CHBE Sustainability Newsletter (January 2010)
Caroline Cloutier
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Can Olympic be Green?
Last week, one of my lab colleague was pointing out that the Olympic Flame
inside BC place would produce about 400 tonnes of CO2e during the games. If
we assumed that an average car produce about 5 tonnes/ year, the flame
represents about 80 cars on the road.
This is quite small with the total emissions of the event. The estimations
are available online:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/dl/00/19/23/vanoc-carbon-management-fact-sheet_60d-jJ.pdf
The whole events will generate 267,000 tonnes of CO2e or the equivalent of
53,400 cars on the road of one year. About half of the emissions are
flights, included athletes and tourists. Even if the Olympic flame will be
the most visible source of GHG, it is only 0.1% of the calculated emissions
for the whole event.
What could be done to be more sustainable?
- Could we abandon the torch relay, which is becoming more like a symbol of
oppression than the Olympic spirit one. That would have saved 3000 tonnes of
CO2e.
- Combined para Olympics with the Olympics. I feel that division of athletes
is archaic and can discredit the para Olympics athletes.
- Could we make the event smaller and less people fly?
- I heard once that Olympics should be always in the same city. So no needs
to build large infrastructure that might end up under utilized after the
games are over. That would have saved 17000 tonnes of CO2e in Vancouver (the
document does not specify which new constructions are included, like the sea
to sky highway). However, I do like the new Canada line, which would have
probably not happened without the Olympics and which is probably removing
some cars off the roads today.
Any ideas?
Alexandre, for the Newsletter team
**
Comment this newsletter on our blog: http://chbe-sustainability-club.blogspot.com/
*Got an event to share? Email my teammate Saul: saul...@gmail.com*
*Got news to share? Email my teammate Caroline: cclo...@chbe.ubc.ca*
http://groups.google.com/group/CHBE-Sustainability
In the news:
Environmental Groups Recommend New Approaches to Clean Electricity in BC
http://www.pembina.org/media-release/1952
Digital Tools Help Users Save Energy, Study Finds
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/technology/10energy.html
New Solvent Technologies to Replace Use of Harmful Toxic Acids
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107083906.htm
Design students transform junk into unique objects
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2010/01/06/ottawa-design-students-junk.html
'Google Energy' subsidiary considers clean power
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10427993-54.html
New Solar Pond Distillation System Devised
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100105170942.htm
*Bad news*
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20heinrich.html
Canada tagged as 'Fossil of the Year'
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/12/18/climate-canada-award.html
The end of consumerism: Our way of life is 'not viable'
Down on the Farm, an Endless Cycle of Waste
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/science/29manure.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
In French:
http://novae.ca/article.aspx?id=33361
La face sombre des sables bitumineux
De Seattle et Porto Alegre à Copenhague, nouveaux défis pour les mouvements
Saving Greenland's ice by geoengineering
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/research/41245
Synthetic polymers in the marine environment: A rapidly increasing, long-term threat
Sustainable Habitation:
Dethroned Tapei 101 aims to become world's tallest 'green' building
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/footprint/story.html?id=2404695
All Sustainable Transportation Subsidies Shouldn't Be Created Equal, Experts
Say
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107114730.htm
2010 preview: Automotive X Prize contestants power up
Hydrogen-powered buses at Olympics under scrutiny
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/01/08/consumer-hydrogen-buses-whistler-olympics.html
Paying More for Flights Eases Guilt, Not Emissions
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/science/earth/18offset.html
U.S. Car Fleet Shrinks by Four Million in 2009
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/us-car-fleet-shrinks-four-million-2009.php
Take Action:
Carbon Neutral Olympics petition
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Change/Projects/Olympics/
Petition to Prime Minister Harper
http://www.avaaz.org/en/harper_enough_is_enough/
The Polar Bears Need Us – Sign the petition
http://www.naturecanada.ca/advocate/climate_change.html?gclid=CO-m_MjmvZ4CFQsYawodbwXeaw
Help protect the "Iberian Imperial Eagle" in Portugal
http://passport.panda.org/campaigns/campaign.cfm?uNC=74204981&uCampaignId=1961
Conferences:
Carbon Markets North America 201021 to 22 January 2010, Miami, Florida, United States
http://www.environmental-finance.com/conferences/2010/Miami10/intro.htm
Green Technologies for Greener Environment 27 to 30 January 2010. Meerut, Uteer Pradesh, India
http://www.gtge2010.comDesautels Business Conference on Sustainability
28 to 30 January 2010, Montreal, QC, Canada http://www.mcgilldbcs.com
