Articles by Ana Unruh Cohen

Lovin’ Lovins

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on Energy Independence today. Amory Lovins was one of the four witnesses, and his testimony (pdf alert) is worth a read -- even the footnotes.

Is poo power sustainable? Depends on scale.

Nicolette Hahn Niman's op-ed in today's New York Times about the use of manure for electricity reminds me once again that the difference between sustainability and not is often a matter of scale.

Niman contrasts the use of manure on traditional farms, where it plays an important role in maintaining soil health, with the manure-disposal problem faced by large livestock operations. Increasingly, manure from these large operations is being used to produce electricity through various processes, something I like to call "poo-powered power plants" (P⁴). Niman rightly points out the downsides to using manure on this scale for electricity production.

But as with many things, you can't say that capturing methane from manure is always bad. It all depends on the size. For example, this January I helped build a biodigestor on a small farm in Costa Rica as part of a class on Renewable Energy in the Developing World organized by Solar Energy International. (For pictures see the bottom of this page.) Once it is fully operational, the manure from Don Sedro's pigs will provide methane for cooking -- replacing the cylinders of propane that cost him $60 per month -- and a liquid that will fertilize his small garden. Is that the sweet smell of sustainability (or just the pigs)?

Iowa blows

Mason City, Iowa allows windmills in residential areas, and other good wind news from the Midwest -- read about it here.

First big Clean Water Act case reaches the newly aligned Supreme Court

The moment we've all been waiting for has arrived. The Roberts Court, with freshly added Justice Alito, will hear two cases this week on the Clean Water Act. The two new justices will have their first chance to grapple with the Constitution's Commerce Clause, upon which much federal environmental law rests, from the highest bench in the land.