A draft report on Lopez Island 2025 is ready for review

The culmination of a Monterey Institute of International Studies class titled “Islands and Sustainability” is a 100-page report called “Lopez Island 2025: Sustainable Transformation for Resilience”.

Lopez Island population age distribution according to the 2010 US census. This graph is a nugget of informative findings from the 100 page report “Lopez Island 2025: Sustainable Transformation towards Resiliency” by a group of Monterey Institute of International Studies students.

This hefty report is the fruit of labor of 11 graduate students who took the 4-month-long class, taught mostly via teleconference by Lopez residents Chris and Chom Greacen. Nine of the students also came to visit Lopez Island and met with community members to learn various aspects of island life, from transportation, agriculture, energy use to waste generation.

The report presents an overview of the current practices in several of the island’s key systems, highlights some potential risk areas for the island and then suggests potential solutions to help Lopezians bring about sustainable transformations for resilience. It contains informative data such as those shown in the population age distribution chart.

Lopez community members are invited to review the report and provide feedback. The report will go into the final editing process and will be formatted for online publication next month. The draft report is available for download by clicking here (PDF format, 15MB).

Green dreams of biofueled ferries

By Sophie Williams

Out here in the islands, we rely on ferries for everything from food and fuel to bicycle tourism and weekend entertainment. The ferries, in turn, rely on cheap oil. Washington State Ferries (WSF) are the single largest consumers of diesel in the state. The San Juans make up 40% of that consumption. When we talk about building our local, sustainable energy future, the ferries are an essential component.

In 2007 the state passed a clean energy bill with the hopeful mandate to meet 100% of publically owned vehicle fuel needs with biofuel and electricity by 2015. After the ferries missed their 2009 20% biofuel benchmark the target was lowered to 5%. A WSF pilot study has demonstrated the feasibility of increasing biodiesel content to at least 20%.

At first glance, the push to increase biofuels may look like sound environmental policy. After all, plants are a renewable resource and the carbon dioxide they take out of the atmosphere as they grow should be equal to the amount released when they burn. Unfortunately, most of our biofuels currently come from corn, sugar beets, soybeans and canola. Using these industrial-scale food crops for fuel causes serious problems.

Crops like corn and soybeans rely heavily on fossil fuels. Add to that the energy used to produce biofuels—often electricity from coal or natural gas—and biofuels’ energy efficiency falls further. The net energy balance of corn ethanol hovers around break even, while biodiesel produces just 2.5 times the energy it consumes. These fuels do little to reduce our carbon emissions or our reliance on fossil fuels.

Our biofuels also have unforeseen consequences for the rest of the world. "If you use farmland in North America to grow biofuels, you're forcing a farmer somewhere else to clear-cut forest to grow food crops," says David Tilman, a prominent ecologist. Land use change is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions because the carbon stored in uncultivated lands is released when they are cleared to make way for crops. 

And using food crops for fuel in a hungry world has other more immediate human costs. Biofuel policies in the U.S. and Europe have been linked to recent spikes in food prices and could increase global food insecurity. With demand for both food and fuel expected to double by midcentury, the UN Special Rapporteur on food condemned the use of arable land to grow fuel as “a crime against humanity.”

Despite continued government support, few people outside the industry see a bright future for our existing biofuels. Hope comes from a second generation of biofuels currently under research and development. These new biofuels look for more sustainable sources of feedstock. Cellulosic ethanol could be made from agricultural, forestry or municipal waste or from deep rooted perennials that sequester carbon in the soil while providing erosion control and wildlife habitat. Biofuel visionaries are also looking to algae, which can grow rapidly on little more than water and sunlight. An acre of soybeans produces about 60 gallons of biodiesel a year. Theoretically, an acre of algae could produce 5,000.

Done right, second generation biofuels could produce fuel with reduced net carbon emissions and less competition for agricultural land. Western Washington grows little of use for first generation biofuels—currently, our only high-value ethanol crop is wine grapes—but we have the potential to be a significant producer of second generation biofuels.

With sound policy decisions and the expansion of new biofuel technologies, Washington could clean and green its transportation system, helping WSF transform from a serious regional polluter into a vital element of the San Juans’ sustainable energy future.

What is in your breakfast?

by Faith Van De Putte and Chom Greacen

What did you eat for breakfast? We think of sun, rain and soil being the basis
of our food chain but the typical American diet is essentially dripping with
oil. According to University of Michigan's Center for Sustainable Agriculture,
an average of seven calories of fossil fuel is burned for every calorie of food
we eat in the U.S. This means growing, processing, and delivering the food
consumed by a family of four requires the equivalent of 930 gallons of gasoline
per year.

What's our food and crude diet? The breakdown of fossil fuels required in production, distribution and preparation: it takes 7 calories of fossil fuels for every calorie of food we eat in the US. Data source: http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc/fossilfuel060326.cfm

How does all that fossil fuel get embedded in our food? It starts on the
average farm with machinery and inputs. A study by David Pimentel at Cornell
University reveals 30% of fossil-fuel expenditure on conventional (non-
organic) farms is found in chemical fertilizer. An organic farm may have less
of a fossil-fuel footprint, unless they rely on manure or other inputs trucked in
from long distances. Many do.

Some foods take far more energy, grain-fed beef for instance, which requires
thirty-five calories for every calorie of steak and burger produced. In general,
plant calories take less energy than animal calories.

There is often a long journey between farm and fork. Oil fuels that journey.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service estimated that
processed food now travels an average of 1,300 miles. Some, like imported
frozen shrimp and tuna, travel more than 8,000 miles to get here.

Cleaning, cooking, refrigerating, canning and packaging food before it arrives
to the store all take energy and add up to a larger footprint.

The good news is that an energy efficient diet dovetails with familiar guidelines
for healthy eating. It is a win- win situation!

What can you do? First, eat low on the food chain. Seasonal, regional fruits
and vegetables take less fossil fuel energy to produce. Grass-fed and “free
range” critters have one third the embedded energy as their feedlot brethren.

Second, eat less processed food. In general, the more packaging and processing
— the more energy required and the fewer remaining nutrients.

Thirdly, eat local. We have so many choices on Lopez for delicious, fresh
island food. The options for local protein range from wild seafood and
venison to quality eggs and meat from our backyard or local farms. We have
community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, farmstands, roadside

eggboxes and generous neighbors. We also make choices at the grocery store.
Before purchasing, look to see- where did the food come from. It matters.

Lastly, grow your own food. Gardening tends to use less fossil fuels than large-
scale farming. The hard work of growing a garden is an investment with great
return; fresh, healthy, low-impact food. It is not only good for you but good
for the planet!

Energy conservation is not just about light bulbs, it is about lifestyle choices
and who knew it could be both healthy and yummy.

Now, what is for breakfast?