CAN SAN Francisco Keep ITS Promise to Reduce Greenhouse GAS Emissions?*

Additional Recommendations 1

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

• R25-30
  year life span of the system, the home owner will save - based on current electrical rates and a conservative estimate of a six percent annual inflation rate for future costs -- about $60,000 in electricity. After subtracting the system's cost, the bottom line is $40,000 in savings." In the meantime, solar energy development is rapidly improving. New technology is now being created to utilize a solar conductive film, little more than conductive saran wrap, that can be used in many more applications than current solar panels. It is anticipated that in the future an entire house or car can be wrapped in the film which will then provide electricity to batteries. We can expect greatly increased efficiencies from solar technology. (NASA 2005) If, in the not too distant future, plug-in vehicles become available at reasonable prices to the average homeowner, solar home energy will become even more cost effective. The homeowner with rooftop solar energy, who also owns a plug-in automobile, could take advantage of the combination of his own free and clean solar energy, along with off-peak PG&E or the City's own Community Choice Aggregation, to power his home and car. While we cannot predict the future -- new products are streaming into the marketplace, from solar collectors which are also roofing tiles, to backpacks which recharge i-pods - it is clear that this new technology will not languish. Bay Area businesses and organizations have the expertise to provide incentives and technical help to further promote acceleration of solar installations in the City. The Business Council on Climate change (BC3), an external advisory group working with San Francisco and other cities, 39 As early as Fall of 2007, residents can click on www.SolarSF.org to find their electricity-producing potential. 40 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/21/HOGAQPAJBS1.DTL&ty is a group of businesses committed to climate leadership, currently with more than 42 member companies. Finding D2a. Solar power in the City will provide a significant benefit in the long term in both cost savings for users as well as reducing reliance on fossil fuels for generating electricity. Finding D2b. Solar power in the City is easy to acquire. Installation is subsidized and it should be an attractive proposition for users of energy with suitable rooftops. Finding D2c. The Department of Environment is helping San Franciscans to determine which rooftops are most suitable for solar panels. Finding D2d. The short term cost of purchasing solar panels and junction boxes, reinforcing roofs, rewiring, and bringing the remainder of electrical systems into code compliance may be a significant cost burden to the majority of residential and commercial building owners. Financial incentives such as subsidies, tax credits and low cost loans might be required. Finding D2e. Consumers would be more likely to invest in solar if it is financially a better alternative. Requiring PG&E to reimburse for all excess solar energy returned to the grid would add to the attractiveness of investing in solar rooftop panels. Finding D2f. Solar rooftop panels will be an even better proposition for homeowners with plug-in vehicles. As time goes on, such consumers will gradually approach an emissions- free life style. Finding D2g. Solar power projects generate business for local firms that provide energy equipment and services and will create new jobs centered around green power. Recommendation D2a. The Department of Environment, with the cooperation of the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and Departments of Planning and Building Inspection, should explore more ways to create incentives for City residents and businesses with rooftops suitable for solar panels to act early to invest in these projects, considering financial incentives such as subsidies, rebates, property tax reduction, or low-cost loans. Recommendation D2b. The San Francisco State Legislation Committee should lobby the California Public Utilities Commission and the State Legislature for regulations allowing homeowners and businesses to be compensated for all solar energy being returned to the grid. Recommendation D2c. The Department of Environment should keep consumers informed of technological advances in solar technology. Recommendation D2d. The Departments of Environment, Planning and Building Inspection should catalogue and publicize financing options for solar installations for residential consumers. Recommendation D2e. The Department of Environment should partner with San Francisco