Irene M. Stillings CCSE Executive Director

From the Director's Desk:
Feeling the Pain at the Pump?
Get Street Smart^SM!!

The California Center for Sustainable Energy hosts 2nd annual Street Smart Event Sunday, July 27

The beautiful summer months encourage San Diegans to venture out into the city, but travel by car comes at a high price. With gas prices creeping ever closer to five dollars per gallon, the need for a change is also at an all time high. The California Center for Sustainable Energy’s ( CCSE) free annual Street Smart Event focuses on those changes. The event educates San Diegans interested in getting more mileage for their money and learning about fuel alternatives.

A wide variety of vehicles will be on display at Street Smart. Plus, transportation experts will be on hand to answer questions along with leaders in electric vehicle technologies. The keynote speaker, Chris Paine, director and creator of “Who Killed the Electric Car” will take the audience behind the scenes of the award-winning documentary that investigates the rise and fall of the first electric vehicle, the EV1.

Plus, the Solar Taxi will be making its debut visit in San Diego at Street Smart during its trip around the world fueled by the sun! Experience the Solar Taxi and hear from its driver, Louis Palmer, a man on a solar-powered mission.

Palmer is now more than halfway through his trip, in an effort to bring awareness to alternatives to fossil-fuel based transportation.

Free fuel efficiency and alternative transportation workshops, green transportation vendors, prize giveaways and alterative fuel vehicles on display are awaiting you at Street Smart. It’s being held at the California Center for Sustainable Energy, 8690 Balboa Ave. Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92123 on Sunday, July 27th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Learn more and pre-register at www.energycenter.org. See you there!

	Solar Taxi

Algae to Oil, Green Gasoline

CCSE’s Kara Holman investigates Sapphire Energy’s new technology

It’s not only vehicles that are getting eco-friendly, gasoline is also going green!

Sapphire Energy, a La Jolla based company, is making gasoline from algae, to produce ”green crude” oil. The production process relies on photosynthetic microorganisms, such as algae, sunlight, CO2 and non-arable land. These photosynthetic microorganisms produce “green crude” that, when refined, produce gasoline, not ethanol and not biodiesel. The end product is, in fact, 91-octane gasoline.

Here in San Diego, traveling by car is expensive, but this green oil may have consumers feeling some financial and environmental relief.

“With any alternative, there is the potential to lower prices, not only for our gasoline but for the energy market as a whole, said Kristina Burow, Principal with ARCH Venture Partners. “In addition to the cost, Sapphire will bring a cleaner, greener gasoline to the market, something everyone will benefit from.”

According to Burow, there is no ‘food vs. fuel’ tradeoff. The process is not dependent on crops or valuable farmland.

“The process uses non-arable land and non-potable water and delivers 10 to 100 times more energy per acre than cropland biofuels, said Burow.”

The California Center for Sustainable Energy’s Climate Change Program Manager, Andrea Cook, Ph.D. says biofuels from algae have great promise.

“They work well at the small scale, but the challenge is to scale it up to be commercially viable,” said Cook.

Sapphire Energy says it plans to be at commercial sale production within three to five years.

Case Study: The Choice for Zero Emission Transportation

The motto, “children are our future,” took on a whole new meaning for Darrel Dickey, of Davis, California, when his first daughter was born. Particularly concerning was how to justify driving a fossil fuel burning vehicle, considering the environmental consequences. When faced with the notion of having to answer some tough questions from his daughter one day about how his lifestyle choices affected the world, Dickey decided to make a significant change and purchased his first electric car.

Upon further thought, however, the problem still wasn’t solved. Although electric vehicles have zero tailpipe emissions, the vehicles need to be charged, and the energy often comes from carbon emitting power plants. In other words, these vehicles are just passing their carbon emissions on to another source.

Dickey addressed this issue by generating his own clean and renewable energy. He had a solar photovoltaic system installed on the rooftop of his garage, which is now providing not only all the electricity his home requires, but also enough power to charge his car.

