HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 6465
City of Palo Alto (ID # 6465)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Study Session Meeting Date: 1/25/2016
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Summary Title: Sustainability/Climate Action Plan Study Session
Title: Study Session Regarding Ongoing Preparation of a
Sustainability/Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) to Update and Replace the City's
2007 Climate Protection Plan
From: City Manager
Lead Department: City Manager
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Council review and discuss the City’s developing Sustainability
and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP), including the proposed Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction
goals and key measures regarding transportation, energy, and water.
Note: This is the first in a series of Council meetings on this subject scheduled for the
spring of 2016. No Council action is proposed ay this time, but has been scheduled in the
aftermath of the S/CAP summit to allow for Council discussion.
Summary
The Office of Sustainability, working with consulting partner DNV GL, has collected input
from the community of Palo Alto, researched global best practices for greenhouse gas
(GHG) emission reductions and resource conservation, and evaluated the cost/benefit
ratios for a range of carbon reduction strategies. Based on that work, staff is pursuing
development of a multi-faceted plan to deliver pace-setting GHG reductions and energy
use strategies in ways that enhance quality of life, prosperity and resilience in Palo Alto.
These measures should also reduce operating costs when implemented holistically, and
deliver tangible economic, quality of service, and quality of life benefits to all residents.
This overview of the draft S/CAP includes potential key elements for Council’s
consideration and comment, with the understanding that the S/CAP is a long-term plan
with varying time horizons for potential changes. It is clear that transportation and
natural gas present our biggest challenges -- road transportation accounts for more than
61% of Palo Alto’s remaining carbon footprint, while natural gas accounts for more than
25%—and that Palo Alto will be unable to achieve the State of California GHG reduction
goals of 80% by 2050 without significantly reducing emissions from both these categories.
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(Key elements are summarized here, and described in more detail in the Discussion
session that follows.)
• Transportation: Make it more convenient not to drive by developing
responsive, multimodal, service-focused transportation services—and ending
subsidies such as free parking or shifting them to support non-SOV travel—to
reduce congestion and climate impacts.
• Electricity: Support a systematic shift from natural gas to all-electric systems
powered by carbon neutral electricity, wherever technically and legally
feasible and cost- effective. Given the consumer costs and stranded costs to
the Utility, this may require various transition strategies over time.
• Buildings: Explore building stock upgrades to Zero Net Energy or Net Positive
through design, efficiency, renewables and bundled services packages, and (if
technically and legally feasible and directed by City Council) encourage all-
electric new construction.
• Resource Efficiency: Aggressively cut energy and water demand in buildings
and operations, reduce emissions and impacts and save money for the
residents, business, and the City with an emphasis on integrative design and
policy approaches to drive large gains in resource efficiency.
• Sustainable Water Management: Balance water importation, rainwater
harvesting, groundwater management, recycled water use and onsite
treatment options in an integrated, long-term strategy.
• Municipal Operations: Embed sustainability in city procurement,
operations and management, including “default to green,” adoption of
internal carbon pricing and reporting of sustainability impacts in staff
reports, capital improvement project proposals and management reports.
• Financing Strategies: Finance cost-effective initiatives by pricing carbon,
applying a portion of parking revenues to mobility alternatives, and
channeling local and external investment in support of these goals.
Note that the legal and financial implications and cost-effectiveness, and degree of public
support of these elements, and other elements throughout this report, will require
detailed careful consideration and review, and are subject to Council direction.
Future staff analysis and reports will focus on:
• Sea Level Rise Response: Build resilience through risk mapping, mitigation,
adaptation and, where necessary as a secondary response, retreat strategies.
• Ecosystem and Human Systems Protection: Provide a healthy, resilient
environment where all species can thrive and enjoy life.
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• Buildings: Rapidly upgrade the resource efficiency of residential and
commercial building stock
• Utility of the Future: Adapt CPAU to the business model challenges facing
the utility industry
• Information systems: Advance “smart city” platforms for transportation,
utilities, buildings, operations, finance, etc.
• Community engagement, Support household practices and behavior change and
including expanded potential to reduce “scope three” emissions.”
Relationship to Comprehensive Plan
Staff received instruction from Council to synchronize with the City’s ongoing
Comprehensive Plan Update and provide a holistic approach to sustainability and
climate action across all City activities. The City Council has also -- on several occasions --
indicated its desire to reflect sustainability and climate adaptation in the vision and
goals of all elements of the Comprehensive Plan Update. Integration of these two plans
will provide a policy framework and a roadmap for achieving emission and consumption
reduction targets, and support the City’s efforts to maintain ecosystems and biodiversity
in our parks, gardens, forests and food systems, and provide a clear process for
addressing community needs with high quality services.
As part of its review of the Comprehensive Plan, Council will want to discuss the format
in the plan for linkage to the S/CAP and adopted sustainability goals.
Staff is asking Council to consider a portfolio of GHG emission reduction strategies that
could collectively achieve GHG reductions at a faster pace than proposed by the State of
California, which has set a reduction target of 80% by 2050, and an intermediate target of
40% by 2030. Could—and should—Palo Alto, which has already reduced emissions by an
estimated 39%, seek to achieve the State’s 80% reduction goal to be achieved earlier
than 2050? What should that target be and what would be the requirements and
implications of doing so?
As Council and community discuss the S/CAP and the options before us, we will
need to consider several key questions:
Leadership: What level of GHG emission reduction goals will Palo Alto target?
Pace: How fast will Palo Alto attempt to achieve these reductions?
Implementation: Which measures will Palo Alto enact to achieve these
reductions?
Invest: How much will Palo Alto invest?
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Funding: How will Palo Alto fund those investments?
Criteria: What factors will Palo Alto use to make these decisions?
Organization of this report
Background: The Climate Challenge. Technology and the Pace of Change. Palo Alto
History and Opportunities. Why Act Now. Objectives.
Discussion: Footprint. Ten Realms of Action. Key Levers: Rethinking Mobility; Electrifying
Our City; Water. Other Levers: Buildings; Municipal Operations; Palo Alto Utilities;
Information Technology; Engaging the Community; Ecosystems. Potential Sources of
Funds. Key Questions. Timeline: Next Steps/Plan.
Resource Impact
Policy Implications
Environmental Review
NOTE: This staff report provides a summary of the S/CAP, which is still a work in progress
and provides substantially more detail than presented here. Given the complexity of the
issues discussed, staff decided not to complete and circulate a draft plan until benefiting
from Council and community input on general directions and issues. The full draft will be
presented for future study sessions, at which Council will have the opportunity to go
deeper into specific issues, the extensive quantitative analysis that supports them, and the
requirements of both a 15-year strategic plan (including goals, key strategies and decision
criteria) and a series of five-year action plans to implement them. The focus of this initial
study session is to lay out the key components of the SCAP and strategies under
consideration-- focusing more on identifying aspirations, priorities and concerns rather
than detailed assessment of specific actions--and then come back to Council for deep dives
on transportation, energy, water and adaptation (and other issues that Council may
direct).
Background
Palo Alto is at the heart of the region that drives the eighth largest economy in the world,
and what is created in Palo Alto has influence far beyond its borders. Palo Alto has made
remarkable progress toward reducing its carbon impacts, GHG emissions and resource
consumption since establishing one of the first Climate Protection Plans in the US in 2007.
In the eight years since then, the world has gotten hotter, the west has gotten dryer, and
more cities have stepped into the ranks of climate leadership.
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As the climate heats up, cities will need to act wisely in order to ensure the wellbeing of
their communities in the face of the challenges ahead. Palo Alto can help show the way
ahead, improve our community’s quality of life and inspire changes elsewhere. Cities
around the world are ratcheting up their own sustainability initiatives, and we can also
learn and be challenged by their efforts.
In the course of developing this new Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, we face two
fundamental choices with regard to climate:
- Will we move from carbon neutral electricity to a carbon neutral utility to
eventually become a carbon neutral city (which will require major changes in
transportation as well as energy use)?
- And how quickly will we do that?
The Climate Challenge
Science: The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has determined that “we risk
severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” from climate change, and need “substantial”
greenhouse gas emissions reductions (of 40-70% or more) by mid-century. The
International Energy Agency has asserted that 80% of proven fossil fuel reserves must
“stay in the ground” if the planet is to avoid the worst climate change projections.
Meanwhile, climate disruption records continued to be broken in 2014, which was the
warmest year recorded since 1880. Munich Re America reported that “Insured winter
storm losses in the United States in 2014 were the highest in eight years, at $2.3 billion,
while insured losses due to severe thunderstorm events exceeded $10 billion for the sixth
year in a row.” The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported that high
ocean temperatures contributed to exceptionally heavy rainfall and floods in many
countries and extreme drought in others. Twelve major Atlantic storms battered the
United Kingdom in early months of 2014, while floods devastated much of the Balkans
throughout May. Crippling droughts have struck large swathes of the continental United
States while Northeast China and parts of the Yellow River basin did not reach half of
average summer rainfall, causing severe drought.
State of California: Assembly Bill 32 (the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006), committed the State to reduce its GHG emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by
2020, and Executive Order S-3-05, signed in June 2005, set an aspirational goal to
reduce emissions 80% by 2050. The first scoping plan by the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) detailed ways to achieve the AB32 goal; CARB’s recent update addressed
the need to accelerate reductions to meet the 2050 goal, and the need for local
jurisdictions to meet or exceed the State’s goals.
