
Despite the demise of federal climate change legislation, cities across the nation continue efforts started under the 2009 federal stimulus act to revitalize their communities and make them sustainable. One of the most inspiring examples is right here in Ohio.
The Oberlin Project is a collaboration among the City of Oberlin, Oberlin College, the city’s municipal electric utility, as well as community and business stakeholders, to make Oberlin, Ohio the greenest little city in the U.S. and a national model for sustainable economic development. In the process, the project hopes to revitalize the ailing local economy, equip local residents with the green skills needed to do the work and create an educational laboratory for younger generations.
This effort builds off nationally-renowned environmental educator David Orr’s past success in creating the first-of-its-kind “living building” that still wins architectural and sustainability awards a decade later. The Adam Joseph Lewis Center was designed by nearly 250 students and 20 design-group members charged to do no harm in the world.
The Oberlin Project applies this same high-road approach to community-wide green development. It recognizes that past practices of the conventional energy economy and low-road economic development strategies that produce vast amounts of waste, leave workers unemployed or earning low wages, communities impoverished, residents dependent on fossil fuels imported from out of state and the environment polluted. This project seeks to forge a new way forward. An approach that balances the three E’s of sustainable development— economic development, environmental integrity and social equity—by driving demand for clean energy while leveraging green investments in a way that maximizes their value to the community.
The aggressive goals of the Oberlin Project require a holistic approach that addresses all energy-using and emissions-producing sectors. An inventory of the city’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions identified the need to reduce emissions from electric power generation, green the community’s commercial and industrial sector, develop a more sustainable transportation system and promote energy saving opportunities for residents. Participating stakeholders are divided into working groups and challenged to develop sustainability strategies to achieve these goals.
In Ohio, half of all carbon emissions come from the electric power sector. One of Oberlin’s greatest assets, however, is its community-owned electric utility that operates in the best interest of its citizenry rather than for profit maximization. Oberlin Municipal Light & Power is on track to secure 90 percent of its energy from local renewable energy resources by 2015—largely from landfill gas captured and turned into useful energy.
Doing so will not only significantly reduce the community’s emissions, it will also stabilize customer rates, promote greater self reliance on local energy sources, keep the community’s energy dollars in the region, and supply green power to local residents and businesses. Manufacturers located in Oberlin can tout that products are made with green power and a low carbon footprint. It’s this kind of commitment to sustainability that convinced GreenField Solar, a designer of high-tech solar photovoltaic cells that also capture solar thermal energy, to move to Oberlin.
The local government and its anchor institution, Oberlin College, also plan to lead by example. The city and the college are analyzing their energy usage, setting goals to increase renewable energy generation, promoting energy efficiency, and developing green, local and efficient purchasing standards. The City of Oberlin completed a climate action plan, the Oberlin public school district is studying the concept of a consolidated, green school building and the Oberlin public library has undergone a green retrofit. Oberlin College is hoping to secure two megawatts of solar energy, has adopted campus building standards and is investigating geothermal heat pumps to replace the college’s coal-fired heating plant, among other things.
To promote greater sustainability of Oberlin’s transportation system, Oberlin College is developing a13-acre green arts district in the town square and planning a 20,000 acre greenbelt around the community to grow the market for local foods and explore other agricultural opportunities such as biogas. This effort is based on two key smart-growth principles— reinvestment in downtown, Main Street and existing infrastructure to create a vibrant town center, and preservation of natural land, in part by promoting agricultural activities and supporting efforts to process rural resources.
Visions of a multi-modal transportation system that could include electric vehicle infrastructure, light rail, street cars, bike- and pedestrian-friendly streets and car-sharing services are being discussed. Innovative ideas to green the commercial and industrial sector, such as ecoindustrial parks, are on the table, as is a city-scale home retrofit program to promote energy savings for residents.
Keep your eye on this exciting project as it develops. If it can be done in a small town of 8,000 residents, where resources are limited, it can be done anywhere.
For more information, contact Amanda Woodrum at [email protected].
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Wisdom the mōlī, or Laysan albatross, is the oldest wild bird known to science at the age of at least 70. She is also, as of February 1, a new mother.
<div id="dadb2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa2ad8cb566c9b4b6d2df2693669f6f9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1357796504740761602" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🚨Cute baby alert! Wisdom's chick has hatched!!! 🐣😍 Wisdom, a mōlī (Laysan albatross) and world’s oldest known, ban… https://t.co/Nco050ztBA</div> — USFWS Pacific Region (@USFWS Pacific Region)<a href="https://twitter.com/USFWSPacific/statuses/1357796504740761602">1612558888.0</a></blockquote></div>
The Science Behind Frozen Wind Turbines – and How to Keep Them Spinning Through the Winter
By Hui Hu
Winter is supposed to be the best season for wind power – the winds are stronger, and since air density increases as the temperature drops, more force is pushing on the blades. But winter also comes with a problem: freezing weather.
