By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton Marketing & Communications Director

The financial model the City of Covington is operating under creates a $8.4M/year shortfall against the long-term maintenance and replacement costs for the city's infrastructure (roads, water and sewer lines, and electric and natural gas lines).  And that deficit will grow by that much every year it goes unfunded.  Put into practical terms, the city can ultimately only afford 46% of its existing 104 miles of roads inside the city limits.  That was the message delivered to elected officials, city staff, and citizens last week by Joe Minicozzi, principle of the consulting firm Urban3.

When my family and I embarked on our journey to Serenbe, we didn’t quite know what the day had in store. As we drove through the breathtaking countryside, I began to take note of my surroundings, making sure to soak up the atmosphere. The bustling noises of the city soon transformed into birds chirping and insects trilling. Sun-dappled roads lined with forest escorted us to our destination among the pines. As we inched closer to our destination, the serene and silent parade of electric vehicles signaled that our first-ever RayDay was just around the corner.

Speaking from the lens of one of the agricultural education teachers at Newton College & Career Academy, we are consistently looking to connect things. We strive to connect our students with curriculum, our curriculum with industry, and our industries with students. Ultimately that’s what sustainability is, right? Connecting things with one another? Webster defines sustainable as : capable of being sustained. Well, what does Webster say about sustained?  “Maintained at length without interruption or weakening."

That’s what I’m talking about. I don’t want our student’s progress to be interrupted, and I certainly don’t want it to be weakened. I want the experiences our students have to strengthen them as individuals, therefore strengthening our curriculum and local industries. Much like any type of braided wire or rope, we believe the more experiences we can connect with a student, the stronger that student becomes. Our students hopefully become more sustainable when they come through our program.

It's 10 o'clock (AM), and I have a feeling all's not well.

For a second straight late-December day, I'm sweating in shorts and a t-shirt, as thunder rumbles and heavy rain pounds my office windows.  Thankfully, the tornado watch expired at 5 AM, but it's still not a fit day out for man nor beast.  When I did venture forth between deluges, I was barefoot.  And, despite the drizzle, I still can't help stopping to marvel at a summer daisy blooming by our driveway...  at the bearded irises flashing purple April buds in December...  at the koi in our pond who -- instead of resting dormant in cold, deep waters as they should be this time of year -- are swimming at the surface mouthing "Feed me.  FEED me.  FEED ME!" 

Around the yard, thrift, black-eyed susan, and baby's breath are pushing out fresh blooms, and the annual herbs in our pots and beds remain abundant and green.

When we think about climate change, fossil fuels, and carbon footprints, the first culprits most of us think about are the vehicles we drive.  And those emissions are a big deal.  That's why you're seeing so much activity around electric cars and trucks.

But globally, according to Project Drawdown, 25% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from electricity generation.  So, to achieve zero-emission transportation, we must also transform how we generate power to charge those vehicles, light/heat/cool our homes, and run our factories.  In Georgia, ~66% of our electricity is still generated by plants burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) that create those emissions.  The remainder comes from nuclear (26%) and renewables (9% -- primarily hydro and solar).

Renewable energy -- primarily wind and solar -- gets most of the press.  But there's really more to it.  Cost overruns and schedule delays with the additional reactors at Plant Vogtle reflect how difficult it is to scale quickly with nuclear.  But, until battery storage can be deployed at massive scale, the intermittent generation characteristics of wind and solar mean we need other options.   In fact, Project Drawdown has identified, analyzed, and quantified 32 different climate solutions in the Electricity Sector as part of our overall carbon reduction plan.  Understanding them all can get pretty mind-boggling!

University researchers and public policy experts in our state have banded together though Drawdown Georgia to narrow our climate focus to just 20 solutions with the greatest practical impact in Georgia over the coming decade (by 2030).  And five of those are in the Electricity Sector.  The sun shines brightly most days in Georgia, which is why both Rooftop Solar and Large-Scale (Utility) Solar are among the list of five.  On the other hand, our hilly terrain makes on-shore wind farms non-viable here.

