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In this issue, you will read articles on the building of the world's
largest solar energy plant in Australia, the largest solar energy system
in New England, Central Vermont Public Service's Cow Power Program at
Green Mountain College, our
special book sale where all items are 10% - 50% off through Nov. 9,
our Green
Career Conference on Nov. 18 which you won't want to miss, and more.
There continues to be an enormous amount of important work that all of
us must do for our world to be a more sustainable place. You can find hope
in our
workshops on solar power, alternative transportation, sustainable
living, natural and green building, and permaculture. I really encourage
each of you to take one of our
workshops and to read the books
that we promote.
Thanks to all of you for your support. Together we not only can make a
difference, we are making a difference!
Bob Gragson, Executive Director
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Green Career Conference |
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If you’ve been thinking about finding your niche in the emerging
green economy, you won’t want to miss our Green
Career Conference. This special event will feature leading green
entrepreneurs and career experts who will present the full range of
opportunities in the green economy and potential employers from a
variety of green companies.
Learn why you don't necessarily need a green background to
find a successful career with a company whose work is in line with
your values. You'll come away with ideas, strategies, resources and
contacts to help you find your dream green job!
Green Career Conference Program
Saturday, November 18,
2006
First Universalist Unitarian Center, San Francisco
8:30-9:00 - Registration and Coffee
9:00-9:30 - Welcome
Speaker: John Schaeffer,
Founder of Real Goods and the Solar Living Institute
9:30-10:30 - Green Careers Overview
Intro and
Moderator: Marie Kerpan, Founder of Green Careers
This panel,
hosted by an expert on green careers, will feature the subject
matter experts who will present the following four green career
sessions. The purpose is to introduce the speakers, and to give
participants a snapshot preview of the following four
sessions.
10:30-11:45 - Solar & Renewable Energy
Julie
Blunden: VP External Affairs, SunPower Corp.
Joe Marino:
President, DC Power
Jeff Oldham: President, Regenerative
SOLutions
John Schaeffer: Founder and President of Real
Goods
11:45-12:30 - Networking Lunch
Participants are
provided with an organic lunch, and given the opportunity to network
with other career seekers and presenters.
12:30-1:45 - Biofuels & Alternative
Transportation
Kimber Holmes: Executive Director of Biodiesel
Council of California and Co-Founder of the BioFuel Station
Steve
Heckeroth: Chair of the ASES Renewable Fuels and Transportation
Division
David Blume: Author, Alcohol Can Be a Gas!
1:45-3:00 - Natural & Green Building
David Arkin:
Principal, Arkin Tilt Architects
Massey Burke: Natural Builder
and Designer
Dana Porteus*: Founder, SkySide Studios
3:15-4:30 - Sustainable Agriculture
Eliza Frey*:
Winemaker, Frey Vineyards
Albert Straus*: Founder, Straus
Creamery
Chad Smith: Supply Chain Sustainability Manager,
Earthbound Farms
*Invited but not confirmed
4:30-5:15 - Where Do You Go From Here? Strategies and Tactics
for Finding Your Green Career
Speaker: Marie Kerpan, Founder
of Green Careers
In this concluding session, you will receive
tips on how to choose a direction, learn strategies and tactics for
a successful search including info on interviewing, networking and
targeting, the functional resume, and the importance of structure
and follow- up.
5:15-7:00 - Networking Session
Presenters and
panelists, as well as a wide variety of potential employers whose
job listings are displayed in the Career Center area, will be
available during the networking session to answer questions and
interact with attendees. A no-host bar will be available and hors
d'oeuvres will be served.
12:30 to 7:00 - Career Center - (in adjoining room)
In
this resource-packed area, you will find job listings and tables
with information about a wide variety of green companies. Drop in
throughout the day to pick up information about different companies,
view current job listings, and leaf through the most cutting-edge
publications.
