Money Is Green Too

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Chuck Becker

The best bureaucrat is the one who wants to put himself/herself out of a job; that is, they realize that if they can get people to comply with the law, they won't be needed.  Lisa Jackson, the EPA Administrator, may be just such a bureaucrat.

Ms. Jackson spoke at the National Press Club on March 8th and had a number of very interesting comments. Among them were:

• “Well-conceived, effectively implemented environmental protection is good for economic growth.”

• “[Environmental protection] creates a need—in other words, a market for clean technology—and drives innovation and invention—in other words, new products for the market. This is our convenient truth: smart environmental protection creates jobs….”

• “We need to reclaim leadership in the development of new products to protect our health and our environment. And we need to catalyze on the growing green market place here and around the world….”

Ms. Jackson’s point is that protecting the environment and being green can  be profitable.  Surprisingly, this is not a self-evident truth and, in fact, it is one that most businesses seem to refuse to acknowledge.  It is almost universally the case that  businesses bristle at that mention of EPA or environmental regulation and glow at the mention of capitalism or profit.  It doesn’t have to be that way.

For example, disposal of hazardous waste streams can be a very expensive process.  However, there are times when the waste of one business can be a raw material for another business.  Though EPA does not make it easy, there are ways to get these businesses together so that an expensive liability becomes a modest asset.  And that’s just on the disposal side.

On the regulatory side, I have said in the past that the electric car is going to save the world. It will, in short order, drastically reduce air pollution and be a big part of the solution to the green house gas problem. Will this happen because it is good for the environment? No, it will happen because that’s where the money is. The future of transportation both in the United States and around the world, will be in cars that are easy to park, can be fueled for pennies at home, are easy to maintain and can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.4 seconds. 

It is still early, but Ms. Jackson seems to understand that what is best for the environment can also be best for profits and that if she finds herself out of a job because people are doing the right environmental thing for a capitalistic reason, that’s all right.  Of course, we all know that EPA will continue to be around to act as the environmental sheriff because there will always be some people who view legitimate business as being too slow for their needs.  Still, if more was made of the fact that there is money in those %#@& environmental regulations and less that we are killing our children and destroying the earth, a lot of people -- maybe even whole political parties -- might change their view.  I'm pretty sure Ms. Jackson wouldn't mind.

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Energy Use is a Zero-Sum Game

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Chuck Becker

When discussing global warming and attempting to calculate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a fact that is frequently overlooked is that energy use is a zero-sum game. That is, most forms of machinery require an input of energy. It can be electricity for a toaster, a gas flame in a furnace or gasoline into a car. Frequently, you can change the form of the energy, say by switching from a gas furnace to an electric furnace, but you still need to produce the energy to run the furnace. If producing the electrical energy to run the furnace produces more GHGs than running the furnace on gas, then you haven’t gained anything for the GHG environment.
 

In a recent post, I said that the plug-in or all-electric car might save the world based on the fact that it has zero GHG emissions and that we have now reached the tipping point for electric cars because they are fast enough to be credible.  A concerned reader pointed out  that I had "forgotten the basic fact that all-electric cars require ELECTRICITY" and that we will "simply trade one evil for another."  My response?  In the words of  Pat Paulson, “Picky, picky, picky.”  Well, OK, maybe the point needs to be addressed.

So, do plug-in or all-electric cars have a net positive effect on reducing GHGs emissions?  Let me suggest five reasons for the answer being yes.

1. Tesla Says So

Elon Musk, the chairman of Tesla Motors, provides an analysis of how his all-electric car compares to other vehicles, assuming that the electricity is produced via natural gas fueled electrical generation. According to his analysis, the natural gas CO2 emissions in power plant production are one-quarter of the Honda Hy-brid CNG. In essence, a car engine is not nearly as efficient (at least with respect to GHG production) at creating energy as is a power station that produces electricity. I realize that he is biased, but his reasoning seems plausible.

2. Others Say So

Musk isn't alone.  The calculations are that even if the electricity is generated by coal-fired plants, the GHG reductions would be 50%.  In combination with the other advantages of the elimination of pollutants and elimination of oil dependence, that's pretty good.

 3. Wind And Solar Are Coming

Additions to coal-fired electrical generation are here and  growing. Cap-and-trade will force it. International politics will force it. Environmentalists will force it.  And for every kilowatt of electricity produced by wind or solar, the benefit of the all-electric car multiplies.

Advances are also being made in the storage of solar and wind energy through, for example, compressed air storage and improvements in batteries.

4. Action Is Already Being Taken

The ability to have a practical energy delivery system is more than just theoretical. Solar installer Solar City has built  four solar electric-car charging stations along U.S. Route 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Fully charging the Tesla, which has a range of 250 miles, costs about $4.

5. What's The Down Side?

There appears to be no feasible argument that the stand-alone, gas powered engine of every car could possibly be better for the GHG environment than an engine that is electrically powered.  Even if it is a break-even scenario (which isn't supported by the facts), why would anyone be against the all-electric car?  It will always be easier to increase electrical generation at a power plant than it will be to make adjustments to every gas engine.

Now that the electric car has shown that it is more than a glorified golf cart, it is on its way.  And all indications are that it will be a significant net reduction for GHG emissions.  If so, it will be interesting to see what impact it has on the need for extensive and expensive environmental regulation.

 

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