3D PrintSmith

I travel often to the Burlington public library to attend meetings for this group.
There I met with  Yahoo GGB  people. In 2010 we designed a logo & started this blog. In 2011 life became so busy so many found jobs or pursued their own agenda away from the Wednesday meeting. But one individual hangs in there !

Software Engineering and Quality/Process Metrics; Data Analysis/Modeling/Statistics

David Heimenn http://www.linkedin.com/in/dheimann

So when I look at this I think of those days, but today I wanted another opinion of what 2011 meant to someone. This was my finding.

New England Clean Energy Council’s blog

5 Most Popular NECEC Blog Posts In 2011

I could run on more about what happened in 2011 but maybe I will wait a week or two and see a new view of these worlds in 2012. Then in the future when I find this post I can remember what I was doing late in the year 2011 at home.

Happy Holiday to all my readers,
who ever or where ever you are !

Since 2009 there have been discussions of the USA's future in Green industries.

22,000 New ‘Green Jobs’ Outsourced to China & India!

If you think things are looking better then rethink where you get your news.

There are articles and discussions that paint a different picture !

Why are colors not invited guests in work places, board rooms and offices?

So when we talk about Green Jobs are we living Green or just looking to find our place to tell others we work to save our planet. The above graphic is from the BLOG on WordPress. It shows that many blogs are bland and are colorless. Is that an analogy for your life ? What happened to the NEWS telling a story that changes they way we believe we should live.
In the 60′s we strived for the moon.
In the 70′s we protested the war in Viet Nam.
What did you do in the 80′s ?
I built a home that uses geothermal for heat along with large south facing windows.
I use no oil for heat and only propane for clothes drying , hot water and cooking.
I hear criticism I should use a clothes line and solar hot water panels
but many systems available in the 80′s are now being replaced
with improved versions that are more efficient.
If I am looking for a job , it’s hard to afford the very solutions that are made elsewhere by others that work hard to keep up with daily “improvements”.
Remember “The Story of Stuff” ?

But in what kind of volumes ?
Where are the numbers ?
What happened to America being the example of how to live ?

How about we get back to talking Green Jobs by starting in your own back yard !
Start by volunteering to influence a change in your hometown.
LinkedIn now provides for Volunteer Experience !
Add to that, look for a need for goods or services you can provide near your home !
Maybe you  aren’t part of a major corporation (yet)
but many of America’s success stories
began in garages and back yards throughout every state in the union.

What’s GREEN in your Green Future ?

]]> http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/2011/09/12/the-green-jobs-market-a-scape-goat-for-discussion/feed/ 0 coolgamesnet obama-green-jobs-usa-logo-300x186 Meeting Arensbach http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/blog-of-the-week/ http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/blog-of-the-week/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:15:32 +0000 Lee T. Davy http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/?p=208 Continue reading →]]>

An interesting blog site about energy submitted by Bob Lento.

Click here to go to the Energy Blog  directly.

How much solar is out there?

This week we at GGB began to discuss GREEN projects for the good of our group. Some ideas were bantered around but no real action was taken.

Or was it ?
Keep Reading !

 I met with 3 other GGB members after at True North and discussed the past, present & future. The moderator presented his Jamaica Plain CoHousing concept to us. We had a WiFi connection so we could review the above link. Earlier that day I had gone to the Whole Foods in Woburn with another and he mentioned how he stood up during early days of negotiations to support the introduction of the chain in their home town.
We grilled some ready made Salmon Burgers and he bought the frozen version special.

We then attended the GGB meeting at the Burlington Library at 12. The guest presentation was about the upcoming Green Careers Conference. Much of the Power Point slide show covered actions and links to additional information.

So what is the above picture ?
It’s from Green Tech Media article by

MICHAEL KANELLOS: JULY 15, 2011

Stat of the Week: 0.2 Percent

For the solar industry, it’s not a good number. But for Solyndra, it’s great. Also, how many Chinese laborers does it take to run a solar factory?

But by crossing your eyes you start to see things differently. (No kidding!)
Try these google searches … or follow my links …
Jamaica Plain – Whole Foods 
Frozen Salmon – Whole Foods
Salmon Seafood Watch
Whole Foods Solar
CL&P PV ?
Massachusetts PV

 So Green is right in your back yard. For me the last attendee visited my home
and we discovered that we shared the goal of changing our careers.
JUST AS WE HAVE BEEN HEARING SINCE THIS VISITOR… 

View (or listen to) the February 10,2010
GGB video of Stefan Pagacik
of E-Ventures360.

]]> http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/solar-powering-the-usa/feed/ 0 coolggb stat-of-the-week-solar_1_1 http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/the-strange-world-of-perceived-risk/ http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/the-strange-world-of-perceived-risk/#comments Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:52:51 +0000 davidheimann http://greengroupboston.wordpress.com/?p=37 Continue reading →]]> The Strange World of Perceived Risks
by David Heimann

Why are more people afraid of flying than of traveling in a car, even though the likelihood of dying in a car accident is more than 60 times as high as dying in a plane accident on a trip covering the same distance (Air Safety, “Statistics”)? Why are we so much concerned about the Japanese nuclear power plants, to the extent that we are beginning to forget about the original earthquake and tsunami that caused far more damage? Why, when presented with a list of 30 risks, did a group of laypeople rank nuclear power as number 1 and X-rays as number 22, when a group of experts ranked those risks as number 20 and number 7, respectively (see the paper at Slovic, P. (2002) Perception of Risk Posed by Extreme Events)? A lot of the answer has to do with the way people perceive various risks.

