The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission plans to spend significant time discussing offshore wind energy at its next meeting on September 25 at 10 am at the Sea Trail Resort & Convention Center in Sunset Beach. Representatives from several organizations will present information relating to the development of offshore wind energy in North Carolina. The speakers will also participate in a wind energy panel, which will begin at 1:15 pm and include representatives from NCSEA, Environmental Management Commission, Audubon Society, Division of Marine Fisheries, Department of Administration, Wildlife Resources Commission, State Energy Office, U.S. Marine Corps, Carteret County and N.C. Sea Grant.

The Asheville Sustainability Center will launch its monthly Green Mondays series on Monday, September 29, at the Chamber of Commerce’s second floor conference room, from 3-5 pm. Green Mondays will provide experts, regional leaders, citizens and students with an open forum for understanding and advancing possible pathways to sustainability. Speakers will be followed by the main event, a community conversation on the given topic for each particular month.

The session on September 29 will focus on how to communicate sustainability options to decision-makers and the general public. Speakers will include Ian Booth of Sustainable Now and the producer and co-host of URTV’s Green Radio Bistro; journalist Rebecca Bowe, a staff writer and contributing editor at Mountain Xpress who has been writing the “Green Scene” environmental news column since 2006; Andrew (Drew) Jones, program director of the Sustainability Institute, who creates system dynamics simulations to help organizations develop strategies to address complex problems such as climate change; and Joseph Malki, co-founder and vice president of Seven-Star, the nation’s leading green event planning and production company that is based in Asheville.

For more information, contact Steven Samuels at (828) 505-3547.       

A pioneering public-private project in Caldwell County may use greenhouse gas to power a research greenhouse. The initiative, approved in concept by county commissioners on Monday night, would mark the first time Google has co-developed such a project in the US from the very inception, working through every step of the process.

• As part of the first emission reduction co-development project in the U.S.,GHGS would invest, design, build and operate the facility to capture landfill gas for more than 120,000 CO2 equivalent tons over ten years. 
• GHGS would then retire the credits on behalf of Google, which plans to add these offsets to its carbon portfolio and advance the goal of company wide carbon neutrality.
• The captured methane gas would be flared -- destroying the greenhouse gas before it enters the atmosphere -- or converted as a power source for the new greenhouse.

The Piedmont Triad chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council recently held its inaugural event at the Proximity Hotel, with hundreds attending. The event was the culmination of about seven months of work by the group to gain official chapter status. Greg Savage, director of sustainable construction for John S. Clark Co., who is chairman, said the group will focus on education about green building, as well as working with the state legislature and officials to push for public policy and bills that encourage sustainable practices.

The Advanced Vehicle Research Center garage in Raleigh is one of a handful of companies that converts the Prius or other hybrids into plug-in hybrids, doubling their gas mileage. The result: A car that breaks a once-unimaginable fuel efficiency and delivers 100 miles per gallon, on average, with some drivers reaching 150 to 200 mpg under optimal conditions. The spare battery costs less than 75 cents to charge and gives the plug-in Prius about a 35-mile range solely on electric power, making gas optional on short commutes.

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