Conscious Choice Seattle: CC’s look at buying local and thinking sustainable

July 2006 | Green Lines

CC’s look at buying local and thinking sustainable

Clean energy from biodiesel, greener choices and your local pizzeria

By Heather Nordell

Washington-based Imperium Renewables, parent company to Seattle Biodiesel ( www.seattlebiodiesel.com) will soon be the nation’s largest producer of biodiesel. Founded only two and a half years ago, Imperium opened its Duwamish refinery with a projection to produce 5 million gallons per year for the next three to five years—doubling the existing local market. When gasoline prices reached $3 a gallon, the demand for biodiesel jumped. Imperium saw the growing need and made the bold move to build an even larger production facility. Next summer, it opens a new refinery in Grays Harbor County, which will produce 100 million gallons per year. Founder John Plaza left 20 years as an airline pilot to work on reducing our nation’s need for petroleum. He says, “Biodiesel allows us to transition into a smarter renewable portfolio of power.” Venture capitalists Nth Power (the first VC to stake alternative energies) and Technology Ventures have invested in Imperium, and the company has received support from Washington political officials Gov. Christine Gregoire, Sen. Maria Cantwell, Norm Dicks and Adam Smith.

Puget Sound Energy’s Powerful Choices for the Environment program is changing how Washington’s middle school students and their families think about and use natural resources in daily life. Environmental education professionals, trained in science education and local resource use, deliver this hands-on four-day program in cooperation with some 20 local partnering agencies. Annually, the program serves more than 14,000 students in 70 schools within eight counties. The curriculum offers inquiry-based activities that focus on local air quality, waste reduction, energy use and water use. It supports Environmental Education guidelines for the state and Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements in science. PSE Environmental Educator Melissa Amrhein says, “Powerful Choices exposes students to think about how their choices impact other living and non-living things in a way they might not have thought about before the program.” A recent student shares, “Thank you for teaching us about the environment and how we can save water and energy. I never knew it was that important. Now I know.”

Pagliacci Pizza (www.pacliacci.com) joins Seattle City Light’s Green Up program at the platinum level. The pizza parlor’s employees spearheaded a strategic partnership with the green energy program. Pagliacci now invests a significant portion of its electricity bill toward green sources, such as wind power. In addition, Pagliacci will offer discount incentives to customers who join the residential Green Up program, and the pizzeria chain will be key player in a West Seattle neighborhood power project to encourage resource conservation. Green Up ’s business members have been highly successfully attracting individual customers to the program. Recently PCC Natural Market completed a campaign that signed up 2,000 new residential customers. Other local Green Up organizations include Elliott Bay Brewery, Pioneer Organics, Parsons PR and University of Washington, which is now the largest local buyer of green energy. For more information about the Green Up program, click here.

Save the Date
Shoreline Solar hosts the 2006 Renewable Energy Fair on July 22, This is the largest renewable energy event in the region. For information, check out www.shorelinesolar.org.

Long-time solar professional and educator, Winter Sun Design (www.wintersundesign.com) has experienced an increase in business as new incentives for solar energy in Washington continue to pass. Last March, Gov. Gregoire signed 2SHB 2799, which gives a sales tax exemption for solar hot water systems. In 2005, federal and state incentives for solar energy use passed. These incentives make photovoltaic and solar hot water systems much more affordable. Winter Sun Designs has worked for years to dispel the myths that solar does not work in Washington. Passive solar homes in western Washington can get more than half of their space heating from the sun. Company owner Chris Herman says, “Seattle receives 70 percent of the solar radiation that Los Angeles enjoys on an annual basis.” Winter Sun Designs provides solar system design, consultation, sales, and solar education classes, which will be offered this fall.

Heather Nordell is a regular contributor to Seattle Conscious Choice and writes the Green Lines section each month.

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