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The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) recently published the report Renewable Energy in America. The report can be thought of as 50 mini reports, as each state is given equal attention and evaluation. Because of this, Renewable Energy in America is a great way for leaders from across the country to quickly check in on what policies and programs other states have implemented and what is working. Find out more at ACORE’s website.
In case you missed any posts from earlier this week, we’ve collected them below in a handy list for you!
Don’t forget to check out the latest green government news on the CEIL website!
Have you signed up for the CEIL Green Government Update e-newsletter?
Don’t miss another issue! Sign up here!
Now that there have been a few days to review the Strategic Sustainability Plans, we’d like to highlight four plans that we think are worth a review.
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Who: US EPA Why You Should Read It: Aside from the EPA’s role in protecting America’s environment, the EPA has led the way on climate change, and listed it as a top priority in their plan. |
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Who: US DOE
Why You Should Read It: The DOE’s three strategic goals – Innovation, Energy, and Security – make us excited for the department’s future research and innovation. |
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Who: DOD Why You Should Read It: The sheer size and complexity of the Defense Department’s operations make this sustainability plan fascinating. |
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Who: HUD Why You Should Read It: How HUD plans to implement its own Sustainability Plan will signal how the agency will complete energy retrofits of 1.1 million housing units in FY 2010 & 2011. |
Over in the News section of the CEIL site, the featured transportation article for this week is a story about a regenerative breaking system on Philadelphia subway trains. Since we haven’t yet covered regenerative breaking, we thought we’d share a “How Stuff Works” article that explains it nicely.
The term “regenerative breaking” makes the system seem straightforward enough. When the vehicle slows down, the energy that would have been released mainly as heat (and therefore wasted) is instead used to power the car. It works well with EVs and Hybrids, because they use electric motors. As How Stuff Works explains,
“One of the more interesting properties of an electric motor is that, when it’s run in one direction, it converts electrical energy into mechanical energy that can be used to perform work (such as turning the wheels of a car), but when the motor is run in the opposite direction, a properly designed motor becomes an electric generator, converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. This electrical energy can then be fed into a charging system for the car’s batteries.”
It’s obviously not that simple, though. Getting the engine to backwards can be difficult. So, we’ll let How Stuff Works take over from here.
We all know that fresh water is a finite and fundamental resource. But unlike trees, soil and other natural resources, it is difficult to see just how much we use from day to day – much like greenhouse gasses.
Since understanding our carbon footprint has helped us conceptualize our impact on climate over the last few years, the Water Footprint Network is now doing the same for understanding our water use.
At the Water Footprint Network, you can calculate your water use and find out how much water it takes to make many common products. Try it now!
Ferrari unveiled its newest concept car recently in Geneva – and it’s a hybrid. The 559 hybrid concept utilizes two lithium ion batteries and a kinetic energy recovery system to achieve a 35% emissions reduction overall.
Unfortunately, no word yet on whether these will be added to fleets any time soon.
Photo via cnet
Citing a need to lead by example, on Friday the White House released the Federal Agency Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans. The plans were developed as a result of Executive Order 13514, and will “outline how [agencies] will achieve the environmental, economic and energy goals called for by President Obama.”
Some early details of the plans were released by the White House on Friday. The Department of Defense’s plan includes a goal to fly all Air Force aircraft with a 50% alternative fuel blend by 2011. Similarly, the Transportation Department has created an award program to recognize green practices within the department. No two plans, like no two agencies, are quite the same, but all plans were designed “to meet energy, water, and waste reduction targets that will save taxpayer dollars, create clean energy jobs, and reduce pollution.”
In case you missed any posts from earlier this week, we’ve collected them below in a handy list for you!
Don’t forget to check out the latest green government news on the CEIL website!
Have you signed up for the CEIL Green Government Update e-newsletter?
Don’t miss another issue! Sign up here!
As a former reporter and long-time follower of our country’s slow evolution toward environmental awareness, it’s easy to be cynical. But a benefit of my role as president of the Center for Environmental Innovation and Leadership is the opportunity to meet professionals in and out of government who are actually making a difference and pushing us all to make better environmental decisions.
This week I talked with the Wildlife Habitat Council and learned about the work they do to help corporations develop sustainable practices through consulting and by providing a certification program to validate wildlife projects. Created in 1988, WHC is a nonprofit, non-lobbying group of corporations, conservation organizations and individuals dedicated to restoring wildlife habitat. To date, WHC-assisted wildlife habitat and conservation education programs are found in 48 states, the District of Columbia and nine other countries..
WHC’s staffs of wildlife biologists work with organizations to identify practical ways to improve or restore wildlife habitat on private or public lands. Once a project is complete, WHC can certify that the necessary criteria have been met.
“It’s about the biology,” says WHC president Robert Johnson. “We have to preserve wildlife habitat wherever we can. It doesn’t have to be expensive and, as our corporate members can attest, it often makes good business sense.”
WHC has many local government members, and has entered into Memoranda of Understanding with several federal agencies, including USDA Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service. With the mandates of Executive Order 13514 and the requirements to be good stewards of the land, WHC’s certification programs might be a useful starting point for federal agencies to consider. And certainly the corporate members have many successful projects worth review.
Tom Fisher, Sustainability Manager at PBDewberry /Job Corps, has authored a white paper that describes the integral relationship between the standards set by LEED and the incorporation of these standards in the recent Executive Orders. The article provides an overview and background of LEED, the Federal Green Building Council’s Memo of Understanding, the development of the Guiding Principles, and the incorporation of these elements into EO 13423 and 13514. It also describes the roles played by Federal agencies.
Executive Summary:
Over the past decade, the Federal Government has taken a range of initiatives to implement sustainable design, building, and facility requirements into new and existing Federal buildings. More recently, Presidential Executive Orders are driving specific green building practices and requiring accountability. These Executive orders set far-reaching goals for reducing the environmental footprint of federal agencies’ real estate portfolios via “Guiding Principles”, or standards, which can be correlated to USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System. Across all Federal agencies, facilities staff are now actively involved in implementing these requirements. Going forward, all applicable Federal projects, contracts, leases, buildings, and procurements must apply these Guiding Principles. This is presenting opportunities for green consultants, products, and services.
The article contains important contributions by Shawn Herrera, Federal Energy Management Program, Department of Energy; Kim M. Fowler, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Alison Kinn Bennett, United States Environmental Protection Agency.
