(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Energy for SF, in Great Detail -- Strike for the Planet week 94 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-02 You can make a difference to the hurt being caused by climate chaos and the great extinction event in your town or your city! How? Reuse, repurpose, and recycle this information. You can push your local politicians to act. It will make a difference! This is the letter for week 94 of a weekly climate strike that went on for 4 years in front of San Francisco City Hall, beginning early March 2019. For more context, see this story. For an annotated table of contents of the topics for all the strike letters, see this story. Meanwhile… STRIKE FOR THE PLANET From 1980 to 1999 there were 3,656 worldwide climate-related disasters. From 2000 to 2019 there were 6,681.1 This week’s letter: Energy for SF, in great detail. SF must immediately change our energy sources. Why? Because if we continue as we are, we won’t continue. For instance, air pollution kills more people every year than all wars and violence combined.2 But guess what? As with everything else involving climate chaos, it turns out we have been grossly underestimating the damages. We’ve been undercounting the numbers dying from air pollution by about half.3 And that’s just the people being killed and just by air pollution. The vast majority of air pollution is from producing energy, for home and business uses and for transportation.4 We have to eliminate that pollution. Now. Okay, how do we change our energy sources? We do this by following nature and going for the most diverse, easy, and locally available energy that is recyclable and renewable, that doesn’t require massive disruption or resources, and that makes no pollution. That means no fossil fuels and no nukes. Biomimicry5, 6 is a survival strategy and we’re looking at survival here, so we must work with nature and adopt successful, natural energy strategies. Our criteria, then, is energy that is clean, diverse, and an analog of successful natural strategies. So what energy sources are available to us? What can we do to broaden our energy portfolio, if capitalist-speak makes you more comfortable? What strategies work? Use existing Green energy sources, such as: ELECTRICITY It’s better in transportation. 7 It’s better in home heating. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 It’s safer. 13 It doesn’t depend on one source of energy, making it more resilient. It can be scaled up or down to meet circumstances. 14 It does not require massive infrastructure and is easily made portable. 15 Unlike with fossil fuels, the technology is getting cleaner all the time.16 WIND We already have 2 functioning windmills. They are not tchotchkes. Put them to work. We have massive urban-canyon wind funnels downtown. These are ideal locations for vertical-axis wind turbines of all sizes. Every tall building in SF must host at least one wind turbine. SOLAR The fog is gone, in case you haven’t noticed. 17 Every surface of the city that can hold solar panels must do so, asap. Every surface of the city that can hold solar panels must do so, asap. Plants use solar energy while cooling their environment and trapping and storing both water and carbon. We must plant native plants everywhere in SF asap. WAVE/TIDAL Living on a peninsula, we’ve got the tides and the water to do this. We’ve got the local institutions to do the work to develop truly green, cheap and small-scale tidal energy generation strategies.18 Doing so and sharing the technology will make money for SF. HEAT PUMPS These are low impact, low energy, and come in a variety of options including air source, water, absorption, and geothermal.19 And we need to look for places to increase biomimicry. We need to be using vortices and spin strategies in wave power and wind generators, and reflection and refraction in solar collection and transmission; we need to build flexible solar collectors for better solar efficiency, and increase our ability to store energy in multiple forms; we need to increase the uses of bacteria and catalysts in chemical reactions, and apply basic physics to the colors of surfaces citywide, and on and on.20 Observing and copying nature is what successful human societies have always done.21, 22 Laying waste to the planet is not a survival strategy. Where do we put all of this? Wind generators go where the wind is. Begin downtown. Put up vertical axis wind turbines as art pieces on Marina Green. Create a new attraction at the Cliff House. The top of the sewage treatment plant is a great spot. There must be wind generators on top of every large building in the city. And put the windmills in Golden Gate Park back to work already. Solar goes on every roof possible and every flat surface facing south in the entire city. Begin with the schools. Wave/tidal energy generation must be explored in multiple places at multiple scales. Begin where we’re already developed along the piers with