Then in April 2015, Governor Jerry Brown issued Executive Order B-30-15 establishing a
California GHG reduction target of 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. Recent revisions to
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California’s Title 24 will require that all new residential buildings be Zero Net Energy (ZNE)
by 2020, and all new commercial buildings by 2030; this will apply to retrofit projects
above certain thresholds. Meanwhile, Governor Brown has challenged the state to
increase the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 50% of needs, reduce petroleum up to
50% and double the efficiency of existing buildings by 2030. A milestone climate change
bill, SB 350, which passed in 2015, enshrined most of these proposals into law (though it
was stripped of the goal to reduce petroleum use by 50% before it was passed). A
companion bill, SB 32, which would have made the state’s long-term targets for carbon
emissions reductions, currently set by executive order, a matter of law, did not garner
sufficient support and staff expects it will be re- introduced in 2016.
United States: President Obama’s March 19, 2015 Executive Order requires the federal
government to cut GHG emissions by 40% by 2025 from 2008 levels and increase Federal
renewable energy sources to 30%; budget savings from these initiatives are estimated at
$18 billion. Several major federal suppliers, including Lockheed Martin, General Electric,
and IBM, announced new voluntary GHG reduction commitments; IBM says it will cut
energy-related GHG emissions 35% (against 2005 levels) by 2020. (Among local
companies, HP has set a goal to reduce the GHG emissions from operations 20% by 2020
compared to 2010 levels and SAP plans a 51% reduction in its total GHG emissions from its
year 2007 published baseline levels.)
Europe: The European Union has adopted an emissions reduction target of 40% below
1990 levels by 2030. The United Kingdom has committed to reduce its emissions by 50%
below 1990 levels within the 2022–2027 timeframe, and Germany has set 2030 emissions
target of 55% below 1990 levels.
Other cities: Other cities around the region and around the world have been actively
engaging this issue, with innovative programs around flexible transportation systems,
congestion management, electric vehicles, energy efficiency, and renewable power
development—and in many ways have been leading ahead of their national
governments. Examples include:
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Table 1: Examples of Climate Action Goals of Other Cities
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Figure 1: Climate Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA) Goals
Technology and the Pace of Change
Rapid technology change and behavior shifts make the usual practice of planning
based on extrapolation of past trends a bit uncertain. For example, Vehicle Miles
Travelled (VMT), the widely used transportation metric, has risen steadily for
decades, but recently shows signs of turning down, as Millennials buy fewer cars (and
reportedly even forego getting drivers’ licenses); car buying by the 18-30
demographic in the US peaked in 1983. The chart below shows recent projections
from the US Department of Transportation, which indicate a flattening of historically
rising VMT projections, with a downturn expected.
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Prices for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, autonomous
vehicle controls, sensors and many other technology categories have been plummeting
for years. Tony Seba, Stanford lecturer and author of Clean Disruption, asserts that this
combination of trends portends a profound shift in US automobile culture, with
potentially rapid displacement of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle by EVs, perhaps
by 2030, and potentially a dramatic reduction in private vehicle ownership in the same
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time frame. Such trends could make conservative planning risky; for example,
ExxonMobil’s 2014 projection of battery prices in 2040 will likely be reached in the market
by 2020.
This makes the job of transportation planners, for example, and parking garage
developers, uncertain and challenging. How will we determine what, where and how
much to build in the face of these trends, and neither overbuild nor underbuild?
Palo Alto History and Opportunity
For more than 20 years, Palo Alto has been an internationally recognized leader in
sustainability innovation, with a wide range of initiatives—citizen-led, staff-initiated,
and council-directed—that have in many cases raised the bar on urban sustainability.
This status is well deserved, given our community's deep-rooted environmental values
and City's early climate initiatives.
Early actions like our 2007 Climate Protection Plan (one of the first five city climate plans
in the US), bold recent actions like carbon neutral electricity, and systematic
improvements ranging from water conservation and EV readiness to green building
ordinances and safe routes to schools, and hundreds of other measures have put Palo
Alto in the forefront of sustainability
leadership internationally. Based on annual data for the calendar year 2014, the
community of Palo Alto has cut its overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an
estimated 34% from 2005 levels and 39% from 1990 levels—one of the largest reductions
of any city in the world.
Because of its community commitments and past accomplishments, Palo Alto is uniquely
positioned to advance a world-leading climate plan.
Some of the needed initiatives are within the capacity of City government. Some will
require the active collaboration of neighboring jurisdictions. All will require the support,
commitment and actions our entire community.
While many people still assume that “sustainability” is expensive, and that the initiatives
identified here would require sacrifice of money, comfort or both, the evidence that staff
has reviewed from cities and businesses around the world suggest that well designed and
managed sustainability programs can be fiscally prudent, cost effective and in many cases
can yield attractive returns on investment of public resources.
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Figure 3: Palo Alto Community-wide GHG Emissions (net of Renewable Energy Credits)
Extrapolating from its historic GHG reduction trend suggests that Palo Alto is well on its
way to an estimated 47% reduction by 2030 and 80% reduction by 2050; note however
that this trend includes the one-time drop in reportable GHG emissions that resulted from
the carbon neutral electricity policy in 2012 and 2013. Staff estimates that existing
initiatives (including EV-ready and PV-ready mandates and the electrification initiatives
that Council has directed staff to explore) could bring those reductions still lower.)
Why Act Now
The International Energy Agency has determined that 80% of fossil fuels need to “stay in
the ground for the 2°C target to be within reach. ExxonMobil recently predicted
“catastrophic” climate change, with global temperatures rising 5-7°C. The global climate
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agreement reached at the COP21 conference in Paris in December 2015 saw nearly 200
countries agree to common action on climate.
The New York Times noted (quoting from the agreement) that
The Agreement 'calls for “holding the increase in the global average
temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts
to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels....” This
language recognizes the scientific conclusions that an increase in atmospheric
temperatures of more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, would
lock the planet into a future of catastrophic impacts...But it also recognizes the
scientific conclusions that warming of just 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees
Fahrenheit, could present an existential threat to low- lying island nations that
would be inundated by sea level rise at that rate of increase.'
The existing national plans submitted for the conference 'would probably
result in an increase above 3 degrees Celsius.'
'When countries update their commitments, they will commit to the “highest
possible ambition,” but the agreement does not set a numeric target.'
Objectives
In the wake of the Paris conference—where Canada and other countries called the 2°C
target inadequate and proposed a 1.5°C target—we may expect to see changes in global
expectations, and perhaps in California climate policy.
There are multiple reasons for Palo Alto to pursue the sustainability and climate
initiatives outlined in this plan:
to improve the living standards, quality of life and value delivered to residents;
to save the City and community money through improved efficiency;
to reduce future risk from climate related events and their impacts on the community;
to balance fiscal responsibility with other community values
to attract and retain innovative clean businesses;
to make our contribution in support of State and international commitments to
reducing global emissions;
to provide a leadership example to other cities and the community for which Palo
Alto is known.
Meeting or exceeding California’s GHG reduction goal of 80% by 2050 will require both
staying the course on our current efforts, and building on, intensifying and evolving
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them in the face of changing technologies and conditions.
Solutions appropriate for Palo Alto will need to address specific local economic
considerations and community needs. This in turn requires understanding the specific
needs of the City and community related to energy and resource consumption,
transportation, development and the considerations of daily life. And it requires the data
systems that provide this view into the systems that produce the experience of living and
working in Palo Alto.
Discussion
For the past year, hundreds of Palo Altans have provided input to the S/CAP planning
process, contributing their ideas regarding objectives of the plan as well as emission
reduction measures that could be used to achieve meaningful GHG reductions and other
measures that could achieve sustainability objectives related to water conservation,
adapting to climate change, and other issues.
Based on this input, the Office of Sustainability considered three possible emission
reduction targets: 80% emissions reduction by 2050, or “80X50,” consistent with the
State’s goal; 80% emissions reduction by 2030 or “80X30”; or 100% reduction (to carbon
neutral or better) by 2025 or “100X25.” In each case, staff identified and started to
evaluate (technically and economically) the mix of strategies that could achieve each
goal. Interestingly, staff found that each target could be achieved with similar strategies
implemented at a very different pace.
Based on this analysis, this staff report presents potential strategies for Council
consideration
and discussion, and asks whether the Council is interested in further planning to develop
an S/CAP that exceeds the State’s goal, and if so, by how much? Specifically, staff invites
Council to consider whether to:
- Set a goal of reducing GHG emissions by at least 80% by 2030—20 years
ahead of California’s 80% goal, and achieve that goal by:
- Building, step by step, on Palo Alto’s historic Carbon Neutral Electricity Plan to
next become a Carbon Neutral Utility, by encouraging electrification (and other
measures) to eliminate the impact and eventually the use of natural gas,
- Becoming a Carbon Neutral City soon after by working with its own resources
and in collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions to dramatically reduce
dependence on the internal combustion engine and private vehicles
- Advocating for policies that advance climate positive initiatives across the Bay
Area and the state.
Footprint
Palo Alto has systematically reduced its GHG emissions through a series of measures,
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many of them predating the 2007 Climate Protection Plan (CPP). The figures below show
Palo Alto’s emissions reduction trajectory in relation to the State of California’s declared
2050 trajectory, and the 80x30 trajectory proposed for consideration here.
Figure 4: Projected Emissions Based on Current Palo Alto Trends vs Emissions Reductions
Required to Meet State of California Targets: 1990-2050
Figure 5: Projected Emissions Based on Current Palo Alto Trends vs Emissions Reductions
Required to Meet State of California Targets: 1990-2030
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These historic reductions have been achieved most significantly though the CNE initiative,
ongoing CPAU efficiency and incentive programs; the Green Building Ordinance (GBO) and
Energy Reach Code (which are perhaps the most aggressive in the state and nation)
including its EV-ready and PV-ready requirement; operational improvements at the
RWQCP; the ZeroWaste and Environmentally Preferable Purchasing initiatives; the Urban
Forest Master Plan; and more.