Comparing rime ice and glaze ice shows how each changes the texture of the blade. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
Ice buildup changes air flow around the turbine blade, which can slow it down. The top photos show ice forming after 10 minutes at different temperatures in the Wind Research Tunnel. The lower measurements show airflow separation as ice accumulates. Icing Research Tunnel of Iowa State University, CC BY-ND
How ice builds up on the tips of turbine blades. Gao, Liu and Hu, 2021, CC BY-ND
While traditional investment in the ocean technology sector has been tentative, growth in Israeli maritime innovations has been exponential in the last few years, and environmental concern has come to the forefront.
theDOCK aims to innovate the Israeli maritime sector. Pexels
<p>The UN hopes that new investments in ocean science and technology will help turn the tide for the oceans. As such, this year kicked off the <a href="https://www.oceandecade.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)</a> to galvanize massive support for the blue economy.</p><p>According to the World Bank, the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem," <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019338255#b0245" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science Direct</a> reported. It represents this new sector for investments and innovations that work in tandem with the oceans rather than in exploitation of them.</p><p>As recently as Aug. 2020, <a href="https://www.reutersevents.com/sustainability/esg-investors-slow-make-waves-25tn-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> noted that ESG Investors, those looking to invest in opportunities that have a positive impact in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, have been interested in "blue finance" but slow to invest.</p><p>"It is a hugely under-invested economic opportunity that is crucial to the way we have to address living on one planet," Simon Dent, director of blue investments at Mirova Natural Capital, told Reuters.</p><p>Even with slow investment, the blue economy is still expected to expand at twice the rate of the mainstream economy by 2030, Reuters reported. It already contributes $2.5tn a year in economic output, the report noted.</p><p>Current, upward <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/-innovation-blue-economy-2646147405.html" target="_self">shifts in blue economy investments are being driven by innovation</a>, a trend the UN hopes will continue globally for the benefit of all oceans and people.</p><p>In Israel, this push has successfully translated into investment in and innovation of global ports, shipping, logistics and offshore sectors. The "Startup Nation," as Israel is often called, has seen its maritime tech ecosystem grow "significantly" in recent years and expects that growth to "accelerate dramatically," <a href="https://itrade.gov.il/belgium-english/how-israel-is-becoming-a-port-of-call-for-maritime-innovation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">iTrade</a> reported.</p><p>Driving this wave of momentum has been rising Israeli venture capital hub <a href="https://www.thedockinnovation.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">theDOCK</a>. Founded by Israeli Navy veterans in 2017, theDOCK works with early-stage companies in the maritime space to bring their solutions to market. The hub's pioneering efforts ignited Israel's maritime technology sector, and now, with their new fund, theDOCK is motivating these high-tech solutions to also address ESG criteria.</p><p>"While ESG has always been on theDOCK's agenda, this theme has become even more of a priority," Nir Gartzman, theDOCK's managing partner, told EcoWatch. "80 percent of the startups in our portfolio (for theDOCK's Navigator II fund) will have a primary or secondary contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria."</p><p>In a company presentation, theDOCK called contribution to the ESG agenda a "hot discussion topic" for traditional players in the space and their boards, many of whom are looking to adopt new technologies with a positive impact on the planet. The focus is on reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment, the presentation outlines. As such, theDOCK also explicitly screens candidate investments by ESG criteria as well.</p><p>Within the maritime space, environmental innovations could include measures like increased fuel and energy efficiency, better monitoring of potential pollution sources, improved waste and air emissions management and processing of marine debris/trash into reusable materials, theDOCK's presentation noted.</p>theDOCK team includes (left to right) Michal Hendel-Sufa, Head of Alliances, Noa Schuman, CMO, Nir Gartzman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, and Hannan Carmeli, Co-Founder & Managing Partner. Dudu Koren
<p>theDOCK's own portfolio includes companies like Orca AI, which uses an intelligent collision avoidance system to reduce the probability of oil or fuel spills, AiDock, which eliminates the use of paper by automating the customs clearance process, and DockTech, which uses depth "crowdsourcing" data to map riverbeds in real-time and optimize cargo loading, thereby reducing trips and fuel usage while also avoiding groundings.</p><p>"Oceans are a big opportunity primarily because they are just that – big!" theDOCK's Chief Marketing Officer Noa Schuman summarized. "As such, the magnitude of their criticality to the global ecosystem, the magnitude of pollution risk and the steps needed to overcome those challenges – are all huge."</p><p>There is hope that this wave of interest and investment in environmentally-positive maritime technologies will accelerate the blue economy and ESG investing even further, in Israel and beyond.</p>- 14 Countries Commit to Ocean Sustainability Initiative - EcoWatch ›
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