Bonneville Environmental Foundation

The lights of the school came on at 1 a.m. and the Norway Town’s people began chanting and singing their praises for a job well done.  The solar panel installation on the school was complete and the super LED bulbs chosen for the project were lighting the whole building up.  The group of us representing Volunteers for International Development and Aid (VIDA) breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the intense planning put into preparing for the trip to eastern Sierra Leone had paid off.  The school can now be used twice as long each day, allowing for additional classes at night and further use as a meeting space for community leaders.

Norway Town was established six years ago to provide support to amputees of the civil war that raged from 1991 to 2002.  At the request of the community Engineers without Borders (EWB-SE) stepped in to build a school for the local children in the Hanga region while VIDA provided funding for the construction of the building and the addition of a solar array for lighting and phone charging.

Sierra Leone is a safe place to travel, but there is still a ways to go to get power to its 5.5 million inhabitants.  The major cities are without consistent power and beyond city limits there is no power at all.  Norway Town is like so many small towns and villages in the country where socializing ends when darkness comes.  Flashlights are common but most exist as built-in components of cell phones that are difficult and expensive to maintain.

The Norway Town School’s solar panels address both lighting and phone issues for the community.  The extended use of the building added new capabilities for the facility and the phone charging station saves folks money that they would otherwise need to charge their phone at a vendor downtown.  The money will be set aside for maintenance of the system of the solar array over time as well as for school material needs.

Many of the children had never seen light bulbs before let alone an LED bulb that uses only 7 watts but produces the lumens equivalent to a 100-watt incandescent.    They were mesmerized buy the technology, as too were many chiefs from around the region who paid visits to this one-of-a-kind installation in the region.  Perhaps the greatest power provided by these solar panels is the optimism and inspiration they offer to a nation just beginning to conceive of its energize future. Here in a place where just 120 watts can light an entire school and keep a community connected.

The famous Goo Goo Cluster candy bar will turn 100 years old in 2012, but instead of reminiscing about the past, the company is looking forward to its future and the future of the planet.

Earlier this year, Standard Candy Company partnered with BEF to purchase green energy to power its Goo Goo Cluster manufacturing line in Nashville, TN. With the purchase, Goo Goo Clusters became the first candy bar to buy BEF Renewable Energy Credits.

“This was an important thing to do,” said Executive Vice President of Goo Goo Cluster, LLC, Lance Paine. “It helps move us into the 21^st century.”

Long known as the premier candy bar in the south, Goo Goo Clusters are welcoming their upcoming 100-year anniversary with updated packaging graphics, a new website and several sustainability measures including compostable packaging and the purchase of green energy through BEF.

The company also looked at its ingredients. It improved the quality of its chocolate and removed vanillin, partially hydrogenated oils and wheat germ to create what they call a “clean” label product. Goo Goo Clusters come in three flavors – original, supreme and peanut butter. Visit www.googoo.com for more information.

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation hit the red carpet, rode along with the President and partnered with a National Park over the winter to continue to bring new renewable energy to the country.

The nation-wide tour began in January, when the Natural Resources Defense Council offset President Obama’s motorcade ride from the White House to Capital Hill for the State of the Union speech in Washington D.C.  NRDC purchased BEF Carbon Offsets for the ride.

“Offsetting the president’s motorcades is meant to put on tonight’s agenda an awareness of the need to move America more vigorously toward a clean-energy economy, and that personal actions matter,” said Peter Lehner, executive director of NRDC, in a press release.

The motorcade offset marks the second time BEF has worked to green an event for President Obama. In May, 2010, BEF partnered with NRDC to offset the travel of 2,600 attendees to the White House Corresponent’s Dinner.
BEF’s 2011 tour continued in February, when it landed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the 53^rd GRAMMY Awards. The Recording Academy purchased BEF Renewable Energy Credits to offset the power needs of the event.

Later that month, BEF and the National Park Service partnered to provide collectable Carbon Offset Stickers at Lewis & Clark National Historical Park near Astoria, Oregon.

The stickers cost $2.00 and will create 100-kilowatt hours of clean, renewable energy each, or enough to offset the pollution associated with a typical drive to the park.

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation is extremely pleased to have recently entered into a 10-year Model Watershed Project agreement with the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation.  The Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation is a member of the Methow Restoration Council, a unique collaboration of locally operating state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens committed to the common goal of restoring healthy populations of native fish in the Methow River watershed.

The Methow River is a tributary of the upper Columbia River.  It drains a 1.1 million acre watershed that lies on the eastern slopes of the North Cascades mountain range in north-central Washington.  Historically, the Methow River supported prolific runs of ocean-going Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead trout, and Pacific lamprey.  The watershed also held abundant populations of native westslope cutthroat trout, redband rainbow trout, and bull trout.  However, soon after Euro-American settlement of the greater Columbia Basin, many of these native fish experienced considerable declines from their once prodigious numbers.  The members of the Methow Restoration Council now collaborate to implement a multi-species recovery plan that was completed in 2007 and is coordinated by the Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

As a Model Watershed partner, the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation will receive BEF funding of up to $300,000 and technical support over a ten-year period.  This partnership will increase the capacity of the Methow Restoration Council to implement the salmon recovery plan, manage the implementation of monitoring programs, and provide a community-based forum to facilitate outreach and education programs of a restoration program that supports and values community participation and stewardship.

