I’ve mentioned Merkel’s ideas before on this blog: Questions of Equity, Interhuman Equity, Interspecies Equity or 4.7 acres, 1978 or Intergenerational Equity, Self-Imposed Limits, and IPAT. (see February and March, 2009)
In this particular article Merkel reflects upon his work with Dartmouth College. Like many colleges, Dartmouth is attempting to reach a carbon neutral campus. “By fall of 2008, 582 campuses had signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, agreeing to establish a date for becoming carbon neutral and completing a carbon inventory and reduction plant. Carbon neutral – that’s right – means no net carbon emissions from campus operations. Now that’s radical” (223). In part, this drive is driven not just by philosophy by also be economics. Around 2005, Dartmouth’s energy bill had increased from four to seven million dollars in just one year (222).
What I found interesting, Merkel shares a strategy that campuses and individuals like us can reduce Green House Gases (GHG) can use to meet or beat the call to cut GHGs by 80 percent by 2050 just by using current technology.
1st Step: “identify as many independent factor that influence an institution’s or individual’s impact for a given activity. Let’s start with a big-ticket item, the automobile. Independent factors include:
- How many people share the vehicle?
- How many miles per month are driven?
- How efficient is the vehicle?
- How long might this vehicle last?” (223)
How it works in practice: Say you drive alone, getting 20 mpg, spending $160 a month on fuel (translating into a four-acre footprint to sequester CO2 from the tailpipe, manufacture and infrastructure). After thinking about it, “you organize enough ride-sharing to average two people in your car. Determined to halve the miles traveled a month, you make detailed shopping lists, bike and walk more and prioritize visits to nearby friends. From the classifieds, you purchase a used 40-mpg vehicle. Without ecological heroics, you now buy five gallons of gas per month, use half an acre of ecological space and only spend $20.
“But you’re not done yet. You start a logbook for tire pressure, oil changes and maintenance. You drive slower and care for the vehicle enough to double its longevity, halving both its manufacture and disposal footprints. Because it’s an older vehicle, you save money by removing collision from your insurance policy” (223-4).
Merkel calls these “advance techniques” “sharing, caring and conserving contribute to a phenomenon known as multiplication” (224). The above example just reduced the GHG footprint for the vehicle by 80 percent.
Merkel goes a step further to talk about institutional buildings (but the same could be done with houses, and boats, too).
“If we were to assume that over 20 years, a plan would:
A Reduce the area per occupant by 20%
T Upgrade the technology of systems to enhance efficiency by 30%
E Upgrade the building’s insulation and reduce drafts by 30%
O Improve operational sensors and timers to heat/cool/ventilate only when needed by 30%
M Manage building schedule to have less empty space by 20%
U Inspire sustainable user habits to reduce impact by 20%
[As an example: Pacific Lutheran University was experimenting with having recyclable and composting bins in each dorm room, but one or two trash bins per hall in their dorms – to great results]
L Care fro building and extend useful life by 30%
F Use cleaner fuels with lower emissions/BTU by 20%
C Use solar, wind, geothermal, landfill gas and hydroelectric by 30%
“In this example, each fact is relatively independent, resulting in multiplying benefits. In 20 years, this building’s emissions could be calculated as follow:
A (0.8) x T (0.7) x E (0.7) x O (0.7) x M (0.8) x U (0.8) x L (o.7) x F (0.8) x C (0.7) = 0.069 or roughly 7% of the original emissions, a 93% reduction.
“At this point, installing more wind, solar and hydroelectric energy are feasibly ways to bring this building close to carbon neutral. Notice that we haven’t purchased carbon credits yet or made dirty deals like trading toxic waste for reduced carbon (nuclear) or taken land from food production or habitat to decrease dependency on foreign oil (bio-fuels).
“While some argue that the technology is not yet ready, others, including the College of the Atlantic, announced carbon neutrality on December 19, 2007, through the purchase of offsets, low-impact hydroelectric power and on-campus energy reductions. The University of New Hampshire’s COGEN plant reduced emissions by 21 percent, and when its 12.7-mile pipeline to the landfill is complete in 2009, combined GHG reductions are estimated at 67 percent.
“Technical feasibility is not the issue. Willingness is”(my emphasis, 224-5).
How willing are we?
No comments:
Post a Comment