Then, come back during the networking session from 5:15-7:00 PM,
to speak with a representative from the following employers who will
be attending to speak with you about job opportunities: Alternative
Building Concepts, California
Energy Commission, Eco
Home Improvement, Eco-Struction,
General
Hydroponics, Global
Exchange, Graphics
in Green, Harmony
Farm Supply, Living
Tree Community Foods, Natural
Logic, NorCal
Solar Energy Association, 1
Star Energy, Owens
Electric & Solar, Poco
Solar, Premier
Power, REC
Solar, Sambazon,
Solar
Works, Sonoma
State University, Sun
Light and Power, SunPower
Corp., Sustainable
Spaces, Sustainable
Technologies, Toyota,
and the US
Green Building Council.
You won't want to miss this unique opportunity to meet
representatives from leading environmentally friendly organizations
who are hiring!
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Books: 10%-50% OFF |
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Through Thursday, November 9 all books in our bookstore
are on sale at prices from 10% to 50% OFF. You won't want to miss
this great sale! But remember, this is a limited time offer so be
sure to ORDER
TODAY!
Some of the latest titles added to our bookstore include the
following: Planet
U by Michael M'Gonigle and Justine Starke, Planetwalker
by John Francis, The
Oil Depletion Protocol by Richard Heinberg, Biodiesel
America by Josh Tickell, and Towers
of Deception by Barrie Zwicker (this promises to be an
extraordinary expose on media coverage of 9/11 by the narrator of
The
End of Suburbia DVD many of you have seen).
Be sure to check out our other titles in the following
categories:
We encourage you to shop with us. Our online bookstore is
growing rapidly. We are adding titles weekly to bring you some of
the best reads on sustainable living available. Shop with the Solar
Living Institute, and help support our valuable work!
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SF Workshops |
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You don't have to travel to Hopland to take a Solar Living
Institute workshop! In an effort to bring you the cutting edge
knowledge you need to live more sustainably and cut down on fossil
fuel usage, the Solar Living Institute is bringing its most popular
workshops to the Bay Area.
This November and December, learn
how to make biodiesel, how
to renovate your home in a non- toxic, environmentally friendly
manner, how
to garden in urban spaces, and much, much more! Visit our
online calendar for a full listing of San Francisco workshops
coming up this fall. Register soon, as these workshops fill up
quickly.
Plus, stay tuned for our 2007 workshop calendar, as we'll
be offering many more workshops in the Bay Area!
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Largest Solar Plant |
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In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence, the Australian
Government has made a significant change in its energy policy by
announcing it will contribute $57 million (US) towards the building
of the world's largest solar energy plant as part of its recently
unveiled renewable energy package.
"I think it's an important shift [to support renewables] and
a welcome shift. I think we are seeing from the federal Government
for the first time, a recognition that there is such a thing as
global warming."
The 154 megawatt solar power station -- to be built as a
private/public partnership in the southern state of Victoria -- is
the first component of a total $96.7 million (US) Government package
to clean carbon emissions on two projects in Victoria.
"These are exciting projects. These are practical projects,"
said Treasurer Peter Costello announcing the package to reporters
last week. "[The solar power station] will power 45,000 homes, it
will cut carbon emissions by 400,000 tons, and it will make sure
that solar energy becomes mainstream and commercial for the first
time."
The package is a distinct shift in policy from a Government
known for its long-standing skepticism on climate change. Australia,
along with the United States, was one of two Western nations not to
sign the Kyoto Protocol -- the 1997 accord designed to set targets
to reduce carbon emissions. Prime Minister John Howard has
consistently refused to ratify the agreement on the grounds of the
damage such an agreement would do to Australia's coal powered
economy.
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New England Solar |
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Situated on top of 100 years of coal ash, the largest solar
energy system in New England is now a shining example of how one
industrial community turned unwanted wasteland into an economic,
educational and environmental asset.
The recently completed Brockton Brightfield is a 425-
kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic (PV) solar energy system located on a 3.7
acre environmentally remediate "brownfield" in Brockton,
Massachusetts. The 1,395 solar panels will generate an estimated 535
Megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity annually.
Long known as the "City of Champions" for its successful
sports teams, the $3 million system is the largest installed
capacity of photovoltaic solar power in the Commonwealth - and the
largest "brightfield" in the nation -- establishing Brockton as the
state's new solar champion.
