Page 2 RAIN January 1978 RAIN access C ENERGY Davis Energy Conservation Report, April 1977, $10 from: Living Systems Route 1, Box 170 Winters, CA 95694 ) We've reported at various times on the path-breaking energy conservation activities going on in Davis, California. Their new building code has achieved energy savings of 50 percent in new homes. Bicycles account for 25 percent of transportation mileage at a savings of 64,000 gallons of gas and $100,000 annually. Active and passive solar home designs adapted to the Davis climate have been developed and are in use by spec builders. Narrower and tree-shaded streets are being built. Overall electrical use per customer has decreased 8 percent in Davis since 1973, compared to a 4 to 5 percent increase in neighboring towns. Lots of interesting how-to information on enacting energy ordinances, feedback from builders, etc. -TB "How Much Are Nature's Services Worth," by Walter E. Westman, in Science, vol. 197, Sept. 2, 1977, pp. 960-964, in most libraries, or write: Walter E. Westman Dept. of Geography Univ. of California Los Angeles, CA 90024 Via numerous, interesting examples, the author explains why measuring the so- ~ial benefits of ecosystem functioning 1s both controversial and illuminating. Recommended for those into "net energy" and Howard T. Odum energetics theory. - LJ Landliving, Michael Watson and Theresa McCloud, 1977, 14pp., $1 from: Landliving Box 4736 Arlington, VA 22204 Essentially a delightful guide to personal, around-your-own-home land use awareness, this is a fine companion to Malcolm Margolin's The Earth Manual (Houghton Mifflin Co., 197 5 ), and to John Brainerd's Working With Nature (Oxford Univ. Press, 197 3). Practical ways of mapping your land's ecosystems and then enhancing them are outlined. -LJ What's Wrong with the Atomic Industry?, 1977, $3.50 from: Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Box 19312 Washington, DC 20036 A compilation of cases of misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance among atomic corporations, prepared as a desk reference for activists interested in the problems of nuclear power. However, this is so chock-full of short horror stories in mis-applied technology that radio stations and newspapers could use the items found in it as fillers in programs and in print. Ask for their list of other energy publications. - LJ New York State Energy Hotline Center for Energy Policy & Research New York Inst. of Technology Old Westbury, NY 11568 phone 516/686-7744 Local solar info is their specialty. Price of Power Update: Electric Utilities and the Environment (Technical Summary), Ronald White, 1977, $10 from: Council on Economic Priorities 84 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10011 Shows that increases in the use o( coal to generate electricity have cancelled out improvements in pollution control in the electric utilities industry. Emissions at U.S. fossil-fuel electric power plants remained substantially unchanged over a five-year period. The study named the Tennessee Valley Authority as the heaviest polluter per unit of electricity generated among the 15 large utilities analyzed. Pacific Gas and Electric posted the best control record. The 430-page study is based on data collected by CEP to assess pollution control at 119 coal, oil or gas burning power plants representing 24 percent of industry capacity. CEP examined each plant's and each company's outputadjusted (per Mwh) pollution emissions and their .environmental record in CEP's 1972 study to rank current company pollution control performance progress over the Update period. Pacific Power & Light is the highest ranked of the nine major coal-burning companies under study. The company had the lowest SO2 emission rate of the coal-burning companies and the highest percentage of its generating capacity equipped with thermal pollution control equipment in the study. PP&L's last place rank for particulate emissions is due to the poor controls at its Dave Johnston plant (Wyoming), though high efficiency equipment has recently been installed at the plant to reduce its particulate output. -LJ
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz