Renewable Energy Alchemy

Let me tell you about the wonderful opportunity I had recently, where I spent the day with the SUNY Oswego Energy Institute. This past Tuesday, students in the summer Energy Institute took part in an engaging, day-long training at the Renewable Energy Training Center at SUNY Morrisville.

Fifteen students attended the training which began with an overview of the facility and the various training programs offered. The attendees spent the morning exploring fundamentals of wood gasification and then created their own wood gasification “stove”. Here’s an example on YouTube that is similar.

The afternoon was spent gaining exposure to the RETC’s small anaerobic digester, producing methane currently from a couple of apples that have been digesting for several months. We then took a short field trip to a more macro-example in the form of the large scale anaerobic digester linked to a 270 head dairy operation producing energy from the digestion of the dairy waste stream.

It was a very instructive day for the Energy Institute students, and led to considerable discussion on the ride home for the practicalities, and possibilities of other renewable energy projects.

Thanks much to Ben Ballard for the opportunity to see all that the RETC has to offer!

-Thad Mantaro, SUNY Oswego

All Hail BP!

It occurs to me that mega-corpoations such as BP act like arrogant, bullying, empire-building nation states of yore because, well, they have grown so large—in terms of wealth and assets—that they are now analogues of nation states. One example of their wealth: Exxon's annual profit in 2006 was $39.5 billion, the equivalent of Ghana's GDP. It's "much reduced" $19.3 billion profit in 2009 is at the level Macedonia's GDP.

I'd go further to say we may be entering a phase in which certain corporations—most obviously banks and oil companies—will dominate even supposedly powerful real nations, dictating domestic and foreign policy beyond the specific areas of finances and energy.

There's nothing new in the corporate control of nations: Britain (arrogantly, bullishly) outsourced its empire building to the British East India Company. In modern times, oil companies have become quite used to the de facto control of territory, as the inhabitants of the Niger Delta have discovered. What's new in the case of BP is that the arrogance and bullying has clearly infiltrated the so-called First World: America, in other words, is experiencing what the Niger Delta, the Persian Gulf, and countless so-called Developing Nations have experienced: oil spills, environmental degradation, human displacement, compliant (or just plain scared) governments. The acceptable risks of the oil business.

Where will this end? A dystopian outcome might be war—the point when oil resources become so low and sought-after that real nations and oil companies begin to fight each other for them‚the oil companies employing mercenary armies they have gotten to know in recent wars, I imagine. The commerce-driven Opium Wars between Britain (dba the British East India Company) and China might be a template for this sort of conflict.

Too fanciful, I think. More likely is what already seems to be happening to BP. Older nation states often pulled themselves apart and went bankrupt when their arrogance and bullying—and empire building—created unsustainable financial situations—taxes that led to riots, ill-conceived alliances that led to more conflict (World War I), and so on.

BP may already be at this stage. One shocking part of the whole Gulf of Mexico oil spill for me is not just that BP had a poorly conceived clean-up and containment plan for the spill, it's that by not having one, they put the company at risk. In other words, BP is on the verge of bankruptcy. These mega-corporations--like Britain's King John—might just stupid themselves into irrelevance!

Citizens Academy Roadshow

In September, the SUNY Oswego Office of Business and Community Relations will partner with Beaver Lake Nature Center to offer a citizens academy on sustainability at Beaver Lake Nature Center.

A citizens academy is an interactive educational program that helps citizens learn what they can do to sustain a healthy, eco-friendly community. Weekly topics will include ecological principles, water and energy efficiency, sustainable food and buying and sustainable communities.

Meetings will run 11 a.m. to noon, Wednesdays from September 29th through November 10at Beaver Lake Nature Center. There is an all inclusive $10 fee for the discussion style class and materials, and the program is underwritten by SUNY Oswego.

We are very excited to offer the Citizens Academy in partnership with Beaver Lake Nature Center and we’re also very excited to have two a program graduates, Linda Costello and Mary Fran Yafchak, lead the program. Linda and Mary Fran completed the course together in the first Citizen's Academy in 2009. They found that experience to be motivating as well as informative and are eager to expand the discussion. Linda, in particular, has over twenty years environmental experience. This experience includes being a trained Habitat Steward, and teaching zoo camp at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

Those who complete the program will receive a certificate of participation and information on how to become engaged with local sustainability activities. Participants must preregister by calling Beaver Lake at 315.638.2519.

