Verizon's short-sightedness on saving energy

Today's Environmental Leader included a story entitled: Verizon Aims to Cut Carbon Intensity by Half by 2020 (also reported by Tree Hugger).

"We're going to reduce our carbon footprint fifty percent," Lowell McAdam, Verizon's CEO, said in a sit-down with Bloomberg's Alix Steel. "We are now beginning to install solar arrays for powering our cell tower sites, and we've got our first data center powered by geothermal going in."

I am a FIOS customer of Verizon in Northern Virginia.  When we had Fios service installed, they placed a backup box unit in my house that draws a continuous 20 watts. 24/7/365. It does not power down when the battery is charged nor when there is no call for service. Just a constant 20 watts. That costs me (and all customers) about $20 per year.   Not a lot, but a nice lunch.

I cannot turn this box off.  If I unplug it, then it just draws down the battery until it's used up, which is senseless.  I could pull the battery out, too, but that's a lot of effort--not as easy as pushing a power strip switch, which I can do with my wireless router.

As of the end of 2010 there were 4.1 million FIOS customers (per Verizon’s annual report - pdf). Presumably there are many more now. Assuming there are at least 5 million, that means a constant 100MW of power is needed 24/7–including during periods of peak power.  100MW is the size of a small natural gas peaking unit.  Essentially that means that one additional small power plant is running all the time just to power these back up boxes.  That also exacerbates the demand on power production and gives Dominion Power and other utilities more ammunition to build more power plants and power lines.

5 million customers results in annual energy consumption of 876 million kWh. A not unreasonable estimate for CO2 is about 1.3 pounds per kWh, resulting in more than 1/2 million metric tons of CO2 emitted due to these boxes.  Then there are the wireless routers they also install.  That's an additional 15 watts.  So that's total emissions approaching 1 million metric tons for 5 million customers.  I do not think they are counting these emissions.  Nor do they realize that their customers are paying $150 million per year for electricity for their boxes and routers.

The technology to make these backup boxes “smart” already exists. They could power down to less than a watt when there is no call for service. But Verizon does not care, or--more charitably--is just oblivious. They would rather save the $1 or $2 on the cheaper unit than help reduce demand on the grid and reduce emissions.  Given that they have announced their interest in reducing carbon emissions, this is something that should be brought to their attention.

In fact, the costs associated with making these reductions are almost certainly lower than the costs of adding solar arrays to towers, a strategy Mr. McAdam touts in his interview.

I’d like for Verizon to include these emissions in their calculations. That would then, hopefully,  incentivize them to work with their suppliers to find more efficient solutions.

Five years of blogging on Transform to Sustainability

Without realizing it, the 5-year anniversary of my original blog passed by last month.  Since then I have posted 368 posts here.  Many of these have also been featured on other blogs, including:

• Greater Greater Washington
• CommuterPage.com
• Arlington's AIRE blog
• Sustainable Cities Collective

So what has been popular?  Below is the list of my all time top ten blogs by number of views:

• Our Camry hybrid (sixth post) - Documenting the fuel efficiency benefits of our new tires (preceded by five other posts about our car, obviously)
• Another solution to reducing auto accidents - If we drive less, we have fewer crashes
• Google adds skateboard directions to Google Maps - April fools post
• Monday What's on the Web: NRDC's Switchboard - One in my series of weekly posts highlighting other blogs and web resources on sustainability
• Film Screening, Discussion and Advisory Committee Meeting on Monday, March 7 in Arlington - Announcement of an Arlington event hosted by the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee.  It was well attended.
• Build the "Invisible Tunnel!" - The first of the Farragut tunnel posts (from August 2008) that helped promote the eventual adoption by WMATA of the Farragut Crossing in October 2011.
• Demographics, Declining Populations and Our Environment - My rant about the disconnect between the need for declining population from an environmental viewpoint and growing population from an economic standpoint.
• Integrating High-Speed Rail into the "System" - My proposal for integrating and connecting rail into our air transport system.
• Climate Decade in Review - Post 19: Highest Temperature Ever Recorded in S. Dakota - One in my series of events during the 00's.  Why this one and not the others?  Who knows!
• Recycling is the Worst Thing to Happen to Our Environment - Not that I'm against it or anything.

Here's to the beginning of another five years of what I hope are interesting and thought-provoking blog posts.  Thanks, readers and followers, for your support.

Declines since 1982!!! (A global warming analogy)

I get the occasional email from my skeptic friend highlighting the latest study he's seen on Watt's Up With That and how the entirety of global warming science is thrown into question.  He included this statement in his last email:

". . .the earth has been cooling now for the last 15 years, while CO2 is still rising."

This is a common meme among the skeptics: that there has been no warming recently despite increasing CO2, therefore global warming has stopped.

