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General
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Written by BACC Editor
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Thursday, 06 December 2012 18:58 |
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New Guide Helps Local Governments Achieve Climate and Budgetary Goals
  
SAN JOSE, C.A., Dec. 6, 2012 – Today the Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) and Energy Solutions are releasing Next Generation Streetlights: LED Technology and Strategies for Action, a comprehensive street lighting guide to provide local governments with the most current information on LED streetlight upgrades. LED streetlights can reduce power use and electricity costs by as much as 60 percent from incumbent lighting technologies.
The guide is being unveiled today at the Next Generation Streetlight Workshop at Hayward City Hall, co-organized by the BACC and the California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC), part of the University of California, Davis. The workshop is hosting local government lighting specialists and industry representatives, and will address financing and implementation strategies. The City of Hayward is advancing a comprehensive streetlight upgrade to LED technology. “We know how beneficial the upgrade to advanced streetlights is to a city’s budget, to the environment, and to public safety,” says Morad Fakhrai, Director of Public Works for the City of Hayward. “We also know that a successful transition can be complex. This guide is a great resource and will be of great benefit to all forward-thinking cities.” Through a survey of Bay Area agencies, the BACC and Energy Solutions have identified over 240,000 city-owned fixtures ready for conversion within the 67 participating agencies. “Upgrading these streetlights to LEDs would yield annual energy savings of 60 million kilowatt-hours, enough to power 10,000 single-family California homes,” says Ted Pope, Vice President at Energy Solutions. “Furthermore, advanced controls networks that tune light levels, communicate status and provide other features can generate additional energy and maintenance savings through smarter management of streetlight systems.”
The Next Generation Streetlights guide is co-authored by BACC and Energy Solutions, with input from CLTC and support from Public Financial Management, Inc. It is part of the Next-Generation Streetlight Initiative, which aims to provide leading-edge education, resources and support to accelerate streetlight upgrades in the Bay Area. The guide covers the benefits of lighting upgrades, an overview of the technology, and details on financing and implementation strategies. “The technology is moving very quickly, and it is important to get the most current information out to decision-makers,” says Professor Michael Siminovitch, Director of CLTC. “Features such as lighting controls merit close attention, so cities can maximize the value of their upgrades.”
In the first quarter of 2013, the BACC and CLTC will be providing individual consultation to select local governments in the Bay Area to address key questions and needs. “This is a good time for cities to act given the currently substantial incentives available, low cost of financing and very attractive payback times,” said Rafael Reyes, BACC Executive Director. “A city such as Hayward with 8,000 lights could save $450,000 per year or more in power and maintenance costs, improve lighting quality, and reduce its climate impacts.”
About the Bay Area Climate Collaborative
The Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) is a public-private initiative accelerating the clean energy economy. Major partners include Bank of America, PG&E, Environmental Defense Fund, and local governments representing over 70 percent of the Bay Area population. The BACC is driving electric vehicle, energy efficiency, residential upgrades and distributed renewables innovation. Partners of BACC’s Next Generation Streetlight Initiative include the Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund, GE, SWARCO Americas, Siemens, Xeralux, BridgeLux, and Leotek. For more information on the BACC, please visit: www.baclimate.org
About the California Lighting Technology Center
The California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) is a technology-neutral research, development, and demonstration facility at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). CLTC’s mission is to stimulate, facilitate, and accelerate the development and commercialization of energy-efficient lighting and daylighting technologies. This is accomplished through technology development and demonstrations, as well as offering outreach and education activities in partnership with utilities, lighting manufacturers, end users, builders, designers, researchers, academics, and government agencies. For more information on CLTC, please visit: cltc.ucdavis.edu.
About Energy Solutions
Energy Solutions specializes in research and implementation of energy efficiency programs and codes, and standards development. Founded in 1995, Energy Solutions’ mission is to create large-scale energy and water savings benefits for clients by implementing market-based solutions and developing programs and policies that contribute to these goals. Energy Solutions has completed several LED street lighting emerging technology demonstrations and market research studies since 2008, working with organizations such as the PG&E, Electric Power Research Institute, and the US Department of Energy. For more information on Energy Solutions, please visit: www.energy-solution.com.
