By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

It’s a balmy 67 degrees in San Diego and I’m back home at my local coffee shop, sipping Chai Tea Latte.  A short 24 hours ago, I was in the snow and bitter cold of Copenhagen, Denmark, attending the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) climate summit.

For two brief weeks, people from around the world had been gathered to discuss how carbon emissions are affecting our environment.  Despite a failure to sign a major agreement, the victory of the conference has been its ability to focus world attention on climate change issues.  COP-15 has captured the public’s interest, raised awareness and energized ordinary citizens into action.

Acknowledging the gravity of climate change is a difficult task to consider as I sip a tasty beverage in the comfort of my shorts and t-shirt.  Perhaps the single largest challenge for reducing carbon emissions is to convey a sense of urgency to those who are the least affected.  Has our (more…)

Not only has Lee Barken provided us with a daily report from the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, he also provided those of us suffering the heat in San Diego with a video interview and a photo montage of events in Copenhagen including the Bright Green Conference. 

Click here for video interview:

Click here for photos:

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

As we begin the final day of the Conference of Parties (Cop15) climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, the grueling hours and stressful conditions are surely taking their toll on official delegates. It is, however, extremely impressive to see how tactful and diplomatic the country representatives are, even when speaking with observers and civil society participants.

After one particularly late night at the Bella Center, home of Cop15, I waited at the Metro station at 1:30 a.m. in the snow and freezing temperatures and happened to engage in conversation with a negotiator from Bolivia.

The position of Bolivia and others in the region is that the atmosphere is polluted with emissions lingering from the dawn of the industrial era. In other words, developed countries spewed all these (more…)

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

With the gathering of more than 130 world leaders in Copenhagen this week, the issue of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is taking center stage.  GHG has become the burden that no one country can unilaterally cure, but every person on the planet has a vested interest in addressing.

Cap and trade, along with other policy measures, have stirred a great deal of controversy–as they should.  Decisions to significantly alter the fabric of commerce and daily life should not be taken lightly.  Rigorous debate is essential and should be welcomed.

However, even the most ardent climate skeptic acknowledges that finite resources such as oil and other fossil fuels won’t last forever.  As such, the debate seems to be evolving into a question of when and not if.  In other words, (more…)

The COP15 corridor dance: A yellow badge-wearer chats up a pink badge-wearer.

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

Wish you were here? Allow me to draw a picture.

We’re now well into week two of the COP-15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen and the diplomats, activists and media representatives are fully engulfed in a whirlwind of activity.  Beyond the maze of the Bella Center’s million square feet, 60 meeting rooms and winding pathways lies another maze comprised of diplomatic maneuvering, backroom gamesmanship and good old-fashioned guerrilla marketing.  Knowing where to go and what to do (more…)

By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

A royal panel (left to right): Royal Prince Haakon of Norway, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark

Up the road from the COP15 Climate Conference and just outside of downtown Copenhagen, 170 exhibitors gathered this weekend for the 2-day Bright Green conference, to demonstrate that climate change is both a dangerous peril and a pathway to profits. Bright Green, a showcase organized by the Confederation of Danish Industry, aims to show that the emission reductions currently being negotiated at COP15 will require a myriad of new industry solutions.

Judging by the turnout, it would appear that industry is more then ready to step up to the challenge and that the 10,000 attendees were not deterred by silent protest messages, such as “our climate is not your business” (more…)

How a new forestry protocol is bridging the divide between business and environmentalism.

 By Lee Barken, IT practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP

Who says money doesn’t grow on trees? At the third-annual Forest Day event, held during the Cop15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen, attendees were a buzz about going green and making green, all with a new forestry protocol called REDD.

Short for “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation,” REDD aims to make a tree worth more standing up then cut down. It accomplishes this by monetizing the carbon sequestration benefits of trees in the form of carbon credits. Or, to put it another way: REDD is a mechanism to grow (more…)

Tim Kelley, CEO of the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation, calls Imperial Valley the renewable energy epicenter of California.  He could just as easily say the region is at the very bottom of renewable energy resources in California.  On our Discover Imperial County tour last week we passed through Calipatria near the south end of the Salton Sea.  Every day Calipatrians view the city’s landmark, a 184 foot flag pole, the top of which is at sea level.  Calipatria is the lowest city in the western hemisphere.  The happy combination of low elevation, thin earth crust and seismic activity enables the Imperial Valley to generate 20% of all the geothermal energy produced in the United States. 