buoys testing Archimedes screws, floating structures, and tidal kites.23 Rope in SFSU, USF, the Exploratorium, City College, even SFUSD to do the work. Heat pumps must be standard for all new construction and remodeling. Who will do all this? We will. Everyone of us. Everyone has to be involved at all steps of the process all the time. This is about survival; it is a group effort. And we’ve seen what happens if you don’t involve everyone and if you aren’t transparent and consistent in eliciting that involvement.24 Specifically, there are a host of people and institutions we must involve. If they’re in SF, they must be involved. If they’re outside of SF and interested in working with us to develop these strategies, rope them in. Remember the Green Summit here a few years ago? Replicate that but with real outcomes, products, and lasting consequences, way less political fanfare, and a substantially lower carbon footprint, and make it a yearly event. Resilience and Public power “Everyone” means at long last making our power our responsibility and not PG&E’s profits. We cannot be resilient if a corporation bent on profit over everything, rife with bad choices and piss-poor ethics controls our largest source of pollution and makes decisions for us while leaving us in the dark — often literally. Where do we do all this? To recap what is embedded above: We have functioning windmills — use them. Electrify the entire GG Park apparatus and use the windmills to generate electricity. All rooftops must have solar or wind or both. On the bay at the piers. Take over roads for some of these projects (like an avenue of vertical axis wind turbines between two lanes of trees). Roads are space wasted on cars that are killing us in multiple ways anyway. 25 Schools — and this would be a good opportunity to bring the schools back to true local control. Imagine how bad the school system has to be for me to say that city government control would be better, less corrupt, more transparent, and financially more responsible. Back to the topic at hand, every school roof could and should be crammed full of solar and wind generation. Wean us off Hetch-Hetchy power. With a megadrought and ecosystem destruction that water won’t be coming our way much longer, and the price to keep dragging it here is too high. Kindness and Rights Remember to include everyone — that is part of true kindness and kindness is a proven survival strategy — and by everyone I mean every ecosystem and every species — granting rights to all life is the only way to preserve any life.26 And remember there are prior Strike Letters for more information on this. Find links, names, contacts, and much more about energy in SF in the Strike letters, specifically in the letters from weeks 38, 39, 68, and 81. Isn’t it about time you fight for San Francisco? It’s now or never, really. Time’s up.27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 Our current situation is what we thought the worst case scenario would be 10 years from now. And the current conditions are worsening daily.35, 36 It’s time to fight for SF now. Christopher Michel, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons FOOTNOTES 1. “Harper’s Index”. Harper’s Magazine. January 2021. https://harpers.org/harpers-index/ 2. AFP. “Pollution killing more people than war and violence, says report”. DW. 21 October 2017. https://www.dw.com/en/pollution-killing-more-people-than-war-and-violence-says-report/a-41044277 . 3. Kashmira Gander. “Air Pollution Is Killing Millions More People Than We Thought”. Newsweek. 10 February 2021. https://www.newsweek.com/air-pollution-killing-millions-more-people-1358195 . 4. Amber Pariona. “Which Industry Emits The Most Greenhouse Gas?” WorldAtlas. 16 August 2018. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-economic-sector.html . 5. Daphne Fecheyr. “Future-proof your organization with biomimicry thinking”. Board of Innovation. Accessed 10 February 2021. https://www.boardofinnovation.com/blog/future-proof-your-organization-with-biomimicry-thinking/ . 6. “Biomimicry Toolbox”. Biomimicry Institute. Accessed 10 February 2021. https://toolbox.biomimicry.org . 7. Rachael Nealer. “Gasoline vs Electric — Who wins on Lifetime Global Warming Emissions? We Found Out”. Union of Concerned Scientists. 13 April 2018. https://blog.ucsusa.org/rachael-nealer/gasoline-vs-electric-global-warming-emissions-953 . 8. Charlie Sorrel. “Pollution From Heating Our Homes Is Killing 10,000 In The U.S. Every Year”. Fast Company. 10 March 2017. https://www.fastcompany.com/3068886/pollution-from-heating-our-homes-is-killing-10000-in-the-us-every-year . 9. Jeff McMahon. “If You’re Heating With Propane Or Oil, Study Says, Go Electric”. Forbes. 19 August 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2018/08/19/if-youre-heating-with-propane-or-oil-study-says-go-electric/?sh=4c334fbc77a7 . 10. “The Real Cost Of Heating”. Energy Services Group. 24 June 2019. https://energysvc.com/the-real-cost-of-heating/ . 