacity of supporting our economic growth model. Quilligan see a need to synthesize a “third sector” exhibiting properties of the other two.

Civil society/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are stepping in to protect the Commons, although they sometimes may not recognize it as such. Much of their work is effectively carried out at the community-level, and more needs to be done at the global level. Some NGOs need help recognizing and organizing this.

I wished to have heard more examples of this from Quilligan. He mentioned the need to propagate gift economies, to institute green fees (taxes) on natural resource extraction and also to tax “financial speculation.”

He does not think that cap and trade legislation for controlling greenhouse gas emissions is the way to go, and I wished that he would have explained why.

Now, Quilligan is serving as Policy Development Coordinator of the Coalition for the Global Commons – an international consultation process that is engaging partners across the world in the development of a common global action plan. Recently, he wrote an article for the Kosmos Journal called Global Commons Goods | Civil Society as Global Commons Organizations. Here is my favorite part of it:

While watching markets and states mismanage the world’s cross-boundary problems, it has dawned on many individuals, communities and civil society organizations that the specific objectives we are pursuing—whether they are food, water, clean air, environmental protection, energy, free flow of information, human rights, indigenous people’s rights, or numerous other social concerns—are essentially global commons issues. It is also becoming clear that we would gain considerably more authority and responsibility in meeting these problems by joining together as global commons organizations.