The movie will be the Swedish movie, The Planet

This outstanding documentary series outlines the challenges faced by humanity in the grip of global environmental change, making a strong case for mankind’s own contribution to this life threatening problem. Not limited to climate change, The Planet examines global changes brought about by overpopulation, the destruction of plants and animals, high levels of consumption, growing economies.

Where: Allterra Offices, Across the railroad tracks from the SC Mtn Brewery.

When: 8/31/2010, 7-9pm

Your “carbon footprint” is a measure of your impact on the environment, in terms of the carbon dioxide emitted as a result of your daily activity.

Use this calculator to estimate your carbon footprint from the energy you use and the vehicle you drive.

There seems to be a misconception that building and operating a desal plant would create more jobs than implementing water conservation strategies.  Yes, the designing, permitting, constructing, and maintaing a desalination plant would create some jobs; however, the majority of the jobs will go to large multinational engineering firms that have experience in the field.  These firms have little interest in supporting the Santa Cruz community and the millions we spend to build the plant will be extracted from our city ($300,000 is already going to a SF firm for soliciting plant designs).  Furthermore, it is well documented that energy use accounts for half the cost of desalinating water, so after the plant is built the exorbitant costs would just begin (keep in mind that California energy prices have increase 6.7% per year since 1970).

Photo from Santa Cruz Sentinel

An alternative strategy would be to implement an aggressive City sponsored water conservation strategy that spent half the forecasted desal money on subsidizing water conservation retrofits, such as rainwater catchment, grey water systems, and water smart gardens, for local homes and buildings.

A simple poll of Santa Cruzans would show that they would love to have a rainwater catchment and grey water system that zeroed out their landscape irrigation water usage, but feel it is too expensive to implement.  The solution is to subsidize water conservation as aggressively as the proposed Desal Plant subsidy.

Santa Cruz has hundreds of local contractors and landscapers that already have the skills, tools, and manpower to implement water conservation retrofits.  Jobs would be created in manufacturing materials and equipment, design and installation, and lifetime operation and maintenance.  Rather than pay an out of town engineering firm $30,000,000+ to build a desal plant then go away, why not spend $15,000,000 on local contractors?

There are tens of thousands of homes and buildings that need retrofits, and the resulting cumulative water conservation effect will likely exceed desal water production (40% of typical household water use is for landscaping; a 75% reduction in landscape water though conservation retrofits = 30% reduction in overall water use).

By Kurtis Alexander – Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted: 02/11/2010 06:15:55 PM PST

1.8 Kilowatt PV System

SANTA CRUZ – What’s likely to become the nation’s largest solar loan program is in line for $16.5 million of stimulus funds, setting the stage for potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for small energy projects across California, including Santa Cruz County.

The grant, announced Thursday by the California Energy Commission, will fund the administration of a 14-county financing district where homeowners and businesses can pay for solar and other energy efficiency improvements through an assessment on their property taxes.

“We’re taking away the (financial) barrier for people who want to do the right thing to protect their bottom line and help the environment,” said Virginia Johnson, executive director of Santa Cruz-based Ecology Action, which is helping coordinate the state effort.

With the federal funding, the so-called CaliforniaFIRST program is poised to begin this summer with financing of up to $35,000 for homeowners and $75,000 for businesses, with interest rates between 7 and 8 percent. The financing term is 20 years, with debt staying with the home or business if the property sells.

Administrators say the program will go a long way toward curbing greenhouse gas emissions and staving off global warming as well as generate as many as 2,000 jobs in the emerging green economy.

“It’s the economic impact and the environmental benefits that make this program,” said Johnson.

Before CaliforniaFIRST took shape, with Sacramento County as the lead administrator, several cities and counties struggled to start their own solar financing programs. While some went forward in places like Berkeley and Sonoma County, many remained stymied by the high cost of startup and liability.

“It would have taken a lot longer to get this happening here (without the grant). Our county does not have a lot of discretionary revenue right now,” said Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Leopold, who has long advocated for a local financing program.

The larger 14-county program, which goes as far south as San Diego and north to Yolo County, spreads the operating costs and will allow for lower interest rates, administrators say. Oakland-based Renewable Funding is handling the financing while the federal stimulus money will cover the administrative expense – with no tab for participating governments.

Within the two-year “pilot” period, at least $25 million will be loaned out and as much as $200 million, administrators say.

