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Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category

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The WalkUP Wake-Up Call: Walkable Urban Development in Atlanta

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
WalkUP Atlanta

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Written by Christopher B. Leinberger
This research has found the surprising and overwhelming recent emergence of walkable urban development and places in metropolitan Atlanta. Walkable urban development represents not only a growing share of new development in the Atlanta region, but recently the majority of most real estate development. Walkable urban real estate projects now command an impressive rent premium over their drivable sub-urban competition. The amount of walkable urban square feet built in each of the last three real estate cycles in metropolitan Atlanta has mushroomed, growing from a small fraction in the 1990s to a majority in the current real estate cycle.

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Downtown Rebirth: The Live-Work Dynamic in 21st Century U.S. Cities

Tuesday, October 15th, 2013
Figure 2: Total Jobs in Major Employment Nodes in America

INTERNATIONAL DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION
Downtowns across the United States are thriving. From Boston to San Diego, Seattle to Miami, cities are diversifying their economies and land use, restoring and enlivening public spaces. During the last three decades, city centers have been adding arts, culture, dining, education, medical, and research institutions, along with hospitality, leisure, and sports venues. Simultaneously, there has been a dramatic and sustained increase in residents, living both within business districts and adjacent neighborhoods.

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Saving Water and Energy Together

Friday, October 11th, 2013
Saving Water and Energy Together

AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY
by Rachel Young
Water and energy are inherently linked, intersecting at both the supply side (electric generation and water/wastewater facilities) and the end-use side (residential, commercial, industrial, and agriculture sectors). This intersection is commonly called the “energy-water nexus.”…If utilities recognize this intersection and work together on joint programs they could learn from one another, document their savings, share costs, and potentially achieve greater savings.

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Fracking by the Numbers

Thursday, October 10th, 2013
Fracking by the Numbers

ENVIRONMENT AMERICA
Our analysis shows that damage from fracking is widespread and occurs on a scale unimagined just a few years ago. Moreover, three factors suggest that the total damage from fracking is far worse than we have tabulated here. Severe limitations in available data constrain our ability to see the full extent of the damage. Second, there are broad categories of fracking damage—such as the number of water wells contaminated—that would be difficult to ascertain under any circumstances. Finally, there remain major gaps in the scientific community’s understanding of issues such as the long-term consequences of pumping toxic fluids into the ground.

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Posted in Accountability, Clean Air, Energy, Environment, Green, Hazardous Waste, Infra Views, Sustainability

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The Social Cost of Carbon

Thursday, September 26th, 2013
Table 2 Building new conventional coal and natural gas versus cleaner sources (2007$) (revised WG SCCs)

ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND SCIENCES
This paper extends the work of Johnson and Hope (2012), who re-estimated the US government’s estimates of climate change damages, called the “social cost of carbon” (SCC), to more fully account for impacts on future generations. To demonstrate the policy implications of their SCC estimates, Johnson and Hope (JH) incorporated the costs of pollution into the cost of electricity generation from coal, natural gas, onshore wind, and solar photovoltaic…Overall, for new generation, we find that all JH and government SCCs justified conventional natural gas, natural gas with CCS, and wind over conventional coal. Most estimates also justified solar and coal with CCS over conventional coal, and wind over natural gas. For existing generation, at all of JH’s SCCs, continuing to operate some of the dirtiest coal plants is more expensive than replacing them with natural gas, natural gas with CCS, or wind; at their two highest estimates, this is also true for new coal with CCS and solar photovoltaic.

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Richard. M. Daley, Former Mayor of Chicago

Thursday, September 26th, 2013
Richard M. Daley n The Infra Blog

“You can’t say ‘Okay, we have X amount of money, go do something. You have to spend it within a year.’ I think the debate got caught up into not looking at long-range infrastructure projects that are sustainable and allow a much more efficient operation dealing with sustainability of businesses using the infrastructure or the private sector…America has to get back because it’s not just the roads, it’s the water systems, it’s the energy systems, it’s transportation, its looking at things and how, with sustainability, we can be more efficient.”

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U.S. Domestic Airline Fuel Efficiency Ranking

Wednesday, September 25th, 2013
ICCT Figure ES-1

THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON CLEAN TRANSPORTATION
The analysis presented here rigorously compares the efficiency of all airlines independent of size, network structure, or type of service, with a methodology that improves upon previous efforts in four fundamental ways. First, it uses airline-reported fuel consumption data, rather than modeled estimates, to account fully for all the ways in which airlines can reduce fuel burn…Second, it develops an efficiency metric that recognizes that airlines burn fuel to provide both mobility…and access, allowing an equitable comparison between airlines. Third, the efficiency metric distinguishes productive from nonproductive miles flown by identifying those airlines that operate particularly circuitous routes. Finally, the study attributes the transport service provided by and fuel consumption of affiliate carriers to mainline carriers in order to enable comprehensive comparisons across carriers’ full business operations.

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Believe in Oklahoma Wind Power

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

Oklahoma is an energy state. And, wind energy comes from our rich land just like oil, natural gas and other resources to create our diverse energy mix, which is contributing to Oklahoma’s renaissance.

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Posted in Energy, Environment, Local, Show Us Your Infra, Sustainability

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Renewable Energy in the 50 States: Western Region

Friday, September 20th, 2013
Electricity Generation by Source 2012

AMERICAN COUNCIL ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
The western United States’ remarkable renewable energy resource availability, supportive policies, and well-developed supply chains have transformed western states into national leaders in renewable energy development. In 2012, the region attracted about half of the country’s combined venture capital, private equity and asset finance investment in the renewable energy sector, and produced approximately 31% of its total energy generation from renewable energy sources – compared to roughly 12% nationally (sources: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and Energy Information Administration (EIA)).

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Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration

Thursday, September 19th, 2013
Figure ES-2 The LACDA Project Under Construction, Downsteam of Arroyo Seco Confluence 1940

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
The Los Angeles River is the 51-milelong backbone of an 870 square mile watershed. It once anchored a vast system of riparian foothill, riverine and freshwater marsh habitat that carried seasonal rains and subterranean flows across the coastal plain to the Pacific Ocean. Over the last 150 years, the River has been degraded by a cycle of increasing urban development in the floodplain, flooding, and channelization, culminating in the mid-20th century with the construction of the Federal flood risk management project known as Los Angeles County Drainage Area (LACDA).

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