Are you Ready for Earth Hour 2008?

We wrote earlier about Lights Out America. The movement to turn off all non-essential lights at 8 pm on March 29, has changed its name to Earth Hour, and is a very global event modeled on the successful Sydney event last year.

Spread the word today!

Status on Our Sustainable Efforts

Recently, someone at corporate at Kim's work questioned whether consumers would be willing to spend extra money on things they didn't perceive to have a direct health benefit (i.e. spending money on carbon credits to avoid something bad perhaps happening in a number of years. Here's Kim's response, which nicely sums up a lot of our efforts over the past couple of years (except for food, which of course is another major focus for us):

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of those in Dallas that people really are willing to pay more for items they believe to be sustainable. My family is currently working to increase our use of sustainable practices and decrease our carbon footprint.

With this in mind, over the last three years we have:

• Built a new house which was pre-built in a warehouse. By pre-building sections of the house in a warehouse less wood is consumed and wasted – everything can be pre-measured and the small sections of the 2x6s that are left over are used elsewhere in the construction. We paid a bit more for this, but felt that by doing so we reduced the impact on our forests. The house is two stories with a finished basement, and overall living space is 3500 square feet.
• All ceiling lighting (not floor lamps – yet!) utilizes CFLs.
• Outdoor security lighting is tied to a solar panel and timer to turn on and off throughout the year.
• About 6 months ago we started purchasing green energy form our local energy company. We purchase enough green energy to off-set all our electric needs.
• Since we are not yet ready to buy a hybrid car (which our next one will most certainly be), we are purchasing carbon credits to off-set the gas that we purchase for both vehicles each year.
• We have invested in prairie plants and built rain gardens in our yard to keep the run off form our roof on our property and out of the storm sewers. The upfront cost of a rain or prairie garden is a bit higher than for your traditional garden plants, but well worth the investment.

Future plans:

• We plan to add additional rain gardens as well as rain barrels to our city lot to decrease the amount of city water we need to pull from the lakes and water table.
• We are currently looking into solar energy panels and what it would cost to install them, as well as what our ROI would be.
• As an alternative to solar energy, we are looking into solar water heating as well. The up front costs are lower and the ROI is better, so this may be our entry point into the world of solar. Before we can install any solar, however, we need to get plans drawn up which need to go before a review committee for our neighborhood, and we need to get he covenants changed to allow solar panels. Neither of which will be easy, however we feel it will be well worth the battle.
• I recently found out about “paper plates” and “plastic-ware” that is biodegradable and (I believe) corn based. Instead of throwing it in the garbage after your July 4 picnic, you can just throw everything into the compost bin. We will definitely be using them the next time we plan a picnic gathering!

Researching Solar Power for Wisconsin

With energy prices at or near record highs (oil was over $100 per barrel today), we've started considering the possibility of installing some sort of solar system on the house to defray the rising energy costs. However, this is not a simple decision. First of all, it takes significant up-front-investment ($10-$50k it looks like), and there are many different types of systems and options to consider. Plus, there's a host of tax credits and incentives to consider. Then there are zoning issues and restrictive covenants to take into consideration.

I'll try to break down our research in a few blog postings. They will be written as I work my way through the various web sites and find out information.

First, we have a restrictive covenant that would seem to doom the project from the beginning. Renewable energy systems are not allowed in our neighborhood. However, we can appeal to an architectural review committee to be allowed to 'break the rules'. I'm confident that a system that is mounted flush with the roof would be OK. our house's south-facing roof-line faces away from the road, and is quite tall relative to other neighbors, so it should be possible to install a system that is fairly unobtrusive.

So, what type of system are we looking for? We would like a system that

• has a pay-back period of five years or less,
• connects to the grid with net metering,
• can handle 90% of our annual electricity needs (10 kWh),
  
• can be installed fairly flush with the roof,
  
• is relatively maintenance-free, and
  
• works in Wisconsin winters.

We've ruled out wind systems, because we're in a fairly residential neighborhood, and don't see a wind turbine passing muster with either the neighbors or the architectural review committee.

One of the first steps in setting up a system is to assess the site. In Wisconsin, there are certified site assessors charging between $200 and $500 for a full assessment (Focus on Energy will cover 60%, so our cost would be $80-$200). For solar systems, you need a south-facing location with unobstructed view of the sun for as long as possible each day. Fortunately, we have a roof that faces almost directly south, and is high enough that there are very few obstructions once the sun is up. It also seems that Wisconsin gets enough sun - although November/December can be dreary, the highest-demand days are in the summer.