The financing will be available for a range of work from solar panel installation to upgrading heating, water systems and windows and doors, many of these projects expected to pay for themselves through energy savings.

In Santa Cruz County, where residents of all four cities and the unincorporated areas will be able to participate, local advocates say the loans will lure as much as $60 million in construction work and hundreds of new jobs.

The new funding for CaliforniaFIRST was part of a $110 million award through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, earmarked for retrofitting homes, businesses and municipal buildings.

The allocations announced Thursday need a final sign-off by the board of the California Energy Commission before the money, administered by the California Recovery Task Force, is handed down.

“California has always been and will continue to be the national leader in advanced energy efficiency efforts – efforts that continue to reduce energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and petroleum dependence,” said Herb Schultz, director of the California Recovery Task Force, in a prepared statement.

Counties in Solar financing Program

Alameda County

Sacramento County

San Mateo County

Ventura County

Fresno County

San Benito County

Santa Clara County

Yolo County

Kern County

San Diego County

Santa Cruz County

Monterey County

San Luis Obispo County

Solano County

FROM BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8386460.stm

The cost of installing and owning solar panels will fall even faster than expected according to new research.

Tests show that 90% of existing solar panels last for 30 years, instead of the predicted 20 years. According to the independent EU Energy Institute, this brings down the lifetime cost. The institute says the panels are such a good long-term investment that banks should offer mortgages on them like they do on homes.

At a conference, the institute forecast that solar panels would be cost-competitive with energy from the grid for half the homes in Europe by 2020 – without a subsidy.  Incentive programmes for solar panels in Germany, Italy and Spain have created manufacturing volume that’s bringing down costs. Solar panel prices dropped 30% last year alone due to an increase in output and a drop in orders because of the recession.

But Heinz Ossenbrink, who works at the institute, said China had underpinned its solar industry with a big solar domestic programme which would keep prices falling. There are large-scale solar plans in the US and India too.

Panels had been expected to last for 20 years and price calculations were based on this (with a free energy source, purchase and installation represent almost the entire price of solar power). But Dr Ossenbrink says the institute’s laboratory has been subjecting the cells to the sort of accelerated ageing through extremes of heat, cold and humidity that has long been a benchmark for the car industry.

Long lifetime

It has shown that more than 90% of the panels on the market 10 years ago are capable of still performing well after 30 years of life, albeit with a slight drop in performance.  Dr Ossenbrink says 40-year panels will be on the market soon.

A key goal for solar is what is known as grid parity. That is the point when it is as cheap for someone to generate power on their homes as it is to buy it from the grid. It varies from country to country depending on electricity prices, but the institute estimates that Italy – which has a combination of sunny weather and relatively high electricity prices – should reach grid parity next year. Half of Europe should be enjoying grid parity by 2020, it estimates. Cloudy northern countries like the UK could wait further, possibly up to 2030. But the day would come when solar panels on homes would be cost-competitive without a subsidy, even in Britain.

Dr Ossenbrink says: “Basically everything (in the industry) is bound to grow still further. Growing further means less cost. Less cost means grid parity.”  ”We have been surprised in the past five years at the drop in prices. It’s due to good incentive programmes first in Germany then Spain and Italy. That created a kind of a boom that was helping industry to reduce costs and get into profitability. And when an industry is in profit it drives on its own.”

Owning solar

Professor Wim Sinke, from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, who leads the solar umbrella group the European Photovoltaic Technology Platform, says the industry has even greater ambitions.  ”The target of the sector as a whole is to reach grid parity in almost all of Europe over the next 10 years. So by 2020 we should have grid parity in most of Europe,” he told BBC News.

Key sticking points for domestic solar, he said, would be the lack of flexibility in electricity grids to take in surplus generated energy and difficulties with finance.  Dr Ossenbrink said: “What I would like to see is the finance sector saying solar power is a product like financing a house – except they can predict the value of the solar panel much more safely than they can predict the value of the house in a volatile market.  ”Electricity will never be given away free. Banks should offer mortgages on people’s solar panels like they do on homes – the bank should own the panel, then it would transfer to the householder when the loan has been paid off. It would be perfect for life assurances.”

It will take much longer for solar to match fossil fuel power at the point of generation, the institute says, as wholesale electricity prices are much lower than retail prices.