Community College to establish training and certification programs for professional solar installers and for customer self-installations. Recommendation D2f. The Departments of Environment, Planning and Building Inspection should work with business groups such as BC3, as well as hotel associations and local non-profit organizations to promote solar installations through community education, outreach and training. The Office of the Mayor, Responses required from The Planning Department, The Department of Building Inspection, San Francisco Community College, The S.F. State Legislation Committee, The Department of Environment (60 days). The Board of Supervisors (90 days). SOLID WASTE Ε. To address the San Francisco Climate Action Plan goal of increasing residential, commercial and municipal recycling and at the same time promoting source reduction. The world's economic engine has promoted consumerism in order to promote growth -- in income, jobs and quality of life. Our discarded waste, unhappily, is overwhelming the capacity of our landfills, and plastic detritus threatens marine life as well. There is an upstream cost of producing these oil-based commodities, contributing to the load of greenhouse gases which bodes ill for our future. In a San Francisco Chronicle article dated 2/18/07 and entitled, "The Real Cost of Bottled Water," the Director of the San Francisco Department of Environment and the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission write that "San Franciscans and other Bay Area residents enjoy some of the nation's highest quality drinking water, with pristine Sierra snowmelt from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir as our primary source . . . and the federal standards for tap water are higher than those for bottled water." Bottled water leaves behind millions of plastic bottles to be recycled, or possibly to end up in our waste stream, not to mention the upstream energy resources used for manufacture and transport. San Francisco is at the forefront in attempts to reduce the use of plastic in the City, as well as recycling paper, glass, metals and compostable green waste. The new law restricting plastic bags will require supermarkets and large drug stores to offer customers only bags made of recyclable paper, "bio-plastic" (materials that can be turned into compost), sturdy cloth, or plastic that can be reused. Polystyrene take-out containers can no longer be provided by restaurants, shops or grocery stores; compostable alternatives are available (S.F. Department of Environment 2007). Finding E1. Although California has a surcharge on purchases of plastic bottles and aluminum drink cans and some percent of cans and bottles are recycled every year, there is still much plastic, recyclable and non-recyclable, that ends up in landfills. NorCal Scavenger Services performs a good job of recycling metal cans and some plastics. Other plastic products do not meet requirements for recycling and are not accepted. These, along with some that could be recycled but are not segregated by the user, end up in landfills. Recommendation E1. San Francisco businesses, residents and City departments should be encouraged through stepped-up educational programs by the Department of Environment to decrease their purchase and use of plastic goods and to increase recycling. Responses required from The Department of Environment (60 days). REQUIRED RESPONSES BY DEPARTMENT В В В В В В В В В С С С С A С С С D D Ε 3 5 5 DEPARTMENT 2 4 6 7 8 9 2 3 6 7 1 1 1 4 1 2 1 Board of Supervisors X X X X X X X Central Shops X DBI X X X X X X X Environment X X X X X \mathbf{X} \mathbf{X} X X X X X X X X X X X X X GSA X X Health X LAFCO X Mayor X X X X \mathbf{X} X X MTA X X X X X X Muni X X Parking and Traffic X X Parking Authority X Planning X X X X X X \tilde{\mathbf{X}} X Port X Public Works X SFCC \mathbf{X} SFFD X SFO X SFPUC X SFUSD X State Legislation X X X Taxi Commission X page page General A1 8 C1 Municipal Energy Use 24 Transit First Policy 9 C2 B1 Municipal Building Standards 25 Muni Fleet C3 Commercial & Residential Bldgs. B2 11 26 12 B3 Muni Funding C4 28 Energy Watch 15 C5 B4 Muni Speed Commercial Building Standards 28 B5 Commuter Options 16 C6 Energy Tax 29 Private Vehicles 18 C7 B6 RECO 30 19 30 В7 Plug-in Vehicles D1 Community Choice Aggregation В8 Taxis 21 D2 Solar Rooftops V. INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURE The San Francisco Civil Grand Jury interviewed staff from: San Francisco Department of the Environment San Francisco County Transportation Authority (CTA) ٠ San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) • San Francisco Planning Department ٠ San Francisco Department of Parking & Traffic (DPT) • San