Whatcha Gonna Drive - a huge success!

  — Whatcha Gonna Drive alternative transportation event

  — November 19, 2006, Grass Valley CA

APPLE's November 19 "Whatcha Gonna Drive?" car and bike show was an AMAZING success! Not only was the weather perfect, but from fifteen minutes before opening until half an hour after dark, the car show lot was filled with well over a hundred people at a time. The indoor events were a hit too, including a bike show, afternoon presentations and discussions in two venues, and the evening keynote talks on biodiesel and fuel cell progress.

Download the event program Here (364kB PDF)

The transportation entries that highlighted the show:

• Bicycles - 1500+ MPG, no emissions from the vehicle!
  Several bikes were displayed thanks to the Alliance for People Powered Transportation.
  The tandem bikes, commuter bikes, small and large trailers were all proof that you don't need 2500 pounds of steel to get to the grocery store.
• Personal Rapid Transit - a category by itself:
  • JPod - Intelligent Transportation, Inc.
• Electric Vehicles (EVs) - all-electric, no emissions from the vehicle
  • Toyota RAV4 EV - Tom Dowling
  • Ford Ranger EV - Ray Darby
  • Myers NMG EV - Betty Westman
  • AMP Hog EV motorcycle - Robert Lange
  • Ohm 3-wheel EV motorcycle - Robert Lange
  • XCycle - Jeff Kotowski, Avian Motors
• Plug-in Electric Hybrid Vehciles (PHEVs) - a regular hybrid with more batteries and a charge adapter to charge from a regular 120VAC wall socket, for a total of over 100 MPG! Click Here for more information on PHEVs.
  • NOTE: Right now, no PHEVs are available on the market in the USA. Click Here to sign a petition to get the automakers to build and sell these cars in America.
  • UPDATE Dec 2006: like clockwork, just ten days after the event, GM announced intentions, though not a timeline, for marketing a plug-in hybrid. Click Here for the full GM press release, November 29 2006
  • Prius conversion ('Prius+') - CalCars
  • Mercury Sable PHEV ('Coulomb') - UC Davis
  • Prius conversion - PG&E
• Hybrid-Electric Vehicles (HEVs) - these are the 'hybrids' that we see on the road today
  • NOTE: Read Here why EPA fuel economy estimates for hybrids are so much higher than real-world results
  • Honda Insight Hybrid - Mike Fischer
  • Toyota Prius Hybrid - Magnussen Toyota
  • Toyota Camry Hybrid - Magnussen Toyota
  • Mercury Mariner 4x4 Hybrid - PlanIt Solar
  • Ford Escape Hybrid - last-minute entry
• Plain Old Gasoline Vehicles (POGVs) - proof that higher efficiency is possible without getting fancy
  • ZAP SmartCar - ZAP of Reno
  • Toyota Yaris - Nick George
• Biodiesel (BD) - an easy- or no-conversion option for normal diesel vehicles
  • Volkswagen Passat - Dave and Sally Petersen
  • Mercedes - Dave and Sally Petersen
  • Mercedes - last-minute entry
  • Citroen - last-minute entry
• Other non-highway vehicles:
  • Carisma the Horse - Bill and Anna Trabucco
  • Segway EV stand-up scooters - Jim Harrold, Ken Lewis, and Segway of Sacramento
  • ZAP Zappy3 EV stand-up scooters - ZAP of Reno
  • Lepton Oxygen EV scooters - last-minute entry

THE FIRST POWER PALOOZA ELECTRIFIES NEVADA CITY

  — Power Palooza alternative energy event

  — August 19, 2006, Nevada City CA

The Power Palooza, an affirmation of alternative energy solutions held in Nevada City last Saturday [August 19 2006], was a powerful experience, pulling in more than 800 people. The first event of its kind in Nevada County was wildly successful, and event producers Reinette Senum and Kelly Casterson believe that KVMR's wonderful broadcast underwriting contributed greatly to the large attendance.

The event began with free workshops on solar power and energy efficiency at the Nevada Theater, then moved to the Miner's Foundry parking lot. The atmosphere was truly festive - part educational and part inspirational. As people arrived they were greeted by a series of educational posters on pollution, the ocean, soil, energy, cars, etc., and positive local actions that could be taken. The crowd lined up for the fresh organic vegetables donated by local farms and community gardens and grilled to perfection by Palooza volunteers. Dozens of booths were on display, including solar energy, wood stoves, permaculture, alternative vehicles, citizen groups, and Nevada County's very own locally-raised beef was cooked up in delicious meatballs for the crowd to sample. Lively music by Lorraine Gervais inspired dancing in the crowd.

The warm summer night ended with a delightful transformation of the Bonanza parking lot into an open-air theater. A marquee and theater curtains were suspended upon a cable extended across the parking lot. Spotlights were cast upon the Nevada Theater and Bonanza Market walls. Over 400 people sat on blankets and chairs, surrounded by energy-efficient LED Christmas lights, giving the effect of being in a small European village and breathing life into what is generally a parking lot filled with cars. The crowd laughed and applauded throughout the night. The show began with the animated film, "Grocery Store Wars," followed by the multimedia presentation on alternative energy solutions given by Guy Dauncey at the recent Climate Change Conference held in Grass Valley.