During our drive we saw almost all of the 16 geothermal plants in the area.  These plants produce over 530 megawatts of electricity most of which is sold to Southern California Edison.  It is anticipated that the Salton Sea geothermal field may contain an additional 2,000 megawatts of commercial development potential. 

None of the “hot rock” electricity is directed to San Diego due to the lack of transmission line capacity, a problem which the Sunrise Powerlink will solve.  The biggest operator with 10 facilities is CalEnergy, a MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (part of the Warren Buffett empire).  Number two is Ormat Technologies, a subsidiary of Israel-based Ormat Industries.

In simplified terms, a geothermal production well is drilled to a depth of 5,000 to 10,000 feet to tap into reservoirs of superheated fluids.  This 400 degree Fahrenheit brine rushes to the surface where steam is “flashed” in a series of closed vessels to drive turbines to produce electricity.  The cooled-down brine is piped a distance away from the generating plant to be injected back into the earth to re-enter the reservoir to capture the earth’s heat.  Once a reservoir is located and tapped the flow of the super hot brine is relatively steady and sustainable.  No carbon emissions are associated with the process.  Unlike solar and wind energy, geothermal energy is a baseload resource generating electricity 24/7. 

You will want to take the virtual tour of a CalEnergy geothermal facility.  Click here to begin your grand tour.

Last year the Imperial Irrigation District commissioned a Renewable Energy Feasibility study.  In addition to geothermal, the 118 page report evaluates solar, wind and biomass energy.

These mudpots are located in an open field on the southeastern side of the Salton Sea. The mud is just above ambient temperature and you can walk right up to the vents. 

Where hot water is limited and hydrogen sulfide gas is present (emitting the “rotten egg” smell common to thermal areas), sulfuric acid is generated. The acid dissolves the surrounding rock into fine particles of silica and clay that mix with what little water there is to form the seething and bubbling mudpots.

Copy and paste the location to Google maps:  Davis Rd & W Schrimpf Rd, Calipatria, Imperial, California 92233.  The satellite view shows the “volcanoes” and their proximity to the Salton Sea.

Click here for a Youtube video (not mine) of the mudpots complete with glugs, blurps and bloops.

If San Diego County were a simple geometric shape it would be a square with sides of 65 miles.  Within those four sides the resources, both natural and man-made, the intellectual heft and techno-talent are incredible.  The effectiveness of what’s in the box is magnified by what lies beyond the perimeter.  In our case it is Imperial County and Mexico.  The economic development description of this outside-the-box-thinking is the Cali Baja Bi-National Mega-Region. 

This past week I participated in a two day Discover Imperial County tour organized by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Council.  For most of us, we rarely have any contact with the sources of our food and energy.  Food comes from an aisle at Vons and electricity from a wall plug.  Just two hours from the center of our box is a different world where every resident has an up-close view of innovative technologies which make our food and energy available and affordable. 

The Imperial Valley is an energy cornucopia.  I doubt if there is any comparable space in the world that can harvest energy from solar, geothermal, water, wind, algae, biomass and piped-in natural gas.  Their ability to add new electrical production is only tempered by the timing of construction of new transmission lines.

The first stop on our tour was at the east edge of San Diego County at the Kumeyaay wind farm on the Campo Indian Reservation.  Three square miles of tribal land adjacent to Interstate 8 are home to 25 giant Gamesa wind turbines rated at 2 megawatts each.  The winds which cross the Tecate Divide provide electricity sufficient to serve more than 12,000 homes while saving 110,000 tons of green house gas emissions annually. 

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By the numbers:  Towers 70 meters (230 feet).  Blades 41.5 meters (136 feet).  The area swept by the blades of each tower = 1 1/3 acres.   Total swept area for the 25 towers = 33 1/3 acres.  (Swept area refers to the area in square feet of the rotor. It is also called the ‘capture area’.  pi x Radius² = Area Swept by the Blades).