The final results are in: NASA scientists have concluded that 2007 is the second hottest year ever recorded. Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told the Washington Post, “We’ve got a sustained warming of
The final results are in: NASA scientists have concluded that 2007 is the second hottest year ever recorded. Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told the Washington Post, “We’ve got a sustained warming of the planet, which is unequivocal, and the best we can work out is that it’s because we’ve been increasing the greenhouse gas emissions, primarily. That means it’s going to continue. The long-term trends are up, and they’re up in the same way our models have been predicting for the last 20 years.”
Ice in Antarctica that was thought to be largely immune to melting from global warming has recently been retreating.
“Without doubt, Antarctica as a whole is now losing ice yearly, and each year it’s losing more,” said Eric Rignot, a senior scientist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Something must be changing the ocean to trigger such changes. We believe it is related to global climate forcing.”
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called the information “frightening.”
Corporations, governments and individuals worldwide are talking about what they can do about climate change.
As the government responsible for providing most public services and for developing and maintaining much of our infrastructure, Kaua‘i County is directly responsible for a great deal of the local climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions. If everyone is going to do their part, county government has to be part of the solution by taking actions to reduce their contribution to climate change.
Reduce emissions from solid waste
County government is the strategic provider of solid waste facilities on Kaua‘i. Unlike municipalities on the Mainland, where commercial waste haulers have the choice of taking solid waste to alternate facilities, our county government provides the only practical choice for all Kaua‘i solid waste — municipal and commercial. Although Kekaha landfill meets Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Health regulations, there are no regulations yet for landfill greenhouse gas emissions.
Hundreds of tons of garbage is dumped daily into the Kekaha landfill, and as it rots, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than CO2. While some other communities capture their landfill methane to make electricity, or have aggressive recycling programs to minimize waste, or burn their garbage for energy, Kaua‘i has no solid waste infrastructure to minimize landfill gas. Apollo Kaua‘i’s report to the county’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee calculated the Kekaha landfill emits the equivalent of 100,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas each year, the equivalent to 26,000 cars driving 10,000 miles each year.
These Kekaha landfill greenhouse gas emissions are avoidable. First, emissions from the already buried, already rotting garbage need to be captured and used to generate electricity. The EPA says gas from decomposing garbage is a reliable and renewable fuel option. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions both by reducing the landfill methane released into the atmosphere and by offsetting the use of some fossil fuel to generate electricity. In 2002, Michael J. McGuigan, vice president for project development of Landfill Energy Systems, estimated at least 800 kilowatts of electricity could be generated by capturing the methane at the landfill.
Beyond capturing methane from existing garbage, the county needs a better way to handle the hundreds of tons of new garbage generated each day. The recent integrated solid waste plan proposes burning garbage in a modern waste-to-energy facility, while Zero Waste Kauai, a community advocacy group, has proposed a state-of-the-art zero-waste solid waste management plan based on maximum recycling. Advocates of waste-to-energy argue the energy it produces will save 100,000 barrels of oil annually, and eliminate the associated CO2 produced by burning oil to make electricity. They point out little or no changes would be required in solid waste handling — we could continue to indiscriminately throw everything into garbage cans, trucks could continue to pick up mixed garbage — the destination would be the plant instead of the landfill.
Proponents of zero waste favor the greater benefits available from a system that maximizes recycling. Eric Lombardi, executive director of Eco-Cycle and consultant to Zero Waste Kauai said, 70 percent of the waste now entering the landfill is easily recoverable and marketable.
A zero waste system is more complex than waste-to-energy and requires source separation of garbage into different recyclables. Apollo Kaua‘i’s report estimated a zero-waste system would recover 12,600 tons of raw materials for recycling annually, saving the energy equivalent and greenhouse gas emissions of 270,000 barrels of oil, more than two and a half times the greenhouse gas savings of waste-to-energy.
Either system would stop the climate-changing greenhouse gas hemorrhage of decomposing organic trash. If we do neither, county government will continue as one of the largest sources of climate change on Kaua‘i.
Expand Kaua‘i Bus service
The county provides the only mass transport alternative to private cars on Kaua‘i. And it works; ridership has almost doubled over the last three years. The transportation sector in the U.S. is responsible for 27 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions.
A 2006 Apollo Kaua‘i survey found that ridership could be increased by increasing service frequency, especially during peak commuter times, and by offering more stops and routes.
Energy efficient
building codes
Setting and enforcing building codes is a traditional municipal activity performed by our county government. Phoenix, Ariz., achieved an 18 percent reduction in residential energy consumption and a corresponding 18 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by enacting the 2004 International Energy Conservation Code Supplement for Residential Construction. Far from increasing the financial burden on home purchasers, Phoenix found the average $1,517 upfront cost increase was paid back in only 3.9 years and a total average life-cycle cost savings of $11,228 per home was achieved. These results are typical; the Union of Concerned Scientists notes that energy efficiency is one of the best ways to save money while saving the environment.
Unfortunately, while these aggressive codes are available, neither the state of Hawai‘i nor the county of Kaua‘i have adopted them. Instead, we make building energy efficiency optional.
Beyond adopting such standards, additional requirements can further increase greenhouse gas savings. With a track record of successfully saving money and energy, solar hot water heating is proven effective on Kaua‘i. A typical homeowner saves more than $1,000 annually, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 9,000 pounds annually.
Efficient operations
With 1,000 employees, an operating budget of almost $140 million dollars, and a capital budget of more than $65 million dollars, county government operations themselves create significant greenhouse gas emissions.
For-profit companies have clear interest in energy efficiency because it reduces costs and increases profits. While you’ve probably never been in Wal-Mart, Costco or Big Save and felt the wasted energy of air-conditioning set too cold, visitors to county buildings do occasionally find air-conditioning so cold they are uncomfortable.
The potential energy savings in municipal government buildings is so great the EPA specifically calls them out for special attention, noting that one-third of the energy used to run typical government buildings goes to waste. The EPA further notes that purchasing copiers, fax machines, computers, scanners, exit signs, heating and cooling products, windows and other equipment with the Energy Star label saves money for governments while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Thus, the final action our county government must take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their contribution to global warming, as summarized by the EPA is “Leading by example and improving the energy efficiency of their own buildings.”
In future articles, this climate change series will focus on the specific actions necessary to halt climate change at the level of the state government, Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative and the Public Utilities Commission, the federal government and as individuals.
• Walt Barnes, a Wailua resident, is a scientist and writes a series of columns about the man-made causes of global warming for The Garden Island. He can be reached at walt@real-net.com
