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Lose 5000 lbs of C02?
Low Carbon Diet, by David Gershon
Our church is a dedicated Green Sanctuary and this year we took the Low Carbon Challenge to lose at least 5000 lbs of C02 in our daily lives. Cumulative total so far is over 50,000 lbs. Some popular suggestions were: Use a clothes line in good weather; re-wear clothing until they really need to be washed; take shorter showers; carpool; drive like a turtle not a rabbit; set your thermostat higher in summer, lower in winter; sign up for Climate Smart at PG&E; insulate unused windows with bubble plastic; plant trees; eat local produce and go solar (we leased our system).
If you'd like to participate in a carbon ring, we will have a new orientation in January. Leave me a message here and I'll get details to you.
You can also find more information at http://uulmca.org/programs/climate_water/low_carbon_challenge.html
Our church is a dedicated Green Sanctuary and this year we took the Low Carbon Challenge to lose at least 5000 lbs of C02 in our daily lives. Cumulative total so far is over 50,000 lbs. Some popular suggestions were: Use a clothes line in good weather; re-wear clothing until they really need to be washed; take shorter showers; carpool; drive like a turtle not a rabbit; set your thermostat higher in summer, lower in winter; sign up for Climate Smart at PG&E; insulate unused windows with bubble plastic; plant trees; eat local produce and go solar (we leased our system).
If you'd like to participate in a carbon ring, we will have a new orientation in January. Leave me a message here and I'll get details to you.
You can also find more information at http://uulmca.org/programs/climate_water/low_carbon_challenge.html
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tom Cotter on -
Sally,
This is great stuff. I read through the website too. I would like some info on the orientation in January. My wife and I (at least) want to come be a part. Also, I would be open to sharing about solar power or solar thermal (or various other topics such as carbon offsets or biofuels) if there is a need I can fill. Let me know.
One question: Do you own the renewable energy credits for your solar system or did the lease company end up with them?
Tom Cotter
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Permalink Reply by Sally Carroll on -
Tom, I'll get you the details as soon as I have them. I didn't see it calendared yet, but I sent an email to the chair.
Technical info is always beneficial, although you will find we are a pretty educated group.
We signed over our credits to Solar City. If we had had cash up front, it would have been better to buy our own system. But we were looking at years before we could save enough so this seemed like the best way to do it now. Up front we save enough on our electric bills to make it worth while. At the other end it won't have depreciated much, but we can re-up, and we may come into some money by then. We plan to stay in this house, so it made sense for us.
Solar sure doesn't put out much this time of year, does it? Our peak output was in August which surprised me because we'd been told the panels like cold, clear weather the best.
Sally
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Permalink Reply by Tom Cotter on
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So if you sold the renewable energy credits it is providing no environmental benefits for you, right?
Sally Carroll said:Tom, I'll get you the details as soon as I have them. I didn't see it calendared yet, but I sent an email to the chair.
Technical info is always beneficial, although you will find we are a pretty educated group.
We signed over our credits to Solar City. If we had had cash up front, it would have been better to buy our own system. But we were looking at years before we could save enough so this seemed like the best way to do it now. Up front we save enough on our electric bills to make it worth while. At the other end it won't have depreciated much, but we can re-up, and we may come into some money by then. We plan to stay in this house, so it made sense for us.
Solar sure doesn't put out much this time of year, does it? Our peak output was in August which surprised me because we'd been told the panels like cold, clear weather the best.
Sally
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Permalink Reply by Sally Carroll on
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Are you talking about the rebates or carbon offsets?
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Permalink Reply by Tom Cotter on
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Renewable energy credits are carbon offsets, yes.
Sally Carroll said:Are you talking about the rebates or carbon offsets?
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Permalink Reply by Sally Carroll on
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The only carbon offsets I have are the PG&E Climate Smart. We sell our excess output to the grid. We only gave our rebates to the lease. Is there something else?
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Permalink Reply by Tom Cotter on
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Yes, renewable energy is split into two commodities: 1) power and 2) renewable energy credits. When people talk about carbon markets they are talking about the second item, the credits. I would ask Solar City if they gave these to you OR if they sold them on the market. Hopefully you own them still, which is probably the case. Best to ask and be sure though.
Sally Carroll said:The only carbon offsets I have are the PG&E Climate Smart. We sell our excess output to the grid. We only gave our rebates to the lease. Is there something else?
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