On the scenic shore of Seneca Lake in Yates County, New York sits Greenidge Station, an old coal-fired power station that was decommissioned a decade ago, converted to natural gas, and fired up again in 2017.Like many power plants around the country, it burns gas to drive turbines and create electricity, which is then sold to the power grid.But Greenidge Generation, the company that runs this facility, is doing something a bit different as well.A large portion of the power it generates does not feed the grid at all.Instead, it is used to power its “Blockchain Technology Service,” which is a huge bank of computers, processing complex equations in order to mine bitcoin, and sell the resulting digital currency.
One might consider this practice to be entirely fair.A private company operates a power station and uses or sells the power in whatever way they please.But there’s a problem.New York’s law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) imposes greenhouse gas emission limits, and charges state agencies to ensure that the decisions they make are consistent with the state achieving its obligations under CLCPA.So in May 2021, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation wrote to Greenidge Generation, asking them how they were adhering to CLCPA.This, by the way, is proof of how important these environmental laws really are.
The thrust of Greenidge’s argument is that compared to 1990, when the power plant was still running on sub-bituminous coal, their greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 75%.Yes, natural gas is cleaner than coal, but it’s unfortunate to use that to portray the expected 952,958 metric tonnes per year of CO2 equivalent as a good effort.And let’s not forget the 139 million gallons of lake water the facility is also permitted to draw per day.
There’s another problem too.The DEC requested future emissions projections for the next five years, when the air quality permit being sought would be in effect.Greenidge dutifully reported the same figure of 952,958 per year to 2026.But how can that be?In a merger announcement with Support.com earlier this year, Greenidge instead plans to ramp up their bitcoin mining operations from 19 MW today to “at least” 500 MW by 2025.Even if they do not plan on expanding Greenidge Station’s capacity (which seems very unlikely), they are looking to explode this environmentally disastrous business model.
If Greenidge is allowed to proceed, a precedent will have been established, and other investors will surely look at power stations for private operations that do nothing to help this country’s energy transition off fossil fuels.By way of contrast, China labelled bitcoin mining as “highly polluting” in 2019, and banned the practice entirely in September 2021.
There is a window of opportunity news, but we need action now!The deadline for written comments concerning whether Greenidge should be granted new air quality permits has been extended to November 19th.So please send an email today to the DEC at Comment.GreenidgeGenerating2021@dec.ny.gov and ask them to deny the Title V Air Permit for Greenidge Generation if you agree that it is fundamentally incompatible with the CLCPA and New York State’s journey to renewable power.Please also ask them to declare a moratorium on all similar-scale bitcoin mining operations until a full Environmental Impact Statement is completed.
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Thank you!
1.5 °C is Dead! Long live 1.5 °C!
By Gavin Landless
On Saturday November 13th, COP26, the international climate conference in Glasgow, drew to a close.After two weeks of hard-fought negotiations, 196 countries were able to come together to approve a new climate agreement: The Glasgow Climate Pact.Predictably, no one was entirely happy, but was the conference a success and what comes next?
Secure sufficient pledges to achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050, and keep alive the goal to not exceed 1.5 °C of global warming.
Enable countries affected by climate change to adapt by protecting and restoring ecosystems and building defenses and resilient infrastructure.
Mobilize financing to achieve the first two goals, and specifically to provide at least $100 billion annually in climate finance to the developing world.
Work together, particularly through collaboration between governments, businesses and civil society.
There were notable achievements from the conference.The urgency of the situation was clearly stated.The Pact acknowledged that the planet has already warmed by about 1.1 °C, and a resolution “to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C” was included, with a statement that global CO2 emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 and to net zero around 2050.A related pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% over the next ten years was also announced.
Coal was specifically mentioned for the first time in a final COP document.It is a testament to the extraordinary lobbying power of the fossil fuel industry that the agreements from the first 25 COP conferences did not mention coal by name.So this year, although India and China forced through a last-minute change to reword “phase-out” to “phase-down,” it was still a significant achievement.In another positive development, China and the US made their own announcement, pledging to work closely together to tackle the climate crisis cooperatively.
The Pact noted with serious concern that the current cumulative “national determined contributions” (NDCs) submitted by member parties are woefully inadequate to keep the world under 1.5 °C.Independent analysts have estimated that current targets would cause global warming to reach about 2.4 °C above pre-industrial levels by the year 2100.So despite lofty goals, the world remains a very long way off a pathway to achieve them.
The phrase “Loss and Damage” was included for the first time in a final COP document, to acknowledge the harm that the climate crisis has already had on many developing and small island nations.While this was a positive step forwards, no financial commitments were made.Adaptation finance in general remains woefully inadequate from the developed world to support developing countries with their mitigation, adaptation and damage recovery needs, though a call to double existing 2019 pledges by 2025 was included.But many developing countries and small island nations fear this will be far too little, far too late.
While there was arguably greater inclusivity of indigenous communities, youth, women, and other groups in the conference, and certainly effort to promote transparency in the negotiations, there were still strong concerns that the decision-making was largely steered by the developed world.
There were many other side agreements and announcements, perhaps the most notable of which saw 130 countries commit to ending deforestation by 2030.If this is achieved it would be a great step in the right direction.Several parties, including GM and Ford, also signed onto a pledge to make all new car sales zero-emission by 2040.But many other major manufacturers, including Hyundai and Toyota did not.
So what comes next?Member states are required to return to COP27 next year in Egypt and update their promises around NDCs to continue to limit their greenhouse gas emissions.But in the meantime, the statements agreed to in the Glasgow Climate Pact must be turned into urgent action by all: political, public and private.