Most of the rest of this is focused on photovoltaics.

Funding Incentives

• Focus on Energy: 25% of construction cost up to $35,000 (program expired 12/31/07 - perhaps a new one coming up?)
• Update 1/3/08: Program will continue with the same amounts at least through end of 2008. New forms will be up on web site within a week.
  
• Federal tax credit: 30% of construction cost up to $2,000 (extended to 12/31/08)
• Net metering - sell any excess energy to the utility. This means all energy is used - no loss to storage in batteries. More sun - better economics.
  

Sizing of System

• Current energy consumption: ~11 kWh /year
• System need: ~7.5 kW panels (6-800 square ft)
• Approximately 4 daily hours of sunshine in Wisconsin (1,460 hours per year).
• A 7.5 kWh system will thus generate 10,950 kWh per year
  
• Price range: $40,000 - $50,000 (plus installation - it seems possible to most of it as DIY)
  
• $45,000 after FoE and IRS incentives: $31,750
  
• One year cost of electricity: ~$1,400

Hmm, a loan of $31,750 would have to be mortgaged over 30 years at 2.3% interest in order for the electricity savings to cover the cost. This doesn't take into account any rises in energy cost (or consumption), or possible tax benefits/disadvantages of increasing the value of the home.

Perhaps an investment of this magnitude to save the environment is better made in carbon credits? Or maybe more research needed...

Lights Out America

I just came across a great initiative called Lights Out America. It's an attempt at organizing an hour of only essential lights being on in cities across the US, and for every household to install at least one Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb. The organization behind it just did something similar in October in San Francisco, after over 2 million Australians turned off the lights for Earth Hour in March.

The plan is to turn off all non-essential lights on Saturday, March 29, 2008 from 8:00-9:00pm, and for every household to install a CFL bulb.

Sounds like a good plan. Even if your city isn't signed up (so far only 11 large cities are listed), you can still participate as an individual.

Carbon Offsets

Today is Blog Action Day, so we write about the environment. Last year, we chose to sign up for the NatureWise Renewable Energy Program through our electric utility. This lets us buy 900 kWh of renewable electricity per month - close to our actual consumption. The program works by adding $1 per $100 kWh onto our monthly bill.

However, we still drive cars, and use natural gas, and have been wanting to offset those. We did some research, and found three organizations that offer carbon offsets: CoolDriver, TerraPass, and CarbonFund. Here's a mini review of each of these, and their web sites.

The offset market is really complex with lots of different non-profit and for-profit organizations involved, so it's important to do some research, and not buy offsets from the first company you come across on a Google search. So, what should you look for when buying CO2 offsets?

• How are the offsets made? Projects vary from buying wind power, to planting trees, to capturing methane from cows. Some people question the value of tree plantings to adequately offset CO2, as it takes a long time for the trees to mature, and when the tree dies, the cO2 goes back into the atmosphere.
  
• How much do you pay per ton of CO2 offset? Can vary widely - one article found a range of $4.30 to $12 per metric ton.
• Do you get a certificate? I'd like to get a physical certificate (maybe if we display a decal on our car, others around us will be inspired to offset their CO2 consumption as well).

Our Carbon Nation is a web site that provides profiles on 34 different offset providers. The profiles are only available as PDF files, so you can't compare the different providers directly.

I will compare the three web sites' in terms of offsetting our two cars ('98 Ford Escort (avg 25 mpg) and '00 Dodge Grand Caravan (avg 20 mpg)), which each drive 12,000 miles annually.

CoolDriver

CoolDriver is a partnership between Clean Air Cool Planet, based in Portsmouth, NH, and Native Energy.
The web site has a pleasing look with a picture of a cow with the odd speak bubble: "You don't have to stop driving to help stop global warming." It has a simple calculator where you input miles driven and mileage. They offset with wind energy projects and methane capture projects at dairy farms.
(all measures are in metric tons).

• Caravan: 5.3 tons/yr
• Escort: 4.3 tons/yr
• Total: 9.6 tons/yr
• Cost: $132/yr ($10.8/ton)
  
• 
  

Included in the price is also a bumper sticker and a mini certificate.

TerraPass

This is a for-profit company based in San Francisco that funds projects in wind energy, biomass, and industrial energy efficiency. The web site is pleasing, and has an advanced calculator where you pick your specific car, and it then tells you the carbon footprint of the car.