Photovoltaic Projects for Utilities 1 to 2 February 2010, San Francisco, CA, United States
http://www.euci.com/conferences/0210-pv-projects/
Events Section
UBC Events:
1. UBC Biodiesel Project Open House
2. Branching Out: Innovative Ideas for a New Generation
3. Refresh, Rethink, Renew
4. Movie: The End of the Line
1. Webinar: Electric Vehicles: What's Brewing, How Fast, and How Should We Prepare? Jan 19, 2010
2. Watch "The Age of Stupid" Film; Jan 19, 2010 to Jan 19, 2009
3. Sustainability Breakfast - Metro Vancouver 2040; Jan 20, 2010
4. Are you interested in building a solar home?; Jan 23, 2010
5. Regional Growth Strategy - Public Meeting; Jan 25, 2010
6. Guest Expert Speaker Series - Clare Kenny on Cob Building; Jan 30, 2010
UBC Event Details:
UBC Biodiesel Project Open House
- Date: Tuesday, January 12th Refreshments: 2:30 - 5:00 (CHBE 2.02), Lab Tours: 3:00 & 5:00 (CHBE 5.36)
- Location: CHBE 202 and 536
- Cost: Free
- Organizer: CHBE, UBC FOOD SERVICES and the UBC Sustainability Office's SEEDS program
- Details: 2010 marks the 8th year for the UBC biodiesel project which explores how the loop on waste oil can be closed at UBC's Point Grey campus and further afield. To date, more than 55 students, fauclty and staff have contributed their time and energy to this project. Research conducted has produced more than 10 papers, thesis dissertations and demo projects with more to come. Findings and reccomendations form their work are posted on the SEEDS website, have been implemented by UBC staff or are used to inform the development of new studies.
Branching Out: Innovative Ideas for a New Generation
- Date: Thursday Jan. 14, 2010 6pm-9pm
- Location: Lecture Theatre 1005 – Forest Sciences Centre – 2424 Main Mall – Vancouver
- Cost: Free
- Organizer: Forestry Undergraduate Society (FUS) and Forestry Awareness (FSA)
- Details: The Forestry Undergraduate Society (FUS) and the Students for Forestry Awareness (SFA) are hosting a symposium entitled BRANCHING OUT: innovative ideas for a new generation. This event will take the form of a panel discussion and question period. Panelists will have an opportunity to share their thoughts and then the floor will be opened to the audience. Student facilitators will moderate the discussion and lead the questions. Through a form of student-mentor dialogue, this event is designed to highlight the diverse and creative ways in which a forestry degree can be applied. The intent of this event is to "provide insight into the implications of current forestry issues and perspective regarding how students can apply their education to adapt to and initiate change in the sector"
Refresh, Rethink, Renew
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 6pm – 930pm
- Location: Marine Drive Ballroom at the University of British Columbia
- Cost: Free
- Organizer: OXFAM
- Details: An action based Sustainability Workshop with speakers, food, large cardboard New Year’s resolution wall, video projections, and a large networking of sustainability organization who will promote their groups through booths or speeches. The goal is bring locally based organizations in Vancouver together and encourage people to be more sustainable in the New Year. We want to give everyone the knowledge of why, the contacts for how, and the desire for now. It will be a great event, advertised to the whole UBC Campus to attend!It will be a sustainability event that will be talked about far after it has ended!
Movie: The End of the Line
- Date: Wednesday Jan. 13, 2010 4pm-7pm
- Location: Liu Institute for Global Issues, Multipurpose Room 6476 Northwest Marine Dr. UBC, Vancouver
- Cost: Free
- Organizer: Liu Institute for Global Issues and Fisheries Centre
- Details: The End of the Line chronicles how demand for cod off the coast of Newfoundland in the early 1990s led to the decimation of the most abundant cod population in the world, how hi-tech fishing vessels leave no escape routes for fish populations and how farmed fish as a solution is a myth. The film lays the responsibility squarely on consumers who innocently buy endangered fish, politicians who ignore the advice and pleas of scientists, fishermen who break quotas and fish illegally, and the global fishing industry that is slow to react to an impending disaster. The End of the Line points to solutions that are simple and doable, but political will and activism are crucial to solve this international problem. Please register at: http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/liuinstitute/register-endoftheline/
Vancouver Event Details:
Webinar: Electric Vehicles: What's Brewing, How Fast, and How Should We Prepare? Jan 19, 2010
- 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
- Organizer: BC Sustainable Energy Association
- Details: There's a very fast-moving world out there, with many automakers planning to bring electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to market by 2012. What are provinces, states and cities doing to get ready - and is it enough? Our special guest this month is Felix Kramer, the Californian entrepreneur and lifelong environmentalist who founded CalCars.org, which pioneered, popularized and led the charge for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Their work resulted in a $10 billion commitment to PHEVs by President Obama. For more information, reserve your spot online.