Initiatives already in motion or under consideration will drive additional reductions:
electrification analysis; the next green building ordinance (GBO), including potential “zero
net energy” requirements; “default to green” purchasing policy, including rapid
electrification of the City fleet; launching the Downtown Transportation Management
Association (TMA) to achieve a City Council initiated goal of reducing single occupant
vehicle (SOV) trips in and around the City’s commercial centers by 30% or more; build-out
the City’s adopted bicycle and pedestrian plan; implementing parking technologies to
better manage existing downtown parking supplies; initiating a paid parking study for
downtown; and establishing Transportation Demand Management (TDM) requirements
on new development projects.
It is clear from the chart that transportation and natural gas present our biggest
challenges: road transportation accounts for more than 61% of Palo Alto’s remaining
carbon footprint, while natural gas accounts for more than 25%—and that Palo Alto will
be unable to achieve the State of California goals without significantly reducing emissions
from both these categories.
Ten Realms of Action
Staff and consultants have examined ten realms of action: Transportation, Energy, Water,
Buildings, City operations, Palo Alto Utilities, Infrastructure, Adaptation/Resilience,
Ecosystems and Engaging the Community, which are summarized in Figure 6 and Table 2.
This staff report focuses on three: transportation and energy, because they represent the
vast majority of Palo Alto’s emissions (excluding “scope three” emissions, which are not
considered in this analysis), and water, because of the challenges of the current drought
and potential risks of long-term drought. The others are summarized here but will be
addressed in detail in future reports.
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Figure 6: S/CAP Levers, Goals and Strategies
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Table 2: Key Actions—Summary
As noted earlier in this staff report, any specific proposals that are developed to
implement the above listed “realms of action” and “key actions” would need to be
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assessed for their cost-effectiveness, potential policy trade-offs and legal constraints
that might influence the design of any such proposal or identify areas where the City
could intervene at the federal, state or local level to advocate for constitutional,
statutory or regulatory change.
Investment and Impacts
The charts that follow summarize the investments and impacts associated with the
strategies presented below.
This “waterfall chart” shows the current estimates of the GHG reductions that could result
from each initiative (in metrics tons of CO2 equivalent, or MTCO2e).
Figure 7: "Waterfall" Chart Showing Potential GHG Reductions from Each Measure
This “McKinsey chart” shows the estimated “mitigation cost” (in $/MTCO2e reduced) for
each strategy.
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Figure 8: "McKinsey Chart": Estimated "Mitigation Cost" (in $/mTCO2e reduced)
It is evident from these charts that the greatest GHG reductions are likely to come from
electrification of vehicle fleets (largely through provision of EV charging infrastructure),
encouraging all-electric new construction, electrification of water and space heating, and
pricing parking; the most economic reductions are to be gained from encouraging all-
electric new construction, issuing universal transit passes, electrification of water
heating, pricing parking, and electrification of vehicle fleets. The intersection of these
lists provides an initial set of priority actions for Council consideration.
Key Levers: Detail
1. Key Levers: Rethinking Mobility
Road transportation represents about 61% of Palo Alto’s carbon footprint—and a
headache for everyone. Palo Alto’s Comprehensive Plan calls for reducing reliance on the
automobile, and we've made progress in some areas: for example, 44% of high school
students commute by bicycles. Beyond our borders, federal CAFE standards have reduced
the carbon intensity of the US vehicle fleet. But congestion continues unabated, and the
majority of Palo Altans, and commuters to Palo Alto, still make Single Occupancy Vehicle
(SOV) trips.
Traditional approaches to transportation—adding capacity by building roads and
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parking—send the wrong signals, encourage SOV travel and add pain. But what if we
asked a different question: How could we make it more convenient for anyone,
anywhere, anytime to not have to get into a car and drive?
Issue(s): Emissions. Congestion, Quality of life.
Goals: Reduce congestion. Reduce emissions. Increase convenience. Triple bike share,
double walk mode share and reduce SOV trips 30% in and around the City’s commercial
centers by 2020. Eventually, eliminate 80-100% of road transportation emissions, while
increasing mobility and convenience
Levers: Expand non-automobile mobility options. Expand transit facilities and services.
Create the right incentives.
Strategies: Reduce GHG/VMT by shifting vehicle fleets (City owned, privately owned
and commercially owned) from fossil-powered to electric. Phase out automobile
subsidies by requiring drivers to pay for parking. Reduce trips and vehicle miles
travelled (VMT) by developing mobility services that make not driving more convenient
than driving. Collaborate with regional partners.
Barriers/concerns/unknowns: Significant dependence on external factors including
technology, policy, other actors. Possible reluctance to change behavior. Possible
resistance to paying for parking directly (as opposed to indirectly). Significant investments
in transit, rideshare, and non-SOV incentives may be required (though much of this could
come from other actors than the City).
GHGs from road travel are a function of two factors: Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT), and
the carbon intensity of that travel (GHG/VMT). Reducing GHG/VMT is largely a function of
vehicle technology, driven for example by Federal CAFE standards, state policy, improved
fuel efficiency, electrification and customer adoption. Most of these factors are outside
the purview of cities, but Palo Alto has some ways to influence VMT, by developing
attractive alternatives to SOV trips, and GHG/VMT, largely by encouraging electrification
of City, resident and commuter fleets.
The City supports a number of emerging transportation demand management (TDM)
initiatives including its first Transportation Management Association (TMA) to develop,
manage, and market transportation programs to reduce single occupancy vehicle trips in
the Downtown Core area. The Comprehensive Plan Update also provides an opportunity
to establish policies that outline when TDM should be applied and programs that specify
how compliance will be periodically measured and enforced. TDM plans for individual
development projects can establish TDM requirements and set enforceable SOV mode-
share targets. TDM plans would establish a list of acceptable TDM measures that include
transit use, prepaid transit passes, commuter checks, car sharing, carpooling, parking
cash-out, bicycling, walking, and education and outreach to support the use of these
modes. They should provide a system for incorporating alternative measures as new
ideas for TDM are developed.
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Staff has identified seven strategies for addressing these goals, each with one or more
specific strategies: Expand non-auto mobility options; Expand transit facilities and
services; Facilitate shared transportation; Provide universal transit access; Phase out SOV
subsidies by charging for parking; Ensure that any new development addresses and
mitigates its impacts (e.g. through trip caps or other TDM initiatives); Reduce the carbon
intensity of vehicular travel. The most significant strategies (in terms of potential impact
and cost) are summarized here.
Actions
1.a. Reduce the carbon intensity of vehicular travel by encouraging shift to EVs
Expanding the percentage of trips taken in EVs would have the largest impact on emissions
from road transportation, which is in turn the largest category of Palo Alto emissions. Palo
Alto has one of the highest rates of EV ownership in the country (estimated by staff at 2-
3% of registered vehicles), but several factors limit EV adoption, including price (which is
dropping rapidly), total cost of ownership (often poorly understood), and vehicle
performance—especially “range anxiety.”
The City has undertaken a number of measures to address those limitations, including
hosting periodic “ride and drive” events to provide staff and residents direct experience
of EV performance and economics; analyzing total cost of ownership; establishing an “EV
first” preference for the City fleet; and working to expand EV charging infrastructure in
Palo Alto by parking garage operators, employers and potentially third party providers.
City ordinances require all new construction and significant renovations for commercial
and multi-family buildings to pre-wire and allocate parking spaces for Electric Vehicle
Supply Equipment (EVSE), or EV chargers, at specified rates. The City has been adding
additional public charging stations, with grant support from regional agencies; third party
providers of charging systems could enable flexible expansion of charging infrastructure
without requiring commitment of City funds. (The City may want to consider flexible
rather than maximal approach to charging infrastructure, since as the range of available
EVs expands, the importance of “away from home” charging may become less significant,
and if private vehicle ownership continues to decline, as some have suggested, saturation
may be achieved at a lower volume of chargers.)
1.b. End incentives to private car use.
Ending parking subsidies and significantly increasing the cost of parking all over Palo
Alto is a strategy that could reduce reliance on the private automobile and encourage
residents and employees to use transit, ride-hailing services, biking, walking, or other
modes. Use parking revenues to finance non-SOV alternatives, modeled on the
“Stanford Engine”.
Palo Alto provides approximately 4,000 off-street and 7,000 on-street parking spaces in
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the downtown and California Avenue areas. A quick web survey of other workplaces and
shopping districts suggests approximately 30,000 additional spaces. The on-street spaces
are provided at no cost to drivers (in contrast to many other cities in the region), and the
publicly-owned off-street spaces are provided at either no cost (short-term parking) or at
a cost that is below comparable rates in neighboring communities (long-term parking).
Given the actual cost of creating and maintaining on- and off-street parking spaces (an
estimated $3,600/year for parking garages, based on the amortized cost of providing
parking spaces at a capital cost of $60,000 per space), free parking provides a significant
incentive for SOV trips, despite the City’s long-standing policy commitment (as noted in
the 1998 Comprehensive Plan) to reduce those trips. Instituting and/or requiring parking
fees commensurate with this cost would remove that incentive, reduce SOV trips, and
provide a funding source for programs that make the use of alternative modes easier for
all. Potentially, in combination with other strategies listed here and the shift in driving
trends already noted, it could also reduce the need to build additional parking structures
(as has been the case at Stanford).
Preliminary analysis, based on parking rates in surrounding jurisdictions, suggests that
Palo Alto could potentially realize parking revenues of $5-15 million per year, which would
in turn provide substantial resources for the programs discussed here. The City has
contracted for a paid parking study, now getting underway, that will provide additional
insight into Palo Alto’s options and more closely examine costs and revenues.
1.c. Provide low cost transit benefits to all Palo Alto residents and employees
A universal EcoPass provides one of the most economical ways to reduce emissions. (See
mitigation costs chart.) EcoPasses are transit passes sold by VTA that enable the carrier to
use their bus system. Presently EcoPasses are available to employers similar to GoPasses
(for the train), and could potentially be made available to residents in transit served
areas. The EcoPass (and comparable passes from other transit providers) could be
provided at relatively modest cost, potentially funded by parking revenues and employer
“feebates,” and provide residents and workers with free access to select transit services.
