GREEN
Smart meters not smart enough yet A 2010 FBI document obtained by security blog KrebsOnSecurity states that smart meter hacks “may have cost a single U.S. electric utility hundreds of millions of dollars annually.” Smart meters, intended to streamline energy usage by tracking and providing detailed reports to residents, and by incorporating renewable energy resources into its data streams, have been under fire for several reasons, including health risk claims and privacy concerns. Health risks have been debunked by several research institutions, including the World Health Organization, but hacking has yet to be prevented, as evidenced by the FBI report. According to a KrebsOnSecurity article published on April 9, the FBI anticipates more hacks as smart grids are implemented in more communities through the U.S. The article states, “The hacks described by the FBI do not work remotely, and require miscreants to have physical access to the devices. They succeed because many smart meter devices deployed today do little to obfuscate the credentials needed to change their settings.” In late February, the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada approved an alternative to the standard smart meters for consumers who wish to opt out. Instead of the default meters, consumers will receive a different digital device that, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “would not store or transmit daily or hourly power-use details directly to NV Energy, but that would be read remotely once a month by drive-by meter-readers.” Smart meters are currently being installed throughout the state. Read the full FBI report and KrebsOnSecurity article at http://bit.ly/JbNxit.
Gas masked In another step to combat landfill waste, Waste Management Inc. opened Nevada’s first landfillgas-to-energy power plant in Lockwood on April 16. According to WM spokesperson Justin Caporusso, the gas will “produce enough energy to power more than 1,800 homes.” The gas is produced by the decay process of organic materials such as yard or food waste and is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency standards. According to WM, there are 131 landfill gas sites in the United States, which collectively power around 475,000 homes.
—Ashley Hennefer ashleyh@newsreview.com
ECO-EVENT The Reno Bike Project will host the We HeART Bikes Art Show on April 28 at the Holland Project. Reception begins at 5 p.m., and live music and after party start at 9 p.m. A percentage of the proceeds from the artwork will go toward the Reno Bike Project. This event is family-friendly. For more information, visit www.renobikeproject.com. See Art of the State on page 17.
Got an eco-event? Contact ashleyh@newsreview.com. Find more at www.facebook.com/RNRGreen.
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APRIL 26, 2012
PHOTO/ASHLEY HENNEFER
GREENSPACE
“You’re going to help the world solve some of its biggest environmental problems,” Marnee Benson told students competing in this year’s GREENevada.
Green teens GREENevada Northern Nevada has no shortage of business competitions lately, largely focused on the environmental sector, including the new Nevada chapter of the Cleantech Open (“Open for business,” March 29), and several programs for university by students (“Competitive edge,” April 19). On April 20, high school students got Ashley in on the action and competed in the second annual Growing Resources for Hennefer Environmental Education in Nevada—GREENevada—sustainability plan ashleyh@ competition. Students form teams to represent their schools, and present a plan newsreview.com to make their schools more sustainable, while focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning. The event is a collaborative effort between educational nonprofit Envirolution, Black Rock Solar, Alliance for Climate Education, the Desert Research Institute’s GreenPower program, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, Sierra Nevada Journeys and Urban Roots Garden Classroom. Last year, nine Northern Nevada schools participated. Thirteen schools were slated to compete this year, but 12 showed. (Douglas High School was unable to attend due to a time conflict.) A panel of 11 local leaders judged the competition, including Reno City Council member Dave Aiazzi, Nevada Land Conservancy operations director Sonya Hem Giroux and Be The Change Project co-founder Katy Chandler-Isacksen. Marnee Benson, deputy director of Black Rock Solar, MCed the event. “You’re the leaders, and we’re really glad you’re here,” Benson told the To learn more students. “You’re going to help the world solve some of its biggest environabout GREENevada, visit mental problems.” http://greenevada.org/. Nevada assemblyman David Bobzien also stopped by to give the students some words of encouragement. “What you guys are doing is really important for two reasons,” said David Bobzien. “There is this whole movement … called STEM. You guys are on the forefront of that. And there’s a lot of pessimism … but green energy is the future of our state.” Each team was given 12 minutes to present their plan, and the judges had five minutes to ask questions. The presentations addressed several stages of the plan—the problem, solution, plan, impact, budget and long-term goals. The teams’ ideas often overlapped—several addressed different ways to combat excess waste, such as Wooster High Environmental Action Team’s (WHEAT) Waste Watch and a two-man team from Sage Ridge Eco Council. Other projects included community gardens to cultivate food for cafeterias and replacing school lawns with drought-friendly plants. While presenting, many students mentioned the sustainable efforts their schools were already making, such as building green houses, adding solar panels and wind turbines, and adopting single stream recycling. Each school ended up taking home prize money. Hug High School received top honors and $5,000. Hug’s team, dubbed the Hug High Green Hawks Environmental Club, shared their plan to save their school $15,000 in energy bills. The Reed High Eco Warriors, which one first place and $12,000 in 2011, were awarded second place and $3,500. The Davidson Academy Green Earth Community Knowledge Organization (GECKO) group came in third place and was given $2,000. Sage Ridge, Wooster High and Truckee Meadows Community College High School all received $1,000 each. Rainshadow Community Charter High School and Sparks High were awarded $750, and North Valleys, Pyramid Lake, Spanish Springs and Bishop Manogue Catholic high school received $500 toward their sustainable projects. Ω