The main problem with this argument is that 15 years is too short a period to make any definitive statements about long-term trends.  It also fails to take into account other forcings, such as solar intensity (down), ENSO (more La Nina lately) and increased aeresols from Chinese coal burning (study here).

For today, though, I want to show this:



LOOK!!  Declining trend.  And this one goes back all the way to 1982; 30 years.  What could it mean?  Whatever this represents, clearly it's evidence of a long-term decline.

Join Bruce Piasecki at the Robert H. Smith School of Business for a discussion of his new book

The Green Business Roundtable, in partnership with the Robert H. Smith School of Business, is pleased to announce a book discussion with Bruce Piasecki, author of World, Inc.. He will be discussing his brand new book, Doing More With Less, the New Way to Wealth.


Date: Monday, March 5

Time: 5:00 PM

Location: Robert H. Smith School of Business
  Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
  1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
  Washington, DC 20004
  Concourse Level - Room C3

This event is free. Please RSVP to smithevent@mail.com


BRUCE PIASECKI is President and founder of AHC Group, Inc. , a management consulting firm. For more than thirty years, AHC Group has focused on the critical areas of corporate governance consulting, energy, and environmental strategy, product innovation, and sustainability strategy. Whether working with Toyota, Shaw Industries, Suncor Energy, or FMC, Bruce and his team show companies how to compete on price, quality, and social needs. Piasecki has evolved from a niche expert on environmental issues for Fortune 500 corporations to a mainstream advocate for sustainable strategies for everyone.

Benjamin Franklin knew instinctively what so many of us have forgotten: Frugality and industriousness are the ways to wealth. After the last set of business scandals and financial busts, many powerful interests, from governments to multinational corporations, are exploring how to do more with less.
Doing More with Less dives into our primal competitive instinct, which embraces frugality as a crucial competitive edge.

A financial solution to the Bethesda tunnel

East end of tunnel (silverspringtrails.org)

Recently Montgomery County has estimated that the additional costs to the Purple Line of building the bike/ped trail through the Bethesda tunnel could add as much as $40 million to the project.  Using financing mechanisms to capture savings could ameliorate part or all of these costs and improve the project and the community at the same time.
 (Update: the Washington Post reported on February 25 that the MTA has rejected proposals to put the trail in the tunnel.)

In order to fully appreciate this proposal, we have to accept a couple of assumptions that I believe are true:
1) It is cheaper to build the Purple Line and the trail if there are no buildings and/or building supports in the way during construction
2) It is cheaper to build commercial buildings when there is not an operating transit line below them.
3) Conclusion (to accept for the sake of argument) - It would be less expensive for the Purple Line project AND the building developers to design and build everything at the same time.

Arlington County removing dangerous bollards from trails

Arlington County has been removing some of the dangerous bollards and collars that riders have identified on the bollard map, which is here:

View Arlington Bollards in a larger map

Last week I noted that the two bollards on the connector from N. Van Buren St. to the Custis/W&OD, just east of Lee Highway and west of the East Falls Church Metro station, have been removed and new pavement has been smoothly added.  I updated the Bollard map to show this change.  Please check out my previous post on why bollards are mostly unnecessary.

If you have noted other bollards or collars (or other similar hazards) on Arlington's trails, please add them to the map.  Please also note any bollards that have now been removed, as I did.

Kudos to Arlington for using the information provided through this public forum to improve cycling for all of us.
===============================
Steve Offutt is a member of the Arlington Bicycle Advisory Committee

Transforming the market for electric cars: The solution to "Range Anxiety"

Building the market for electric cars presents a tricky conundrum: charging.  People are less likely to want to buy an electric car if they are uncertain about being able to get it charged, and charging stations are not likely to pop up to serve these vehicles if there are few electric cars around.  This fear of running out of charge, "range anxiety," is  a significant obstacle to more widespread adoption.  I believe a forward-looking gas company can help break this logjam while also improving their market positioning.  Here's how.

Suppose one company, let's say Shell, installed chargers in every one of their stations in the Greater Washington area (or another region where there are electric cars on the road).  The key here is to install in every station, even though many will hardly get used.  It's a marketing strategy: make your stations synonymous with electric charging.  One company getting out ahead on this could create a very long lasting market advantage.  Put a charger in every station and make that information common knowledge to everyone.  The marketing has to be comprehensive, so that everyone knows those gas stations have charging stations; it becomes common knowledge. The stations and the marketing are loss leaders; a marketing strategy that pays off in more than one way.

Robert Samuelson redefines "reassuring," downplays seriousness of climate change

In a short op-ed piece today in the Washington Post (January 26, 2012), Robert Samuelson invokes a strange reality on our future.

"A week after President Obama denied the application for the Keystone XL pipeline — which would carry oil from Canada’s tar sands deposits in Alberta to U.S. refineries along the Gulf of Mexico — it’s time for an energy reality check. What does the future hold? It may be better than you think."