When it comes to saving the plant, most people think rainwater catchment is insignificant and not worth the effort. Fortunately, they are wrong.  Let me explain:

Imagine a typical house with no rain catchment: Rainfall lands on the roof, flows to a downspout, and out to the nearest storm drain.  Along the way,  the water picks up surface pollutants such as oil, grease, chemicals, and fertilizers and carries them to our rivers and the ocean.  These pollutants are called Non-Point Source Pollution, or NPS.  Since the water flows over concrete and asphalt, very little is absorbed into the soil, meaning no groundwater recharge.  Later, the homeowner has to use city water for landscaping.

Now imagine a house with rain catchment: Rainfall lands of the roof, flows to the downspout, and into a rain barrel or cistern.  Once the rain tank is full, the overflow is directed into surrounding planter boxes in order to allow water to infiltrate the surface and recharge groundwater tables.    Since little water left the property, significantly less Non-Point Source Pollution was transported to the nearest river.  A week later, the homeowner uses collected rainwater for landscape irrigation, thus increasing groundwater recharge and reducing demand for city water.

Now imagine if an entire community participated!!

How To – Article 1.09:

Rainwater Catchment

Step 1 – Volume Estimate: Estimate the amount of water that falls on your watershed  during a  storm.  Use the following equation:

Eq. 1.09:  1,000 square feet = 600 gallons = 1-inch of rain

Instruction: Estimate the size of your watershed (or roof) and use Equation 1.09 to calculate the amount of rain that will fall in that area during a solid overnight rain (1-inch) and over an average rain season (about 20-inches in Santa Cruz).  For roofs, estimate the percentage of roof space that flows to each gutter and calculate the  resulting volume of water per storm (in gallons).

Example 1.09:  How much water falls on a 1,000 sq. ft. roof?

(1,000 sq. ft roof) x (600 gallons/1 in. rain) x (20 in. rain/season) = 12,000 gallons

Step 2 – Decide where you want the rainwater to go:

• Locate the downspouts at your house that drain the largest rain area – these will be the best places for collecting rainwater.
• Use whatever you can to collect and store rainwater: buckets or barrels work, but are not ideal.  If you can afford it, hire Allterra to install a RainwaterHog, which is ideal for residential settings.
• For areas where you can’t collect and store water, simply divert your downspout into a flower bed or lawn.  Make sure to properly mulch these areas to maximize water absorption and infiltration.

Summary

For simple, low-tech rainwater catchment, that’s about all there is.  For people that want to go bigger and badder, Allterra can help.   How about a 3,000-gallon rainwater cistern underneath your driveway?

As our friends and family know, Allterra has been working its butt off for the last 6 months to get everything dialed for launching our new services and website!! The launch day is finally here! For those that haven’t heard about our expanded business direction, I’ll try to explain it as briefly as possible. Allterra has added services that will save our planet and economy (modest goals). These services include, but are not limited to, solar, green energy, green consulting, water management systems, rainwater catchment, grey water systems, sustainable landscapes with native plants, and edible organic gardens for residential and commercial properties. These services span many fields of expertise, which is why Allterra stands alone in this new field that we are calling Greenification!

This newsletter is an introduction to Allterra Environmental, Incorporated. Read on to learn who we are, what we are all about, and how we plan to improve our local and regional communities. If you want to learn more about Allterra, we encourage you to explore our website at www.allterraenv.com.

Allterra’s Values

Allterra is committed to being a positive force in our local and regional communities and economy. Our commitment is shown in the following ways:

• We provide green jobs, pay living wages, provide medical and dental coverage for employees, provide a company matching 401k plan (note: we are considering a change to a pension-type plan), and promote continuing education.
• We remediate groundwater pollution to keep our drinking water clean, install rain catchment systems to conserve water resources and recharge aquifers, install solar PV and thermal systems to help save our planet, and provide green consulting to help homeowners and business join the green revolution.
• We donate to and support local non-profits, work with local schools on environmental projects, are working toward starting an Environmental Scholarship for local high school students.
• We collaborate with government officials, community leaders, and businesses to promote environmental and social justice issues.

