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A Model Green Apartment Building in Brooklyn
(Amanda Griscom, gristMagazine, 25 June 2004)
A bright green oasis of richly vegetated roofs and a glossy black array of solar panels on a refurbished 1850s warehouse. . . . This anomalous building has just been renovated by Brooklyn sculptor Benton Brown, 31, and his wife, Susan Boyle, 30. Both novices in the fields of construction and engineering prior to this project, Brown and Boyle managed to achieve a mind-boggling feat of ingenuity and perseverance. Over two and a half years, they transformed a 14,000 square-foot derelict brewery and ice-storage house into an apartment building of such style, sustainability, and sophisticated engineering that it establishes the couple as pioneers among a new generation of green builders. . . . The building houses six loft units complete with radiant heating, natural ventilation, Energy Star appliances, a rain-water collection system, a high-efficiency condensing boiler, and vast expanses of super-insulated, floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Solar energy provides nearly half of all the building's electricity. . . . The project has been so successful that the couple won a $75,000 "Green Cinderella" grant from Keyspan Energy Company to cover one-third of the clean-technology costs, and are on track to get a silver rating from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) -- the gold standard in green building ratings. What's more, they have a waiting list of potential tenants lined up to lease their units, and they expect to entirely recoup their sizable investment in this project within two decades. . . . Brown was also impressed by how easy it was to install the rooftop solar system by Unisolar. The system is comprised of adhesive-backed flexible solar panels that can be applied literally in hours to a standard pitched metal roof. "Peel-and-stick, pollution-free, electricity generated on site -- not a bad concept," said Brown. . . . As a sculptor, Brown also appreciated the aspects of sustainable building that go beyond technology and make use of reclaimed building material and found objects. Much of the construction material used in converting the warehouse, including the beams, bricks, doors, and window frames, were salvaged from the existing building. . . . Boyle, on the other hand, isn't shy about her hopes that this project will be recognized for its planet-positive ingenuity and help mobilize a larger movement. "We want people to see, intuit, and understand the difference of a building like this," she said. "The higher goal here is simply to motivate more people to want to live in this kind of environment and take on similar steps or projects," she said. "We're basically in the middle of an industrial sector. There's not a whole lot in the way of parks or trees. So when people ride by on the elevated train and see one rooftop covered with vegetation and another covered with solar, it creates questions in their minds." . . . "It's been incredibly satisfying to get students and architects and city officials circulating throughout the building and watch them get a sense of what sustainability means, why it works, what it feels like," said Boyle. "The hope is that they begin to see how it relates to their own lives." . . . Sustainable building was always hip among hippies. Then it started to spring up in gated movie-star compounds, yuppie ski towns, and lefty do-gooder cities. Recently, even corporate headquarters, suburban planned communities, low-income housing developments, and city government buildings have begun to make the solar switch. But for the most part, younger, urban crowds have yet to catch on. What Boyle and Brown have shown is that a hipster green-building subculture is viable for the rest of their generation.

posted by LoZo 2:48 PM

 

Shell Oil chief: "Very worried for the planet"
(David Adam, The Guardian, June 17, 2004)
The head of one of the world's biggest oil companies has admitted that the threat of climate change makes him "really very worried for the planet". . . . In an interview in today's Guardian Life section, Ron Oxburgh, chairman of Shell, says we urgently need to capture emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which scientists think contribute to global warming, and store them underground - a technique called carbon sequestration. . . . "Sequestration is difficult, but if we don't have sequestration then I see very little hope for the world," said Lord Oxburgh. "No one can be comfortable at the prospect of continuing to pump out the amounts of carbon dioxide that we are pumping out at present ... with consequences that we really can't predict but are probably not good." . . . His words follow those of the government's chief science adviser, David King, who said in January that climate change posed a bigger threat to the world than terrorism. . . . "You can't slip a piece of paper between David King and me on this position," said Lord Oxburgh, a respected geologist who replaced the disgraced Philip Watts as chairman of the British arm of the oil giant in March. . . . Robin Oakley, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace, said: "This is an important statement to make but it does have to come with a commitment to follow through, and that means making the case to his peers in the oil industry who are still skeptical of climate change." . . . Mr Oakley said a gulf was opening between more progressive oil companies such as Shell, which invests in alternative energy sources including wind and solar power, and ExxonMobil, the biggest and most influential producer, particularly in the US. . . . Lord Oxburgh's words will also fuel arguments over sequestration. Supporters say it will allow a smoother transition to reduced emissions by allowing us to burn coal, oil and gas for longer. Critics argue that the idea is an expensive and probably unworkable smokescreen for continued reliance on fossil fuels. . . . According to a 3,000m (about 10,000ft) ice core from Antarctica revealing the Earth's climate history, carbon dioxide levels are the highest for at least 440,000 years. . . . Lord Oxburgh said the situation is particularly urgent because many developing countries, including India and China, are sitting on huge untapped stocks of coal, probably the most polluting fossil fuel. . . . Bryony Worthington, a climate campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said: "It isn't a responsible attitude to say we're going to pledge to do sequestration but if the plans don't work out then the world's messed up. He's done quite a clever job by making it clear he's concerned but at the same time not pledging to do anything about it." . . . She called for tougher emission standards for new vehicles, as well as greater investment in energy efficiency measures and renewable sources.

