Media, Culture, Technology & Sustainability

Entries in Renewable energy (4)

Friday

Mar262010

A New Energy Future for Indian Country

Friday, March 26, 2010 at 11:47AM

Solar energy alone on tribal lands could generate up to 4.5 times the United States' total energy consumption of 17.6 TWh. With tribal lands making up 5% of the United States with 10% of the country's renewable energy resources the role of tribal nations will continue to expand along side the country's clean energy growth scenario.

The importance of tribal government involvement is outlined in a new report released this week by a group of collaborating organizations including the National Tribal Environmental Council, Native American Rights Fund, Intertribal Council On Utility Policy, and the National Wildlife Federation.

Indian Tribes are disproportionately bearing the brunt of climate change says the report, The New Energy Future in Indian Country: Confronting Climate Change, Creating Jobs, and Conserving Nature. But the huge potential on tribal lands to generate clean energy from renewable resources presents tribes with the opportunity to be a significant part of the solution through climate policy that creates green jobs and protects natural resources, detailed in a new report.

“Tribal households pay significantly more in home energy expenses than other Americans,” said Bob Gruenig, senior policy analyst, National Tribal Environmental Council. “The vast potential on tribal lands to generate clean energy from renewable resources means that Indian Tribes can help to provide for their own energy needs, generate clean power for a new energy future in Indian Country, and put American on the path to energy independence.”

“With 95 million acres of land under their management and centuries of experience conserving the natural world, Indian tribes can play a significant role in protecting natural resources from climate change and coping with a warmer world,” said Steve Torbit, director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Rocky Mountain Regional Center and Tribal Lands Conservation Program.

As soveriegn nations, tribal energy has long been a focus for tribal governments. However, now as the demand for clean energy grows and involvement of the public and private sectors increases, tribes are in a advantageous position to provide sustainable energy opportunities and benefit from the economic development associated with clean energy.

In addition to the Department of Energy and NREL's work with Tribes and a handful of other organizations, my colleagues at Northwest SEED (Sustainable Energy for Economic Development) have been working along side tribal governments to develop energy planning scenarios and in the last couple years have released a number of community and tribal renewable energy best practice resources. Download a relevant guide from Northwest SEED; ENERGY PLANNING: A Guide for Northwest Indian Tribes

ENERGY PLANNING: A Guide for Northwest Indian Tribes

This guidebook, created by Northwest SEED with funding from the Bullitt Foundation, is a new tool to help Native American Tribes develop a plan to achieve energy independence. The guide contains information and resources to help select and implement projects to conserve energy, generate clean, renewable energy, construct efficient and environmentally friendly buildings and other energy related community or business projects --- all tailored to the geography of the Northwest and the people of its Tribes.

ThWallace |

Next Up, A Major Environmental Dilemma

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 12:30PM

The opening line of this video says it all. "Next up, a major environmental dilemma...". For quite some time I've considered the potential communications conundrum presented by the clean technology economy's need for raw resources, and the very clear fact that many clean energy advocates don't consider the supply chain of natural resources for building wind turbines, solar panels, and hybrid cars. I've always asked, what will environmentalists do when they realize what kind of process and materials are needed for producing a clean energy infrastructure? While triple-bottom line systems, closed loop manufacturing, and sustainable design and materials sourcing have been a major part of the sustainability movement as brought forward by leaders such as Bill McDonough, these principles have primarily taken a back seat in the manufacturing of new clean energy technologies.

So it was only a matter of time that the media considered the contradiction that could provide a dilemma for environmental advocates. This report on PBS News Hour is the first I have seen that provides a in-depth look at the environmental impact of the critical rare earth elements that are the natural resource supply for clean energy manufacturing in China.

While a strong report and a very important one to consider, this story could have been more comprehensive by examining the percentages of rare earth metals used in manufacturing of non-clean energy products. Additionally, the report doesn't fully expand on the lack of environmental regulations for manufacturing facilities in China. While very hard to quantify at this stage, the counter point that was not leveled in this report is the consideration of the environmental benefits gained by decreasing our carbon emissions and the impacts of industrial process used in developing conventional energy sources.

If it is inevitable that we use rare earth materials in our production of the items needed for society, there is an argument to be made that while we switch other process toward more sustainable materials, the clean energy economy may demand less and impact fewer than did previous systems of production in the industrial revolution. The verdict is still out whether or not there is a balance to be achieved.

None the less, I predict that clean energy companies will be pushed more in the new decade to begin sourcing their materials from recycled and reprocessed sources, rather than building the new green economy on the very philosophy that moved our society toward our current dilemma; progress is worth the cost we pay both in human and natural capital. Hopefully we won't have to re-learn that lesson again.

ThWallace |

The Shifting Power - Powershift 2009

Monday, March 2, 2009 at 1:19AM

Our world is a complicated one. Achieving sustainability an even more complicated pursuit. Yet, at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C. this weekend Powershift 2009 showed that there is one thing that is very simple. We are part of a changing world. Seemingly more complicated, the writing is on the wall that our global energy portfolio is in the process of a seismic shift, and that is simple to see.

In the past, "student movements", especially environmentally focused ones, have been labeled as priveledged, white, liberal, and idealistic. The group of students at the front of the pack for Powershift gathering couldn't be further from that stereotype; under-resourced, diverse, progressive, and pragmatic. Over 12,000 college students converged on the nation's capitol this past weekend to take part in the largest climate focused college conference. These student leaders hailed from tribal nations, latino communities, coal country, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, rural areas, and under resourced communities in addition to thousands of students from every religion, race, political persuasion, and state in the union.

The generation in attendance at Power Shift 2009 is not a generation of black and white or even of black, white, Hispanic, and Asian. This is a generation of a bi-racial president, of tri-racial friends, and multi-racial familiarity and appreciation. A generation of “we,” instead of “us” and “them”, and nowhere is this more apparent than at the crowds of young people that are chanting to take the reins in a new era of civic responsibility. - Powershift Blog

Even with the snow falling on Washington, D.C. this morning the Powershift bunch is preparing for a historical undertaking, the largest student lobby day in history, full of meetings with members of Congress on Capitol Hill. The convergence of students and young people to the nation's capitol has less to do with grandstanding and more to do with the very real issues that we are forced to deal with in our world.

The complexities of the issues were on the table this weekend. There wasn't a notion that our challenges will just disappear, in fact the students continue to address our nation's inaction in the face of this complexity, with the most simple action available to every one of us. Giving it the good old college try. And as time will continue to prove in our country, showing up to meet with your political leaders is one of the most simple and powerful actions we can take as citizens.

ThWallace |

Entries in Renewable energy (4)

A New Energy Future for Indian Country

Next Up, A Major Environmental Dilemma

The Shifting Power - Powershift 2009

FUEL the Film Opens in L.A.