A variant of this approach, already being explored by the Downtown Transit Management
Association, would provide discounts for use of ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber as
a “first and last mile” solution for commuters.
1.d. Develop “Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) in Palo Alto and the region:
Financial incentives are not the most effective level to change behavior, unless
convenience is addressed as well.
“Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) is a concept that proposes to shift the focus from fixed
transportation to flexible, responsive transportation services designed to meet people’s
diverse and changing needs by providing seamless regional multi-modal mobility
services, including improved transit, and bike share; dynamic, on-demand shuttles;
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flexible first & last mile solutions; and walkable/bikeable communities. The full MaaS
concept, articulated most fully by Tekes, the Finland technology funding agency and the
Finland Ministry of Transportation and Communications (with which Palo Alto has
developed a collaboration) and the SV MaaS initiative which Palo Alto initiated with
Joint Venture Silicon Valley (JVSV), envisions one or more “Mobility Aggregator” services
that provide subscription-based, customer-centered experience that provides
“plan/book/buy/ride” access to multiple transportation modes in a single unified
smartphone app with easy fare payment, one-stop billing and integrated employer
subsidies.
The elements of MaaS are increasingly familiar, as Transportation Network Companies
(TNCs) like Lyft and Uber and responsive shuttle services like Chariot and Bridj grow in
familiarity and market share, and transit agencies struggle to adapt to shifting rider
expectations.
In response to Council’s challenge to reduce SOV trips 30% by 2020, staff are exploring
pilots of such programs, initially through “first and last mile” programs being developed
by the Downtown TMA, enhancement the City’s own commute alternative program for
employees, and developing an RFP for technology providers that could develop a mobile
app or “wallet” allowing the user to conveniently plan, book, access and pay for a bundle
of transit/rideshare services. (Companies at the Stanford Research Park are exploring
comparable programs.)
1.e. Evaluate what would be required to achieve bicycle mode share levels being targeted
by other cities, ranging from Portland and Copenhagen and LA.
Palo Alto is a bicycle-friendly city, and the City is making a significant investment in new
bicycle boulevards and other improvements included in the adopted Bicycle and
Pedestrian Plan.
However, bicycle ridership is low compared to cities like Portland and Copenhagen and
the next iteration of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan could set higher goals and seek to
achieve higher bicycle and pedestrian mode share levels. Provisioning protected bike
lanes can be expensive in terms of GHG mitigation, but provides health and quality of life
benefits as well. On the other hand, expanding surface area for bike at the expense of
surface area for cars may prove controversial, at least until the potential decline in VMT
and automobile demand becomes apparent and palpable to more people.
1.f. Explore “zero impact” standards in residential and commercial development
Adopt plans that target future residential and commercial development in specific
transit- friendly districts. Impose “no net impact” caps for energy, GHGs, water--and
trips.
Scenario Four of the Comprehensive Plan EIR contemplates this approach. The cities of
Menlo Park, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino and Helsinki and others have
begun to impose trip caps; for example, developments in North Bayshore in Mountain
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View are required—as a condition of permitting—to provide transportation amenities
that will keep SOV rates under 45%.
A combination of these four caps is unprecedented (as far as we know), and could
provide a powerful incentive to property owners and developers to build innovative,
efficient and affordable buildings and developments.
Embrace “tactical urbanism”
Many of the innovations in transportation planning and land use encourage small, fast
local experiments are new, some unprecedented, and would benefit by a more flexible
and agile and experimental planning and learning process. (Tactical urbanism is an
umbrella term used to describe a collection of low-cost, temporary changes to the built
environment, usually in cities, intended to improve local neighborhoods and city gathering
places. Tactical Urbanism is also commonly referred to as guerilla urbanism, pop-up
urbanism, city repair, or D.I.Y. urbanism.)
Leverage existing Open Data & Smart City initiatives to support mobility services
Real time access to relevant data is essential to efficient platforms for public & private
mobility service providers. Palo Alto should provide open access to its own transportation
data. Since transportation issues are regional, Palo Alto should work with other
communities in the region to share data and develop common or compatible protocols.
Palo Alto should encourage mobility providers to share their data in turn (or perhaps
require that as a condition of operation.)
Benefits:
These transportation-focused strategies will provide both direct and indirect benefits.
Direct benefits include reduced congestion, reduced GHG emissions, and health and
economic benefits to commuters and developers. Indirect benefits include, for example,
reduced CapX and OpX for roads and parking structures; less capacity pressure on
roadways enabling release of some surface area to bicycle and pedestrian modes; more
permeable surfaces as road demand declines, enabling enhanced storm water capture
(see “green infrastructure,” below) and reduced heat island effect.
2. Electrifying our City
Key Levers: Energy (general)
Issue(s): Natural gas emissions currently represent ~25% of Palo Alto’s carbon footprint.
Natural Gas (i.e., methane, is a potent greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential
(GWP) at least 23 times that of CO2. Carbon Neutral Electricity opens the option of fuel
switching from natural gas.
Goals: Reduce or eliminate emissions from natural gas. Reduce costs. Increase
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comfort, reliability and resilience.
Means: Efficiency. Renewables. Electrification. Expand PPAs and distributed
generation & storage. Build the “smart grid.” Set a price on carbon. Adapt CPAU’s
business model to the challenges facing the utility industry.
Levers: Staff has identified several “levers” for addressing these goals, each with one or
more specific strategies: Reduce demand through resource efficiency and conservation
electrification of heating and cooking functions currently provided with natural gas;
encourage zero net energy, zero net carbon and all-electric design in new construction;
periodically evaluate the suitability of biogas as pipeline gas; and, potentially, use of
carbon offsets as a bridging strategy.
Actions:
Set high energy & carbon performance standards for new construction and
renovations. Accelerate retrofits, including electrification.
Raise efficiency & RPS goals; aggressively market toward them; challenge
staff and community to improve efficiency 10% per year for the next ten years.
Develop contingency plans to maintain carbon neutral electricity in face of potential
reduced reliability of hydroelectric power
Explore microgrid and district energy strategies in key districts
Proactively explore “utility of the future” strategies to take advantage of potential
disruptive change facing the industry
Benefits: Emissions. Savings. Health. Agility. Resilience.
Palo Alto has made remarkable progress in decarbonizing its electricity sector. In addition
to the City’s purchase of hydro-electric power resources, CPAU has worked actively to
develop its renewable electricity portfolio. In 2013, Palo Alto approved a Carbon Neutral
Electric Resource Plan committing Palo Alto to using carbon neutral electric resources
from that year
on—through purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) for the “brown power”
portion of CPAU’s portfolio that will largely be replaced by 2017 with expanded
purchases of renewable power. However, low hydro production may necessitate the
purchase of brown power and RECs after 2017 as well.
Many CPAU programs are already under way to reduce energy usage in homes and local
businesses, through education and outreach, incentive programs and energy use
disclosure requirements. But the results have been modest and inconsistent. Palo Alto
should accelerate those efficiency gains (to reduce pressure on CPAU’s renewable
capacity), drive down natural gas usage and shift to carbon neutral electricity.
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Further reductions in GHG emissions associated with utility energy consumption
could be achieved through:
Breakthrough efficiency in electricity consumption to reduce city’s
overall energy demand and the need for continued energy purchases
through power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable power.
Innovation technically and financially to move the city away from natural gas by
both reducing natural gas consumption as much as possible, partly through
energy efficiency, and electrification of traditionally gas uses (i.e. heating)
combined with increase local energy generation and, potentially, transitional
use of offsets.
There are potential concerns regarding “complete” electrification, including:
Induced demand. In the absence of adequate energy storage, morning and
evening demand peaks in Palo Alto, which would not be met by local
renewables, would call upon the resources of the existing grid, which would
be met by fossil resources; in this scenario, according to some, electrification
intended to reduce GHG emissions could potentially increase them.)
Redundancy/resilience. If CPAU customers shifted most or all natural gas
demand to electricity, the city system could be more vulnerable to electrical
outages. Micro-grids, for example, could reduce that risk, but the risks should
to be evaluated as part of any electrification strategy.
CPAU economics. A successful electrification strategy could greatly reduce
natural gas revenues; yet CPAU would still need to maintain the integrity of
the natural gas infrastructure. (See “Utility of the Future,” below.)
Regulatory constraints. Publicly-owned utilities operate in a complex, highly
regulated legal environment with respect to almost every aspect of the utility
business from rate design to safety and reliability to required program and
service offerings. Investor- owned utilities (like PG&E) operate under a
different legal and regulatory construct, particularly with respect to rate
setting. Proposals to address GHG emissions must always harmonize discrete
policy proposals with legal and regulatory constraints, cost-effectiveness and
cost of service principles, and the overall safety and reliability principles that
are at the core of the utility’s mission.
In August 2015, the City Council authorized an electrification (a/k/a “fuel switching”) work
plan to research and analyze ten specific electrification strategies; that work is underway
and will yield analytic findings and recommendations over the course of 2016 and early
2017.
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Key Actions: Natural Gas [broken out from energy for clarity]
2.a. Encourage all-electric in new construction
Because new construction of advanced alternatives is generally more economic than
retrofits, this strategy is one of the most cost-effective evaluated.
2.b. Make PA GreenGas “opt out.”
Shift PAGG from an opt-in program to an opt-out, which would bring Palo Alto to 40%
GHG reductions—California’s 2030 target—now!).
2.c. Reduce energy use through efficiency measures and equipment replacement
Continue to support and, where feasible, consistent with legal and regulatory
requirements, and cost-effective, accelerate aggressive energy efficiency and accelerated
retrofit cycles through building codes and CPAU incentives. Develop programs that take
advantage of natural equipment life cycles by encouraging CPAU customers, through
focused marketing and/or predictive analytics, to upgrade at time of replacement to
most efficient technology, determined on a total cost of ownership basis.
