State looking to cut down on greenhouse gases.
Last week Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1383 which establishes the nation’s toughest restrictions on super pollutants including black carbon, fluorinated gases and methane.
SB 1383 reduces the emission of super pollutants (also known as short-lived climate pollutants) and promotes renewable gas by requiring a 50 percent reduction in black carbon and 40 percent reduction in methane and hydrofluorocarbon from 2013 levels by 2030. Sources of these super pollutants include petroleum-based transportation fuels, agriculture, waste disposal and synthetic gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning and aerosol products.
“Cutting black carbon and other super pollutants is the critical next step in our program to combat climate change,” said Governor Brown during at a signing ceremony in Long Beach. “This bill curbs these dangerous pollutants and thereby protects public health and slows climate change.”
The three pollutants when released into the atmosphere, have potent impacts on climate change. Methane, for instance, has 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide; HFCs are up to 10,000 times stronger than carbon dioxide.
The Governor’s office said that if followed worldwide, the acts would help cut the projected rate of global warming in half by 2050.
Hawaii exploring making energy from waves
The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Navy has established a test site in Hawaii as an effort to develop technology to be able to harness the ocean’s waves into clean power for offshore fueling stations to provide electricity to coastal communities that currently lack it.
Developers are still working to come up with the best design possible to harness the energy of the ocean. Some projects involve buoys which capture the up-and-down motion of the waves, while others exploit the side-to-side movement.
Industry experts told the Associated Press that a mechanism that uses all the ocean’s movements and is capable to withstand powerful storms is the most likely to succeed.
“You’ve got to design something that can stay in the water for a long time but be able to survive,” Patrick Cross, a specialist at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which helps run the test site told the Associated Press. “The U.S. has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by one-third from 2005 levels by 2030, and many states are seeking to develop more renewable energy in the coming decades.”
This technology is still at its infancy but many colleges are currently conducting and enhancing their research into the matter.
LA aiming for 100 percent renewable energy
Last week the Los Angeles City Council voted to ask the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to provide a pathway for to achieve 100 percent clean energy portfolio.
Although there is no set target to when the city wants to get to 100 percent, the council is expecting to have a report back in 90 days to continue the conversation.
Last year, the city of San Diego approved a plan to reach 100 percent renewable portfolio by 2035 and is currently the largest city in the country with such plans.
— Edwin Delgado can
be reached at edelgado@ivpressonline.com