SUSTAINABLE WORLDVIEW
urging policy and regulatory changes to get
such programs in place.”
A Better Algorithm: É<RE<C
Readers propose a variety of ways by which Google might stimulate
rapid change on the energy-efficiency front.
By Michael Totten
Anumber of readers emailed about the
last column (RE<C: Google Searches
the Future, March/April 2008, p. 20),
outlining Google’s plans to make renewable
energy cheaper than coal. All the e-mails
were extraordinarily positive about Google’s
green leadership, expressing utter amazement at the passion and commitment for
renewable energy shown by Google’s two
founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. A few
e-mails expressed some interesting insights.
Let me share a few remarks offered as pro
bono advice to the renewable tyros at Google.
services, the report
concludes, while citizens accrue more than
$100 billion in net
savings. Google needs
an eta-better algorithm: É<RE<C [Effi-ciency is cheaper than
renewable energy,
which is cheaper than
Michael Totten coal]. Google should
support web tools that
enable any citizen to access their building
by zip code. Let them play with plug-in
estimators that show how a combination of
efficiency upgrades (including onsite solar)
can move the building towards the lofty
but feasible goal of zero-net emissions. Then
let them see how these changes can be
implemented, leaving them cash-positive
through innovative financing arrangements
(like the Solar Santa Monica long-term
financing package). And if financing isn’t
available in their community, then let a
plug-in facilitate sending an immediate
email to their elected and appointed officials
E.B.,Virginia: “It’s well known that Google
develops generic web applications for anyone in the public to build upon, and shuns in-house development of special apps for outside
groups. Yet, NGOs across the nation could be
using Google Earth mashups [a combination
of data from different sources] to inform local
citizens on the nuts and bolts of rapidly greening their cities with value-adding, minimal-emissions, money-saving, green job-generat-ing, zero-energy building designs and solarized
neighborhoods — if only they had modest
financial resources and sufficient web technical expertise. Google.org should be spawning
community collaboration across the nation
through NGO seed grants for web greening-city energy-generation mashups.”
C.G., Iowa: “Let’s get real, Google
founders. Your algorithm, RE<C, is woefully incomplete, leaving out the largest pool
of lowest-cost and least-risky energy service
options: efficiency. As detailed in the American Solar Energy Society’s 2007 report,
Tackling Climate Change in the U.S., renewable energy can economically satisfy America’s energy needs for this century while
achieving the deep CO2 reduction targets
climate scientists are urging. But it is efficiency that provides half the total energy
R.E., Texas: “I bet the majority of
Google’s Internet R&D and commercial initiatives are focused on the next several years.
So, why don’t they apply this same business logic and strategy to their RE<C project?
They speak of harnessing wind power from
the jet stream. Whether or not it turns out
to be a nut-dream or endless money stream,
by the time they find out there will have
been many hundreds of billions of dollars
already locked into needless new transmission lines arranged for moving the output
from a rash of noxious coal plants with poisonous emissions. These transmission lines
are [not] sited … for electricity distribution
from the immense wind resources of the
High Plains and Great Plains, and the vast
solar resources of the Southwest. Google
Earth maps with plug-in calculators and 4D
web visualization tools can play pivotal roles
in showing farmers, ranchers, regulators,
investors, developers and citizen stakeholders where these more important transmission corridors should be preferentially sited.
There are a number of national and regional stakeholder consortia working on this,
ensuring that the sites are strategically located so as to also protect the nation’s ecological treasures and heritage landscapes. Come
down from the sky, Googlers: Terrestrial
wind generation is competitive today, and
needs more transmission access now!”
T.M., Maine: “It’s not surprising that
Google’s tech wizards have fixated on high-tech energy solutions. But don’t they know
that even their own billions-of-dollar fortunes
KARL WIRSING/RAILS-TO-TRAILS CONSERVANCY
Google Maps can be a valuable tool in planning and promoting bike trail systems.
Shown here, the popular Minuteman commuter route in Boston, named on May 30 to
the Rails-to-Trails Hall of Fame.