For more information, visit  Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation: http://www.methowsalmon.org/index.html and  Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board: http://www.ucsrb.com/.

The National Hockey League scored two goals for the planet this winter with an assist from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

As part of a larger sustainability initiative, called NHL Green, the league purchased BEF RECs to offset the electricity usage of all activities associated with the 2011 Winter Classic at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA and the 2011 All-star Game at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC.

These renewable energy resources meet rigorous environmental criteria developed by leading environmental organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Besides purchasing BEF RECs, the NHL teamed up with local groups on a wide assortment of environmental initiatives. At the All-Star Game, the NHL partnered with the RBC Center to divert up to 40 tons of waste from landfills through recycling. At the All-Star Wide Open Street Fair, North Carolina State University and corporate sponsor Honda hosted sustainability booths. And another booth, by Raleigh’s Scrap Exchange, allowed fans to make arts and crafts entirely from recycled materials.

At the Winter Classic at Heinz Field, the NHL focused on parking lot recycling and partnered with the Pennsylvania Resources Council to collect aluminum cans, glass containers and plastic bottles and cups in six designated stadium parking lots.

“Sporting events provide a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of recycling, and education is a key component of this campaign,” said Dave Mazza, Regional Director of the Pennsylvania Resources Council. “PRC and its campaign partners are encouraging people to recycle when they’re away from home by making the activity easy and convenient.”

BEF Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) represent renewable energy from sources such as wind, solar, or biogas projects where clean energy has been delivered into the North American power grid to reduce carbon emissions from existing fossil fueled power plants. One REC represents the environmental benefits of 1-megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity generated and delivered to the power grid.

As an organization with a long history in watershed restoration work, BEF is continually looking for innovative ways to solve one of the most pressing water crises we face today — scarcity.
BEF’s latest innovation — Water Restoration Certificates — are an entrepreneurial solution to the environmental problem of water scarcity.
One of the creators of BEF’s WRC program was asked to speak at TEDx. Check out his brief, 7 minute, illuminating talk about the history of water rights in the West.

Congratulations go to Redmond High School and Solar 4R Schools teacher champion Mike Town for winning the inaugural $25,000 Green Prize in Environmental Education from the NEA Foundation on Monday.

According to this article in the April 19 Seattle Times, Town received the award in part for his program called the “Cool School Challenge.”

(The program) shows kids how to do energy audits of their school buildings and, using math and science, reduce the carbon footprint by powering down computers at night, turning out lights that aren’t being used, recycling, composting and a range of other strategies. About 150 participating schools across the country have saved and estimated 1.5 million poinds of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions.

Town’s school, Redmond High, estimates that it saved more than $30,000 a year in electricity and waste costs, and reduced carbon-dioxide emissions by more than 200,000 pounds.

According to the article, Town plans to use some of the prize money to add to the solar array on their home in Duvall, Wash.

Diane Zipper with Renewable Northwest Project will be giving a talk called “Renewable Energy 101: A presentation on Renewable Energy and the Choices Available to You” at the REI Portland store on Earth Day, April 22 from 7 to 8 p.m.

The talk is an overview of renewable energy projects in Oregon and a discussion on the environmental and economic benefits of clean power. Diane will also talk about area tax credits, incentive and local green power programs.

All attendees will get an REI shopping bag and there will be a raffle drawing for prizes.

The cost is free and you can register on line at http://www.rei.com/stores/13

The talk will be held in the REI-Portland store Community Room located at 1405 NW Johnson St.

Like many who call Portland home, several BEFers have acute cases of Blazermania right about now. There’s only four games left in the regular season with a big game tonight against the Dallas Maverics. And we’re only about a week away from the NBA Playoffs. The Portland Trailblazers are a fun team to watch and a fun team to root for. But it was this article in the Oregonian yesterday that made many of us at BEF especially proud to be Blazer fans.

The article details  many of the steps the Rose Garden is taking to become a more efficient and environmentally friendly facility. From composting beer cups to more efficient lightbulbs and heating systems, the folks at the Rose Garden have been working for five years to reduce the footprint of the 765,000 square foot facility. My favorite quote of the piece comes from Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who works with stadiums across the country.

The Rose Garden is “making efforts across the board,” she said. “They’re not just doing the fan outreach. They’re doing the behind the scenes work, too.”

Kudos go to the Rose Garden, the only sporting venue in the nation to recieve a gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Go Blazers!

Rob Harmon, BEF’s Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Vice President, is speaking at Law Seminars International’s Fifth Annual Renewable Energy Conference, Aug. 6 & 7, at the Westin Hotel, Seattle.  The conference addresses important current and emerging issues for renewable energy development in the region and features an outstanding faculty of leading legal, governmental and financial professionals.  For information and registration go to:www.lawseminars.com/seminars/09RENUWA.php

Rob has been working in the energy field since 1987, starting as an energy auditor in Massachusetts, moving on to manage an international marketing effort in the wind energy industry. He is responsible for the first web-based carbon calculator, here at BEF. In 2004, Rob won the EPA’s national Green Power Pioneer award for developing and selling retail Green Tags (now known as BEF Carbon Offsets). In addition, he has served as the Chairman of the Small Wind Turbine Committee of the American Wind Energy Association and as a member of the California Emerging Renewables Advisory Board, the Northwest Energy Coalition board, the New Energy Investment Club and Green-e. Rob has authored various published articles.