Michael Prager

It would be pretty laughable if the folks behind this weekend’s Down 2 Earth consumer expo were driving Hummers to and from the show, leaving the lights on all night and the heat on all day at their palatial Boylston Street suites. But no, organizers say they’ve tried to practice what they’re presenting tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday at the Hynes Convention Center. Here’s some of what they’re doing:

In Colorado, it's illegal to harvest rainwater, because someone downstream owns the rights to that which falls from the sky.

In California, almost 20 percent of electricity goes to the treatment and delivery of water.

Nationally, public water systems use 50 Billion killowatt-hours of electricity to operate.

I cannot imagine a single person outside the coal industry who is enthusiastic about coal. Never mind enthusiastic — I cannot imagine any thinking person with a direct financial interest having any toleration for doing anything whatsoever with coal other than leaving it in the ground, undisturbed, forever.

I know that the president refers to our country as the Saudi Arabia of coal, but a) he's completely co-opted on any traditional-energy topic, and b) he's ... well, I'll just leave it at a).

I heard two very helpful presentations at BE'08 whose common element was the dynamic Solitaire Townsend, a Brit who cofounded Futerra, a green PR agency in London, and has developed enough of a reputation that NESEA invited her to America so she could speak at its show.

Actually, that's RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, but friends call him "Reggie." It is the first of three multistate consortiums moving to reduce climate-harming gas emissions via a cap-and-trade system.

I believe I got this from the MLEV, the Mass. League of Environmental Voters, prior to the BE'08 opening session Tuesday night. And yes, I'm partly showing off, 'cause G and I scored very well, if you know what I mean, though I don't take enough public trans., and we could buy more local foods and make it more of a priority. I would ask anyone reading to pick one out as a goal, regardless of how many you get:

How green are you? 

1. Do you use pesticides on the lawn? 2. Do you take your own reuseable bag to the grocery store?

Georgie has been steadily promoting the concept of our moving to western Mass., for a less expensive, potentially less hectic existence that would also put us in the same neighborhood with Doug, her attractive-in-every-way brother, and his family.

I see the potential advantages, and Doug, Val, and the girls are right at the top of the list, but one of the other attractions for me was the opportunity to build our own house, which would incorporate every possible (read: affordable) efficient/renewable strategy.

As you know, Georgie and I bought a Prius last spring, just ahead of my cross-country trip, and we still are very, very happy with our purchase. As a car, it is very effective:
* Better than 40 mph even in winter (when, apparently, the batteries aren't as effective)
* A fabulous turning radius that is easily its most unsung attribute; excellent electronics integration, both for charging multiple handhelds and for channeling both iPod and phone through the car's speakers.

A disclosure at this morning's solar energy session after I filed a previous post from there was that the Red Sox are about to start construction on a solar hot-water project.

According to Christina Halfpenny of National Grid, the team will be able to meet 37 percent of its water-heating load in a system that will take 16 years to pay for itself, after incentives.

It's 8:35 in the morning. The first session of the second day has begun, and the fellow from SEBANE, the Solar Energy Business Association of New England, is telling the gathering crowd some not-so-interesting market and industry perspectives. I'm sure it will get better, or I will have some time to write.

To start, he asked the crowd to show hands on questions about why they are here, and a large number appeared to be homeowners (as opposed to installers) committed to, but early in the process of, installing photovoltaics and/or solar hot water systems.