Low Carbon Lifestyle - Beating Climate Change One Step at a time

What does a "zero net carbon lifestyle look like"? What do we have to do in order to achieve it? How much does it cost? What is required for government? How about community action?

In Sonoma County, the movement toward significant reductions in GHG emissions has begun. All nine of our city governments and the county government have adopted targets for reducing GHG emissions in both municipal operations and in the county as a whole. For the muni operations, most of the cities have adopted a target of 20% below 2000 emissions by 2010. One city, Sebastopol, has set 30% reduction below 2000 levels by 2008 as its target.

In addition, the target set by a community workshop has been adopted county-wide. This target, 25% below 1990 levels by 2015, is the most ambitious in the country, to date.

Setting the target is the first step. Now comes the fun part...figuring out a plan for reaching the target...and doing it! Climate Protection Campaign has produced a white paper that looks at each emissions sector, and analyzes how to remove carbon from that sector. A vision emerges from that paper. It looks something like this:

Community-wide changes have been made to infrastructure that make non-motorized methods of transportation easy and convenient. All services are within walking or biking distance from housing centers. The mass transit systems are easy and convenient too, and transit hubs connect with high speed rail lines for transport to other regions. Cars are virtually unseen, and where they are used they are powered by electricity, biodiesel or renewably produced ethanol.

The existing building stock has been upgraded over time so that it is energy efficient. The electric power on the grid has been shifted to locally produced renewable power, for the most part, although the community has negotiated its own renewable portfolio from its power generators through community choice aggregation.

Most essential items are manufactured locally, using the renewably generated grid power. The county is a net exporter of electric power. There is an active recycling/remanufacturing industry that is based on the solid waste stream. Electric power is generated from food waste, agricultural waste and yard waste. Virtually nothing goes into landfill. Most solid waste is diverted and either reused, or used for energy.

New development looks much like small, self-contained villages. Building stock is constructed using zero net carbon techniques, and new buildings are zero net energy. Since new development is required to be zero net carbon, each new housing center that is built must produce its own food and energy, and must be integrally linked to the transportation system so that the system remains "car-less". Water and wastewater are handled in a decentralized fashion, using rainwater harvest and low/no energy wastewater processing with graywater reuse. Any new energy needs are handled by small-scale concentrated solar thermal generating stations, wind turbines and solar photovoltaic where necessary.

What do you think of this vision? Can you add to it? How can it be realized?

Comments

[Zeno Swijtink]

These are all laudable long term goals that require infrastructure change, change of building codes, etc.

What can be done immediately? One idea is "Trusted Hitchhiking."

A solo driver can cut his GHG emissions by 50% by picking up one hitchhiker! Problem is many people are hesitant to hitch a ride or offer to take a stranger along. You want to be sure that you can trust each other. This is where Trusting come in.

Imagine that each Trusted Hitchhiker carries a small, colorful umbrella, printed with the words Trusted Hitcher and a logo of the campaign, whereas each Hitchgiver sports a small flag on her car with analogous text.

You obtain the umbrellas and flags from other participants in the program. They are you friends or acquaintances and are able to “trust” you, to vouch for you. Since they are trusted their trust rubs off on you. If need be, umbrellas and flags can be numbered and participants are registered on some website of the campaign.

This is an idea that high school students can work out and make true.

[Zeno Swijtink]

Hi Dave,

I wonder whether you care to comment in your blog on the energy conservation program proposed by the Bush administration from a Climate Protection point of view:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/10/04/MNGNDF28O01.DTL

http://www.energysavers.gov/

http://www.energyhog.org/

Cheers, Zeno

[Zeno Swijtink]

There is so much energy wasted by inefficiencies!

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists Greentips of October 2005

http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/greentips/

the "typical American family spends close to $1,500 a year on utility bills, and as much as half of that expense could be unnecessary if a home is not energy-efficient." !!!

To improve efficiency in this area we could be training high school students to become volunteer auditors and have them go thru neighborhood, door-by-door, to offer people help to improve their efficiency in home energy use.

With the increasing energy prices, improvements in efficiency may even evade the feared Rebound Effect of the Jevon's Paradox.