Sonoma County Climate Protection Actions
April 2010
Every Day is Earth Day in Sonoma County
Since 2001, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has taken a series of actions to reduce the County's carbon footprint and lessen the County's impact on our environment. The County's ongoing, bold commitment to climate protection flows from the Board's goal to reduce the County's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 25% below 1990 levels by 2015.
To achieve this, several major initiatives are underway and will be followed by additional actions to get Sonoma County across the climate protection "goal line." It is an audacious and pragmatic effort. These efforts are not only good business decisions that demonstrate wise use of scarce tax dollars; they also reflect good environmental stewardship by dramatically lessening the environmental impact of County operations and our community as a whole.
In order to ensure that every aspect of County operations is brought into this effort, the Board established the Energy and Sustainability Division within the General Services Department. The County has used this resource and its subject matter expertise to implement a variety of initiatives touching all aspects of County operations.
Climate Protection Initiatives
The County's climate protection efforts are shaped by several key endeavors which support the County's dedication and commitment to meeting the environmental imperative. They include:
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction,
Energy efficiency/conservation,
Development of renewable energy sources,
Green procurement policies,
Building a Green Fleet,
Recycling and Waste Reduction,
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Effective and appropriate responses to SB 375, and other climate protection legislation,
Utilization of green technology,
The launch of a green building program.
Already a leader in climate protections efforts, Sonoma County has led the way by replacing inefficient vehicles with hybrids. With 187 hybrid vehicles, Sonoma County sports one of the largest hybrid fleets of any local government in California. In fact, the November 2008 issue of Automotive Fleet Magazine ranked Sonoma's fleet as the 5th largest hybrid vehicle fleet by percentage in the nation. Sonoma County has more hybrid vehicles than many large cities, counties, and even several states. Also, starting in September of 2008, Sonoma County has begun bringing in hyper efficient plug-in hybrids.
Further, in November 2008, the Board directed staff to negotiate an effective public/private partnership with Nissan to facilitate the early procurement of their all-electric vehicles for fleet use in 2010. Through this partnership with Nissan, Sonoma County continues to demonstrate its climate protection leadership among local governments across the nation. These all electric vehicles will be brought into our fleet as part of our vehicle replacement strategy. All of these fleet vehicles reduce fuel use, greenhouse gas production and save money. Our fleet investment reflects strong energy and cost savings in fleet management and is a vital part in Sonoma County's ongoing commitment to climate protection.
As important as building a green vehicle fleet is to the effort, in the past two years, the County has undertaken a number of other key initiatives, projects and programs to meet the climate protection challenge including:
Assessing the feasibility, demand for, and benefits of an energy efficiency financing program made available by the passage of AB 811. Under the Board approved Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP), property owners are able to make a direct and lasting impact on climate change by installing energy and water saving technologies on their property, and repay the County-provided financing for these projects over time through their property tax bills. This is greatly increasing the total capacity for green alternative energy in the county, it is reducing property owners' energy costs, and creating a local demand for a green industry workforce. Further, Sonoma County is the first county in the nation to implement such a complete program. After one year the SCEIP has put over $23 million dollars into the economy;
A Board initiated Regional Climate Protection Partnership by which the County, the Sonoma County Water Agency, and nine cities within the County will coordinate and leverage climate protection best practices to be administered by the Sonoma County Transportation Authority;
Under the auspices of the County Energy Conservation Project, we have a specific plan to complete energy and water audits of County facilities and the development of comprehensive energy and water conservation project. These efforts will be fully funded using energy and water savings (estimated at $1.5 million per year) and will yield the additional benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 6,500 tons per year. The project includes the use of a 1.4 Mega Watt (MW) hydrogen fuel cell to generate electricity for the County Administration campus which broke ground in fall of 2009. The County of Sonoma will exceed its goal of reducing GHGs by 20% of 2000 levels with 18 months saving $38 million over the life cycle of this project and will effectively remove the main County campus off the grid;
Establishment of a Green Fleet Policy and the development of multi-element Green Fleet Enhancement Program that utilizes funding as provided under AB 118. The program will facilitate and expand the alternative fuel fleet component and will provide for a first generation electric vehicle charging infrastructure;
The establishment of a dynamic private/public partnership with Pacific, Gas and Electric, our utility provider, that will provide funding for energy efficiency projects, public outreach, and education. This is an effort will yield reduced energy use in public facilities and lower greenhouse gas emissions;
Establishment of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for increased solar photovoltaic systems on county buildings including Los Guilicos Juvenile Hall;
Implementing an aggressive green leasing strategy, whereby the County, as a major leaser of commercial real estate, uses that market advantage to improve environmentally-friendly leased property with one facility completed. This one facility's benefits include over its 30-year life:
The solar panels will generate an estimated 118,000 kWh annually thus reducing the annual electric bill by approximately 75% and annual GHG reductions of approximately 40 tons;
2,368,000 pounds of avoided CO2 emissions;
2,185 pounds of avoided NOX emissions;
644 pounds of avoided SO2 emissions.
A presentation to the Board on current initiatives that support the Climate Protection Action Plan and an update on the status of efforts to attain established reduction goals. The report highlighted the strategies and actions being followed to meet the targets for facilities and fleet operations as well as the implementation of an employee commuter program;
In addition to the above, the County has a variety of additional green initiatives intended to meet the County's stated GHG reduction goal. They range from:
Participation in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Best Practices grant program, which will yield a public facilities best practices manual to be shared with other public entities;
Formation of an internal roadmap to guide green efforts at the Department level, implementation of a County-wide single stream recycling program and implementation of the "Slow Down Sonoma County," a driver outreach and education program that demonstrates the green benefits of safe and prudent vehicle operations;
The remote computer management and power savings initiative and, finally;
Pursuit of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for capital projects with attainment of "Silver" level certification for the Valley of the Moon Children's Home project.
The County of Sonoma continues to be a leader in climate protection and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction efforts and the initiatives briefly discussed above clearly demonstrate this ongoing and unwavering commitment. Once fully implemented over time, these efforts represent an investment of over $50,000,000.00. This massive investment will yield greenhouse gas reductions and provide substantial savings in power and fuel expenditures to both the county government and county residents. More importantly, it clearly demonstrates the County's unyielding commitment to responsible stewardship of the environmental landscape and to reducing the challenges to current and future generations of County residents.