11. “Heating With Electricity or Gas?” Call Me Power. 5 December 2016. https://callmepower.ca/en/faq/electricity-or-gas/furnace . 12. “Tables Comparing Current Home Heating Costs: Price per BTU for Oil, LP & Natural Gas, Electricity, Firewood”. InspectAPedia. Accessed 9 February 2021. https://inspectapedia.com/heat/Current_Heating_Cost_Table.php . 13. “San Bruno Gas Explosion and Investigation”. SFGate. Accessed 10 February 2021. https://www.sfgate.com/san-bruno-fire/ . 14. “How Many Solar Panels Do You Need” Panel Size and Output Factors”. Sunpower. Accessed 10 February 2021. https://us.sunpower.com/how-many-solar-panels-do-you-need-panel-size-and-output-factors . 15. “Portable solar panels: are they right for you?” EnergySage. Accessed 10 February 2021. https://news.energysage.com/portable-solar-panels-are-they-right-for-you/ . 16. Mike Scott. “Solar And Wind Costs Continue To Fall As Power Becomes Cleaner”. Forbes. 30 April 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikescott/2020/04/30/solar-and-wind-costs-continue-to-fall-as-power-becomes-cleaner/?sh=28ff15c8785f . 17. Raj Mathai. “How is Climate Change Already Impacting the Bay Area?” NBC Bay Area. 1 February 2021. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/climate-in-crisis/how-is-climate-change-already-impacting-the-bay-area/2453120/ . 18. Green Coast. “Pros and Cons about Tidal Wave Energy”. Green Coast. 18 September 2018. https://greencoast.org/pros-and-cons-about-tidal-wave-energy/ . 19. “Heat Pump Systems”. U.S. Department of Energy. Accessed 10 February 2021. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/heat-and-cool/heat-pump-systems . 20. “Energy in Nature”. Biomimicry Institute. 1 July 2020. https://asknature.org/collections/energy-in-nature/ . 21. Moderator. “Indigenous People Fight for Mother Nature and Their Culture”. Zero Waste Lifestyle System. 2020. https://www.zerowastelifestylesystem.com/indigenous-peoples-fight-for-ancestral-domain-and-for-nature/ . 22. AG Staff with AAP. “DNA confirms Aboriginal culture one of Earth’s oldest”. Australian Geographic. 23 September 2011. https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aboriginal-culture-one-of-earths-oldest/ . 23. Mark Crawford. “6 Ways to Capture Tidal Energy”. ASME. 23 October 2019. https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/6-ways-to-capture-tidal-energy . 24. Jaleesa Irizarry. “‘It’s really harmful’: Spread of misinformation raises concerns from doctors”. 9News. 31 January 2021. https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/spread-of-misinformation-raises-concerns-from-healthcare-professionals/73-f66fcc74-6e51-45b7-a29a-91b55b006673 . 25. Leah Asmelash. “Smartphones, warm weather and SUVs are all to blame for the highest number of pedestrian deaths in more than 30 years, report says”. CNN. 27 February 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/health/pedestrian-fatalties-rise-trnd/index.html . 26. See Strike letter for week 93 for more details. 27. Matt McGrath. “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”. BBC News. 24 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736 . 28. Heather Smith. “Climate Change: Even Worse Than We Thought”. Sierra. 8 October 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-change-even-worse-we-thought-ipcc-report . 29. Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster. “Just how hot will it get this century? It’s worse than we thought”. Phys Org. 18 May 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-hot-century-worse-thought.html . 30. Amelia Urry. “The scientist who first warned of climate change says it’s much worse than we thought”. Grist. 22 March 2016. https://grist.org/science/the-scientist-who-first-warned-of-climate-change-says-its-much-worse-than-we-thought/ . 31. Rafi Letzter. “Today’s Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years”. Live Science. 25 July 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66027-climate-change-different.html . 32. John D. Sutter. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 30 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ . 33. Peter Castagno. “Biodiversity Loss Worst in Human History — 1 Million Animal Species Risk Extinction”. Citizen Truth. 6 May 2019. https://citizentruth.org/biodiversity-loss-worst-in-human-history-1-million-animal-species-risk-extinction/ . 34. Kristen Callihan. “Earth’s Currently Ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction Is Worse Than We Thought”. OutwardOn. 7 August 2017. https://www.outwardon.com/article/earths-currently-ongoing-sixth-mass-extinction-event-is-worse-than-we-thought/ . 35. Lauren Frayer. “Scores Are Feared Dead In India After Himalayan Glacier Breaks Away”. NPR. 7 February 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/02/07/965046888/scores-are-feared-dead-in-india-after-himalayan-glacier-breaks-away . It’s now looking like it was a landslide which makes the situation worse. 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