Dickey is only one of many Californians who have jumped on the solar powered bandwagon. Stephen Weitz, of Northern California, is also using solar photovoltaic to charge his electric truck after researching a variety of alternative fuel choices. “A biofuel internal combustion engine, as a solution for global warming, is not as good as an electric vehicle because large amounts of soluble nitrogen are produced just due to the combustion process,” said Weitz. According to Weitz, ethanol and biodiesel fuels also utilize internal combustion engines. The combustion process , takes harmless nitrogen and converts it into a toxic soup of green house gasses that fill the air, albeit at a smaller ratio than regular combustion engines. For this reason, Weitz opted for an electric vehicle.

Southern Californians have the sun as a resource they can utilize if they decide a carbon free vehicle is right for them. The California Center for Sustainable Energy not only allocates incentives to people who invest in electric vehicles through the Fueling Alternatives ^SM Program, but also offers incentives to people who install solar PV systems through the California Solar Initiative.

The Future of Green Jobs

CCSE Interns Deja Malone-Persha

CCSE Interns are getting hands-on experience preparing for the future of sustainability. Currently assisting with the demands of marketing, as well as climate change and energy efficiency programs, they’re volunteering their time for the important sustainable energy mission. CCSE’s talented and hardworking interns are not only very appreciated, but also are sowing the seeds for sustainable growth in the green jobs industry. The intern program is a win-win scenario. It enables students to work on specific projects in their areas of interest, while fulfilling CCSE’s goal of developing youth education and work experience programs in the growing green jobs market. The interns are getting a step ahead in their prospective fields, learning and gaining experience in a fast paced environment, while helping CCSE secure the future of the green jobs industry!

CCSE intern, Chris Palis is a master's student in environmental studies at York University in Toronto. His area of concentration is renewable energy incentives for sustainable business.
Barret Dunn and Daniela Aguiar de Cuhna are gaining experience performing marketing and outreach tasks, including writing and tracking advertising and public relations. Barret, a journalism/media studies major, is in his last semester at San Diego State University and Daniela, an international student from Brazil , has just graduated from UCSD’s business management program with an emphasis in marketing. Jennifer Dredla and Deja Malone-Persha are High Tech High interns assisting with the climate change program. They provide support to the climate change program manager by compiling and analyzing education and outreach data.

“Interning here at CCSE has really given me hands on experience and opened my eyes to a lot of new ideas. I have really enjoyed the amount of responsibility and work I have been given, I feel like an actual member of the team.

CCSE Interns from Left to Right: Daniela Aguiar do Cuhna, Barrett Dunn and Chris Palis

This internship has exceeded my expectations, not only have I been given the opportunity to improve my writing, but my outlook toward the environment has completely evolved. I have really enjoyed broadening my knowledge of energy topics and the effects of various energy sources through the various articles I have written for CCSE. Overall this internship was awesome and I look forward to doing more work with CCSE in the future!”

-Barrett Dunn, Marketing Intern

If you want to get involved with an eco-friendly cause, CCSE is always looking for available volunteers and interns to assist with our programs’ events and projects. If you are interested in volunteering or interning, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and include information about your availability, interests, skills and experience.

CCSE’s Green Team Goes Live

CCSE exists to green your world. You may have seen us out in the community working hard with marketing, outreach and public relations efforts to achieve this. What you might not know, is that we’re also working hard, and doing everything we can, to green our world. A growing group of interested employees has formed the CCSE Green Team. From the integration of an office-wide composting program to the replacement of all disposable, paper dishes with reusable plates, the team meets regularly to creatively implement sustainable practices in the office.

The Green Team has also implemented an energy efficiency game at CCSE to live up to our mission every day and remind each other of the importance of walking the talk. “Power foul” is becoming a regular source of amusement for some, while a smile inducing annoyance for others. Each time employees commit a ‘power foul’ like leaving a computer monitor on while unattended or a light on in a vacant room, printing a document single sided or eating with disposable plates or utensils (we’ve all been issued washable dishes), they receive a ‘power foul’ fine of 25 cents. The fine is paid into the ‘power foul’ fines jar. If the fines build up, we’ll figure out an energy efficient way to spend the power foul bank.

