Kent Portney's "Our Green Cities" Blog

ICELI and Cities' Carbon Footprints

Over the last few months, I have had the opportunity to take a look at cities' measures of their carbon footprints.  Just as the carbon footprint calculators for individual people and households are pretty uneven in their methodologies, so too are the carbon footprint estimates for whole cities.  Although the latter have much different methods of estimation, what struck me is how much variation there is in the methods, and the quality and availability of the appropriate information needed to produce accurate estimates. 

I know that when cities' mayors sign up to join the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Program they agree to spearhead a carbon inventory project. Yet I'm surprised at how few of the signatories have actually accomplished this to date. There are some really good efforts, such as New York City and Toronto, for example.  But most cities do not seem to have made the effort to try to measure their actual carbon emissions.

But now ICLEI is about to issue a complete set of protocols and methodologies for measuring carbon and producing the inventory.  It is in the testing phase right now, and can be downloaded from the ICLEI web site during the "exposure period."  See the ICLEI GHG Emissions Analysis Protocol web site for more information.

This should present a huge improvement in the quality and availability of greenhouse gas emissions information for cities.  It should also make it possible for cities that don't already have the internal expertise to devise a carbon emission inventory methodology to standardize with other cities so that comparisons over time and across cities will be possible.

Have you taken a look at the ICLEI protocol?  How does it look to you?  Is this as much of a breakthrough as I think it is?  Please post your thoughts on this here.

Wind turbines in Hull, MA

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit the town of Hull MA with a small group from the newly re-constituted Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute.  (The Literacy Institute, started some years ago by Tony Cortese, has now been resurrected by my two colleagues Jonathan Kenny from the Chemistry department and Ann Rappaport from the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning department, with a special emphasis on Climate Change).  Hull operates two wind turbines, one (a 660 Kw unit installed in 2001) adjacent to its high school and another (a 1.8 Mw unit installed in 2006).  I believe they both use Vestas brand turbines.

The town is now in the process of siting four more turbines off the coast of Nantasket Beach, and when this project is completed, all of the town's electricity will be generated from wind. Hull is a pretty small town on Boston Harbor, and through its innovation and willingness to take risks, it now is poised to achieve a high degree of energy independence.  My understanding is that the economics of wind energy have changed rather dramatically. 

On our visit, we had a tour of the facility. What I found most impressive was how quiet the operation is. With the wind blowing about 30 mph and the rotor spinning at a pretty good clip, there was only a modest hum from the generator and a hissing sound from the propeller.  If you'd like to see and read about what Hull has done, go to http://www.hullwind.org .

Brookings Institution Study of Cities' Carbon Footprints

You may already have seen this, but a couple of weeks ago, the Brookings Institution researchers Andrea Sarzynski, Marilyn Brown, and Frank Southworth released the latest study of carbon emissions in cities (actually in metropolitan areas).  The measures of carbon don't account for a lot of the sources of carbon emissions -- they focus on two main sources -- transportation and residential energy -- but they do provide a glimpse at how cities vary in their emissions.  The three lowest emitting metro areas are Honolulu, HI, (1.36 metric tons of carbon emitted per person), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA, (1.14 metric tons), and Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton WA (1.45 metric tons).  The three highest carbon polluters are Cincinnati, OH-Middletown, KY (3.28 metric tons), Indianapolis, IN (3.36 metric tons), and Lexington-Fayette, KY (3.46 metric tons).  To see the full list of cities and their estimated carbon emissions, go to http://www.brookings.edu/reports/2008/05_carbon_footprint_sarzynski.aspx .

You can also read the Newsweek story, written by Miyoko Ohtake. Miyoko interviewed me briefly for the story, so check it out when you have chance at http://www.newsweek.com/id/139212 .

I will have much more to say about carbon footprints and relate issues over the next couple of weeks.

Sustainability Director in Philly

Congratulations to Dr. Mark Alan Hughes, the newly appointed Director of Sustainability in Philadelphia.  I know that Mayor Nutter and his team did a thorough search for the right person to head this newly created department, and with this move, Philly has taken a huge step in the right direction.  Check the story on the appointment and Dr. Hughes' background at http://www.nextgreatcity.com/node/582 .  Dr. Hughes was at the University of Pennsylvania at the time of his appointment.