Diversification

Over the last year, Allterra has focused on diversification. One obvious reason for diversifying is to move beyond our niche field of fuel leak cleanups, which is susceptible to the financial whims of the State of California. Another reason, which is most important to Allterra’s Founders, is because we want to utilize our skills in a field that is extremely important for our collective future: sustainability. At this moment, Earth’s environmental systems are failing due to mankind’s overwhelmingly destructive actions and we want Allterra to be a leader in the growing green movement. To meet this growing demand, Allterra has expanded its services to include Greenification, which encompasses Green Consulting, Solar Energy Systems, Water Management Systems, and Rainwater Harvesting/Sustainable Landscape Systems. Additionally, to help solve California’s water crisis, Allterra is actively promoting regulatory acceptance of grey water systems for homes and businesses.

Our Mission

Allterra’s corporate mission is to use our skills and expertise to maximize benefit to our local and regional communities. Today, we believe that helping businesses and homeowners gain energy independence and maximize water conservation are the two most important issues to tackle. Therefore, Allterra has focused its attention on finding the best approach and technology for resource conservation and assisting with regulatory policy to hasten our transition towards sustainability.

The Big Problem Of Our Day

There are hundreds of issues that need to be addressed in order to create a better world for us and for future generations: poverty, pollution, resource depletion, war, corporate crooks, corrupt politicians, global warming, media reform, industrialized food, population growth, crime, over-crowded prisons, and on and on. Fortunately, all of these issues can be solved at once. “How?” you may ask. First, one must identify the common link connecting all of these problems. We believe the problem is an economic system that rewards bad behavior. E.g. Bribe a politician = more profit. Deny insurance coverage for chemo treatment = more profit. Cayman Islands tax shelter to avoid income taxes = more profit. Pollute a river rather than clean up your mess = more profit. Ship manufacturing to China to exploit cheap labor and lax environmental regulations = more profit. War on Drugs filling up privatized prisons = more profit. See the common link?

How Do We Fix The World?

How do we fix it?  Grassroots level action – we fix it ourselves by electing clean politicians, supporting independent non-corporate media, supporting our local economy, and rewarding companies that are doing the right thing. We encourage you to bookmark this page and use it as an information reference. Each of these groups and movements were discovered from independent news and media sources such as DemocracyNow!, Bill Moyers Journal, and LinkTV:

• ThinkLocalFirst:  Allterra is a Gold Member of ThinkLocalFirst. We believe developing our Local Economy helps our community thrive, creates jobs for our neighbors, reduces imports, and is better for the environment. Allterra develops strategic partnerships with local businesses and social groups to help this movement grow.
• The Better Wolrd Shoppers Guide is a site dedicated to providing people with a comprehensive, up-to-date, reliable account of the social and environmental responsibility of every company on the planet AND making it available in practical forms that individuals can use in their everyday lives. Coming out of more than 5 years of intensive research, this work is based on a comprehensive database of over 1,000 companies and utilizes 25+ reliable sources of data to cover everything: the environment, human rights, community development, and animal protection to name a few.
• Good Role Model Corporation: Corporations earned the bad rap they have. At Allterra we strive to be a good role model by paying our employees a livable wage, provide medical and dental coverage, and put our employees in positions to succeed.
• Independent Media: Independent media is the only place to get real news. Allterra supports FreeRadio Santa Cruz (a pirate radios station), Democracy Now!, Bill Moyers Journal, Alternative Radio, and LinkTV.
• Single Payer Health Care: As demonstrated by survey after survey, the lack of affordable healthcare is the single biggest problem faced by America’s 25 million small business owners as well as their employees who represent 52% of the private sector workforce. Allterra STRONGLY supports a Single Payer Health Care system.
• Slow Food: Slow Food is an idea, a way of living, and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. Basically, we support access to good, clean, and fair food. Good = nutritional content; Clean = no poisons, chemicals, or genetic modifications; Fair = food providers are fairly compensated (slave labor free food)
• Raising the Minimum Wage: We support an increase in the minimum wage to benefit workers, business, and our economy. We know that the minimum wage is simply not enough for workers to afford necessities for themselves and their families. We know that a fair wage floor is essential to healthy businesses and communities, and enduring economic growth.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading about Allterra and what we are all about. If you are interested in learning more about our services or simply want to learn more about the greenification movement, please contact us. Also, we will be posting pertinent news articles, editorial content, and helpful “How To” articles on our website, so bookmark this page and visit it often! One more thing, we will be starting an email newsletter that you can sign up for by emailing Micah Breeden at micah@allterraenv.com.