The Green Team wanted to share their ideas, so we launched the Greening Our World webpage.

From Brown to Green: The renewable life cycle

Where some people see trash, CCSE employees see potential. The employees of the California Center for Sustainable Energy have started a composting project. While many people compost, including employees at many companies, the fact that employees are composting AT CCSE is what makes this situation unique.

From the morning coffee and newspaper, to the leftovers from lunch ’n’ learns, any food scraps employees get their hands on wind up in the kitchens’ composting bins. Rather than mindlessly throwing these scraps into the trash where they will end up in a landfill, composting provides a natural way to recycle any organic material into a rich soil that can be used for gardening – a truly sustainable practice.

Yard clippings, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, fruits, vegetables, newspapers and cardboard are just a few examples of would-be-trash that can be composted. The process is simple and in a few weeks a nutrient-full soil can be produced to help grow your favorite salad ingredients. The great thing about this composting project is that those scraps on the cutting board, left-over when making the compost fertilized home-grown organic salad, can be thrown right back into the composting bin... the circle of life working at its best.

Click on the following links to learn more about composting:

The Environmental Protection Agency

Solana Center

How to Compost

SWHPP Petition for Modification Receives Final Decision from the CPUC

The Solar Water Heating Pilot Program ( SWHPP), in a joint effort with CALSEIA, submitted a Petition for Modification to the CPUC on April 3, 2008. In the last three months, the Petition has been run through the standard process with the CPUC receiving comments from interested parties in the industry. On July 2, 2008, the CPUC published its official ruling on the request.

The SWHPP was granted the following changes:

• Program end date is extended by one year to December 31, 2009 or until the funding is exhausted.
• New construction, both residential and commercial, is now eligible to receive the incentive. This includes fire survivors.
• A workshop to discuss the program evaluation plan is required within 60 days of the official decision. The workshop has been scheduled for August 26, 2008.
• The CPUC Energy Division has the authority to approve budget funding reallocations as requested by CCSE.

The changes mark a turning point for the SWHPP: emphasis has been added to the program evaluation. This will stimulate discussion of implementation and development of AB 1470, the Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in October of 2007 to create a statewide SWH program with $250M in natural gas ratepayer funding.

CCSE Policy Team Visits Sacramento

The California Center for Sustainable Energy’s policy team took a whirlwind tour of the state’s capitol on June 17 and 18. CCSE policy staff met with 15 California State Senators, Assemblymembers and their staff to discuss CCSE’s mission and what CCSE offers to the region through our campaign to “Green Your World^SM .“ CCSE staff talked with members of the state’s Energy and Utilities Committees from both legislative houses to spread the word about CCSE’s green programs, policies, positions and how CCSE has emerged as a major leader in San Diego’s energy picture.

State elected officials on both sides of the aisle have become increasingly keen to the green movement taking place in California and beyond and will need guidance from actively engaged unbiased organizations like CCSE. A major component of CCSE’s mission is to provide stakeholders, like elected officials, with on-the-ground energy efficiency and distributed generation expertise based on experience as a third-party program administrator. CCSE’s unique position as a non-profit conduit between state legislators and their constituents is an important one that assists them as they pursue the state’s energy savings. This tour was the first step in a long-term plan for CCSE to become more actively engaged in reaching the state’s energy goals.

CCSE Scientist Participates in Ground-Breaking UCSD Climate Change Seminar

It was a revolutionary idea…bring together progressive thinking business people and elite scientists to discuss issues involving climate change.

Last month, University of California San Diego’s Rady School of Business created a forum for the two groups to discuss the scientific facts of global climate change. The participants of the seminar learned to distinguish the realities from the media hype and discussed strategies and tactics they can use to benefit their businesses through scientific research.

