Electric Cars and Podcars in San Jose

I attended the keynote session at SJSU's Earth Day last week that featured San Jose Mayor, Chuck Reed.

During the question and answer session, an audience member asked, 'What green technology could be deployable in San Jose today and what are the obstacles holding them back?'

One of the examples the mayor mentioned he'd like to see is charging stations for electric and hybrid cars at every streetlight. There are 62,000 streetlights in San Jose.

Currently, power cannot be drawn from the streetlight poles in California for the charging stations due to existing power company rules.

PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) are working on making changes, but it could take some time before the electric car charging stations would be deployed at every streetlight in San Jose.

Here is a July 2009 web article about the electric vehicle charging stations already in San Jose:
http://gas2.org/2009/07/29/san-jose-leading-ev-charge/

Here is a webpage listing available electric car/hybrid charging stations in the bay area...beyond the ones at San Jose City Hall, San Jose International Airport, and Costco:
http://www.evchargernews.com/regions/ch-bay-spi.htm

(Here is a March 2010 article about San Jose converting of some of the streetlights from the amber lights to energy efficient LED bulbs (light emitting diode) with some federal stimulus funds. The new bulbs are zero-emission and will be powered by solar panels. They can be monitored remotely and dimmed at night to allow Lick Observatory view of the night sky.)
http://www.mercurynews.com/traffic/ci_14521828?source=rss

While I was looking for information on the streetlight charging stations, I found a website stating that the San Jose City Hall will be hosting an international conference called "Podcar City: Innovating Sustainable Communities" from October 27th to 29th, 2010, sponsored in part by the City of San Jose and the Mineta Transportation Institute, which is affiliated with San Jose State University's College of Business.

What is a podcar?



Podcars are small, lightweight, driverless, computer–controlled vehicles operated on an elevated track powered entirely, or partly, by renewable energy.

The photographs remind me of the Monorail and the extinct Peoplemover at Disneyland.

Podcar systems are already under construction in England, Abu Dhabi, Korea, and Sweden.

The City of San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority are hoping to build a podcar system at the San Jose Airport that would connect to Caltrain, future BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), and Light Rail stations. If successful, San Jose would expand the system to other areas of the city.

Here is the website about podcars and the conference:
http://www.podcarcity.org/sanjose/

Here is the website for the podcar system at the Heathrow Airport in London:
http://www.ultraprt.com/applications/existing-systems/heathrow/

Sometime last week , I heard some radio disc jockeys discussing the film "Back To the Future", where Michael J. Fox's character traveled through time from 1985 to 1955 and back to 1985. In just 5 years, 2015 will be 30 years forward from 1985. How far have we come since "Back to the Future"?

Green Thoughts of the Week: Would you consider purchasing an electric or hybrid car as your next car, if it was easy for you to recharge it? Would you consider using a podcar to get to the airport?

Earth Day Faire at SJSU for the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day

I attended the 'Sustainability on Campus' panel presentation, part of the campus week-long events for the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day.

I learned that 88.6% of SJSU's waste stream is currently being recycled or diverted from landfills (by being reused).

A few examples are:
Unwanted furniture is reused, sold on a public service website, or recycled as mixed debris.

Tree and yard waste is composted at a plant in Gilroy.

Food waste is screened for contaminants and composted in Gilroy.

San Jose Conservation Corps handles recycling for glass and bottles on campus.

Demolition and concrete waste is sent to Zanker Road Landfill and Greenwaste Recovery in San Jose, where huge machines crush the material that can be sold for road base and other uses.

Old tires are converted into asphalt and playground rubber.

'Universal waste' is not included in SJSU's 88.6% figure, because it is already banned from entering landfills....eWaste (computers), batteries, fluorescent light bulbs, automobile oil, oil filters, used antifreeze, and old unusable paint.

Some future projects for SJSU include starting construction on LEED certified buildings for the Student Union and Student Health Center, as well as adding rooftop solar photovoltaic panels on 5 campus buildings to generate 1 million kilawatts per year. The rooftops up for consideration for solar panels are: Sweeney Hall, Business Classrooms, Art Building, Clark Hall, and the Industrial Studies Building.

(LEED stands for 'Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design', an internationally recognized green building certification ratings program.)

The panel presentation was extremely informative and a great kick-off to this week's events.

There is a composting event today (Wednesday) called 'Turn Over an Old Leaf - Compost!' in the Costonoan Room on the 2nd floor of the Student Union featuring Michele Young, the Environmental Services Director from the City of San Jose from 2:30pm-5:00pm.


Green tip of the week: Consider visiting tomorrow's Earth Day Faire in the 7th Street plaza on campus and learn more about the various green services that are available in our community.


Do you have an unwanted heating pad, birdseed, or laundry detergent that you might want to donate to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley?

Are you interested in taking a class from the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara?

Do you want to ask the California Native Plant Society about the different kinds of drought-resistant native plants to plant in your garden?

What kind of rare fruit does the California Rare Fruit Grower's Association grow?