2.d. Pursue and apply electrification feasibility analysis.
Encourage “fuel switching” where cost effective from GHG-emitting natural gas to carbon
neutral electricity. Initial analysis of the cost-effectiveness of fuel switching strategies
identified residential water heating (replacing hot water heaters with heat pump water
heaters (HPWH) and some EVs as “cost-effective” within current parameters. CPAU plans
to begin a pilot program testing HPWH replacement strategies and customer response in
early 2016.
Other electrification opportunities, including residential space heating electrification,
commercial water heating and space heating electrification, and commercial cooking
electrification, are less cost effective at this time when assessed as individual
measures, but may be more cost-effective when offered as bundled services. (For
example, Boulder CO is developing an integrated service offering that combines
energy audit, weatherization, efficient appliances, rooftop solar and an EV in a
single bundle that lowers monthly cost to the customer and is paid for through
on-bill financing. The offering may be target marketed using predictive
analytics, based on customer use patterns and permit data, to identify the
customer who would benefit the most.)
Related actions: Build capacity to serve expanded electrical demand through efficiency,
local generation, and continued renewable power purchase. Adjust rate tiers in order to
not penalize fuel-switchers. Note that all rates must be based on the cost to provide
service. Any rate design proposal must be specifically analyzed for legal, regulatory, and
cost-effectiveness issues, or other barriers (e.g. operational implementation) that may
impose constraints on using rates as a tool to implement or otherwise incentivize or
City of Palo Alto Page 29
subsidize fuel switching.
2.e. Monitor biogas options.
Biogas (or methane generated from crop or waste resources) is part of the strategy mix in
California’s PATHWAYS analysis. CPAU has determined biogas is not an economically
viable option for Palo Alto at this time, and PG&E has expressed concerns about the safety
and quality of biogas if this commodity is introduced into its pipeline transmission system.
2.f. Monitor the long-range viability of CPAU’s natural gas business.
As customers shift away from natural gas, CPAU’s natural gas revenues will decline, while
the Utility will still need to maintain the safety and integrity of its natural gas pipelines
and systems and retain qualified workers. This could generate financial stress at some
point in the future and leave stranded assets.
2.g. Infrastructure considerations for the natural gas utility
Longer-term implications of moving away from natural gas in Palo Alto need to be studied
in further detail. For instance, natural gas utility estimates for long-term infrastructure
planning costs and anticipated infrastructure upgrades need to be assessed relative to
costs and benefits of electrification for specific natural gas distribution areas and
neighborhoods. Aging natural gas infrastructure needs to be considered as part of
assessing electrification opportunities.
Steps may include:
Identifying natural gas distribution areas requiring costly network upgrades
Developing plans to target these areas for electrification and associated
electrical upgrades needed with aggressive, targeted incentives
Assessing whether and how avoided cost of infrastructure upgrades
could pay for electrification
Benefits: Emissions. Savings. Agility. Resilience.
3. Key Levers: Water
Background/Issue(s): Palo Alto has done an outstanding job of meeting annual water use
reduction requirements of the current “drought.” But both potable water supplies and
hydroelectric needs could be challenged by long-term shifts in California’s precipitation
regime.
With shifting climate patterns, significant uncertainty exists related to whether the
drought conditions are the “new normal” for California However, all climate projections
show increases in average temperatures and reduced snowpack where Palo Alto sources
much of its water—which could impact Palo Alto’s hydroelectric power and thus its
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carbon neutral electricity strategy.
Under state law, City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) must prepare an Urban Water
Management Plan every five years. The Plan must assess the reliability of Palo Alto’s water
sources over a 20- year planning horizon and report its progress on a 20% reduction in per-
capita urban water consumption by the year 2020.
CPAU’s 2010 Urban Water Management Plan presumes continuation of modern
California precipitation regimes, which might not accurately represent the future we
face. CPAU is beginning development of the 2015 plan (due June 2016 to the State).
Given current climatic projections, long-term increases in water supplies from San
Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) appear highly unlikely, and any tapping of
groundwater supplies, even with the new storage facilities, would only provide
emergency short term relief. The key is therefore to reduce consumption of water
while rapidly increasing the availability and use of recycled water.
Goals: Safe and reliable water supply for the possible “new normal” of less (and less
reliable) precipitation
Means: Efficiency. Recycled water. Green infrastructure for local storm water
capture and storage. Onsite wastewater treatment.
Strategies: Reduce potable water consumption. Supplement existing water supplies.
Actions:
Develop long-term efficiency goals, and aggressively market toward
them Incorporate net zero water standards in future Green Building
Ordinances
Evolve Palo Alto landscapes to adapt to changing precipitation trends, and allocate
water resources to protect our urban canopy
Develop and incent local water capture and storage, from household to social
scale Pilot and evaluate onsite wastewater treatment technologies
Pursue recycled water production and
use Benefits: Resilience. Savings.
Strategy: Reduce potable water consumption.
In Palo Alto, overall water use per account decreased by 27% between 2000 and 2010,
and all customer classes showed a reduction in annual water use per account. The relative
share of the total water usage made up by the residential customers has continued to
grow with residential single-family users increasing their share from 41% to 47%. Overall
water consumption in the residential sector in total increased its share from 50% to 62%
of total citywide consumption. Palo Alto’s drought response has to date achieved
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reductions of well over 25% in 2015 compared with 2013 levels.
Long-term water reduction strategies should focus not only on implementing these
procedures during times of drought, but also using the incentives and policy drivers the
water management plan to drive sustained water consumption reduction, which will
require structural changes in water demand (such as building design and landscaping
choices) as equipment and fixture upgrades and behavioral choices.
Strategy: Supplement Existing Water Supplies
New sources of both potable and non-potable water to support redundant supplies for
water security requires 1) increasing ground water capture through capturing rain water,
storm water retention and encouraging ground water recharging through green
infrastructure investment, design criteria and policies, 2) maximizing the potential for
water recycling from the Regional Water Quality Control Plan (RWQCP), and potentially 3)
careful exploration of on-site waste water treatment technologies (such as those in use at
Moffett Field).
Ground water capture and management is critical to provide sufficient on-call reserves
during severe droughts, and to maintain sustainable ecosystems. Policies to maximize
capture also reduce the risk of storm water outflow and flooding. Policies the city should
promote for ground water capture include:
Green stormwater infrastructure. Promote the design of green streets and
alleys to promote the integration of green infrastructure elements into the
street and/or alley design to store, infiltrate, and evapotranspire
stormwater.
Set policy and codes to require permeable pavement installation on new and
retrofit of commercial building and residential projects. These pavements are
particularly cost effective where land values are high such as in Palo Alto and
where flooding is a problem.
Promote rainwater and greywater harvesting. Address through building policy
or legally compliant, cost-effective utility incentives the capturing rainwater
and greywater and using it for landscape watering needs reducing the use of
potable water for landscape irrigation.
Incent downspout disconnection. Address through building policy or legally
compliant, cost-effective water utility incentive the disconnection of rooftop
drainage pipes to drain rainwater to rain barrels, cisterns, or permeable areas
instead of the storm sewer.
Develop recycled water (and potentially direct delivery of purified water)
capacity and uses, from both the RWQCP and onsite waste water
treatment.
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City of Palo Alto should also maximize water recycling from the RWQCP. Under current
upgrade plans, the RWQCP could produce as much as 27 million gallons per day, of which
approximately 33% meets quality standards for “unrestricted use” and 19.4 MGD of
restricted water use.
The City continues to examine methods to expand the use of recycled water. Completion
of the Recycled Water Market Survey and Facility Plan is a step in that direction. The City
expects that the costs of implementing expanded recycled water use can be reduced
through a combination of regional coordination and state and federal matching funds.
Other Actions [Summary]
These “other actions” are listed in brief summary form, and will be addressed in detail in
future study sessions.
4. Key Levers: Buildings
Goals: “Net Positive,” healthy, productive, efficient built environment
Means: Building ordinances and reach codes. Performance benchmarking and disclosure.
Education & outreach to realtors, developers, building trades, financiers
Actions:
Set & enforce building standards >15% above California’s.
Establish a “loading order” for efficiency & ZNE measures: New buildings > Major
retrofits > Ownership transfer
Apply retro-commissioning and performance benchmarking to ensure and incentivize
high performance. (Retro-commissioning is a systematic process to ensure that a
building performs as designed. Performance benchmarking is comparing one building’s
performance to performance of comparable buildings.)
Ensure that City buildings meet green building requirements. Conduct regular building
audits, set performance improvement goals, assign accountability
Assess and accelerate electrification transition (with CPAU). Use “predictive analytics”
to identify and engage likely candidates for retrofit and equipment upgrades, based on
expected end-of-life of existing equipment
Benefits: Reduced emissions. Operating cost savings. Enhanced asset value. Grid
resilience and more manageable energy demand curve.
5. Key Levers: Municipal Operations
Efficiency, low carbon and other sustainability initiatives can save money, improve
operating performance, reduce emissions, and provide leadership by for the
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community.
Goals: “We go first”
Means: Procurement. Procedures. Accountability. Training.
Actions:
“Default to Green” in procurement (For example, City policy requires that City
management procure EVs as first choice, and select fossil fueled vehicles only if
appropriate EVs are not available.)
Embed sustainability commitments and criteria into CIP process, building
construction, renovation and operation
Establish internal carbon targets and trading, pricing to increase GHG-
reduction accountability.
Apply retrofits to cut resource use 5-10%/year—performance contracting. Reinvest
operating savings into further sustainability initiatives
Collaborate with other cities to share best practices & advance regional initiatives
Benefits: Footprint. Cost savings. Happy customers. Lead by example.