• Caravan: 4.6 tons/yr - $49.95 to offset 5.4 tons
• Escort: 3.2 tons/yr - $39.95 to offset 3.6 tons
• Total: $89.90 to offset 9 tons ($9.98/ton)

With purchase you get a bumper sticker and two different decals.

CarbonFund

This is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, which means that your off-sets are considered charitable contributions and may be tax-deductible (Nice twist to get the IRS to kick in towards offsetting your climate impact). CarbonFund supports projects in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and reforestation. The calculator is a bit more advanced than the other two sites, as it allows you to calculate for several cars at a time, and then offset the actual consumption.

• Caravan: 5.07 tons/yr - $27.88
• Escort: 3.33 tons/yr - $18.29
• Total: $46.17 to offset 8.39 tons ($5.50/ton)

The calculator is nice, but then when I click Offset Footprint Now, I don't get to offset these precise calculations, instead I can either just make a contribution of a certain amount, or choose to offset generic cars, bringing the cost up to $49.83 ($5.93/ton).

You can choose to only get electronic receipts or physically get a decal and certificate. When checking out, you get the option to support specific types of projects or the total basket of projects they have.

Conclusion

CarbonFund had the most advanced calculators and significantly lower prices. Despite the web site not always having a logical design, I was able to buy offsets for both of the cars we own!

Happy Blog Action Day!

Homebrewed Beer

I have been brewing beer since last October, and it's been a lot of fun. And the beer hasn't been half bad. In fact, of the five batches we've tasted so far, all have been praised by those who tasted them.

The work involved isn't too bad. There's work on each batch three times over the course of 3-4 weeks. I have so far been using pre-measured kits from Midwest Supplies in Minneapolis. First, on brewing day, you actually make the beer, which involves steeping grains for about an hour in a couple gallons of lukewarm water, then bringing the water to a boil, and adding malt extract and various hops. This process takes another 1-2 hours, after which the wort (beer without yeast) needs to cool down before the yeast can be added along with extra water to make about five gallons of beer. Then the beer sits for about a week in a food-grade pail after which it gets transferred to a glass carboy for conditioning. The transfer and cleanup can be done in about 45 minutes. Two weeks later the beer can be bottled. This takes 1-2 hours depending on the size of the bottles (less work with larger bottles - 5 gallons needs about 50 regular 355 ml (12 oz) bottles). Then the beer sits for 2-4 weeks before it can be enjoyed. So, it doesn't take that much effort, but you have to be patient.

The initial equipment purchase was around $100, and the ingredients for each batch will run around $30-$40 including shipping. The cost per beer is definitely higher than regular canned beer from the grocery store, but only about half the cost of specialty and imported beer, which is what it should be compared to. If all you want to do is drink Miller Light, then don't worry about making your own beer, but if you enjoy Bass, Newcastle Brown Ale, Guiness, and any other great tasting beer (especially ale), then you should give homebrewing a try.

Right now, I have two carboys in the basement. I'm hoping to be able to bottle the Fuggles brew today (we need it ready before we run out...). The other is a Holiday beer that was brewed back in June and will need another month or so before bottling. Then it will sit about 6 weeks in the bottle before it is ready in time for Halloween. It should be a Happy Holiday this year!

When you brew your own beer, there are two environmental benefits: First, you can reuse the bottles, which is far better than recycling (it takes quite a bit of energy to turn glass into glass...). Second, only the ingredients need to be transported (10-15 lbs), and in my case only from Minneapolis, as opposed to shipping both bottles (40 lbs), and water (42 lbs) from a brewery that's much farther way. Some of the styles of beer you can make with homebrew, could otherwise only be obtained from imported sources, so the transportation would add significantly to the equation.

Green Energy

One of the larger decisions we made earlier this year as a response to the climate changes was to switch our electricity use to renewable energy. Our neighborhood covenants prohibit setting up solar panels and windmills, so we opted to use our energy company's option of buying blocks of renewable energy. The program is called NatureWise and lets you buy electricity in blocks of 100kWh at $1 per block per month in addition to the regular charge.

We downloaded our 2-year history of electricity usage from Wisconsin Public Service's (WPS) web site and calculated that we averaged about 900 kWh per month, so we signed up for 9 blocks, making our entire electricity usage renewable for $9/month, and cutting our carbon emissions by 4,644 kg (10,238 lbs) CO2 per year.

The program works by committing WPS to purchasing the blocks of electricity from renewable sources (wind, solar etc) to be added to the grid, thereby lowering the amount of fossil fuels WPS uses to generate electricity. The specific electricity coming to our house hasn't changed and comes from whatever source is closest (or however the electricity distribution works...).