Francisco Board of Supervisors Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) The Civil Grand Jury reviewed or consulted the following documents (see Bibliography) Sustainability Plan for the City of San Francisco (1996) United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (IPCC 2007) San Francisco Climate Action Plan (Climate Action Plan, 2004) ٠ The Transit Effectiveness Briefing Binder for San Francisco (SFTEP, 2006) ٠ U.S. Census Bureau: Countries Ranked by Population (on eCO2 emissions) (2001) Progress Incorporating Climate Change into Mgmt. of California Water Resources (2006) Short Range Transit Plan for San Francisco Municipal Railway 2006-2025 (2001) Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) FY2007 Proposed Budget (2006) San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Mobility, Access & Pricing Study (2007) • San Francisco Environmental Code (2003-2007) • Our Changing Climate, Assessing the Risks to California; A Summary Report from the California Climate Change Center (2006) Western Public Utilities Commission Joint Action Framework on Climate Change (2006) Understanding and Responding to Climate Change; National Academies Reports (2005) • Numerous published peer-reviewed Scientific articles Numerous news articles in local and national newspapers and the Internet The Civil Grand Jury read the following books: Earth in the Balance (1992) by Al Gore ٠ An Inconvenient Truth (2006) by Al Gore • The Weather makers (2005) by Tim Flannery Field Notes from a Catastrophe (2006) by Elizabeth Kolbert The Coming Storm (2001) by Bob Reiss Kicking the Carbon Habit (2006) by William Sweet Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars That Will Recharge America (2006) by Sherry Boschert The Civil Grand Jury attended scientific meetings in San Francisco on Global Warming American Geophysical Union (AGU, Dec 2006) American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, Feb 2007) Water Utility Climate Change Summit 2007, San Francisco Math Sciences Research Inst. (MSRI, April 2007) "From Global Predictions to Local Action" State Bar of California, Bar Assoc of SF, "Domestic Response to Global Climate Change" • VI. TABLES Tables 1-2. The eCO2 reduction goals envisioned by the San Francisco Climate Action Plan, in thousand metric tons per year for: Transportation (top) and Energy Efficiency (bottom) Table 1: Transportation Estimated eCO_2 reduction Transportation Action Categories in 1,000 tons/year A. Increase the Use of Public Transit as an Alternative to Driving 87 B. Increase the Use of Ridesharing as an Alternative to Single 42 Occupancy Driving C. Increase Bicycling and Walking as an Alternative to Driving 10 D. Support Trip Reduction Through Employer-Based Programs 28 E. Discourage Driving 155 F. Increase the Use of Clean Air Vehicles and Improve Fleet Efficiency 641 Total 963 Table 2: Energy Efficiency Estimated eCO_2 reduction Energy Efficiency Action Categories in 1,000 tons/year A. Increase Incentives, Direct Installation and Technical Assistance Residential Buildings 222 Commercial Buildings Tables 3-4. The eCO2 reduction goals envisioned by the San Francisco Climate Action Plan, in thousand metric tons per year for: Renewable Sources (top) and Solid Waste (bottom) Table 3: Renewable Sources Estimated eCO_2 reduction Renewable Sources Action Categories in 1,000 tons/year A. Develop Renewable Energy Projects Solar Energy 35 239 Wind Energy Biomass Energy 44 B. Conduct Pilot Projects for Emerging Technologies C. Support and Develop Green Power Purchasing 230 Total 548 Table 4: Solid Waste Estimated eCO_2 reduction Solid Waste Action Categories in 1,000 tons/year A. Increase Residential Recycling and Composting 70 B. Increase Commercial Recycling and Composting Table 5 SFPUC Energy Efficiency Projects completed San Francisco General Hospital -- Lighting In 13 buildings at SFGH Medical Center, install energy efficient lighting. San Francisco Housing Authority, housing 2000 energy-efficient refrigerators developments Energy efficient lighting at 17 facilities. Department of Public Health -- Clinics Rec. & Park Department energy efficiency Golden Gate Park (lighting) Lighting efficiency at DPW Corporation Yard 2323 Cesar Chavez DPW/BBR shop and administrative offices. Install energy efficient fluorescent lighting. West Portal Library Moscone Center West -- Expansion Energy efficiency LED traffic signals retrofit City-wide traffic signals Moscone Convention Center -- ECM Lighting retrofit and control modification Lighting. Does not include St. Mary's Square. DPT Garages DPH Clinics Energy Controls Install energy management controls at 9 clinics Design and install energy efficient mixers at Waste Water Aeration