10:00am - 2:00pm
40th Annual Earth Day Faire
Featuring 40 exhibitors of sustainable businesses, organizations, non-profits, and government agencies who all want to show off their amazing achievements.
7th Street Plaza, near Clark Hall (formerly known as Clark Library) and the Central Classrooms Building
Brought to you by the E.R.C. (Environmental Resource Center)

Here are some other Earth Day events for Thursday:

11:45am - 1:00pm
King Library: Sustainable Building, Sustainable Operations: On the way to LEED certification
King Library, MLK Room 213
Brought to you by the staff at FD&O
Our Library Staff have been assisting and contributing a significant amount of information and statistics that help us gain points for the LEED Certification ratings process.

3:15pm - 4:00pm
Getting to Work--How San Jose's Green Vision is Transforming the City: Keynote Speaker featuring City of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed
(Engineering Building) ENG Room 189
Brought to you by the Office of the President: Sustainability Initiative, & E.R.C. (Environmental Resource Center)

Here's the link to the week's campus events for Earth Day:
http://sites.google.com/a/sjsusustainabilityweek.org/www/program

Here's the link to the website that shows some of the exhibitors participating in the Earth Day Faire.
http://sites.google.com/a/sjsusustainabilityweek.org/www/home

This is a Huffington Post Earth Day article that talks about some of the legislation that was passed in the 1970's: Clean Air Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20100421/cm_huffpost/536130

Have a great Earth Day!

40th Anniversary of Earth Day

Earth Day is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year.

I became curious as to how Earth Day began.

After touring an oil spill that occurred off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA in 1969, a Wisconsin Senator named Gaylord Nelson was reading an article about "teach-ins" that were being organized by college students and faculty from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to raise awareness about the Vietnam War.

He thought about colleges possibly hosting a "teach-in" for the environment.

On November 11, 1969, Gaylord Nelson and his staff announced that April 22, 1970 would be the day of the "National Teach-In on the Crisis of the Environment." They chose that date because it fit college schedules between spring break and final exams.

Surpassing their wildest expectations, Nelson and his staff estimated 20 million Americans from 10,000 elementary and high schools, 2,000 colleges, and over 1,000 communities took action on April 22, 1970.

When Senator Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995, President Clinton noted, "as the founder of Earth Day, he is the grandfather of all that grew out of that event — the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act. He also set a standard for people in public service to care about the environment and try to do something about it."


Green tip of the week: Consider attending an Earth Day activity/event to help or learn something new.


Here's the link to SJSU campus events starting on Monday:
http://sites.google.com/a/sjsusustainabilityweek.org/www/program

Next Week: I'll highlight some of the events from SJSU's Sustainability Week, including keynote speaker Mayor Chuck Reed.

I have been told that Gaylord Nelson graduated from SJSU, San Jose State College at that time, from the College of Social Science in 1939.

http://www.nelsonearthday.net

A colleague mentioned that the 1970 Earth Day at SJSU was a big deal on campus and mentioned a car being buried.

Here is a Spartan Daily article from April 2008 that discusses the burial of the 1970 yellow Ford Maverick.

http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2008/04/24/News/A.Witness.To.A.Car.Funeral-3346453.shtml

Kill-A-Watt Power Meters Available from King Library!

The Kill-A-Watt Power Meters are here!

As of this morning, there were 10 meters available for check-out behind the King Library Circulation Desk.

What would you do with a Kill-A-Watt Meter?

You could figure out what are the energy vampires in your home...the energy electronics and appliances that use electricity even when they're turned off.

Green tip of the week: Consider unplugging some of the electronic energy vampires in your home to save yourself some money. Televisions, cell phone chargers, lamps?

Here are some other questions from SmartHomeUSA.com highlighting the Kill-A-Watt Power Meter:

* Should I bother to turn that computer off at night?

* Will it pay me to trade in that old refrigerator (dish washer, clothes dryer, etc.) that is working fine for a new high efficiency refrigerator?

* When I turn down the thermostat on the Air Conditioner how much more money is it costing me?

* How much does it matter what speed I set on the plug-in ceiling fan?

* Experts say that a full refrigerator costs less to run than an empty refrigerator. Can I save money by putting jugs of water in my half-full refrigerator? If so - how much per month?

* What does it cost me to leave my electronic entertainment devices in stand-by mode?

* How much is the Smart Strip Power Strip really saving me?

* I keep the battery charger for my phone, electric drill, PDA, etc. plugged in continuously for convenience. How much is this costing me per month?

http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/P3-International/Item/P4460

Here's the blog entry of the Gadgeteer, that shows some of the tests she did with the Kill-A-Watt Meter with photos...which is helpful with figuring out some of the math calculations.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2007/07/20/kill_a_watt_ez_electricity_usage_monitor/

Here's the link to the Kill-A-Watt Meter webpage along with buttons to access the manual and informational brochure.
http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.html

Here's the City of San Jose webpages dedicated to San Jose's Green Vision Goals about energy efficiency and renewable energy:
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/greenvision/EnergyEfficiency.asp
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/greenvision/RenewableEnergy.asp

Since San Jose receives the bulk of its energy from PG&E, here is PG&E's webpage listing some good energy saving tips:
http://www.pge.com/myhome/saveenergymoney/savingstips

Here's the press release that the San Jose Public Library sent out:
http://library.sjsu.edu/about/news/story_10-04-07.pdf

Check-out your meter today! Have fun!!