Psychologist Paul Slovic (see Figure 3 in the above paper) has identified a number of factors that cause us to overestimate or underestimate risk. These factors are:

Overestimated Risks	Underestimated Risks
Not observable	Observable
Unknown to those exposed	Known to those exposed
Delayed effect	Immediate effect
New risk	Old risk
Unknown to science	Known to science
Uncontrollable	Controllable
Dread	No dread
Globally catastrophic	Individual
Not equitable	Equitable
High risk to future generations	Low risk to future generations
Not easily reduced	Easily reduced
Involuntary	Voluntary
Fatal consequences	Non-fatal consequences

When working to implement green sources of energy and technology, we as planners, engineers, and businesspeople, need to take these perceptions into account and work with them. For example, because of these perceptions, (1) a large centralized solar facility will be more difficult to implement than a number of small panels on houses; (2) it will be easier to place windmills in farmers’ fields than on a mountaintop; and (3) it will be more difficult to get a residence or business to install either a wind or solar installation as against a traditional oil or gas burner.

What thoughts do you have on this issue? How would you get people to perceive risks in a more objective manner? Do these subjective perceptions of risks unnecessarily cloud the picture, or do they touch on significant matters that an objective perception may miss? Let me know!

Solar Powered Auto !

If you’re reading this blog, it’s likely that you believe that a greener world is both a better world and an achievable goal. There’s also many who aren’t convinced. This group includes local and national politicians, businesses, and investors, as well as your next door neighbor. Foster M Russell is famously quoted “There are three sides to every story: Yours, Mine, and The Facts”. It’s imperative to be aware of the issues raised by your opponents to enable you to address potential problem areas that might stifle our ability to help produce a greener world. In short: Know Your Foe.

Put yourself in your opponent’s mind: Why do they object to a greener world?
There are a myriad of reasons; here’s a few that I have thought up.

A. Fear of the unknown.
People are comfortable using known methods of creating energy. Gas Stations abound for filling automobile tanks. Oil and/or natural gas is either piped directly to homes for heating or delivered transparently. Detractors state that compact fluorescent light bulbs cause health problems . Engineered Geothermic Systems (EGS) potentially can cause earthquakes  Wind Turbines have potentially dangerous moving parts; solar panels on homes need attention during snow storms, hydrogen fuel cels remind people of the Hindenberg, etc.

B. It’s not a problem.
Petroleum products are a well known commodity, they haven’t disappeared, and any shortages ever experienced were resolved to be methods to raise the price. Articles state that there’s enough undrilled oil to last 2000 years Noone’s ever “run out” of electricity for your home. After nuclear power disaster events, there’s still power to local homes and businesses. This is the “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” mindset.

C. The cost is too high for the value received.
A GAO report stated that using Wind Turbines produced less than one tenth of one percent of the total energy in 2003. There’s a supposed shortage in silicon for solar panels. After you put money into the project, how many years before these new devices need to be demolished/replaced?

D. They really aren’t “green” after all.
Metal and concrete are used in building Wind Turbines. Offshore wind turbines have had reports of hurting marine life. Solar panels are not often recycled, and are toxic to create.

E. No solution is better than a green solution.
Often opponents will knock down an idea with no alternate plan presented to improve the matter under discussion.

What can we do to stay on top of our foe’s concerns?
The answer is simple: Blog about them. Respond to this blog with pointers to articles written by detractors.
Also point to studies and articles which can be interpreted as negative.
Devise potential points of action on how to address their issues.

To start off this blog, I can direct you to an example article from the Wall Street Journal posted May 21, 2011.
One example is how burning wood for energy depletes rain forests, and how building wind turbines utilizes concrete, which is a “non-green” solution. It’s a classic example D above, yet since it is in the Wall Street Journal it is given high visibility.

How can we productively discuss the fallacious “facts” presented in this article?
We can’t simply dismiss them as foolish, because they have the assumed backing of a prestigious publication behind them.

What can we do?

And what other articles are out there hurting our cause?

Typically these PACE financing programs are set up by municipal governments and allow for renewable energy installation; the municipal pays for the installation, and the property tax bill has a financing lien on it that goes with the property.

According to Solar San Antonio, nearly 40 percent of residents are eager to go solar, but may not get the chance, at least not anytime soon.

Recently, it has been reported that the Federal Housing Finance Agency ( FHFA) has sued some PACE programs claiming that they do not meet Federal mortgage guidelines….but in fact, it appears that American banks and mortgage companies, while not previously participating in this financing on their own, want to control it, and stop it.

This attempt to control and shut down the PACE programs should be exposed and local communities should be encouraged in setting them up as fast as they can.