Basin Mixer Efficiency Southeast Waste Treatment Plant 190 9th St Library Administration Building EMS Energy management system upgrade to newly renovated administration building. SFGH Chiller replacement Chiller (natural gas savings) Total annual emissions reduction from these projects is expected to be 10,904 tons eCO2,, about one quarter of the 45,000 ton goal for Municipal Buildings by year 2012 (Table 2). VII. APPENDICES Appendix #1. Sea Levels The following statistics on sea levels corresponding to levels of atmospheric CO2 and temperature are from Section 2 of "The Threat to the Planet," an article by Jim Hansen, 41 Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University's Earth Institute. (Hansen 2006) The level of the sea around the globe is a reflection primarily of changes in the volume of ice sheets and thus of changes in global temperature. When the planet cools, (called glacial periods), ice sheets grow on continents and the sea level falls. When the Earth warms (called interglacial periods), ice melts and the sea level rises. By drilling into glaciers to analyze air bubbles trapped under layers of snow, scientists can measure the levels of each gas in the atmosphere hundreds of thousands of years ago. By comparing the concentrations of different isotopes of oxygen in these air bubbles, they have measured the average levels of CO2 and temperature over 420,000 years. Figure 1, next page, from Vostok, Antarctica ice cores, shows CO2 and temperature rising and falling together over periods of roughly 100,000 years. (from of Elizabeth Kolbert's 2006 book) During the coldest ice ages measured, atmospheric CO2 descended to lows of 200 parts per million, while Earth's average temperature was about ten degrees Fahrenheit colder than today, and the sea level was 400 feet lower. The warmest interglacial periods were about two degrees warmer than today and the sea level as much as sixteen feet higher. During this 420,000 year period, atmospheric CO2 reached a maximum of 299 parts per million around 325,000 years ago. Measurements of CO2 from 1958 onward, made at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, are known as the Keeling Curve (see Figure 2). The saw tooth effect results from the seasonal changes in northern forests, but the inexorable rise is due to the burning of fossil fuels (Flannery 2006, p. 25). Since the start of the industrial revolution, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen from 280 parts per million to the present 380, and with a business-as-usual scenario is expected to exceed 500 by the end of the century because of release of carbon into the atmosphere by humans. This would result in an increase of about five degrees of global warming during this century, the warmest the earth has been in three million years. Figure 3 shows trends in the average surface temperature of Earth from 1860 to 2000 AD (top) and from 1000 to 2000 AD (bottom), taken from the Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group One, showing a steady rise since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The last time that the Earth was five degrees warmer than today was three million years ago, well outside of this measured time period, when sea level was about eighty feet higher. Jim Hansen is no relation to members of the CGJ. 2100 AD (projected) [ (parts per million) Atmospheric CO, 2005 AD 390 368 330 1750 AD 302 270 240 210 180 4 Anomalies (°C) Temperature -2 4 −ũ -10 --12 - 100 200 ō 200 400 Age (thousands of years before present) Figure 1. The record from the Vostok core shows that Atmospheric CO2 levels and temperature have varied in tandem over hundreds of thousands of years, with very long periods of heating and cooling. But starting with the Industrial Revolution, the CO2 rises very abruptly (1750 to 2005 AD) and is expected to continue rising, and with it a corresponding increase in the earth's temperature. Figure from Kolbert, crediting Petit et al (1999). 390 385 380 WWW. CO2 Concentration (PPM) 370 365 350 355 350 345 340 335 330 325 320 315 310 1958 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 92 94 Year Figure 2. The Keeling Curve measuring atmospheric CO₂ levels atop Mauna Loa, Hawaii, from 1958 to the present. These measurements provide a detailed, expanded, look at the recent abrupt rise in CO2 shown in Figure 1. The annual variation is due to sequestration of CO2 during summer months when the northern hemisphere is green. Figure taken from "Progress on Incorporating Climate Change into Management of California's Water Resources," July 2006, CA Dept. of Water Resources. Variations of the Earth's surface temperature for: (a) the past 140 years 0.8 GLOBAL Department in Comparature (*C)