Many are seeing COP26 as a failure because the world is not yet close to where it needs to be on either emissions pledges or financing to limit warming to 1.5 °C.While progress has been made, the global climate crisis is still not being treated by all countries as the emergency that both the science community and the most at-risk nations recognize it to be. Perhaps Lesotho’s Prime Minister, Moeketsi Majoro, said it best: “We are disappointed that others feel we still have time.”
Is 1.5 °C dead? I think there is still a faint pulse of hope.
I talk to people about COP26 and the response I usually get is, “We’ll see. Nothing really seems to have changed.” It is a sort of dread that I can sympathize with and buy into. I prod a bit further. “What talks did you listen to?” and the answer surprises me. “Oh, I didn’t have time to listen to talks. I watched the news.”
The news is designed to attract eyeballs, and eyeballs are most easily attracted to news that summons dread and despair. Dread and despair are not moods to actually motivate you.
I took a different approach to COP26. I listened to the programs on offer at The New York Times Climate Hub. The Climate Hub was a temporary building situated near the actual talks, where “citizens, scientists, inventors, academics, delegates, and journalists could come together to have critical discussions about climate change and hold leaders accountable to their commitments.” To prepare for this big event, I put every talk on my calendar. Unfortunately, they were in Glasgow and I am in New York, so the time change was brutal. But I quickly learned that most of the sessions were available on YouTube. A 4 a.m. start every day for two weeks would not be necessary after all.
The talks blew me away. Honestly — blew me away. “Why?” you might ask. Every talk provided ideas and leads to follow. Here is a sample of my notes:
From Black Rock Finance: “The future is NOT continuing as it is – the truth is without action. GDP will go down by 35% over the next two decades.” My thoughts: We need to change the tone! Use these words! GOAL: Get a weekly article in the newspaper regarding climate.Get a climate section of the paper.
Here’s another example:
“Food waste modes: the “ugly food” program (embracing lower quality), more sustainable packaging, tracking expired food, losses at the farm gate…” My thoughts: What is Wegmans doing? After checking, I discover they are committed to a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030 (ok, I admit, that’s too long, but maybe we can encourage them to surpass that goal), they have committed to reducing in-store plastic by 10 million pounds by 2024 (I do wonder what percentage that is of their overall in-store plastic), and they are committed to reducing emissions (but they are a little vague on that goal). Are they using their influence on their suppliers and supply chains?
Once again, from just listening to one Climate Hub talk I’m brimming with ideas of things we can do in our community.
I listened to Al Gore speak of the tough negotiations moving forward and I heard a stunningly beautiful poem by Emi Mahmoud entitled “This is Our Home.”
My takeaway from all this is a sense of hope… of movement… of a brighter future. And what effect does this have? It invigorates me to do more: to take on a project, to write letters, to shout from the mountaintop!
And so my first goal is accomplished — writing this piece for the CCAA newsletter.
Best wishes everyone!
Countries’ climate pledges built on flawed data, Post investigation finds
Following months of investigation, The Washington Post found that many countries are vastly under-reporting their greenhouse gas emissions.Unless reported numbers more accurately reflect actual emissions, there is a significant risk that countries might claim “net-zero” while still adding millions of tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Stanford researchers reveal how wildfire accelerates forest changes
Source: Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment (Stanford University)
Trees are on the move.A new study from Stanford shows that not only are the ranges of trees shifting towards cooler or wetter areas as the Earth warms, but this process is further accelerated by wildfires, probably because of reduced competition from the previously established species.
Predictions of the Climate Change-Driven Exodus of the Town of Tangier, the Last Offshore Island Fishing Community in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay
While we hear of the existential plights of far-off island nations like Kiribati and Tuvalu, we don’t have to go so far afield to find disappearing islands.Given current sea level rise, the last sliver of the town of Tangier on an island in Chesapeake Bay is predicted to be uninhabitable by 2051.
CCAA holds its monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of every month. If you’d like to learn more, email cc.awareness.action@gmail.com.
For a comprehensive list of events pertaining to sustainability and climate change, contact Diane Brandli with GreeningUSA to subscribe to the GreeningUSA listserve or to publicize an event you are organizing. dbdesigninteriors@verizon.net
Member Spotlight
By Dale Sherman
After the two oil crises in the ’70s, I had my energy epiphany while working in Sweden when a colleague showed me his new home.It had eight-inch thick insulated walls, triple pane glass, and a ground-source heat pump.In 1980! I returned to the United States, and after much research into solar and wind power, I started working for Synertech, a weatherization research and training company.
I founded EnergyWright in 2002 to provide building science training props and materials to community colleges and vocational training centers across New York State and beyond.My brother, Kim, and I developed and patented an advanced house simulator for teaching Zonal Pressure Diagnostics to energy auditors.These are now in energy training centers and colleges throughout North America.
For the past 13 years I’ve been helping advance low-income weatherization building science at the New York State Weatherization Directors Association (NYSWDA) Energy Training Center in East Syracuse.I’ve administered their lead-safe weatherization program, developed numerous building science calculators, and presented at national home performance conferences.Most recently, I have also been advising building operators on best practices for ventilation and filtration to minimize exposure to COVID-19.
In walking the talk, my wife, Stephanie, and I have upgraded our 1885 home with air-sealing and insulation, LED lighting, a ground-source heat pump, an induction stove, two solar systems, and an electric car.Our goal is to have no energy bills of any kind and become carbon negative.We generate more electric power than we use, but while we still have a few gas-powered things to replace, we’re 98% of the way there.
I’m currently restoring two GE Elec-Trak garden tractors from the ’70s, and I enjoy tinkering with my ’87 Ford Ranger EV conversion, with an eye on converting my 1930 Ford Model A pickup.
I am always up for a discussion about efficiency, resiliency, sustainability, e-bike monorails, and ways to reinvent our future.
Dale Sherman
The EnergyWright
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