(Why we should care about that) CaliforniaGeo 8-13-19 The Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) is a numerical value that tells us what a particular generating technology will cost over 20 years to create a unit we are all familiar with—a Kilowatt hour.  It’s the same quantity that might be expressed as a 100 watt light […]

CaliforniaGeo 8-1-19  Recent developments in California municipalities (Folsom & Berkeley) have been both good and not so good for the environment and the overall thrust of this state’s emissions and related policy.  Some years ago, the City of Folsom annexed an adjacent southern parcel and masterplanned it for some 10,000 residential dwellings, built out over […]

Economics are the ultimate policy driver CaliforniaGeo, 7-12-19 On a trip through central and western Montana this summer I spied a couple of long, westbound coal trains, and a switchyard full of them in Missoula (like the ones below).  Wondering where they were headed I consulted a RR map of Montana and concluded they were […]

A marvel of efficiency CaliforniaGeo, 7-10-19 The six pipe simultaneous chiller/boiler (aka heat recovery chiller) is a larger-than-residential heat pump system composed of linked, connectible modules in graduated 20-to-80 ton capacities.  When deployed as five dual scroll modular units, these can throttle back to 10% of their staged full capacity (15% with four linked modules) […]

111 Days at Aliso Canyon CaliforniaGeo  5-25-19 This spring saw the completion of a 258-page third party analysis by Blade Energy Partners of well SS-25 at Aliso Canyon, CA, just north of Los Angeles.  The analysis covered the direct causes and the root causes of this uncontrolled leak of 6.6 billion cubic feet of methane […]

(Will California rules be used to keep on burning gas in homes?) CaliforniaGeo 4-8–19 This week, two California state agencies will begin workshops whose purpose is to achieve de-carbonization in buildings.  The Public Utility Commission is the lead agency and will collaborate with the Energy Commission to enact provisions of SB 1477, the Low-emissions buildings […]

Will politics and obstructive policy prevent climate defense? CaliforniaGeo 2-26-19   Sixty years of sampling at the top of a 13,000-foot Hawaiian volcano show that the upward march of carbon dioxide in the world’s troposphere continues to climb steeply.  But, there are still some who express doubts.            Those doubts are composed […]

(It blossomed long before the U.S. mid-terms of 2018) CaliforniaGeo 2-1-19 Social movements have power.  The best of them use slogans and imagery that captivate a wide public audience to make change.  Currently, this phenomenon has surfaced as a “Green New Deal” (GND).  It borrows a phrase from the 1930s Roosevelt program to rebuild the […]

(Geothermal Can Satisfy Any Building You Want) CaliforniaGeo 12-14–18 When some members of the public first hear about geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) as some sort of thermal efficiency miracle, it’s probably tied to a specific type of building.  And if that type is not one that is likely to serve them in the future, their […]

Transportation still exceeds greenhouse gas limits CaliforniaGeo 11-28-18 California’s dedication to all things green by statute and regulatory policy has been a multi-decade effort but it is faltering.  A November report by the California Air Resources Board  cites the assessment that greenhouse gas reductions are not on track to meet established goals. The state’s landmark […]