Green principals preached at expo
By THEA CHARD Special to the Daily Press
SANTA MONICA AIRPORT The showroom was lined with shiny new cars, bikes and scooters. People filled the isles, flipping through step-by-step books on how to become eco-friendly, perusing natural cleaning products and taking quizzes on household energy efficiency. Outside long lines and eager crowds waited to test-drive the latest alternative energy-powered cars. Santa Monica spent the weekend getting green.
The AltCar Expo, Santa Monica’s second annual alternative energy and transportation show, brought thousands of people to the Barker Hanger at the Santa Monica Airport on Friday and Saturday. The two-day event showcased all things green and brought in specialists for a number of presentations on alternative energy sources.
Last year the expo attracted over 10,000, who spent the weekend viewing the latest in alternative energy technology, such as Honda’s natural gas Civic and the electric Spyder Electrum sports car, both of which are now available for purchase.
“After last year’s hugely successful AltCar Expo, the City of Santa Monica took the logical step to incorporate alternative energy into the program,” Craig Perkins, environmental and public works director for the City of Santa Monica, said in a press release. “Like last year, at least 75 percent of the products and services on view at the expo are perfectly viable alternatives.”
The growth of the expo has shown the city’s commitment to sustainable, long-term environmental solutions.
The exhibit featured the latest in environmental technology to the backyard of eco-friendly Los Angeles with the unveiling of UCLA’s air hybrid engine, which will improve fuel efficiency and reduce manufacturing costs, and the West Coast debut of the world’s fastest zero emission vehicle, a high-powered, two-wheeler called Vectrix.
Although cars and electric powered racing contraptions were the show’s main attraction, the expo also featured an abundance of information on how to live a green lifestyle with step-by-step options that varied from investing in solar paneling, to simply switching to energy-saving light bulbs.
Sustainable Works, a non-profit environmental education organization, funded by the City of Santa Monica’s Sustainability City Plan and a project of Community Partners, focuses on helping residents and businesses in the area develop more prudent, eco-friendly practices.
Matt Henigan,who works on the organization’s Business Greening Program, explained the difference it makes to have businesses commit to making “green their bottom line,”a Sustainable Works program motto.
“Businesses in Santa Monica are interested in going greener,” Henigan said, explaining how evaluating everything from a business’ paper supplies, lighting and toilets can make a huge difference on the environmental footprint they leave.
Sustainable Works offers various programs for businesses, one being a free, yearlong consulting program that develops a specialized recommendation report for each business after an initial meeting and sustain-ability assessment.
Another major topic the expo showcased was alternative fuels, which attracted not only local presenters and audiences, but regional ones as well.
“Biodiesel is becoming far more available,” said Rob Elam, a representative from PropelBiofuels, a Seattle-based company that builds Clean Fuel Points at existing gas stations.
“We have five stations in Seattle so far, and we’re interested in expanding down the West Coast. That’s why we’re here,” he said.
Michael Wittman, the founder of Third Planet Energy Inc., a company in Granada Hills that helps consumers make the transition from gas to biodiesel and veggie oil, is another advocate of alternative fueling options.
“The first diesel engine in 1897 ran on peanut oil. That’s the way Rudolph Diesel built it,” Wittman said, pointing out however, that even biodiesel has its downsides — it is more expensive and still leaves a substantial footprint because of all the energy that goes into producing it.
Although the expo laid out any and all options for living a greener life, many participants preached the importance of doing the little things to make the world a cleaner place.
Brenden McEneaney from Solar Santa Monica explained that one kilowatt of solar power will knock off an average of $30 from any electric bill. According to McEneaney, consumers can save 30 to 35 percent, but the startup capital is so great that most people are deterred from installing solar panels.
“Lots of people say ‘yeah, that sounds cool, but they don’t do it because it’s so expensive,’” said Daniel Mark, a Solar Santa Monica expo volunteer.
But even if you’re not ready to buy an electric car or spend tens of thousands of dollars turning your home into a green machine, the expo reinforced this extremely important point: There are many simple ways to build sustainability into our everyday lives.
“It’s the small things that people don’t know about. Inflating your tires properly makes an amazing difference in the way the car rides and the miles. It saves so much fuel and people don’t know that,” Wittman said. “At least one tire on every car is improperly inflated.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 22, 2007. Read the original PDF.