Facebook Uses 3 kWh per Capita Per Day

Yesterday was Facebook's 6th anniversary. Steve Tuttle and I are quitting.

I had a brief return after calling it quits in December - but have finally decided to pull the plug for good. I think.
simple yet effective graphic from rmansfield

Disturbingly enough, Facebook has a carbon footprint big enough to compete with large cities. Engineer Doug Beaver estimates per capita daily energy use at 3 kWh, with most energy used to power servers handling photos.

That's like me running a hairdryer for 3 hours every day. Assuming I use Facebook every day of every year, that's about 1000 kWh per year.

So I quit, not just for energy efficiency - but for my own time efficiency too!

Government Goes Green

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty unveiled the "Green Jobs Investment Initiative" to the 2009 state legislature yesterday. It's a group of tax exemptions, mostly for business, to invest in green jobs and renewable energy. In total, the initiative would spend $90.25 million in the next six years.

Image from Minnesota Politics blog.

Pawlenty has suspicious timing. He did not support a Green JOBZ initiative in 2008, and his proposal comes while a task force of department officials and other experts were in the midst of creating a similar proposal. JOBZ is Pawlenty's job creation effort. Said Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL - Saint Paul, "I didn't know JOBZ was (a) chameleon – apparently if it isn't working, it just changes color."

Read more from the Pioneer Press, the Star Tribune, MSNBC, the Governor's Office, Politics in Minnesota, and a related article on Pawlenty and climate change from MinnPost.

Green-e

Green-e is Consumer Reports for renewable energy and carbon offset purchases.

I mean, come on. How easy would it be to peddle hogwash? So easy. "Buy Jennifer Carbon Credits today! I'll just take that there credit card number... gooooood."

Ratings are a good thing.

Locavore

The Oxford 2007 Word of the Year is out!



Ladies and gentlemen, make room in your vocabulary for locavore, the phenomenon of eating locally grown or raised foods that may or may not be more Earth friendly (in the broadest sense of the term, as debated by Macalester professor Bill Mosely in this recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle).

Wave Energy

Wind and solar and wave, oh my! What will they come up with next?
Wave energy (aka hydrokinetic energy) was even predicted in 1908 to be the energy source of the future. Wave energy, however, has not been fully studied; the large, delicate, expensive buoys concern fishers who don't want to run into them, and nobody knows what the environmental effects will be... least of all Sonoma County residents responding to this November agenda item.

Hydrokinetic energy works by bouncing magnets in the rise and fall of ocean waves. If I had stayed in science classes I might be able to explain this more clearly and correctly. Apparently, 0.2% of the energy wasted in waves could power the entire world if harvested.

In related news, Google announced its intent to invest "hundreds of millions" of dollars in renewable energy to spark an energy revolution. And the ED's name is Larry Brilliant. Nice.

UN Climate Conference, Bali

The UN finished up a climate conference in Bali (Dec. 3-14), Our friends Tim Anderson and Paul Kelley went to present the Sonoma County Water Agency's plan to depend on renewable energy only.

Proud to be an American..?

Did you know that the U.S. accounts for 1/4 the world's carbon emissions?

Jesus.

Green Wine

No, it doesn't come from green grapes. Green wine is what happens when you buy wine locally (even in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennyslvania).


And.. did you know that east coasters pollute less by consuming French wine instead of Californian wine?
Shocking! Shipping can be more eco-friendly than flying, and the United States are big.
This line comes from a study done by Dr. Vino (Dr. Tyler Colman, a wine blogger) and Pablo Paster (metrics specialist). Read more on TreeHugger.

Dear old Macalester..

As a progressive liberal arts college, it's about time my alma mater Macalester stepped up to the eco-plate.

Finally, more sustainable cups and napkins! They're ordering the cups from Clovernook, a non-profit based in Cincinnati, OH. "75 percent of the people working in Clovernook's factories are visually impaired, and the extra money collected from the cup sales is used to provide community outreach programs."

They had a Zero Waste Picnic in September... set aside the Eco-House...



... and they are hiring a Sustainability Coordinator for 2008. Apparently, President Rosenberg was one of 414 college and university presidents to sign on to the Presidents Climate Commitment. "Presidents signing the Commitment are pledging to eliminate their campuses' greenhouse gas emissions in a reasonable period of time as determined by each institution." This involves setting up a task force, completing a GHG inventory, creating and implementing a climate neutral plan, taking 2 of the 7 immediate steps specified in the plan, integrate sustainability into the curriculum, and communicating to the public about all this.

An advisory committee of Mac students, faculty, and staff have been molding the Sustainability Coordinator position since this spring.

Green Up Your Driving Habits

So I have to drive sometimes. Like to take advantage of Home Depot's plant warrantee (they replace dead plants within a year.. oopsies)... I just can't walk or bike, and there aren't busses to go there. I can, however, make the best of things. Behold, top 5 do-able driving best practices to save gas - reducing costs and carbon emissions.




1. Go the speed limit. Herky-jerky stop and start means more gas. Plus, it makes the herky-jerk car behind you delightfully angry, especially here in California.
2. Have good directions and/or call ahead. No aimless driving around!
3. Windows instead of A/C.
4. Keep the tires full and go for regular tune ups. This means your car is operating most efficiently and you'll use less gas.
5. Take as much stuff out as you can. A heavy load means more gas.

Find out more from TreeHugger's How To Green Your Car.

When do you turn your car off for a train?

Q. Do you turn your car off for a train or not?
A. If the train will take more than 30 seconds to pass, yes. Idling for 30 seconds or more uses more gas than re-starting a car.

(From The Green Guide.)