About the City of Hayward
Hayward is known as the “Heart of the Bay” because of its central and convenient location in Alameda County – 25 miles southeast of San Francisco, 14 miles south of Oakland, 26 miles north of San Jose and 10 miles west of the valley communities surrounding Pleasanton. Serviced by an extensive network of freeways and bus lines, Hayward has two BART stations (Hayward and South Hayward), an Amtrak station, and the Hayward Executive Airport, with easy access to San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose airports. In addition, Hayward was one of the first cities to adopt a Climate Action Plan which identifies actions that the City can take to address climate change and sustainability concerns. As a part of these goals, the City is in the process of upgrading about 8,000 streetlights to LEDs. For more information about the City of Hayward, please visit: www.ci.hayward.ca.us/.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 00:40 |
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General
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Written by Rafael Reyes
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Wednesday, 14 November 2012 18:36 |
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In what appears to be the first time ever, regular drivers of diesel-powered cars will be able to fill up their tanks with an algae diesel fuel blend in a few Northern California cities, including Oakland, Berkeley, Redwood City and San Jose. Propel Fuels, an alternative gas station company in Redwood City, says it will offer the algae fuel blend made by Solazyme, a leading renewable oil and bioproducts company in San Francisco, in a month-long pilot program.
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General
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Written by BACC Editor
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Tuesday, 30 October 2012 23:08 |
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Initiative to Support Municipal Upgrades to Advanced Energy-Efficient Streetlights
  SAN JOSE, C.A., Oct. 31, 2012 – The Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) and GE Lighting today announced a project to advance the energy-efficient street-lighting market. The Bay Area Next Generation Streetlight Initiative aims to catalyze the upgrade of over 200,000 municipal streetlights in the region to advanced light-emitting diode (LED) technology.
Through the Bay Area Next Generation Streetlight Initiative, the BACC is developing educational resources and pooling Bay Area-wide interest in LED streetlight conversions with a joint procurement option to secure improved purchase and financing terms on the latest lighting technology. The initiative will serve as a business model that local governments in the Bay Area and beyond can replicate to upgrade streetlights at lower costs while engaging local workforce development. Over five years, the upgrades will deliver up to $50 million in reduced costs for local governments, over 100,000 metrics tons of CO2 avoidance, and many jobs.
GE Lighting will support the BACC’s outreach to local governments on the benefits of LED streetlight technology and development of tools and educational resources that facilitate lighting upgrades. GE also will provide its expertise to inform the resources and strategies for the initiative.
GE has long been at the forefront of next-generation energy-efficient ecomagination lighting. The company has invented every major lighting technology, including the world’s first visible LED, which was created 50 years ago this month. GE is currently working with the City of Las Vegas to convert more than 80 percent of the City’s 50,000 streetlights to LED fixtures, which will provide $2.7 million in annual savings. The BACC is a public-private initiative of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, launched by regional civic and business leaders to accelerate the Bay Area clean energy economy through high-impact, market-oriented projects that can be replicated and scaled.
“Roadways are the new frontier of the solid-state lighting revolution,” said Steve Briggs, GE Lighting’s global product general manager. “We’re finding that once community leaders understand the LED value proposition—over 50 percent energy savings and 10-plus years of life for significant maintenance cost savings versus older incumbent technologies—a shift to LED becomes a priority. They get to think and act like a CFO, which constituents love, with the additional good-neighbor and environmental benefits that LED systems deliver.”
“LED lighting has been identified as a top opportunity for excellent financial, community and environmental benefits, and GE has tremendous expertise on efficient lighting solutions,” said Rafael Reyes, Executive Director of the Bay Area Climate Collaborative. “Through our collaboration, we will help local governments save millions of dollars that can be reinvested to strengthen the regional economy.”
About the Bay Area Climate Collaborative
The Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) is a public-private initiative accelerating the clean energy economy. Major partners include Bank of America, Pacific Gas & Electric, and local governments representing over 70 percent of the Bay Area population. The BACC is driving electric vehicle, energy efficiency, residential upgrades and distributed renewables innovation. For more information on the BACC, please visit: www.baclimate.org.
About GE Lighting
GE Lighting invents with the vigor of its founder Thomas Edison to develop energy-efficient solutions that change the way people light their world in commercial, industrial, municipal and residential settings. The business employs 16,000 people in more than 100 countries, and sells products under the Reveal® and Energy Smart® consumer brands, and Evolve™, GTx™, Immersion™, Infusion™, Lumination® and Tetra® commercial brands, all trademarks of GE. General Electric (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter to build a world that works better. For more information, visit www.gelighting.com.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 October 2012 15:38 |
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General
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Written by Rafael Reyes
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Tuesday, 30 October 2012 15:45 |
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Camarillo-based company Cool Planet Energy Systems has an intriguing idea about biofuel: instead of churning out fuel from large, central refineries, Cool Planet would rather manufacture modular, shippable micro-biorefineries and sell them to you for on-site biofuel production - a system that can produce biofuel for $1.50 per gallon. Google has been testing this micro-biorefinery at its Mountain View headquarters. So far, the vehicle has traveled more than 2,400 miles while meeting California’s new low carbon fuel standard, which is not scheduled to go into effect until 2020.
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