[COMMENT: Perhaps this is a Tipping Point. Shell Oil is allegedly controlled by the British Royal Family, which means that one of the 1,000 most powerful families on Earth has finally seen the world's ecological situation for what it is: A looming disaster of global proportions that can only be somewhat mitigated, but which no longer can be completely avoided. As the world's ruling families (the ones who control unimaginable wealth) begin to rearrange their position on this pivotal issue, it is going to be interesting to see if the Saudi/Bush group sides with the British Royals ... they certainly seemed to be in agreement about invading Iraq. .... stay tuned as the plot thickens! Lorenzo]

ALSO SEE: What if the Pentagon is right about climate change?

posted by LoZo 2:03 PM

 

Preserve the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
[NOTE: If you click on the above link you will be taken to a page where you can send the following letter to your Congressperson.]

Dear Representative ,

I strongly urge you to vote No on H.R. 4529, and on any other bill that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Sacrificing this pristine wilderness to oil development would not solve today’s rising gasoline prices, nor would it make America energy independent in the future. Any oil from the refuge would amount to only a 180-day supply; leaving us heavily dependent on foreign oil and highly vulnerable to price and supply shocks. The only path to energy security lies in energy efficiency, renewable energy sources and alternative fuels.

For that reason, I call on you to also oppose the "new" Bush-Cheney energy bill (H.R. 4503). This pro-polluter legislation would enrich oil, gas, coal and nuclear companies with billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies -- even as it sacrifices our last wild places, poisons our air and worsens our destructive dependence on fossil fuels. This bill contains no standards at all for improving the fuel economy of our cars and trucks.

Please protect the Arctic Refuge and vote No on H.R. 4529. Then set us on the path to a sustainable energy future by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and by making our cars, buildings and economy more energy-efficient. That is the only way to leave a more secure nation and a more livable planet to the next generation.

posted by LoZo 4:10 PM

 

Early Earth was Warm, Despite Less Energy From the Sun
(Universe Today, June 8, 2004)
When life first arose on the Earth, 4.6 billion years ago, the Sun was putting out 20-25% less energy - our planet should have been an iceball... why wasn't it? . . . New research from Stanford has turned up rocks that give an accurate picture of how these gas levels rose and fell over the first few billion years. . . . If a time machine could take us back 4.6 billion years to the Earth's birth, we'd see our sun shining 20 to 25 percent less brightly than today. Without an earthly greenhouse to trap the sun's energy and warm the atmosphere, our world would be a spinning ball of ice. Life may never have evolved. . . . But life did evolve, so greenhouse gases must have been around to warm the Earth. Evidence from the geologic record indicates an abundance of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. . . . Now, the geologic record revealed in some of Earth's oldest rocks is telling a surprising tale of collapse of that greenhouse -- and its subsequent regeneration. But even more surprising, say the Stanford scientists who report these findings in the May 25 issue of the journal Geology, is the critical role that rocks played in the evolution of the early atmosphere. . . . "This is really the first time we've tried to put together a picture of how the early atmosphere, early climate and early continental evolution went hand in hand," . . . The geologic record tells a story in which continents removed the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from an early atmosphere that may have been as hot as 70 degrees Celsius (158 F). At this time the Earth was mostly ocean. It was too hot to have any polar ice caps. Lowe hypothesizes that rain combined with atmospheric carbon dioxide to make carbonic acid, which weathered jutting mountains of newly formed continental crust. . . . As carbon dioxide levels fell due to weathering, at some point, levels of carbon dioxide and methane became about equal, he conjectures. This caused the methane to aerosolize into fine particles, creating a haze akin to that which today is present in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan. This "Titan Effect" occurred on Earth 2.7 to 2.8 billion years ago. . . . The Titan Effect removed methane from the atmosphere and the haze filtered out light; both caused further cooling, perhaps a temperature drop of 40 to 50 degrees Celsius. Eventually, about 3 billion years ago, the greenhouse just collapsed, Lowe and Tice theorize, and the Earth's first glaciation may have occurred 2.9 billion years ago. . . . Here the rocks reveal an odd twist in the story -- eventual regeneration of the greenhouse. . . . "So eventually the carbon dioxide level climbs again," Lowe says. "It may never return to its full glorious 70 degrees Centigrade level, but it probably climbed to make the Earth warm again." . . . New continents formed and weathered, again taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. About 3 billion years ago, maybe 10 or 15 percent of the Earth's present area in continental crust had formed. By 2.5 billion years ago, an enormous amount of new continental crust had formed -- about 50 to 60 percent of the present area of continental crust. During this second cycle, weathering of the larger amount of rock caused even greater atmospheric cooling, spurring a profound glaciation about 2.3 to 2.4 billion years ago. . . . Over the past few million years we have been oscillating back and forth between glacial and interglacial epochs, Lowe says. We are in an interglacial period right now. It's a transition -- and scientists are still trying to understand the magnitude of global climate change caused by humans in recent history compared to that caused by natural processes over the ages. . . . We're disturbing the system at rates that greatly exceed those that have characterized climatic changes in the past," Lowe said. "Nonetheless, virtually all of the experiments, virtually all of the variations and all of the climate changes that we're trying to understand today have happened before. Nature's done most of these experiments already. If we can analyze ancient climates, atmospheric compositions and the interplay among the crust, atmosphere, life and climate in the geologic past, we can take some first steps at understanding what is happening today and likely to happen tomorrow."

posted by LoZo 10:06 AM