Concrete is everywhere. It is popular for buildings and infrastructure because of its compressive strength. Add rebar, and you add tensile strength—resulting in a material that can carry weight without cracking and resist bending or being pulled apar
Read more…Dr. Geoffrey Hinton helped Google develop it’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. He quit Google when he began to worry about the unintended consequences of using the technology. “I’m afraid of self-censoring,” he told Jeff Bennett and the PB
Swimming pools use a fairly high amount of water and energy. So if you are thinking of installing a pool, you might consider joining a community pool instead. If you already have a pool, you can enjoy it and still claim bragging rights for a sustaina
On September 23 of this year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed 24 bills dedicating $15 billion to meeting the current and future challenges of Global Climate Change in California. That’s scary; that much legislation all at the same time. Imagi
We live in the center of all things "disruptive." For example, think about Facebook, Google, and Twitter and how these services have changed how we communicate—or not communicate—with one another. Technology is morally neutral, but how we use it make
We’ve gone through two energy retrofits at our house in Walnut Creek. The first time was in 2007, the year we bought the house. The second was in 2014. The biggest impacts came from sealing and insulating our recessed can lights and switching to LED
Read more…Home Cooking
While spending a lot of time at home during the pandemic many of us are thinking about the energy use, comfort, and health of our homes. Some of us are working at home and have children in school at the kitchen table. And the holidays are
Read more…Okay, so we now know that plastics are suboptimal, at best. They contain toxics, are not easily recyclable, do not degrade and are an increasing pollutant in our waters and soils.
Now the good news. As awareness of the harms created by plastics contin
Read more…Did you know that if you install a solar system, your cost of electricity from solar will be about one-half of the cost from your power company? And if you have a larger house with higher usage, solar cost can be one-third of what you are currently p
Read more…MCE is a Community Choice Aggregation program that provides 50-100% renewable energy as an alternative to PG&E’s electric supply. MCE determines the source and cost of the energy and PG&E continues to manage the transmission and distribution of the e
Read more…Over this past summer SCOCO worked with local agencies to conduct a multifaceted outreach program intended to acquaint Contra Costa small businesses with the advantages of, and opportunities to, improve their energy efficiency. The outreach effort wa
Read more…Lighting typically accounts for more than one third of the energy costs of a business, yet a large number of businesses are operating with outdated lighting systems. Simply upgrading to new, energy-efficient LEDs can reduce the lighting energy needs
Read more…You did it! We are inspired and awed by our community for rising to the Community Resilience Challenge East Bay this May with 9,415 actions to save water and energy, reduce waste and pollution, and build community! This year’s challenge has resulted
Read more…Launching this month, PG&E’s Solar Choice program extends the option for 100 percent solar power to all residential and business customers who are not planning to install rooftop solar panels. For a modest charge, customers can purchase half or all o
Read more…Want more Clean Energy in Contra Costa? Please sign this petition which will automatically be sent to your city council members, mayor, and city administrator.
http://tinyurl.com/CCAforContraCosta
Thank you, Members of the Contra Costa Clean Energy
Read more…Although water conservation has been a hot topic this summer, it’s also important to look
at home energy use and conservation. With sizzling days and foggy nights, Contra Costa’s
summer weather can quickly take a toll on your energy bill. As hard as
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Did you pledge to grow food, save water, conserve energy, reduce your waste, or build community during the month of May? June has arrived, and the 2015 Community Resilience Challenge has come to a successful close. Our passionate and dedicated team i
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