- Website: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/564528835
Watch "The Age of Stupid" Film; Jan 19, 2010 to Jan 19, 2009
- 6:00 PM
- Location: UBC, Point Grey Campus, Woodward Instructional Resource Centre, 2194 Heath Sciences Mall, Theatre 2
- Organizer: UBC Continuing Studies Centre for Sustainability
- Details: Join us for the docu-drama everyone is describing as the wake-up call for climate change. Presented by UBC Continuing Studies Centre for Sustainability, The Age of Stupid follows a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, looking at old footage from 2008 and asking: why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance? After the film a lively panel discussion, led by Brain Nattrass of Sustainability Partners Inc. will examine potential forward steps in the fight against climate change. Cost:$10 admission. Tickets available at the door or reserve by calling 604-822-1444.
- Website: http://cstudies.ubc.ca/sustainability/age-of-stupid/
Sustainability Breakfast - Metro Vancouver 2040; Jan 20, 2010
- 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM
- Location: BCIT - 555 Seymour Street
- Organizer: Metro Vancouver
- Details: Metro Vancouver’s Sustainability Community Breakfasts is a series of monthly breakfast meetings that support the Sustainable Region Initiative. They provide an opportunity to build networks and partnerships, to increase awareness and understanding of the opportunities and challenges related to sustainability, and to bring together individuals and organizations interested in the sustainability of the region. Each breakfast typically features one or more presentations about sustainability initiatives, as well as updates about on-going projects. Join us at this special Sustainability Community Breakfast - one in a series of public meetings to consult on the most recent draft of Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy - Metro Vancouver 2040: Shaping our future. Find out more or register online.
- Website: http://www.metrovancouver.org/region/breakfasts/Pages/default.aspx
Are you interested in building a solar home?; Jan 23, 2010
- 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM
- Location: VanDusen Gardens Floral Hall, 5251 Oak Street (at West 37th Avenue)
- Organizer: City of Vancouver
- Details: Come to this open house and learn about a new incentive program for solar hot water systems that could help you save money and energy. A $3,500 incentive is available for solar hot water systems to people building new homes in Vancouver. The incentive is made available through a partnership between the City of Vancouver, SolarBC, Terasen Gas and Offsetters. This open house is your chance to: • learn about the incentive program and how to take advantage of it • learn about solar hot water technology and its benefits • find out how to install solar hot water on your new home • talk to local solar installers. More information: rachel.m...@vancouver.ca
- Website: http://www.vancouver.ca/sustainability
Regional Growth Strategy - Public Meeting; Jan 25, 2010
- 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
- Location: Plaza 500 Hotel, 500 West 12th Avenue
- Organizer: Metro Vancouver
- Details: The latest draft of the Regional Growth Strategy Metro Vancouver 2040: Shaping our future was released for public comment in November 2009 and Metro Vancouver is seeking comments until January 29, 2010. Visit the website for more details and alternate dates.
- Website: http://www.metrovancouver.org/planning/development/strategy/Pages/default.aspx
Guest Expert Speaker Series - Clare Kenny on Cob Building; Jan 30, 2010
- Winter Farmers Markets
- 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
- Location: 1882 Adanac Street at Victoria Drive
- Organizer: Vancouver Farmers Markets
- Details: Fifty vendors each week - inside and outside the hall. BC only. Producer direct. Please bring your own bags & walk, cycle or take transit if you can. Interactive vendor maps available online. For more information call 604.879.3276.
- Website: http://eatlocal.org
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The newsletter team includes Alexandre Vigneault and James Butler for the comments, Ana Stefanova and Caroline R. Cloutier for the news, Rebecca Beaton for the UBC event list, and Saul Pazos-Knoop for the Vancouver event list.
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