6. Key Levers: Palo Alto Utilities
Goals: Reliable, safe, economical, sustainable and resilient services
Means: Lead the charge. Adapt business model to changing industry dynamics.
Actions:
Promote—and monetize—radical resource efficiency.
Increase PPA contracting to hedge hydro uncertainty, subject to the City’s Risk
Management Policies and Procedures; maximize local solar+storage as resilient
complement to grid solar.
Deploy Smart Grid as key part of “smart and connected city”
Restructure rates to not penalize increased electrical demand
Explore and develop microgrids; prepare to upgrade grid to meet rising demand
from electrification.
Adapt CPAU business model to service-focused, Distributed Generation/Storage
Benefits: Leadership. Resilience. Savings.
7. Key Levers: Adaptation & Resilience
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This is a large topic, addressed here only briefly. Santa Clara County has conducted
extensive analysis of these topics in their SV 2.0 project. SCAP consultants have
provided detailed assessment of risks and potential responses. City staff have several
related workstreams underway, some of which will be presented in a parallel study
session currently scheduled for January.
Goals: Reduce vulnerability to Sea Level Rise (SLR), flooding, rising temperatures,
extreme weather events
Means: Inform, protect, retreat. Build resilience into City planning.
Actions:
Continue to pursue “green infrastructure” as required by the Regional Water Quality
Control Board and as warranted by staff analysis; include supporting policies in the
Comp Plan Update aimed at increasing storm water infiltration.
Pursue policies and projects to reduce storm and flood vulnerability
Evaluate and if needed strengthen SLR and flooding concerns into planning,
zoning, permitting and insurance requirements
Address the vulnerability of City assets to sea level rise (SLR)
Benefits: Survival of critical assets and services. Reduced costs, public safety.
8. Key Levers: Information Technology
Goals: Enable staff, residents and business to understand trends innovate programs
Means: City as platform: Provisioning data and information services that support
operational efficiency and program innovation
Actions:
Extend open data initiatives to include mobility, utility, operations & environmental
quality
Provide visual performance dashboards that simplify tracking and
benchmarking sustainability performance—and support effective action
Accelerate smart grid deployment. Enable customer and 3rd party access to accurate,
timely data. Protect privacy.
Benefits: Agility. Participation. Learning. Data-driven decisions.
9. Key Levers: Engaging the Community
Goals: Broad community engagement, participation, guidance, initiative
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Means: Inform & convene. Support individual & collaborative action. Disclose & report
impacts.
Actions:
Pilot “CoolBlock” collaborations to support neighborhood cooperation toward
sustainability and resilience goals
Deploy/encourage dashboards and “fitbit for sustainability” apps
Estimate/report “scope 3” emissions, to seed conversations about
consumption Benefits: QOL, savings, accelerated GHG reductions,
conviviality, political support
10. Key Levers: Ecosystems
Goals: Protect and enhance the regenerative capacity of ecosystems
Means: Value and enhance the common wealth.
Actions:
Use “ecosystem functionality” layers in planning processes.
Expand and protect canopy, biodiversity, soil health and water capture; adapt
canopy and parklands to changing climatic regimes
Value and enhance the common wealth for future generations.
Benefits: Quality of life. Adaptation/resilience.
Potential Sources of Funds
Staff has identified a variety of potential sources of funds to finance the initiatives
that Council may choose to purse, though all of these sources (including private
financial vehicles) need a more complete assessment of applicable legal and
regulatory requirements and the risks and obligations associated with the various
approaches. These include operating savings, parking feebates, utility rates,
revolving loan funds, local offsets, carbon tax or fee, voluntary contributions, as
well as green bonds and private financial vehicles. There is evidence that market
demand exceeds supply for well-constructed sustainability and climate related
investment opportunities; as a result some initiatives discussed here may be
financeable through private investors. (Subject to Council selection of goals and
measures, the strategies outlined here could yield Net Present Value in the
hundreds of millions of dollars.)
Key questions
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As Council and community discuss the S/CAP and the options before us, we will
need to consider several key questions:
Leadership: What level of GHG reduction goals will Palo Alto target?
Pace: How fast will Palo Alto attempt to achieve these reductions?
Implementation: Which measures will Palo Alto enact to achieve these
reductions?
Invest: How much will Palo Alto invest?
Funding: How will Palo Alto fund those investments?
Criteria: What factors will Palo Alto use to make these decisions?
Legal Issues
Subsequent Study Sessions and Council Reports will address the cost implications and
policy trade-offs of various mandates and proposals, and identify and assess any
constraints that may exist (including any imposed by legal, statutory or regulatory
requirements) in more detail.
All measures and actions identified in this broad overview of the current state of the
S/CAP process must be specifically analyzed and considered in the context of all applicable
legal, statutory and regulatory requirements, including, for instance, constitutional
limitations on utility rates and use of ratepayer funds imposed by Californians when they
adopted Proposition 26, obligations set forth in the Cap-and-Trade regulations adopted by
the California Air Resources Board, and other miscellaneous requirements embedded in
the California Public Utilities Code.
Timeline: Next steps/Plan
Staff proposes a series of events over the course of the spring, to support Council and
community in developing and reviewing the draft S/CAP and deciding together how to
proceed.
- A community summit on January 24, 2015 to engage several hundred Palo Altans
(and most of the Council) in an open discussion of the potential goal and the
critical elements of Transportation, Energy and Water.
- This study session, which can explore the overall strategic sweep and key
elements of the entire SCAP, and begin a high level conversation to surface
aspirations and identify concerns, and frame the study sessions which will follow.
- A series of study sessions over the course of the year, to enable deeper
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consideration of these three elements, and develop understanding of the
requirements of both a 15 year strategic plan and a five year action plan.
- The annual Earth Day Review of City sustainability initiatives in late April
- An action item—potentially in the early fall— to adopt goals and strategies,
appropriate initial funding, establish criteria by which Council will allocate
funding in response to specific staff proposals, and identify next steps.
Resource Impact
This study session has no resource impact beyond the staff and consultant time required
to prepare and review this staff report, and participate in the meeting. Climate plan
updates are significant undertakings for any jurisdiction, and since 2014 the City of Palo
Alto has invested time and resources in this project. The need to allocate multiple
members of City staff, significant time on the City Council’s agenda, and financial
resources for consultant assistance and event/meeting programming will continue until
the adoption of the updated Climate Plan (and its companion environmental document).
Implementation of the Climate Plan will require investment of public funds, in amounts
to be determined based on selection of goals and strategies, across the various funds of
the organization.
Policy Implications
The Sustainability and Climate Action Plan will set forth proposed City policies and
actions with regard to the topics addressed, and a framework for future discussions
regarding these topics.
The S/CAP Plan addresses many issues that are also addressed by the Comprehensive
Plan. While staff has attempted to coordinate the two work streams as much as possible,
there are inevitable differences, given the nature of each initiative, which will need to be
reconciled as the planning processes advance in 2016. The Comprehensive Plan is an
update of Palo Alto’s 1998 Comprehensive Plan, and has been underway since 2008; it
will build on the existing plan, and incorporate goals, policies, and programs addressing
climate change and climate adaption for the first time. The EIR for the Comp Plan Update
will take a conservative look at potential GHG emissions through the year 2030.
The S/CAP is a de novo undertaking, commenced in 2014; it is disruptive in nature,
presenting possible strategies for making Palo Alto more sustainable in 2030 and beyond.
As is typical for such planning efforts, near term actions can be specific and quantifiable,
while longer term actions are necessarily more aspirational and specific, focusing on
externally driven goals and attempting to determine if and how to meet them. These two
different processes will converge on some matters, and not others; however staff
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recognizes that the two plans must ultimately work together to express the community’s
vision for the future, and establish specific policies and strategies to guide future
investments and decisions. Staff has not attempted to resolve all these differences as the
staff level, since many of them are a matter of political, not professional, judgment, and
thus within the purview of Council and community, not staff.
Environmental Review
Adoption of a Climate Plan will require review pursuant to the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA). While some sustainability measures have been included in the Draft
EIR that is being developed for the Comprehensive Plan Update, the final S/CAP may
include strategies that have not been adequately addressed by the Update. Thus the final
S/CAP will have to be reviewed to determine the appropriate level of CEQA review
required. This review may utilize the Comprehensive Plan EIR, or require preparation of
an Initial Study/Negative Declaration, or even preparation of an additional EIR, depending
on the strategies and commitments it contains.
Attachments:
ATTACHMENT A: Stabilization Wedges and Analytical Assumptions (DOC)
ATTACHMENT B: "On Climate Change, Skepticism is Getting Old...Optimism is
Warranted" (PDF)
ATTACHMENT C: "Palo Alto in 2030: How one small city advanced the “sustainability”
revolution" (PDF)
Attachment: Stabilization Wedges and Analytical Assumptions
The projected GHG reductions presented in this CMR are based on extensive analysis,
summarized in these “stabilization wedges” and tables of assumptions.
The wedges, based on the methodology developed by Robert Socolow of Princeton
University, illustrate the GHG reductions delivered over time by each element of a
portfolio of strategies.
The wedges are driven (through an Excel model not presented here, but available for
review) by these tables of assumptions, which show the target implementation levels
and adoption rates for each measure. As these assumptions are changed, projected
GHG reductions change, as shown by the accompanying charts.
These projections were developed using analytical models based on projections of the
potential impacts of different actions (in turn based on engineering analysis or published
research), and assumptions of the potential rates of adoption that could be achieved.
As with all such models, it would be prudent to assume that near term projections (such
as the next five years) are more accurate than longer-term projections (such as the next
15 or even 35 years), and staff recommends revisiting and recalibrating the S/CAP every
five years—or more often, as new information warrants.
