Green
Archived Posts from this Category
Welcome
Posted by admin on 06 Mar 2010 | Tagged as: Green, hybrid, organic, solar
Green Tallahassee is following news, information and views from around Tallahassee, the State and the nation. Currently, we post news, reviews and interviews on our blog at Green Tallahassee.
Upcoming events? At our Green Tallahassee Calendar. Send your upcoming events!
Green Food Tallahassee highlights slow food, organics and community supported agriculture, including a list of farmer’s markets, farms within 100 mile radius and information we can all use in eating better and enjoying life.
Contact: greentallahassee AT gmail DOT com
2009 GREEN TOP TEN
A LOOK AT THE BIOMASS PLANT MEETING
Posted by admin on 06 Jan 2009 | Tagged as: Biomass, Green
The Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) held their public, town-hall style meeting last night, which was well attended. The Tallahassee Democrat reported over 100 people in the audience.
Some very well informed people from the audience asked questions which supported their skepticism about the biomass project proposed by BG & E, and approved in FSU’s Campus Master Plan.
Some of the people at the front table had done their homework and many of us in the audience shook our collective heads when some others spoke, wondering why they had been invited in the first place.
The moderator, Marjorie Turnbull, did a commendable job in letting individuals have the floor without interruptions from either side.
Lesson Learned:
- The process for siting a small energy producing plant in Florida appears to be inadequate to address the necessary health, environmental and community concerns.
- The implementation of the Campus Master Plan as an effective tool to allow universities, large land-holding institutions, to plan for growth and development outside the local planning process was not intended to adequately plan for something like a power plant siting in a residential neighborhood. It was intended to plan for future land use including classrooms, housing, research facilities, infrastructure (including roads and the traffic it creates), conservation, recreation and open space, parking facilities and all other things normally associated with a university’s growth. The 6C-21, Florida Administrative Code governs Campus Master Plans. https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ChapterHome.asp?Chapter=6C-21
- Some of the Guest Panelists added no substantive information
- Many residents and other interested audience participants did their homework before coming
- The City of Tallahassee has studied alternative sources of energy, including solar, geothermal, wind, tidal and biomass, with emphasis on demand management and conservation. Solar PVE was determined not cost effective in today’s market, while solar thermal is considered cost effective.
The meeting started with a lengthy, overview of what is biomass by Ben Cowart, Department of Energy Services for the City of Tallahassee. Here’s a clearer, shorter biomass 101 from Wikipedia.
At the end of the meeting, it was confirmed by BG & E official, Glenn Farris, that the sources of the biomass to gasify in the proposed plant has not been secured as of yet. [BiomassGasElectric, Inc.
PARTICIPATE IN TALLAHASSEE’S GREEN RESOLUTIONS
Posted by admin on 02 Jan 2009 | Tagged as: Green
sure, you resolve to reduce your carbon footprint in 2009, but what are you going to do?
Click here to publish your commitment and add some extra resolutions in the comments!
2008 Green Top Ten
Which Candidate is Green?
Posted by admin on 17 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: Green
BIG BEND ENVIRONMENTAL CANDIDATE FORUM
Thursday night’s candidates forum at Tallahassee City Hall was a mix of candidate opinions, rehearsed quotes with a few good ideas mixed in. Few candidates were well versed in the issues and fewer still had any good suggestions to address global warming, transportation alternatives, reducing the local governments’ carbon footprint, supporting alternative energy and smart growth policies. The event was sponsored by the Big Bend Environmental Forum, the League of Women Voters, the Council of Neighborhood Associations and Sustainable Tallahassee. For the most part, questions came from the audience and were read from cards by the moderator, sometimes with his own additions, interpretations or commentary. Each candidate was not asked to answer each question. Sometimes candidates were asked new questions instead of being provided a chance to answer the same question as his/her preceding opponent. This meant that either the second responding candidate had to take time allotted to answer the new question to address the preceding question or he/she had to skip the preceding question altogether. This format made it difficult to track each candidate’s response to each issue.
Here’s a summary of candidates as they appeared.
City of Tallahassee Commission, Seat 1
How Would You Address the Issue of Urban Sprawl?
Mark Mustian (incumbent) talked about using Blueprint 2000 funding for Capital Cascades funding and possibly requesting a vote to extend the one cent in sales tax that funded the original Blueprint projects. He also talked about raising private sector money to complete the Capital Cascades project, including Phase Three, as there is not enough Blueprint money to complete the entire project. He also mentioned the need to complete the Franklin Blvd. project to further address flooding.
Larry Hendricks, qualified write-in candidate, said he takes a “no growth” policy within the urban service area and criticized the Gaines Street project as a “state sponsored bohemian village.” He also mentioned the need for financial support for solar but did not identify any source of this revenue.
What are your views on alternative energy?
Mustian said that the City of Tallahassee has the most aggressive demand side management program in the country and his focus would continue to be on decreasing the demand for electricity through further conservation and education of the public. He said his view may include subsidies for solar and other alternative sources. He commented on the proposed bio-waste plant near Innovation Park and the questions raised about the safety of the emissions from the plant. He said that this is not the City’s project, and that the City’s only involvement in the proposed project is the agreement for the City to purchase power generated. He said the City may need to look to building codes that require more efficient energy-use buildings, but he also thought that public demand may do a better job in driving more energy efficient buildings.
Hendricks questioned why citizens should ask the utility company to send back the citizens’ own money.
Should the City join Leon County’s energy initiatives in reducing its carbon footprint such as joining ICLEI (INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES)?
Mustian answered that the City should work to establish base lines of energy useage, then establish guidelines.
Hendricks responded that people need to be angry about environmental pollution.
Leon County Commission At-Large
What is the top environmental crisis facing Leon County today?
Ed DePuy (incumbent) made comments on the current economic crisis in the US.
Akin Akinyemi mentioned urban sprawl and the need for directing new growth into the existing urban services area and criticized the current County Commission’s frequent approval of (development) plans that are in direct conflict with recommendations made by its own planning staff.
DePuy said he also supports an aggressive in-fill program. He addressed his vote to approve current development projects such as Rockaway (on Mahan Drive in eastern Leon County) saying that he was in the voting majority in approving the project over the objections of the state growth management agency the Department of Community Affairs. He went on to say that if public opinion indicated a need, he would reconsider his approval of the project.
How should the Florida aquifer, what steps should be taken to bring water back to Lake Jackson and limit development around its perimeter?
RECYLING ELECTRONICS
Posted by admin on 04 May 2008 | Tagged as: Green
Where to get rid of those used electronics? They can’t go in the land fill.
- Leon County Electronics Recycling Center, 7550 Apalachee Parkway which is also the Hazardous Waste Center and right before you actually get to the land fill.
- Marpan Recycling on 6020 Woodville Highway takes construction and demolition debris, scrap metals, furniture, appliances, yard and landscape trimmings, and cardboard. Their tipping fee is $34 per ton, currently two dollars less than the County with a minimum fee of $5.00. They take some types of hazardous waste, as well televisions and monitors, charging $20 for monitors smaller than 19 inches and an additoinal fee for monitors larger than 19 inches and devices that contain Freon.
