Climate Progress: An insider's view of climate science, politics, and solutions

Congress now has several opportunities to further our understanding of the nexus between water and energy use and to promote water conservation efforts that can also achieve significant energy savings. A recently introduced energy and water bill combined with financial incentives in the omnibus energy bill due later this year could help the entire country enjoy the savings some states are already seeing from reductions in water use–with a potential for job creation through water-efficient home retrofits.

In California, Santa Clara County’s experience underscores this important but often overlooked link. Beginning in the early 1990s, the Santa Clara Valley Water District got serious about water conservation. The district, which serves some 1.8 million residents and includes Silicon Valley and the city of San Jose, developed programs that encouraged residents, businesses, industries, and agricultural producers to use water more efficiently.

The results have been impressive: a savings of 370,000 acre-feet of water in 13 years. (A typical household uses one acre-foot of water per year).

But perhaps even more significant have been the energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions: 1.42 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and 335 million kg of carbon dioxide, which is equal to taking 72,000 cars off the road for a year.

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The Washington Post has a terrific profile of Van Jones. Jones authored the recent NYT bestseller The Green Collar Economy, and is currently on a book tour discussing how investment in green infrastructure and stimulus can provide pathways out of poverty as part of a national transition to a low-carbon economy.

If you’ve ever read Jones or seen him speak, you know just how moving he can be. His events are widely attended by all ages and racial groups. It’s worth YouTube-ing recent speeches (start here) or checking out a local book event.

The Washington Post quotes him on his uniquely relevant vision for our times:

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[JR: The story doesn't say, but I assume the solar from the Mojave would be solar baseload aka CSP.]

In Los Angeles on Monday, Mayor Villaraigosa’s office presented a ground-breaking plan to generate 1.3 GW of solar electricity by 2020. But this effort is just one of many initiatives that LA has taken as a leader in urban sustainability and green policies.

The LA Times reports the specifics of the solar plan that Mayor Villaraigosa’s office is hoping to put into action in coming months:

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Last week, Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced an initiative to move forward on potentially developing 190 million acres of Federally-owned or managed land for geothermal energy generation.

The initiative is quite a reversal for the Bush Administration, since this past summer the government attempted to freeze solar applications in order to work through a procedural environmental assessment (interpreted as a delay tactic to most, and the moratorium was scratched after public uproar).

Now at least the government has put together a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for leasing land to develop geothermal generation, and once enacted, the government will begin to identify and more closely examine sections of federal land.

Climate Progress considers geothermal among the more promising renewable energies, particularly because it could contribute to baseload power (as an MIT study found in 2007).

As the press release for Kempthorne’s announcement notes, geothermal development in the U.S. is making good progress, but there’s room for much more:

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The Solar Electric Power Association has issued a report ranking the top utilities that have integrated solar energy into their portfolio. Crowned at the top of several of the ranking categories are Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

ClimateWire has also covered the release and reports (full article):

The California company was rated as having the most overall solar capacity and the highest solar capacity per customer. The association notes, however, that Southern California Edison may not stay in the top spot for long, as other utilities are planning to build concentrating solar thermal plants [baseload solar plants], which use technology such as mirrors to collect sunlight and use the energy to heat water for electricity generation.

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The Bureau of Land Management reversed its decision last month that had stopped new solar developments on public land for two years years.

Instead, the BLM has decided to process applications simultaneous with environmental consultations. The reversal was caused by pressure from Congress (for example, Rep. Mark Udall of Colorado), public opinion, and the solar industry, which is at a critical point in its development.

– Kari M.

This week’s issue of The Economist features a commemorative piece on Bill Gates, who stepped down from his position as Chief Executive Officer (or CEO) of Microsoft last week.

Gates had an arguably turbulent career, due to his aggressive or monopolistic business tactics as the lead in the industry, but one that has been inconceivably successful and world-changing. Among the many legendary attributes The Economist article points out is Gates’ determination and eventual responsibility for personalizing computers in the form of desktops. Gates made the technology accessible to individuals, homes, and businesses rather than keeping giant computers centralized.

The article argues the ways in which Gates’ ways of doing business are ex post facto. It’s the end of era. But it should also be considered the opening of an opportunity for distributed energy generation.

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