"Renewable Energy is gathering tremendous momentum here in
Massachusetts and in New England. And one of the important aspects
of this particular project is that it's a tremendous symbol of that
momentum. It's a visible symbol, it's an important symbol, and it's
one that we're going to see have a lot of educational and public
visibility ripple effects across the state," said Dr. Warren Leon,
director of the Renewable Energy Trust at the Massachusetts
Technology Collaborative, during a dedication and ribbon cutting
ceremony at the site on October 26.
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Cow Power |
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In a state where it’s often theorized there are more cows than
people, Green Mountain College believes it may now be the nation’s
first cow-powered campus. The college has just announced its
enrollment in Central Vermont Public Service’s Cow Power program,
through which the utility delivers energy created from burning
biogas created from cow manure on Vermont dairy farms. The College
has committed to designate 50% of its main campus electric usage as
Cow Power and 100% on all its other accounts, which include the
president’s house, the college farm, the college inn and alumni
house, and an off-campus residence hall in Killington, VT. Total Cow
Power enrollment will be approximately 1.2 million kilowatt-hours
annually.
Green Mountain College officials were drawn to the idea that,
unlike programs based on standard renewable energy certificates
(also known as “green tags”), which simply ensure that renewable
power is produced somewhere, Cow Power has the added benefit of
being a local program where students and employees can actually see
the farms where the power is being generated and learn about the
process.
"We want our students learning how to support sustainable
communities right here in Vermont and this helps us lead by
example," Throop says.
CVPS Cow Power directly links consumers and farmers. CVPS
customers can choose to receive all, half or a quarter of their
electrical energy through Cow Power, and pay a premium of 4 cents
per kilowatt hour, which goes to participating farm- producers to
purchase renewable energy credits when enough farm energy isn’t
available, or to the CVPS Renewable Development Fund. The fund
provides grants to farm owners to develop on-farm generation.
Farm-producers are paid 95% of the market price for the energy sold
to CVPS in addition to the 4-cent premium.
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The End of Suburbia |
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The
End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American
Dream (DVD or VHS)
WE OFFER THE BEST PRICES ON THE INTERNET
Order from us (standard
case at $16.25 or cardboard
case at $13.95), and help support our work. ALSO AVAILABLE IN
SPANISH: El
Fin del Sueño Americano
The
End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its
prospects as the planet approaches a critical era and as global
demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak
and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now some
scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The
consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are
enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy
prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of
suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs
destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW,
individually and collectively, to avoid The End of
Suburbia?
This DVD, or VHS, is an excellent introduction to the issue of
oil and natural gas depletion coming soon to a neighborhood near
you. If you haven't picked up a copy of this riveting documentary,
do so today! You won't want to miss it!
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Post-Petroleum Survival |
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The
Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook: Recipes for Changing
Times by Albert K. Bates
Available 11/17/06
Over the coming years we will need to move from a global culture
addicted to cheap, abundant petroleum to a culture of compelled
conservation, whether through government directive or market forces.
The
Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook provides useful
practical advice for preparing your family and community to make the
transition.
This book takes a positive, upbeat, and optimistic view of "the
Great Change," promoting the idea that it can be an opportunity to
redeem our essential interconnectedness with nature and with each
other. The many rifts that have grown up since oil became the
world's prime commodity can be mended: between cities and their food
sources; the design of the suburban built environment and its
car-oriented sprawl; runaway greenhouse warming, clearing of forests
and toxification of rivers, oceans, and land. Topics covered
include:
- Rebuilding civilization
- Changing your needs
- Water and waste disposal
- Energy and transportation
- Equipment and Tools
- Food storage and First Aid
Also including light-hearted, playful recipes -- some using
basic, wholesome foods, some illustrating food growing or
preservation, and all emphasizing organic, flavorful and locally
grown produce that readily substitute one for another -- this book
is about having your catastrophe and eating it too.
The author, Albert Bates, has been Director of the Global Village
Institute for Appropriate Technology since 1984 and the Ecovillage
Training Center at The Farm in Tennessee since 1994, where he has
taught sustainable design, natural building, permaculture and
restoration ecology to students from more than 50 nations.
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