Scripps Institute of Oceanography partnered with the business school to give an educational seminar, and the two recently became the first in the nation to offer a joint Ph.D./ MBA program to promote cross communication between scientists and business people.

There are many business industries affected by climate change such as: finance, insurance, investment banking, retail, beverages, leisure services, technology, energy and commodities. California Center for Sustainable Energy strives to stay abreast of the latest developments in both the energy and business worlds and sent climate change specialist, Andrea Cook, Ph.D. to the seminar.

Dr. Andrea Cook, Ph.D.

Cook saw the potential positive results from this seminar, but stressed that converting a business to be environmentally friendly can be a tale of two stories. "The short-term costs of investing rarely outweigh the initial benefit; however, in the long run you can save your business money and assist in the big picture fight against global climate change," said Cook.

Cook also pointed out that, too often, people concentrate their attention too narrowly looking only at the individual aspects of greening their world, when they should be taking baby steps toward living a broader sustainable life style.

Inside the San Diego Energy Resource Center Lending Library

The Energy Resource Center ( ERC) has a vast array of books, periodicals, DVD's and tools to assist businesses and home owners with energy efficiency products, services and practices. Books, periodicals and DVD's can be checked out free of charge. Please call toll-free: 1-866-SDENERGY for more information. For a look at tools and resources available in the lending library, click here. ERC Featured Display Name: Greening the ERC Kitchen Description: The ERC kitchen is becoming increasingly green every day. The ERC now uses kitchenware products that are biodegradable, caterers who mostly use organic products and no longer provides bottled water. In an effort to better sort the waste that’s created through its workshops, two new waste dispensers have been added. These dispensers come with 4 compartments, which differentiate between regular trash, paper, plastics/cans and compostable material. The compostable material will be collected and composted in the new ERC composting bin. Also, to decrease paper waste, speaker presentations will no longer be printed, instead they’ll be emailed beforehand, allowing attendees to review and print at their discretion. This is a work in progress and we thank you for your support. Systems Addressed: Recycling ERC Featured Instrument Name: PlugLogger, Dent Instruments 110 V Power Meter/Analyzer Description: Measures power, energy and energy costs of plug loads. Ten independent measured values provide a wealth of information. The total energy and the total energy cost can be measured over the monitoring period and analyzed even after the monitor is removed. LookAhead™ features predict the average monthly energy cost and the predicted annual cost of the monitored device. Additional engineering functions measure total hours, kilowatt-hours, current draw, Volt-amps, displacement power factor, power draw and line voltage. Features: 10 measurements including actual energy costs, kWh, volts, amps, power draw and the ability to predict monthly and yearly costs. For plug-in 110V electrical devices, there is no simpler way to answer the question, "How much is this device costing me?" No wires to connect, simply plug into the outlet and plug the measured device into the PLUGlogger. Non-volatile flash memory retains kWh, energy cost (based upon local utility rates that you set) and total hours so the unit can be read on site or taken to a more convenient location. Excellent for analyzing air conditioners, compressors, refrigerators, lights, computers, copiers, printers or any 110V device in the office or the home. Availability: Loaned free of charge for up to 5 business days. Remember: Safety first! ERC Featured Book Name: International Energy Conservation Code Author: International Code Council Description:The 2006 International Energy Conservation Code encourages energy conservation through efficiency in envelope design, mechanical systems, lighting systems and the use of new materials and techniques. This comprehensive energy conservation code establishes minimum regulations for energy efficient buildings using prescriptive and performance-related provisions. It is founded on broad-based principles that make the use of new materials and new energy efficient designs possible. This 2006 edition is fully compatible with all the International Codes published by the International Code Council. NOTE: Books, periodicals and videos can also be checked out free of charge at CCSE. Please call Toll Free: 1-866-SDENERGY for more information. To find prior editions of "Inside the San Diego Energy Resource Center Lending Library" information, including DVD reviews, click here.