The other three Electricity Sector solutions prioritized by Drawdown Georgia are less familiar to most of us:

• Cogeneration is an industrial solution where plants that use heat in their production processes capture it to create steam and generate electricity.
• Demand Response includes an array of methods to encourage or force the shift of electricity consumption to off-peak hours, which reduces the amount of electricity that has to be generated at peak times.
• Landfill Methane involves installing equipment to capture methane emitted by decomposing material in landfills and burning it to generate electricity.

From a carbon reduction perspective, solar and wind are easy to understand -- since the electricity they generate is 100% emissions-free.  With Cogeneration and Landfill Methane (and sometimes Demand Response), critics note carbon-based fuels are still being burned, and greenhouse gases are emitted.  But, in each case, emissions are already occurring due to existing processes (ie, manufacturing or solid waste decomposition), so using those processes to also generate electricity avoids the emissions that would have been generated elsewhere to satisfy electricity demand.  And the new processes are generally substantially more efficient.  So the net effect is less total emissions.

I recently spent time learning about Cogeneration through conversations with a local industry interested in using Combined Heat and Power (CHP -- a form of Cogeneration) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their manufacturing process.  Those conversations included a meeting with a leading CHP expert, Marilyn Brown, at Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy, who recently published extensive research on the current state and future potential for CHP in Georgia.  Dr. Brown is also a member of the core research team for Drawdown Georgia.

When I first heard about the project being considered locally and learned it would use natural gas, I was skeptical about the carbon reduction benefits.  But, since Cogeneration/CHP is a priority solution in the Drawdown Georgia framework, I was also open-minded and curious.

Both the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promote CHP as an energy efficiency measure and a way to lower greenhouse gas emissions/reduce environmental impacts.  On its website, the EPA provides an easy to follow explanation of the benefits from CHP, and the DOE offers technical assistance for installations through its Better Buildings program. 

In the future, CHP can potentially be fueled by an emissions-free energy source like hydrogen.  But today most systems burn either natural gas or bio-mass left over from the industrial process.  Still, even with a fossil fuel energy source, the graphic below from the EPA shows how a CHP system results in lower carbon emissions than a traditional scenario where natural gas is burned separately to power both steam boilers and electricity generation at a power plant somewhere else.

Reduced emissions are achieved through several factors:

• Accomplishing multiple tasks (industrial heating and electricity generation) with the same process.
• Using high-efficiency boilers in that process.
• Avoiding the roughly 4.5% of electricity lost during transmission and distribution from the central power plant to the facility where it is used.

In her paper, Georgia Tech's Dr. Brown writes "There is an enormous opportunity for CHP to save industries money and make them more competitive, while at the same time reducing air pollution, creating jobs and enhancing public health."

Also from her team's research:

If Georgia added CHP systems to the 9,374 sites that are suitable for cogeneration, it could reduce carbon emissions in Georgia by 13%. Bringing CHP to just 34 of Georgia’s industrial plants, each with 25 megawatts of electricity capacity, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2%. The study authors, using modeling tools they developed, note that this “achievable” level of CHP adoption could add 2,000 jobs to the state; full deployment could support 13,000 new jobs. 

So, while solar has a sunny future in Georgia, less familiar solutions like Cogeneration, Landfill Methane, and Demand Response are an equally important part of the climate solution mix.  We know from science how crucial it is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.  We have a lot of eggs to carry and will need every basket we can find.

Anyone living or working in Newton County has until November 30 (tomorrow) to view and comment on the county's Transit Master Plan, which we encourage you to do here.

As a climate activist, I support public transportation as a critical investment to lower greenhouse gas emissions.  Scientists working on Drawdown Georgia estimate 43% of our state's carbon emissions come from vehicles on our roadways, which is why they've pegged Mass Transit as one of five Transportation Sector climate solutions for Georgia.