Note that the potential impacts of some actions—like replacing natural gas water
heaters with electric heat pump water heaters (HMWH)—are relatively straightforward
to analyze with a high degree of confidence. The potential impacts of other actions—like
advanced mobility strategies—are much more difficult to analyze, because causal
relationships for new technologies are not yet well understood, and because the
academic literature often used as a basis for these technologies generally lags the
technologies themselves.
As a result, these should not be taken as predictions of what will happen, but as a
portfolio of strategies that could potentially achieve the targets we set. (These
projections should be considered estimates within perhaps a +/-20% range.) The S/CAP
consultants have constructed these models to be transparent and flexible; it’s relatively
straightforward to modify assumptions and observe the effect those modifications have
on outcomes.
The target implementation levels and adoption rates shown here are aggressive, and
would require focused and consistent effort to achieve (for example, replacing most gas
water heaters at end-of-life with HPWHs, rather than a few). But these rates provide
one possible roadmap for achieving the 2030 target, and a basis for discussion of what
we choose to accomplish.
Transportation (City & Community GHG Emissions, mTCO2e)
Strategy Name Selected?
(Yes/No) Assumptions Implementation
Level
Target
Year
Annual
Adoption
Rate
BAU -
Transportation
Build out bike
network Yes
Convert all class II bike
lanes to protected bike
lanes (PBL)
Increase bike boulevard
mileage from 22-32 miles
Expand bike share to 28
stations per square mile
40% 2030 2.7%
Expand transit
facilities and
services
Yes
Caltrain modernization
ridership targeted in 2040
achieved
Expand SamTrans, VTA and
Palo Alto shuttles by 100%
El Camino Real and
Dumbarton Bus Rapid
Transit
60% 2030 4.0%
Facilitate shared
transport Yes
Dynamic ridesharing based
on San Francisco casual
carpool rates, with Palo
Alto share proportionate to
Palo Alto Caltrain ridership
60% 2030 4.0%
Provide eco-
pass/universal
transit pass
Yes
Expanded Universal Transit
Pass (UTP) - Caltrain
GoPass, SamTrans
Way2GoPass, and VTA
Ecopass, for all residents
and employees
100% 2030 6.7%
Utilize parking
pricing and
management
approach
Yes
All employment sites
institute parking pricing,
parking cash-out, parking
feebate equivalent to
market price of parking
Full cost pricing of
residential parking
(unbundling or eliminating
minimum parking
requirements)
50% 2030 3.3%
Adopt a
"balanced
community"
approach for
growth
Yes
Target a jobs-housing
balance of 1.44 with growth
in specific areas (e.g.,
Stanford Research Park,
downtown core, Stanford
Shopping Center, etc).
15% 2030 1.0%
Convert Palo Alto
vehicles to EV Yes
Incentives, rebates and
programs to encourage
electric vehicle adoption by
Palo Alto residents
90% 2030 6.0%
Convert all other
vehicles to EV Yes
Offer charging stations, and
other incentives for people
coming into Palo Alto to
drive EVs
80% 2030 4.0%
Carbon offsets No Purchase carbon offsets 0% 2030
Natural Gas (City & Community GHG Emissions, mTCO2e)
Strategies Selected? (Yes/No) Implementation
Level
Target
Year
Annual
Adoption
Rate
BAU - Natural Gas
Residential water heating
electrification Yes 100% 2030 7%
Residential space heating
electrification Yes 70% 2030 5%
Commercial water heating
electrification Yes 85% 2030 6%
Commercial space heating
electrification Yes 85% 2030 6%
Commercial cooking electrification Yes 50% 2030 3%
Restrict natural gas hook-ups/
require ZNE new construction Yes 100% 2030 100%
Carbon offsets No 0% 2030 0%
Biogas No 0% 2030 0%
12/21/2015 Andrew Winston - Finding the Gold in Green
http://www.andrewwinston.com/blog/2015/12/on_climate_change_skepticism_i.php 1/4
December 18, 2015
On Climate Change, Skepticism is Getting Old...Optimism is
Warranted
Is the Paris Climate Agreement good enough? Can the world build a low-carbon economy fast enough?
These are critical questions for the future of humanity, so it’s important to consider them carefully. But
too many people in the press and in the business world are unnecessarily dour about the whole thing.
Consider two important voices that spoke up at the start of the Paris COP 21 climate conference. First,
David Brooks, the quasi-self-appointed “reasonable” voice of moderate U.S. conservatism, penned a
skeptical op-ed about the prospects for global change. Although he gave his arguments a veneer of tech
optimism, he mainly focused on how hard will be to reduce carbon emissions. Brooks lamented, “the
pain in reducing carbon emissions is individual but the good is only achieved collectively. You’re asking
people to impose costs on themselves today for some future benefit they will never see.”
Second, listen to Alan Murray. He’s the editor of Fortune magazine, a publication that has covered the
greening of business fairly extensively and positively for a decade, going back to an important cover
story, “Green Machine,” which was accompanied by the cover line “Wal-mart Saves the Planet.” But
Murray personally is clearly wary of a large-scale move to a clean economy, tweeting, “Sadly, U.S. is
split between those who deny climate change and those who embrace wildly unrealistic solutions.”
He goes on to say the quest for a low-carbon world could “destroy the economy.”
These views on the cost and feasibility of building a low-carbon world are not uncommon in the business
world. But they are dated, damaging and dead wrong. We need a broad coalition of business,
government and citizens to tackle a problem as large and complex as climate change. Telling people it’s
not possible is worse than unhelpful. Luckily, most of the world is now ignoring the naysayers.
A Serious Response to a Serious Problem
Before addressing their biggest concerns, let’s stipulate something. Fossil fuels brought billions of
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people out of poverty. Society has invested for 150 years in infrastructure to power modern life. So of
course it’s daunting to contemplate moving the world away from what we know. And many fossil fuel
companies and petro-dictatorships are fighting the transition with their immense influence and power.
Nobody said it would be easy.
But throwing up our hands and saying “this is all too hard” is not much of a response to a serious
problem. And, more important, the reasons for optimism are now bountiful.
Let’s look at Brooks’ commentary more closely. He says there are costs, which is a deceptive (or
perhaps uneducated) way of referring to smart investments: All business or government expenses are
choices about where to put capital. But the weirdest and most dated part of his statement is saying we’ll
“never see” the benefits of a clean economy. Quite literally, China will see clearer air by reducing coal
use and traffic in Beijing and other megacities. And for business, there’s an enormous range of
initiatives that slash costs quickly — such as lighting and building retrofits, efficiency, and now even
renewables. Companies like Walmart, Google and Apple are cutting carbon, buying tremendous
quantities of renewable energy and saving money doing it. So when is this “never” that Brooks speaks
of?
The idea that it’s just too expensive to go low carbon is one of thebig myths that are crumbling right
now. If anything, the best economic analyses show that not moving away from fossil fuels will be
devastating to humanity and our economies — a possible US$72 trillion expense over the next 40 years,
according to a report from Citi. The bill for inaction is already starting to come due. Look at the costs of
droughts like the one in California, or the immense human and economic toll of the “once-in-a-century”
rains and floods in Chennai, India. Ford, BMW and many other multinationals have factories there. Lost
production is expensive.
Citi’s study also suggests that we can take the trillions of dollars we will be spending on infrastructure
and fuel in the coming years and point it toward renewables instead of old, dirty technologies. The total
bill will be the same or less, just without the carbon and climate risk. So, far from destroying the
economy, the low-carbon world will save it.
It’s true that it is a big job to turn over the world’s energy systems. But the need to cut carbon fast is not
driven by love of polar bears. It’s about keeping the planet livable and productive for humans and our
businesses and economies.
The continuing good news is that the new technologies are getting much cheaper all the time. Solar and
wind costs have plummeted around 70 to 80 percent in the past five years, and a number of analyses
tell us that, as the International Energy Agency and Bloomberg noted, “fossil fuels [are] losing cost
advantage over solar, wind.” The world seems to have noticed this economic shift: More than half the
new energy built today is renewable.
Murray has his concern about wildly unrealistic expectations, but I have a practical point. It’s true that it
is a big job to turn over the world’s energy systems. But the need to cut carbon fast is not driven by love
of polar bears. It’s about keeping the planet livable and productive for humans and our businesses and
economies. We’ll do what’s required because we have to, based on physicsand economics.
It’s a strangely defeatist attitude to declare visionary thinking as unrealistic. Imagine rewinding the clock
25 years, when some were likely predicting a cellphone in every hand or magical portable computers
that would give everyone access to the world’s knowledge. I’m sure many said it was impossible, but
most in business probably eagerly embraced the massive multi-trillion-dollar build-out of the mobile
industry in the 1990s and 2000s. So why not get excited about the trillions moving us toward a more
resilient, distributed-energy, renewable-based world?
Predictions From Optimists
I prefer to get my predictions from optimists — people like Tesla’s Elon Musk who are painting a world
of electric cars and renewable energy and moving forward to build it. And now we have the biggest
source of optimism to date: In what is perhaps a first in human history, representatives from nearly 200
nations agreed in Paris to cut emissions over the next 10 to 15 years.