Energy Policies, Regulations & Legislative Updates

A Summary of Recent California Public Utilities Commission regulatory activity, and what it means to the average consumer, business and/or public agency: Energy Efficiency (R.06-04-010) What’s this? This is the forum for initiating the next planning cycle for 2009-2011 energy efficiency ( EE) program plans, funding levels and related issues. What’s new? On June 2, in order to allow additional time for the Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) to incorporate the final Database for Energy Efficient Resources (DEER) 2008 Update numbers in their 2009-2011 portfolio plans and also best reflect the final California Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan, the filing date for the IOUs’ 2009-2011 EE portfolio applications was extended from June 23 to July 21. On June 9, an All-Party Meeting was held to discuss the definition of goals for the 2009-2011 period, potential adjustments to the risk/reward incentive mechanism, the EE strategic plan review process and expectations for the composition of programs to be included in the IOUs’ 2009-2011 EE portfolio applications. California Solar Initiative, Self-Generation Incentive Program and Other Distributed Generation Issues (R.08-03-008) What’s this? This new rulemaking will continue the work of R.06-03-004, developing and refining policies, rules and programs for the California Solar Initiative ( CSI) and the Self-Generation Incentive Program ( SGIP) and considering policies for the development of cost-effective, clean and reliable distributed generation ( DG). What’s new? On May 15, the CPUC released the Scoping Memo and Ruling of Assigned Commissioner and Administrative Law Judges, which defined the scope of the proceeding and set forth the procedural schedule. SWHPP: At the June 26 CPUC Meeting, the Decision Granting in Part and Otherwise Denying Petition for Modification of Decision 06-01-024 regarding Solar Water Heating Pilot Program was signed by the CPUC Commissioners, allowing CCSE to extend its SWHPP offered to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) customers until December 31, 2009, or until the $3 million pilot program budget is exhausted, whichever occurs first, but denying the Petition for Modification in all other respects. CSI: On June 3, a ruling requesting comments on a Measurement and Evaluation (M&E) Plan for the CSI proposed by California Public Utilities Commission ( CPUC) Energy Division Staff was released. Comments regarding the proposed M&E Plan were due June 17, and reply comments were due June 24. SGIP: On May 28, the SGIP Program Administrators (PAs) filed a motion to modify the schedule for their submission of the 2007 Impacts Report for the SGIP. This report was originally due June 16, and the SGIP PAs requested an extension until October 1. A ruling granting the requested extension was issued on June 24. Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Project (A.06-08-010) What’s this? San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) seeks authority from the CPUC to construct a 500 kV transmission line in conjunction with several 230 kV transmission lines expected to run 150 miles between the Imperial Valley to San Diego. What’s new? On June 20, a Revised Scoping Memo and Ruling was issued ordering that the draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the Sunrise Powerlink Transmission Project be expanded to include new information about a Mexico wind power project, La Rumorosa in Baja California. The Ruling also ordered a revised analysis of the technical feasibility and potential economic benefits of the leading alternatives to the Sunrise Powerlink project. The final EIR/EIS was expected to be published in June; however, on July 10, revised portions of the draft EIR/EIS will be recirculated for comment for a period of 45 days. A proposed decision on the project will be issued in October 2008, and a final decision is expected before the end of the year. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cap (R.06-04-009) What’s this? Initiated out of Assembly Bill ( AB) 32, this will design and implement a greenhouse gas ( GHG) cap for the regulated electric utilities, including consideration of a GHG performance standard. What’s new? In related news, on June 26, the California Air Resources Board ( CARB) released the Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan. The draft scoping plan offers a comprehensive set of measures designed to reduce overall carbon emissions in California and, among other things, diversify our energy sources and save energy. The public and stakeholders are invited to submit comments on the draft scoping plan by August 1. In addition, public workshops on the draft scoping plan will be held at various locations in the state during the month of July. Click here for a complete list of AB 32 workshops and meetings. The draft scoping plan will be revised based on public and stakeholder input and finalized as the Proposed Scoping Plan, which will be released in early October and considered by CARB at its November Board meeting. For a complete list of energy-related State and Federal legislation, please visit our Web site at www.energycenter.org.