Views from K2

Is anyone else feeling the February blahs? I thought that this might be a good time to infuse our energy conversations with a little levity. After all, there’s no reason that saving the planet can’t be enjoyable, too! So to that end, here are a few discoveries that will not only educate and inform, but should add a little light to tide you over til March.

Carbonrally. Forget those silly rivalries having to do with football and baseball. The new game in town is carbon rallying. Universities, companies and even small fry like myself are throwing down and taking challenges to reduce their energy use and ensuing CO2 emissions. After a very quick sign up (cool rallyname and image required), you surf through current challenges and accept those that you think you can complete. Each challenge has a description of a problem, practical ways to solve it, resources you can use, and the effect your change will have on CO2 emissions. You can take on three challenges at a time. My first three challenges are: 1) Composting for three months, 2) Topping off my tires, and 3) Kicking the catalogue habit. I love the last one as they pointed me to a great site (Catalog Choice) where you can stop and/or manage your catalogues! For some reason, I tend to get 3-4 a day, so I’m really excited about having an easy way to both reduce CO2 AND my trips to the recycling bin.

Wedges. We learned about this game yesterday in my Alternative Energy class at Stanford. The game is based on a 2004 whitepaper released by two Princeton professors which outlined how to address the climate crisis using existing technologies. The overall conclusion was that to get the job done, you’d need more than one single silver bullet (ie, solar, wind, or electric cars). It is a large and complex problem that requires a portfolio of efficiency and generation solutions. The game helps players realize the complexity and issues at stake.

Energyville. This is a more interactive and much simpler version of the wedges game. It was developed by the Economist for Chevron, and while probably slanted, it does do a good job of indicating what the wedges game is also trying to point out - this ain’t a one trick pony. The game is a sort of “SIMS” for energy, whereby you are required to pull together an energy system for a fictitious city. there are real-life financial, environmental and political implications for all of the choices, and you can see how your decisions are effected as the years roll on. Oh, and of course you can compare yourself to to other players. I like the ability to compare your town to other players by segment (ie, women vs. men, Americans vs. Europeans, etc.). Search for Kimville. That’s me.

FUNergy. I have found that in general the best, basic and most fun explanations for pretty much about anything are to be found in kids pages! There are loads of great sites out there geared towards the younger (at heart) set, and they usually have better design, cooler colors and fun things like Ninjas, soduku, silly riddles,and instructions on how to make a solar oven out of a used pizza box by a sunglass-wearing, energy aware pooch named Roofus. Why did we grow up again?

So there you have it…go waste some time AND save the planet. It’s a twofer!

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carbon counting, efficiency, electricity, Energy, Environment, games, global warming