But my inspiration is far more personal.  It's rooted in a promise I made to a friend before she died.  I'd known Vivian Harris when my wife served as Covington's Mayor from 2008-2011, but I hadn't seen her for years when I happened to attend a meeting Vivian instigated in 2015 for local citizens seeking to establish public transportation in Newton County.

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President

“It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new."

Niccolò Machiavelli's words from his 1532 work, The Prince, have never rang more true than now.  Just ask President Joe Biden, whose climate agenda and proposed clean energy policies are the largest "new order of things" we've seen in America in our lifetimes.  For the world, decarbonizing economies to respond to the climate crisis -- as agreed via the Paris Climate Agreement -- is likely the largest single undertaking in human history.

Stop in the Name of Love (of Money)

By opposing President Biden's Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) casts himself as the visible face of the enemies Machiavelli noted.  Manchin is doing very well under the current order of things through the backing of the coal, oil, and gas interests who have done extremely well themselves for decades.

Across Newton County cities, one mayoral and 14 city council terms expire at year end.  But only two seats -- Covington's East Ward Post 1 and West Ward Post 2 -- have contested races in November.  The other openings will be filled in January by candidates who qualified unopposed.

Prior to advanced, in-person voting beginning October 12, Sustainable Newton invited the two Covington East Ward and two West Ward candidates to chat with us about climate change, sustainability, and their positions on issues such as rooftop and utility-scale solar and the adoption of electric vehicles.  We offered to send questions a week in advance and record each interview at the candidate's convenience without a live audience.  You can read our questions here.

East Ward Post 1 incumbent council member Susie Keck and West Ward Post 2 candidate Scotty Scoggins accepted our invitation.  You will find recordings of those conversations below. 

By Maurice Carter, Sustainable Newton President

On June 1, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order temporarily suspending oil and gas drilling leases for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.  The controversial leasing program was finalized in August 2020 during President Donald Trump's final year in office.

President Biden's order cited "legal deficiencies" with the current program and "inadequacy" of the previous review process.  As a result, the US Department of the Interior is initiating a "comprehensive environmental analysis to review the potential impacts of the Program and to address legal deficiencies in the current leasing program’s environmental review."  That review will include public comments and testimony, starting with six sessions this week.

On September 14, at the invitation of Environment America and representing Sustainable Newton, I delivered virtual testimony before the Federal Bureau of Land Management Alaska Field Office.  You can read the text of my verbal testimony here.  You can also view the presentation from the bureau and listen to all of yesterday's testimony in the Facebook Live video below.  (My testimony begins at the 28:04 mark.)

Scientists tell us everyday:  there have never been times such as these:

• Raging wildfires in California, Siberia, and Turkey.
• Unprecedented flooding claiming lives across Europe.
• Reservoirs drained by drought to historic lows.
• Hypoxic "Dead Zones" in super-heated oceans around the world.
• Signs of collapsing currents, including the Gulf Stream, that could bring dramatic changes to weather patterns and threaten marine life.

The dots aren't hard to connect.  But, a new report out today from the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) puts these extreme weather events into sharper focus and an even more disturbing context.  The message is clear:  "A code red for humanity," said UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres.

In regularly scheduled meetings Monday night, the city councils of Covington and Oxford each voted to approve solar power purchase contracts (SPPCs) with the Municipal Electric Association of Georgia (MEAG).  Covington will purchase up to 15 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity through MEAG's 80 MW solar initiative scheduled to come online in 2023.  Oxford will commit to 4 MW.

This initiative marks the first time MEAG has included a utility-scale solar offering in its power portfolio.  The association -- which serves 49 municipal electric companies in Georgia -- will contract with a third party vendor to construct and operate an 80 MW solar farm in south Georgia.  MEAG will resell the solar-sourced electricity (and associated renewable energy credits) to cities participating in the project.

The actual capacity Covington and Oxford receive will depend on the total purchase commitments received from all eligible municipal electric companies.  If requests exceed the 80 MW capacity of the project, then each interested city will receive a reduced allocation based on  their percentage of the total requested.

