Re/Action on Climate Protection

Trip to IEUA in SoCal

On Monday, 11/21, I visited two installations of the Inland Empire Utility Agency (IEUA). The IEUA is an "integrated utility" that is a water supplier as well as a

"regional wastewater treatment agency with domestic and industrial disposal systems and energy recovery/production facilities.

In addition, the Agency has become a recycled water purveyor, biosolids/fertilizer treatment provider and continues as a leader in water supply salt management, for the purpose of protecting the regions vital groundwater supplies. "

The agency operates an anaerobic digester facility that supplies biogas to generators at the desalination plant.

Zero Carbon New Development for the Gulf

Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a brainstorming session with a group of local experts on sustainable architecture, green building, green business. Craig Williams, founder of the group Architects Without Borders, had recently visited Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. He felt that there was an opportunity there to present a rebuilding strategy that was innovative, sustainable and low carbon. As the representative of the Climate Protection community, I was invited to write a high-level, executive summary treatment of what zero carbon redevelopment in the Gulf States would involve, and what it might look like. Here is the paper. I'd be very interested in your thoughts on it. Download vision_for_rebuilding_the_gulf.doc

Water & Wastewater Systems - Good candidates for GHG reductions

Water and Wastewater systems are typically the largest regional individual energy users, and consequently, the largest single GHG emissions sources. We have found this to be true both at the state and local levels. In Sonoma County, the Water Agency is the largest individual energy customer. The wastewater treatment plants are the largest users within a municipality. The reason for this, primarily, is water pumping. In wastewater treatment plants, the largest energy users are aeration blowers and pumps. We have found that the best way to improve efficiency in a wastewater treatment plant is to improve control systems so that the aeration blowers are controlled by the level of dissolved oxygen in the aeration basins, and to improve the efficiency of the blowers themselves. Currently, Turblex makes the highest efficiency aeration blowers. We have found that installing a DO control and high efficiency blowers can reduce the energy use by 30% or more. This translates into a 30% reduction in GHG emissions from the largest energy user/emissions source in typical municipal operations.

The efficiency of pumps can be improved by changing pump motors to premium efficiency rating. This is an efficiency rating that exceeds the EPAct levels. Usually there are rebates available for switching to a premium efficiency motor. Additionally, energy use by a pump can be reduced if the pump can be run at less than full speed. Using a Variable Speed Drive or VSD to slow down the pump to the minimum required level can save energy. If a pump can be run at an average of 80% of full speed, that is a 20% or more energy savings, depending on the load on the pump.

There are other, more sophisticated methods for reducing energy use in water/wastewater systems, such as using reclaimed water instead of potable water, and peak demand reduction by using storage.

The State of California is very interested in the "Water/Energy Nexus". Here is a link to a white paper prepared by a working group of the California Energy Commission. http://www.energy.ca.gov/2005publications/CEC-700-2005-011/CEC-700-2005-011.PDF

Climate Protection Campaign contributed input to this paper on the effects on GHG emissions from improvements in energy efficiency in water and wastewater systems.

Here is a link to the section in the CPC white paper on removing carbon from water and wastewater systems:

http://climateprotectioncampaign.jot.com/WaterWastewater

Action on Climate Protection

Hello, Climate Protection Campaign is launching our blog. This blog is intended to stimulate discussion about what can be done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are currently working on projects at the local level, but we advocate action at all levels: local, state, federal and international.

What we want to do in this blog is to discuss solutions. We want to know what is working elsewhere in the world...and we want to share our experiences with what is working here in Sonoma County.

Although we will post articles on science and links to basic climate science, our aim is not primarily to discuss the science of global warming and climate change. We are not climate scientists, but we view the science of global warming as basically settled. We have adopted and endorse the findings of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which are that:

• The planet is warming
• Most of the warming in the past 100 years is caused by humans (anthropogenic)
• The human activities most responsible for warming are emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and deforestation.
• Emissions of GHGs that are causing global warming are primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels.
• Significant reduction in GHG emissions is necessary to prevent dangerous changes to the global climate.

In addition to the findings of the IPCC, our view is that meaningful reductions must be accomplished as quickly as possible in order to stabilize the level of atmospheric CO2 as low as possible.

We are looking forward to engaging in discussion with you about how to solve the climate crisis.