There are many sustainability issues that are relevant today. This page will focus on a particular topic every month.

February's topic: Green “Tags”

Ninety eight percent of the electricity produced in the United States comes from non-renewable sources such as coal, nuclear, oil and gas. The production of conventional electricity is the largest source of pollution in the United States and a large contributor of global warming. The EPA estimates that the average American generates about 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year. The alternative is renewable energy, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and low-impact hydro facilities. These energy sources create less impact and are replenished easily by the environment. An important point to remember is that the production of the electron that is input in the power grid is what causes the pollution, not the energy itself. The grid is nothing but a "mix" of neutral energy, devoid of environmental attributes.

So, we could generate our own energy, but most of us can't yet afford to install solar panels or wind generator to produce our very own electric power. Fortunately there is a *very inexpensive* way to offset our "footprint" in the environment—purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates, or "green tags". They represent the delivery of one megawatt-hour of renewable power back to the "mix" in the power grid, therefore displacing and decreasing the same amount of fossil fuel that is input in the grid.

By purchasing 8.92 MWh per year, Designarchy is preventing the emission of 11,440 pounds of carbon dioxide in the air, which is the equivalent of removing 1.1 cars from the road for a full year or planting 1.4 acres of trees.

Resources:

www.green-e.org

www.3phases.com

Previous Green Thoughts:

© 2006 Designarchy