In presenting the MEAG proposal to City Council Monday night, Covington Electric Director Joel Smith positioned the solar opportunity as an important step for achieving the city's goal of 90% emissions-free electricity by 2045.  According to Smith, Covington plans sell the new solar capacity exclusively to large industrial customers via a Renewable Energy Customer Agreement (RECA), giving those large customers the opportunity to meet sustainability objectives and comply with corporate mandates.  One existing Covington customer has already expressed interest in purchasing 50% of Covington's solar capacity under the agreement.

Oxford plans to add the additional electricity to their grid, serving all customers.

Sustainable Newton supporters may recall our MEAG cities (Covington, Oxford, and Mansfield) posed special challenges during our 2019-20 Solarize Newton-Morgan campaign -- due to the standby capacity fee MEAG encouraged those cities to adopt as a hedge against revenue loss from rooftop solar.  The Oxford City Council ultimately voted to rescind their standby fee, and Covington voted to reduce (but not eliminate) theirs. 

In 2019, MEAG had no publicly announced plans for a solar, and you could not even find the word "solar" anywhere on their website.  These solar power purchase contracts with MEAG are a very big step forward in just two short years.

Sustainable Newton remains committed to working with local officials in each of our cities to remove barriers to rooftop solar and to even provide incentives (such as net metering, time of use rate plans, etc.).  But, rooftop solar alone will not reduce greenhouse gas emission sufficiently to address the climate crisis.  We've aligned our climate action plans with Drawdown Georgia, and utility-scale solar is a big part of that plan.

For the Electricity solution sector, Drawdown Georgia has set the following statewide targets for 2030:

• For Rooftop Solar:  295,000 new 5 kW solar roofs.
• For Large-Scale Solar:  10 additional 100 MW utility-scale solar installations and 36 additional 5 MW community solar installations.

Putting last night's votes into perspective, the MEAG solar offering is 80% of one of those utility-scale installations.  And the combined 19 MW purchase by Covington and Oxford represents 2% of the additional utility-scale capacity assumed by Drawdown Georgia in their solution scenarios.

During our solarize campaign, consultants estimated the 85 kW of rooftop solar installed through the campaign would mean 159,460 pounds less carbon being emitted into the atmosphere each year.  Extrapolating that formula, 19 MW of utility-scale solar will result in roughly 35.6 million pounds (or 16,202 metric tons) less carbon emissions annually from electricity generation for our two cities.  This stuff adds up!

We are grateful to MEAG for taking this important initiative and proud of our elected officials and city staffs in Covington and Oxford for stepping up in a big way!  May this only be the beginning of even bigger things to come!!

In March 2019, my husband Billy and I installed 12 solar panels on our roof as part of the Solarize Newton Morgan campaign.  We were super excited to to reduce our carbon footprint, become a little more energy independent, and save money.  Not only did the solarize campaign allow us to get better pricing on installation and materials, but it also did the leg work of choosing a reputable solar installer.  We worked with folks who had already gone solar and others like us who were adding solar for the first time.   It was a great experience. 

Fast forward to today and we can look at the numbers to see how much electricity we're using and how much money we have saved over the last 2+ years. 

Who Doesn’t Love a Creek?
 
Thanks to the City of Oxford’s Sustainability Committee, I had a chance to play in the creek again with the Stream Team of GA and folks from UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.  Since retiring, I really miss that part of teaching of Environmental Science at Oxford College, so it was a real treat for me to get my feet wet and my hands slimy.

On Saturday, we sampled a stretch of Dried Indian Creek behind the Oxford College Organic Farm to see how many different kinds of fish we could find.  Using an electro-shocker, the team collected fish from horny head chub to yellow fin shiners -- even a few salamanders.  No worries though, it was all catch and release with 0% fish mortality.  What a beautiful array of fish, many in their brilliant breeding colors.

By Sustainable Newton