Yes, the deal has huge flaws. It has limited repercussions for countries not meeting targets, the tracking
and transparency could be stricter, and even if we meet the current targets, we come up far short of
China, Clean Tech Race (10)
Clean Tech/Renewables (23)
Climate Change (67)
Cost-Cutting/Eco-Efficiency (22)
CSR (10)
Downstream (End-of-Life, recycling) (3)
Get Creative (34)
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Get Lean (11)
Get Smart - Eco Data (14)
Green Business (8)
Green Infrastructure (5)
Green IT (7)
Green Jobs (3)
Green to Gold (2)
Hurdles and Challenges (4)
Innovation, Heresy, Get Creative (17)
Media Coverage (4)
Mega-Issues (3)
Other - Social Media (1)
Prosperity (16)
Quotes (2)
Renewables (14)
Resilience (3)
Resources/Commodities (9)
Revenues (13)
Risk Management (19)
Small Business (3)
Stakeholders (2)
Stakeholders: Consumers (14)
Stakeholders: Customers (B2B) (13)
Stakeholders: Employees (10)
Stakeholders: Finance/Wall Street (6)
Stakeholders: Govt/Regulators (18)
Stakeholders: Media (3)
Stakeholders: NGOs (2)
Supply Chain (20)
Transparency (10)
Value Creation (4)
Water (8)
OTHER BLOGS TO VISIT
Joel Makower Blog (Sustainable Business)
Marc Gunther
Gil Friend
Jacquie Ottman (Green marketing guru)
Commons Blog (Free-market Environmentalism)
Environmental Economics Blog
Green Thinkers
Gristmill Blog (Environmental News)
SustainaBlog (Environmental and Economic
Sustainability)
Tree Hugger (Environmental News)
Triple Pundit Blog (Environment and Business)
World Changing Blog (Technological Tools)
Jetson Green
12/21/2015 Andrew Winston - Finding the Gold in Green
http://www.andrewwinston.com/blog/2015/12/on_climate_change_skepticism_i.php 3/4
slowing warming to 2 °C.
Companies are coming off the sidelines now for real, committing to serious reductions in carbon and
massive investments in renewables.
But these are all problems we can deal with if everyone is on board. And, most importantly, the deal
tells business and the markets that governments are serious. Investing in building the low-carbon
economy just got even more rational. Why, then, is the carping from the sidelines usually couched as
the more reasonable, sober position versus pie-in-the-sky or naïve activists wanting a renewable-
powered world?
It’s easy to be depressed about the situation we’re in. Corralling close to 200 countries to act in
collective best interest is obviously hard. And the science is not helping, because the climate problem is
moving fast (I’m sick of seeing headlines like “The Arctic is melting faster than scientists thought”).
But the reasons for hope are now plentiful: from rapidly improving economics, to serious action in the
business community, to global citizen and political will-building. Those denying we have a problem are
being sidelined within nearly all governments (except the U.S. Congress) and increasingly, I find, within
executive suites and boardrooms. Companies are coming off the sidelines now for real, committing to
serious reductions in carbon and massive investments in renewables.
Globally, we’ve finally achieved a consensus that there is a serious problem. We’re nearing consensus
that it’s in our economic and moral interest to do something about it. So it’s time for everyone to join the
parade, criticize only when it’s productive and suggest real solutions that help us build a thriving world.
(This post first appeared at Ensia online.)
(Andrew's new book, The Big Pivot, was named a Best Business Book of the Year by
Strategy+Business Magazine! Get your copy here. See also Andrew's TED talk on The Big Pivot.
Sign up for Andrew Winston's blog, via RSS feed, or by email. Follow Andrew on Twitter
@AndrewWinston)
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1/19/2016 Palo Alto in 2030: Advancing the 'Sustainability' Revolution
http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/01/palo-alto-2030-one-small-city-advanced-sustainability-revolution/1/7
Palo Alto in 2030: How One SmallCit Advanced the ‘Sutainailit’Revolution
3p Contriutor (http://www.triplepundit.com/writer/) on Thurda, Jan 22nd, 2015
ditor’ Note: A a lead-up to Au Dhai Sutainailit Week
(http://www.audhaiutainailitweek.com/), Jan. 17-24, Madar
(http://www.madar.ae/) ponored a logging contet called “Decrie the Ideal Cit in 2030
(http://madar.ae/en/adw/detail/madar-2015-engage-logging-contet-decrie-our-cit-
in-2030).” The following pot wa a runner-up.
iccle are alread commonplace in Palo Alto,
ut 2030 the cit ma e entirel car-free,
predict Madar logging contet runner-up Gil
Friend.
Gil Friend
Palo Alto in 2030 i till the eautiful, deirale, park-like uur it had een for more than
100 ear, till the ooming heart of Silicon Valle it had een for more than more than 70.
Now it i climate poitive, car-free and a virant laorator for the innovation that have
rapidl tranformed the gloal landcape over the pat 15 ear.
(http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?
text=Palo+Alto+in+2030%3A+How+One+Small+Cit+Advanced+the+%2%80%98Sutainailit%2%80%99+Revolution+via+%40triplepundit&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.triplepundit.com%2F2015%2F01%2Fpalo-
(http://www.faceook.com/harer/harer.php?
u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.triplepundit.com%2F2015%2F01%2Fpalo-
(http://www.linkedin.com/hareArticle?
mini=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.triplepundit.com%2F2015%2F01%2Fpalo-
1/19/2016 Palo Alto in 2030: Advancing the 'Sustainability' Revolution
http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/01/palo-alto-2030-one-small-city-advanced-sustainability-revolution/2/7
The hift egan with Palo Alto Green
(http://www.citofpaloalto.org/gov/dept/utl/reident/utainalehome/paloaltogreen/) in
2003: A voluntar program from the municipal utilit that let people pa a few dollar extra
to offet the greenhoue ga emiion from their electricit ue enrolled 20 percent of
CPAU (http://www.citofpaloalto.org/gov/dept/utl/default.ap)‘ cutomer. Then the cit
council, prodded a communit organization, decided in 2013 to offet all electricit
emiion and eliminate foil fuel from it portfolio. It egan delivering caron-neutral
electricit (CN) — 20 percent cheaper than the regional utilit’ “tandard” electricit.
In 2014, a the cit explored a climate “moonhot” — caron neutral in 10 ear or le —
new challenge ecame clear. With tranportation contriuting nearl two-third of the
remaining caron footprint, and natural ga nearl one third, an pathwa to caron neutral
would have to tranform tranportation and how uilding, water and food were heated.
And it would have to do thi in the face of the “jo/houing alance” prolem that plagued
the a Area — and the mart growth/no growth deate that had ecome a contentiou
divide in local politic.
The council decided to replicate the CN trateg for natural ga
(http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/04/natural-ga-pro-con/), with a new wrinkle:
purchae offet for all natural ga emiion; invet thoe offet locall to drive down
natural ga ue through efficienc and fuel witching; and meet expanded electricit
demand with aggreive development of local olar and ditriuted torage (uing the
growing electric vehicle (V) population), upplemented new renewale Power Purchae
Agreement.
Then, it replicated the trateg for tranportation: undertand the footprint, invet in offet
and focu that invetment locall. ut the local meaure – electrification of the cit fleet,
expanding V infratructure acro the cit, hifting traditional incentive (like parking
uidie) from ingle-occupanc vehicle to other mode – could onl go o far in the face
of an ultimatel regional challenge. So, Palo Alto ecame the “parkplug” for the a Area
Moilit Service that rendered the private car all ut oolete providing afer, cheaper
and more convenient “moilit a a ervice” (MaaS) — electrifing the regional tranit fleet
and upporting a full range of option, from on-demand, dnamicall route-optimizing
huttle to autonomou V of all ize, all acceed through a ingle, imple ucription
and app.
1/19/2016 Palo Alto in 2030: Advancing the 'Sustainability' Revolution
http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/01/palo-alto-2030-one-small-city-advanced-sustainability-revolution/3/7
The igget challenge wa confronted in the 2015 Comprehenive Plan, and it unexpected
earl reviion in 2020, with a hift from precriptive to performance-aed planning and
zoning. Intead of tring to control the thing (like growth) that preumal caue unwanted
impact (like congetion or pollution), the cit decided to control the impact itelf. A
decade of infill project uilt “complete ditrict,” which added no new net energ or water
ue, caron emiion or tranportation demand — and often improved thoe four factor.
Thee ditrict went a long wa to olving the jo/houing alance, improving houing
affordailit while reducing congetion, and enriching neighorhood texture and the uran
foret that gave Palo Alto it ditinctive feel.
The foret evolved, too, in anticipation of changing climate. The 2013 Uran Foret Mater
Plan (http://www.citofpaloalto.org/gov/dept/pwd/tree/mgmt/ufmp.ap) upported a
gradual, tematic hift of planting — initiall of the park and treet tree that cit
government controlled, then corporate campue, and eventuall reidential lawn and
ard — from onl 7 percent native or drought-tolerant in 2014 to nearl 20 percent in 2030,
on the wa to a planned 80 percent 2050. A alwa, the deign criteria were efficienc,
eaut and jo.
Ting it all together — ome would a driving innovation and engagement — wa the 2016
Open Cit Dahoard that delivered live, real-time performance and tatu feedack to
everone from cit emploee to local uinee to reident all over town. Thi offered a
clear line of ight connecting their action, the impact of their action and their apiration
— and it connected them with what the could each do to contriute. The reult:
autonomou actor advancing a common goal, and ringing alive the promie of “meeting
the need of the preent while enhancing the ailit of future generation to meet their
need.”
For “what i the cit,” a the cit manager wa fond of quoting from “Coriolanu,” “ut the
people?”
Note: Thi i peculative fiction and doe not reflect official cit polic. Yet.
Image credit: Flickr/Richard Maoner (http://www.flickr.com/photo/ike/742586262)
TriplePundit' guet author program ha had over 1000 contriutor over time. If ou'd like to e a
guet author, pleae get in touch (http://www.triplepundit.com/contact/)!
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FOLLOW 3P CONTRIUTOR @TRIPLPUNDIT (HTTP://TWITTR.COM/TRIPLPUNDIT)
duncan Januar 22, 2015 at 7:53 pm (http://www.triplepundit.com/2015/01/palo-alto-2030-
one-mall-cit-advanced-utainailit-revolution/#comment-131376)
eautiful! can’t wait for thi to come into eing.
Comment are cloed.
Our ponor
(http://www.ealedair.com) (http://www.novozme.com)
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