California Shares Renewable “Best Secrets” with Russians
Alexander Vrishch from Russia’s Phoenix Fund at the Rio Vista wind farm
During preparation for last month’s alternative energy exchange, and during the exchange itself, which took place in the Bay area and Sacramento, and with all the hassle and bustle that usuallyaccompanies the process of setting up meetings, finalizing itineraries, booking tickets, and taking care of other logistics, I could not but notice how individuals from all different walks of life – be it the government, businesses, or just individuals – were genuinely interested in energy issues in Russia and incredibly willing to help out. I wondered why this was the case. What was in it for them to spend their time and energy on individuals who came halfway from around the world?
Buena Vista Biomass Plant representative, Jon Spaulding, and Alexander Vrishch
This event was the second of a series of Russian-American exchanges hosted by Pacific Environment to stress the importance of developing alternative sources of energy in a country dependent almost entirely on fossil fuels, both for consumption and export. In April, Pacific Environment brought a group of activists and renewable energy experts from Siberia and the Russian Far East to the Bay area to learn about renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The goal of this exchange was to acquaint strategically selected leaders of Russian environmental NGOs with the latest technologies and regulatory policies for renewable energy and energy efficiency in the United States. The ten-day exchange included visits to alternative energy production facilities, as well as meetings with environmental organizations, local government agencies and active members of the public. These meetings were designed to help participating Siberian and Russian NGOs successfully promote renewable and energy-efficient technologies in their own regions, in part by providing them with the tools to implement similar, local pilot projects that demonstrate the advantages of renewables.
San Francisco Moscone Center’s Solar Panel Installation, San Francisco
Specifically, we visited several sites including a cutting-edge recycling facility, a ‘green’ hotel, a renewable energy and alternative energy demonstration site,solar panels at the San Francisco Moscone Center, a wind farm in Rio Vista, a biomass plant in Buena Vista, and a dairy farm in Lodi that uses methane digesters to generate electricity. The group also met with local legislators to learn about California’s renewable energy policies, renewable portfolio standard, and energy efficiency standards.
In Russia, despite immense opportunity for the development of renewable resources in Russia – abundant fresh water, solar power, and wide plains for wind turbines – practical use of renewable sources of energy is almost non-existent. Poorly designed legislation, centralized sources of relatively inexpensive energy (such as hydroelectric dams, mining, coal and nuclear power plants), and the reluctance of the Russian government and state-owned energy companies to invest in costlier but more environmentally friendly energy production all hinder prospects for the future.
Castelanelli Brother’s dairy in Lodi, a farm that uses methane digesters
Equally disturbing is the lack of energy saving practices at all levels, all the way from large government-owned industrial enterprises down to the end-consumer. It is common knowledge that Russia loses up to 40% of produced energy, with a very significant portion of it lost during transit from an energy producer to the end-consumer. End-users themselves also contribute to energy loss through the use of incandescent light bulbs, poor housing insulation, lack of information on energy saving methods and simple negligence.
The August 2009 tragedy at Sayano-Shushenskaya GES (hydroelectric station) which had supplied energy to southern Siberia, including the regions of Khakassiya, Altai Krai, and the Republic of Altai, showed that many producers of centralized energy are unsafe and threaten both the environment and residents of adjacent territories. It is therefore of vital importance to find and implement alternative methods, such as wind and solar power or mini hydro-dams, and cease funding for dangerous projects such as Sayano-Shushenskaya GES.
Buena Vista Biomass Power (BVBP)
In Siberia and the Russian Far East, opportunities for harvesting energy from renewable sources are abundant, but the use of these alternatives is nearlyabsent. Fortunately, exceptions to the rule exist in Altai Krai and the Republic of Altai in Western Siberia, where the use of alternative energy sources is on the rise. In order to find a solution to the energy supply problem, we must make it a goal to incorporate and implement best practices in energy efficiency and use of renewable technologies in Russia to create an alternative to large hydro dams, coal fired heating and power plants, nuclear power plants, and oil and gas projects in Siberia and the Russian Far East.
This exchange was a real success in my eyes. Our participants received valuable information and tips from the meetings and site visits that can potentially lead to real projects in Siberia and the Russian Far East. Our exchange participants are now back in their regions, full of ideas and eager to jump into projects in their own communities. It was especially valuable to show them the entire spectrum of various technologies – wind, solar, biomass, methane, and complement this knowledge with what they learned about energy efficiency. Results will be long-term, and I am currently working on a follow-up exchange which will take place in Altai this upcoming June.
To come back to the question that I raised earlier, one I thought of as the exchange came to an end, I realized that as someone who was born and raised outside of the U.S., it has been a good surprise to see how deeply the culture of giving is engrained in the psyche of California. I am not saying it’s everyone, but I am truly blessed to have met, talked and spent time with these people since it is for them that our world is a better place. Every agency, NGO or business that I talked to was incredibly helpful and willing to give back to society in a way that was for the communities halfway a world away.
To all of our supporters I would like to say a big “thank you” and express my deep appreciation for the work you do and the support you’ve been providing to Pacific Environment! A special thanks goes to Jim Bruels, Director of Business Travel at the Green Orchard Hotels, Ivan Weber of Weber Sustainability Consulting, Earny Lowe of Indigo Development, Alex Dmitriew and Barry Hooper at SF Environment, Ryan Stroup, Building Performance Program Coordinator at Pacific Energy Center, Brenda Sturdivant of the CA Energy Commission, Mike Folloni of APA Wind, Kirk Garlic and Sandi Briner of EnXco, a company that runs the Shiloh II Wind Farm in Rio Vista, Tad Mason of TSS Consultants and Steve Eubanks, a forestry service veteran and a consultant, Karolyn Wong and Guillermo Luzardo of RCM International LLC, Matt Foley of the Altai Assistance Project, and Chagat Almashev and Viktoriya Tutkusheva of the Foundation of Sustainable Development of Altai.
Thank you again, my friends, and let the good karma be with you!
Tags: capacity building, Clean Energy, community partners, Energy, environment, Global Warming, Renewables, Russian Far East
May 14th, 2010 at 9:55 am
Partnering with Pacific Environment has been such a pleasure. The value of the program you are offering is above and beyond. Thank you for being an amazing global citizen.