MORE WIND, SUN IN LA

Don't forget about the off-grid wind available with ARCHITECTURAL WIND and read more about it here.

Calif. Cities sign up for alternative energy/Los Angeles area in particular is moving away from dirty coal
November 22, 2006 (MSNBC)
- Southern California is gambling its future power needs on its constant sunshine, wind and the ability of engineers to effectively harness those and other alternative energy sources…
- Pasadena, Anaheim and several other large cities notified the Intermountain Power Agency this week that they would not be renewing their contracts for cheap, coal-fired power.

- Those contracts expire in 2027. That leaves the cities two decades to secure the alternative energy sources they’ll need, from wind farms to desert solar power…
- The moves could put the region in the forefront nationally of the commercial use of alternative energy in coming years, but researching and building the infrastructure to replace coal-fired power will be a costly, risky business…
- The cities’ decision came amid pressure from politicians and environmentalists.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation in September imposing a first-in-the-nation emissions cap on utilities, refineries and manufacturing plants, with a goal of cutting greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020. Burning coal releases carbon dioxide, among the biggest of the heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
- Burbank’s city council initially planned to beat the clock and renew its contract with Intermountain until 2044…but it changed course…Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote to an umbrella group for the cities last week saying she was “shocked and dismayed” by Burbank’s initial decision…

- Intermountain Power Agency…said the company was looking at ways to modernize its plants to bring them into compliance with California’s new greenhouse-gas legislation…exploring burning biomass such as switchgrass, wheat straw and cornstalks instead of coal, or possible burial of carbon dioxide…
- Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2005, with the concentration of carbon dioxide alone rising by about 0.5 percent…greenhouse gases are the major drivers behind global warming and climate change.