Page 6 - North American Clean Energy May/June 2020 Issue

editor's note
SO. HOW’S YOUR WEEK GOING?
Mine’s pretty much the same as last week...and the week before that. I am lucky enough to work from home most of the time. Initially, the only real change these stay-at-home orders made for me was having my husband and kids at home all day, distracting me from my work. The first week was almost like a vacation: we played games, we watched movies, we tried to make it fun. The second week, I started noticing all the extra dirty dishes. The third week, when our governor announced the schools would
be closed for the rest of the year, I had to remind myself to take
a few deep breaths. By the time we rolled into the fourth week, I decided there was no real point in trying to keep the house clean. The fifth week was a blur. Now, here I am, entering week six of the quarantine. I have learned so many new phrases recently: social distancing (I prefer to call it physical distancing, because we are still being social), contact-less delivery/payment, N95, new normal, flatten the curve, apex, community spread, contact tracing, it goes on and on... I just read an article that listed 8 warning signs of being mentally and emotionally exhausted.1 I recognized myself in all 8 of them! But being, for the most part, a positive person, it is in my nature to try and see the positives of this COVID -19 lockdown.
On the bright side, things seem a bit slower these days.
The streets are more quiet with less traffic. Less time is spent commuting to and from work which allows more time with family. There’s an increased awareness of personal space and hygiene. There’s an early evening parade of golf carts around our neighborhood, families getting out and waving to each other. Happy Hour is getting earlier - even if we have to stand six feet apart, we still get together outside with our next door neighbors. Animal shelters are finding their kennels empty as people are using this time to adopt the pet they’ve always wanted. People are kinder, offering to help, saying, “thank you” to those essential workers who are still doing their jobs with a smile. People are patronizing local businesses, cooking and eating at home more, volunteering their services however they can. There’s a new kind of generosity, businesses waiving service or delivery fees, offering free online courses or fitness classes, insurance companies giving their clients a 20% discount on auto insurance for the next two months. Artists are streaming live performances from their living rooms. Museums, art galleries, and libraries have put their collections online for people to view free of charge.
For most of us, working from home has decreased the daily commute from an hour trip into downtown to a 3-minute walk to the kitchen table. Driving is way down and I haven’t had to
fill up my gas tank in weeks. Fewer vehicles on the road and fewer airplanes in the sky all amount to fewer emissions. This pandemic has resulted in the reduction of carbon emission levels around the world. In India, people are posting the smog is lifting and they can see the top of the Himalayas for the first time in decades. NASA recently published satellite images of China2 showing a dramatic decrease in airborne NO2. “This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area
for a specific event,” said Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. (Read our top story on page 8 for more on this.) Having celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, this may be the silver lining in a really dark cloud.
Of course the renewable energy industry has been affected in more ways than one. According to LevelTen Energy, while solar and wind prices remained steady, about 56% of developers surveyed expect prices to be impacted because of COVID-193. Without regular commuters, offices and businesses being shuttered, and industries closing down, energy consumption has shifted to atypical times. With a portion of the working population staying at home, energy use is more evenly distributed throughout the day, diminishing demand peak and causing wholesale electricity prices to drop more than usual for this time of year.3
I wonder what kind of long term
effects will result from this worldwide experiment. Will life stay slow? Will companies change their business models, recognizing their employees can get the work done remotely? This shift may allow companies to lower operating expenses in the form of less rent, utilities, etc, and at the same time having a positive effect towards combatting climate change by reducing daily commuters. Will some employees demand the option to work from home, enjoying more time with the family, and less time dealing with long commutes in traffic, crowded elevators, and subways? Will we keep washing
our hands, sneezing into our elbow,
and standing 6 feet away from others in lineups? Will we greet each other with a hand shake again? Will families continue to eat dinner together on a more regular basis, go for walks outside together,
draw chalk artwork on their sidewalks
for the enjoyment of passersby? Will
we recognize that, even though it may
be cheaper to do it elsewhere, it may
be more important for us to bring the manufacturing of certain items from
Donations of PPE in Boston
Boston-headquartered Vicinity Energy has donated 2000 gloves and 1000 protective masks to Boston Medical Center in an effort to support the region's health care workers
with the protection they need to treat patients with the coronavirus. Through conversations with the City of Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and at the direction of the Boston Public Health Department, Vicinity recently dropped off the gloves and masks at BMC's main campus in downtown Boston’s South End. “Given the growing shortage of masks and other protective gear faced by medical facilities across Greater Boston, we have both an opportunity and an obligation to help,” said Bill DiCroce, president and CEO of Vicinity Energy. “Our district energy system provides heat, hot water and the ability to sterilize the surgical equipment at all the city’s downtown hospitals and as a result we
have been partners with BMC for many years. We have a responsibility to support their unique and essential role on the front lines in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic during this pivotal time.”
Vicinity Energy /// www.vicinityenergy.us
overseas back to the United States, Canada, and Mexico? And while we’re at it, will we stop caring so much about keeping up with the Kardashians, filling our lives with stuff rather than spending time with family and friends, and focus on what is really essential? Antoine Saint Exupéry wrote, “On ne voit qu’avec le coeur, l’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” “It is only with the heart one can see rightly. The essential
is invisible to the eyes.” Maybe if we continue to focus on simplifying our inner environments, the outer environment will reap some of the benefits.
Stay safe,
Jill
1 www.thepowerofsilence.co
2 https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/
airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-china
3 https://leveltenenergy.com/blog/clean-energy-experts/covid-
renewable-energy-industry/
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MAY•JUNE 2020 ///
www.nacleanenergy.com