The Skinny on Sustainability

This blog was inspired--if I can use that word in this case--by an observation I made yesterday as I was driving to work: the first five people I saw in downtown Syracuse (walking, it has to be said) were obese. A coincidence, surely, although one that has greater odds of occurring now that obesity has become an epidemic in the US. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 32 states have an obesity prevalence of more than 25% of the population. Obesity is defined by the CDC as a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater.

Obesity is a real and present health crisis. But is it, I wondered, a sustainability issue? Actually, the CDC seems to think so, judging by the introduction to its website section devoted to the issue: "American society has become 'obesogenic,' characterized by environments that promote increased food intake, nonhealthful foods, and physical inactivity. Policy and environmental change initiatives that make healthy choices in nutrition and physical activity available, affordable, and easy will likely prove most effective in combating obesity."

The key sustainability phrases of this statement in order:

• Increased food intake—Eating too much is by no means the only cause of obesity, although the culture of super-sizing certainly contributes to the epidemic. Super-sizing meets sustainability head-on when it's not just food portions, but vehicles (SUVs), houses (McMansions), and other necessities that have grown out of proportion to our true needs. Behavior, policy, and culture must change if we are to "reduce" and well as "reuse and recycle."
• Nonhealthful foods—"Food cues" are everywhere in our culture, and what's advertised is usually some delicious combination of sugar, fat, and salt. Processed food, in other words. The sustainable trends of localism and slow food directly confront the processed food industry, as does the re-emergence of vegetable gardening, or should I say "domestic terraforming!"
• Physical inactivity—We drive too much, we are too sedentary at work, we live in neighborhoods without sidewalks or bike lanes: at the heart of smart growth and LEED-Neighborhood Development initiatives is the premise that a walkable/bikeable neighborhood is also a healthy neighborhood.
• Policy and environmental change initiatives—The keys to wholesale sustainability, although the fate of one example policy initiative in New York State shows how difficult they can be to implement. Remember the Expanded Bottle Bill? This win (health)/win (litter)/win (money for state coffers) bill took seven years of acrimonious effort to implement—so good luck with the soda tax, Gov. Paterson!

—Martin Walls, Syracuse Center of Excellence

Earth Is in the Balance—Someone Tell Jeep!

With the Gulf of Mexico disaster as an oily backdrop, Chrysler have re-launched themselves by offering the public an exciting new model.

No, it's not an electric car or a super-fuel-efficient compact—it's the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, the granddaddy of SUVs. Well done Chrysler for meeting our energy and transportation crisis in a head-on collision with a vehicle that gets 20 mpg on the highway!

Still, Chrysler could design all the electric cars in the world and it would mean nothing without robust government policy intervention. After all, the rise and rise of the gasoline powered internal combustion engine was made possibly by the government standardization of gasoline, as well as other policies that made possible our vast network of cookie-cutter gas stations.

Just think of the situation if, after a Sunday drive in your brand new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, you had to search for a Chrysler-only gas station (or a Ford-only diesel station or Subaru-only ethanol station). But until we have a standard for batteries and a network of battery stations (that frankly could become a new line of business for existing gas stations), electric cars will remain a novelty. (This is not to mention the need to have a power and grid network that could handle millions of batteries needing a re-charge.)

The point is that the driver of an electric car, when his or her standard Lithium Ion or whatever battery is dying, should be able to swing into a "gas" station and switch out a battery as easily as filling up a gas tank, knowing that the battery is made to a standard that will work in any car.

The extent of the government regulation needed--in the service of competition, mind (nobody argues about the stifling hand of government when it comes to gasoline standards and regulations)--might seem overwhelming. However, there are signs that sweeping sustainable regulations are taking hold in Europe: check out this link to read about Copenhagen's new green roof policy.