That's how he starts the article.  Not that he supports the canceling of the KXL pipeline.  No, he's optimistic because we will continue to burn fossil fuels on into the interminable future no matter what.  That's the "better than you think" line.

Royal Netherlands Embassy achieves LEED Silver

I am pleased to report that my work with the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Washington, DC has resulted in their achieving LEED Silver for their building. They were awarded Silver for the Existing Buildings: Operations and Management (EBOM) track. (I am a LEED AP and am available to help others pursue similar goals.)  The building was constructed in the 1950's and underwent pretty significant improvements in the early 90's.

The project started in the spring of 2010 and was completed in June of 2011.  Preliminary review by the Green Building Certification Institute (the official certifying body) was followed by a re-submittal of additional documentation in September.  This re-submittal resulted in 49 points, just one shy of Silver.  We were able to successfully appeal one credit to achieve the necessary 50 points.

Ped/Bike bridge replacement will improve connection from W&OD to East Falls Church

Arlington County is replacing the footbridge across Four Mile Run that connects the

Existing bridge as approached from the east

W&OD/Custis Trail east of Sycamore Street with the East Falls Church Metro station.  The current footbridge is very narrow, very old and has become obsolete. Its replacement is necessary for safety reasons. However, with input from the Arlington County pedestrian and bicycle advisory committees, the County has taken advantage of this opportunity to improve the bridge.  The replacement bridge will meet ADA standards, will be wider and is in a better location for reducing confusion among trail users.

I-66 "Spot Improvement" now completed

I-66 looking westbound from Ohio St.

The project to widen I-66 westbound between Fairfax Drive and Sycamore Street is now completed.  This is one of several projects that VDOT calls "Spot Improvements."  In this case, the "spot" is about 1.5 miles long (map).  This is the first of these projects, and was begun in the summer of 2010.  Neither of the other two projects is currently underway nor scheduled for the immediate future.

Arlington looking for help with bollard locations

Arlington County has created a public Google Map that people can edit with bollard locations and issues.

View Arlington Bollards in a larger map

In particular, they are asking for locations where bollard collars (that part in the ground that holds the bollard itself) may be sticking up causing a hazard. Since we have the map, it will also be useful for identifying other bollard-related locations, such as where bollards are needed or where they should be removed.

I have posted on this topic before (here and here). Those who know me know that I am opposed to bollards in general and believe they should only be installed where there is documented need, rather than at every intersection just as a policy. The W&OD trail removed all its bollards along the entire 45 miles some years back and experiences few problems with cars. Not zero, though. However, they have decided that the positive aspects of better aesthetics and safer travel for cyclists outweigh the negatives of a rare car encroaching on the trail.

Please check the map out and add any locations that you believe could use attention. It's easy, just click on the EDIT button and you will be able to edit the map. Remember to save when you are done. Thanks for your help.

On-street Crescent Trail will be worse for bikes and peds

(This is an unedited cross post from Greater Greater Washington)

This post is in response to a Greater Greater Washington post from Dan Reed: On-street Crescent Trail may be better for bikes and peds

I disagree with almost everything Mr. Reed suggests in his post.

For a year or so I commuted through that tunnel almost every day. It is an excellent amenity.

Mr. Reed suggests that the on-street alternative may be safer because of the likelihood of crime, and he points out crime problems at other bike/ped facilities.  This is a red herring argument.  The tunnel has been open since 1998 and crime has not been an issue.  Undoubtedly it will be even less so with greater usage.  The safety benefit of not having to cross Wisconsin Avenue at grade is much greater than any potential danger associated with crime.

New bridge design serves pedestrians and cyclists better

Arlington County has chosen a design (pdf) for its upcoming rehabilitation of the Carlin Springs bridge over George Mason Drive.

View Larger Map

The current bridge has five-foot sidewalks and no accommodation for cyclists.  The new bridge will have 8-foot sidewalks and 5-foot bike lanes on both sides.  The rest of Carlin Springs Drive does not currently have bike lanes, but it is important to plan for the future by including them now. Had the County not included better bike/ped accommodations, then those decisions would have been difficult to change for 30 or more years.

Skeptics are not statisticians: 1% of a data set does not disprove the whole data set.

A friend of mine likes to provoke me by sending links to posts and articles that contradict the established science on climate change. Recently he pointed me to this post that appeared in Watt's Up With That: NCDC data shows that the contiguous USA has not warmed in the past decade, summers are cooler, winters are getting colder.  My friend accompanied this link with this comment:

Well, the figures are in from the NOAA National Climate Data Center and the rest is just high school math. While US CO2 emission has gone up precipitously in the last 100 years the average temperature in the US has gone down. Of course you could look at just the last 15 years and ignore the rest. In this case CO2 has still gone up a lot and temperature was flat. Does this fit with saying the controversy is over and global warming is an established fact.

I countered with some points, but only later realized the biggest flaw with this reasoning, which I'll get to shortly.