From the response of the community, this is an idea whose time has finally come. Both Reinette and Kelly would like to thank KVMR, the other event sponsors, and the dozens of volunteers that stepped up to the plate to co-create the Power Palooza, which now looks like it will be an annual event. This night of magic is proof of what a remarkable community we live in.

CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE — POSITIVE SOLUTIONS RECEIVING STANDING OVATION

  — Climate Change Town Hall Conference

  — May 13, 2006, Grass Valley CA

Most folks attending the The Town Hall Conference on Climate Change: How It Will Affect Our Community sponsored by APPLE (Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy) last Saturday [May 13 2006] may have thought there was very little they or their community could do about global warming and oil depletion, but that was before they heard Guy Dauncey's hour and a half presentation. Dauncey, Author of Stormy Weather; 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change, gave a sweeping vision of the current issues along with comprehensive and practical solutions. Solutions that are already being implemented successfully around the world; solar PV walls in Freiburg in Germany, biogas plants in pig farms in Kaunas, Lithuania and the national vow of Sweden to be completely fossil fuel free by 2020. After wrapping up his inspirational presentation with forty-five minutes of question and answers Dauncey received a standing ovation.

Director of Research for Worldwatch Institute Gary Gardner's presentation on the environment and religion in America was also riveting as Gardner gave a perspective most had never heard about the emergence of a worldwide, pro-environmental coalition between religious and environmental organizations including the more fundamental religions such as the Evanglicals.

After event producer Reinette Senum opened the conference with a heartfelt presentation of her experiences of Hurricane Katrina the conference continued with a powerful and sometimes shocking portrayal of what our region is going to be undergoing over the next fifty years. This was presented by Carol Kennedy, Watershed Specialist with US Forest Service. "The facts are pretty alarming when you discover the forest floor is now significantly drier than most people's fire wood" said Senum. "This climate change affect is already in motion. It's not something that is going to happen someday."

Julie Leimbach, Community Groups Coordinator of Sierra Nevada Alliance, followed Kennedy with SNA's Climate Change Tool Kit instructing the audience of the steps that can be taken locally to begin mitigating local climate change effects.

A follow-up meeting to discuss local action was held Wednesday May 17th in Grass Valley. If you missed a portion of the day or were unable to attend, DVDs of the complete event will be available for purchase through Yuba Gals Video Production (265-4244) or for rent at SYRCL and the Madelyn Helling library.

Also check the Town Hall Institute's blog site, www.townhallinstitute.org.

Peak Oil Event ― A Community Success

  — Lecture by Richard Heinberg

  — November 15, 2005, Grass Valley CA

The lobby was overflowing and people just kept pouring in. It was standing room only at the Grass Valley's Center for the Arts on Tuesday night, November 15th. Richard Heinberg, international energy expert and author of Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World, was in town to share the latest news about the concept of Peak Oil and how it will affect us in the near future.

"We don't know exactly when world oil production will peak," Richard Heinberg told the crowd of more than 300. "It could be two, five, maybe even ten years if we're lucky. What we do know is that it WILL peak within our lifetime."

He noted that a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy in February 2005, the Hirsch report, noted significantly that it will take twenty years to build the infrastructure for a new energy source.

"Even if we had a tested energy source ready to go right now--and we don't-- we don't have twenty years before peak," said Heinberg.

The crowd stayed for a lively question-and-answer session. Questioners brought up wind, biodiesel, ethanol, solar and hydrogen energy sources. Heinberg noted that we should develop all of these as quickly as possible but added, " We must reduce demand."

For most of us, that's not an easy message to hear. Reducing demand means making changes in our lives to use less energy, particularly in transportation, which relies on the liquid fuels soon to be much more expensive. We will need to find more energy-efficient ways to move about. Heinberg told of towns doing "community-supported hitchhiking," car co-ops, electric-assisted bicycles, and cell-phone networks for in-the-moment ride-sharing.

Heinberg offered ideas from a project his students at New College of California have begun for the City of Sebastopol. They are assessing vulnerabilities in government services such as fire, ambulance, garbage, freshwater and wastewater treatment in the event of supply disruption or price spikes. Their assessments and proposed solutions can create a template for other communities like ours.

The lobby afterward was a-buzz with attendees crowding information tables created by members of Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy--APPLE of Nevada County. There was free information about local food sources, global oil production, transportation alternatives, opportunities in local renewable energy (wind farms in Truckee, anyone?), and more. There were emergency preparedness "Grab and Go" kits and a Peak Oil display from the recent Altar show at the Fairgrounds.

Organizers Janaia Donaldson and Reinette Senum - along with 25 volunteers from APPLE - were thrilled at the response. "Nevada County can be a pioneer in responding to peak oil's changes ahead of the curve." Donaldson said. "We need to start by building a more self-reliant/ local/ economy, so that we have food security, water security and more local control over all essential resources."