--Martin Walls, Syracuse Center of Excellence

Local food is good food

I’m currently reading a book titled The Town that Food Saved. The jacket liner describes the it as: “Lively, funny and candid, The Town that Food Saved tells the fascinating story of an unassuming community and its extraordinary determination to build a vibrant local food system unlike anything in America.”

In the early pages the author explores the transition of Hardwick, Vermont from a manufacturing economy to a new food economy based upon several different boutique enterprises: artisanal cheese, tofu production, yogurt, a seed company, composting, and apiaries. What caught my attention, on page 70 was his exposition on how much of the products from the above companies leave the local economy for sale in the more upscale economies of Boston, New York City and San Francisco. The author, Ben Hewitt, poses a question that had lurked in the background of his consciousness, which is: If local boutique food producers are actually concerned with local production, shouldn’t they be creating a product that local buyers can and will (can afford to) buy?

On a local scale in and around Oswego County I’m wondering the same thing. As we imagine the transition that may occur with the decline of peak petroleum to a more local food economy, I’m wondering are there similar ventures? The answer is “yes.”

Over the last several months I’ve researched local producers as a means of informing discussion in the SUNY Oswego Citizens Academy. I’ve visited two local farms—Grindstone Farm, and Happy Hooves Organic Farm. Both of these farms sell their own product to consumers locally, which increasingly local consumers choose and are able to afford. I’m hoping that over time we will see more businesses, not only producing products locally, but that are of course serving local consumers.

Let me introduce you to the two I mention above:
Grindstone Farm, with“…over 25 years of rich experience in growing a wide range of high quality, certified organic fruits, vegetables, and other organic items, … has become a well-known leader in Central New York. Providing a full line of produce, sometimes more than 120 varieties, you'll find everything from A (asparagus and arugula) to Z (zucchini and zinnia).”

Happy Hooves Organic Farm focuses on meat production including beef, pork, venison and chickens. Their website states: “We… have pastured pork, free range turkeys, free range chicken eggs, farm-raised venison, and home grown horseradish and rhubarb for tasty condiment sauces for those delicious meats and sides. Everything we do here is organic and as much space and free range is allowed our animals as permitted for their own safety. This gives you the maximum health benefits from your food that you can find.”

Next time you are considering buying organic, consider buying local if possible. More information about these two producers can be found on their websites at: http://www.grindstonefarm.com/ and http://www.betterbeef4u.com/ .

-Thad Mantaro, SUNY Oswego

More T's, less A/C!

Lowering this country's energy bill and making buildings—especially office buildings—more sustainable will require a host of technological innovations, from smart meters to energy efficient lighting to onsite renewable energy production. But it will also require changes in human behavior, work rules, and company policies.

Take dress codes, for instance. Modern energy efficient buildings call for the installation of energy efficient air conditioners that can talk to other building systems, such as occupancy sensors and air quality sensors that allow for windows to be opened. But how many companies occupying these buildings are scrapping stuffy business attire and allowing workers to dress comfortably and appropriately for the climate or season—while maintaining a professional level of, um, couture.

It's 90 degrees in Syracuse today (yay!) and, because the staff is in a fairly relaxed mode, some of us have come to work dressed for the weather, both outside (where the heat island effect in downtown Syracuse makes it pretty steamy) and inside (so we don't have to crank up the a/c).

Sure, T-shirts and flip-flops may be too casual for most business, but on the other hand, do men really have to dress in a suit and tie (or women in hosiery) on very hot days?

My colleague Ana Fernandez comes from Puerto Rico. I asked about dress codes in offices there, and she mentioned that her father had a formal job at a water department but that he "refused to wear a suit" in such a tropical climate. Instead he wore guayabera, an elegant, customary shirt that is a sensible choice for hot weather. Ana noted that in Puerto Rican offices where suits are mandatory for men and women, air conditioning works overtime to keep people comfortable.

There's even been research on this subject. World-class indoor environmental quality scientist Shin-Ichi Tanabe —who spoke at Healthy Buildings 2009 in Syracuse—is an expert on dress codes and climate settings in office buildings, especially in Japan where business culture encourages people to dress formally. His recommendation? Relax dress codes and save on energy!

—Martin Walls, Syracuse Center of Excellence