ECOreport

HOW UTILITY SCALE SOLAR IMPACTS THE LAND

 

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

November 13, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - The joint study from Stanford University and UC Riverside reads like a report card. The authors recognized that, “solar energy has one of the greatest climate change mitigation potentials” of all renewable energy sources. It can play a leading role in helping the United States reach its’ goal of reducing emissions to 80% of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This would require covering a great deal of land surface.  Using current technology, close to 71,428 square kilometres  (44,383 sq.  miles), or an area roughly comparable to South Carolina, could be covered with panels. Rebecca R. Hernandez et al examined more than 160 sites in California to find out how utility scale solar impacts the land.


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CLINTON WANTS TO SEE HALF A BILLION SOLAR PANELS

 

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

July 30, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - With Hillary Clinton leading the pack of Presidential hopefuls, America could increase its solar capacity by 700% by 2020. The latest CNN poll shows 44% of the voters respondents favourable to her. This is quite a lead over the two next most favoured candidates, Republicans Jeb Bush and Donald Trump (who both had 34%). Her Democratic challenger, Bernie Sanders, may be “moving up” but has a long way to go with only 24%. Clinton wants to see half a billion US solar panels on rooftops by the end of her first term.


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CLEANING UP THE SANTA BARBARA OIL SPILL

 

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

May 28, 2015 (Santa Barbara) - It has been eight days since a 24-inch Plains All American oil pipeline ruptured. Though the pipeline was manually shut down after 45 minutes, approximately 105,000 spilled and 20,000 of that entered the ocean. Volunteers are combing 8 miles of affected shoreline, skimming oil from the ocean, and rescuing wildlife. Close to a thousand people are cleaning up the Santa Barbara Oil Spill.


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WHAT HAS THE UNDER2 MOU CHANGED?

 

Fossil Fuel Development Continues Unabated On The West Coast

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

May 22, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Are the drought conditions spreading throughout the West Coast connected to climate transformation? States of emergency have been declared in California, Washington and parts of Oregon. Though British Columbia has not experienced this, a recent computer simulation predicted 80% of its glaciers could disappear over the next decade. This entire region responded by joining with eight other states, on three continents, in a pact to tackle Climate Change. Yet the development of fossil fuel continues, so what has the Under 2 MOU changed on the West Coast?


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EARTHTALK(R): CALIFORNIA'S CURRENT WATER CRISES IS MAN-MADE PHENOMENON

 

Earthjustice attorney says tough questions need to be Asked

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

May 11, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - According to Earthjustice attorney Trent Orr, California’s current water crisis is a man-made phenomenon. It is the outcome of the mid 20th century notion that equates progress with giant public works projects and assumes that we can engineer our way out of all sorts of problems, including living on a drought-prone state. This doesn’t work.


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SAN DIEGO SOLAR ENERGY ON THE RISE. NEW POLL OFFERS INSIGHTS.

 

Originally Published on the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

April 17, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - A new poll confirms California's solar revolution appears to be unstoppable. The respondents were parents, 81% of whom said they want to live in a solar powered home. The majority, 67%, also wants solar to be the world's primary energy source when their children grow up.


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TWO PACE COMPANIES DOMINATE CALIFORNIA'S HEADLINES

 

Originally Published in the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

November 26, 2014 (San Diego)--It has been nine months since California approved a $10 million reserve fund, to reimburse mortgage holders if homeowners with Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) default. (The residential program has been moving in slow motion since 2010, when, concerned about the priority PACE loans had over mortgages, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered the government-sponsored enterprises to not underwrite mortgages for homes with PACE loans.)


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SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY ARE NOT NECESSARILY GOOD

 

A Review of the video Good News, from Climate Reality

Originally Published in the ECOreport

View video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTH3otcW_hs[/embedyt

By Roy L Hales

October 9, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - "Good News," from Climate Reality, is good propaganda. The message is clear and, to a large extent, true - only it also perpetuates a myth. Solar and wind energy are not necessarily good, it depends how they are used.


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HOW SDG&E'S SMART DEVICES HELPED RESTORE POWER TO THEIR CUSTOMERS

 

Originally Published in the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales 

San Diego’s grid has endured an onslaught. A record breaking 5-day-long heat wave, that produced back to back peak demand records of 4,781 megawatts (MW) and 4,890 MW. There were high winds, microbursts followed by sudden downpours and flooding. A lot of trees fell and there were several outages. Repair crews worked round the clock. Some worked 24 hour shifts. Hanan Eisenman, Communications Manager for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), explained how SDG&E’s smart grid devices helped restore power to their customers.


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SAN DIEGO NEEDS TO PUT TRANSIT AND ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION FIRST

 

Originally Published in the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

September 13, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) - A statewide survey, done by the Public Policy Institute, found that 77% of Californians think public transit should be the focus of transportation spending. Only 18% said more money should be spent on highways and freeways.(1) This sentiment is strong in San Diego, where more than a decade ago 85% of the respondents said the transit system was the #1 priority.(2) When the question came up again, in 2010, 55% of those polled wanted the transit system expanded, as opposed to 32% who want more roads.(3) Now, as the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) draws up its’ transportation plan, community groups want them to put plans for a freeway expansion on hold. According to Monique Lopez, from the Environmental Health Coalition, San Diego needs to put transit and active transportation first.


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MORE THAN 90% OF RESIDENTIAL PACE INSTALLATIONS ARE MADE THROUGH HERO

 

 

All photos are Courtesy of HERO PACE,

  • Synthetic Turf – Courtesy HERO PACE
  • Weather based irrigation systems – HERO PACE
  • Gray water systems – Courtesy HERO PACE

Originally Published in the ECOreport

By Roy L Hales

June 23, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)program is spreading across the US. Maine offers single PACE loans for up to $15,000 and New Hampshire is preparing to life its cap to $1 million. There is a PACE program in Ann Arbor and another being formed to service the rest of Michigan. PACE programs are starting up in Arkansas , Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Eighty percent of the US is said to be adopting . However the program is still primarily Californian and, according to company spokesperson Severn Williams, more than 90% of residential PACE installations are made through HERO.


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