Archive for the 'California' Category
May 16 2009 William writes:
A short urban adventure led us through a tributary of Ballona Creek. This is one of the many storm drains in the area.
Ballona Creek is the waterway that drains the Ballona Watershed. In the 1930s it was straighted, carved, lined with rocks from Catalina Island, and cemented by the Army Corps of Engineering to prevent flooding damage to the bordering cities (ballonacreek.org). Now there is a pleasant county maintained bike path running along side of the creek that crosses my daily bike to work.
One day after work 2 coworkers and I explored a tributary storm drain of Ballona Creek. We used bikes to stay above the 3″ deep water and had small headlamps to keep us away from the black widow invested walls. The graffiti on the walls led us to believe that we were not the first people to venture through the catacombs of Culver City. Below is a map of our approximate path.
View Ballona Creek Tributary in a larger map
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Tributary entrance with graffiti galor.
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Beau looking into a tributarys tributary.
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Hunting for rats spiders and snakes.
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The light at the end of the tunnel.
Categories: California | 2 Comments »
February 08 2009 William writes:
The solar industry in California is booming despite the surrounding financial apocalypse. The combination of high electricity rates, federal tax credits, and the California solar initiative make solar panels financially attractive. The SolarLease offered by SolarCity allows anyone with a good credit score to get solar power with a minimal upfront cost. Improved installation efficiency and new technologies, like thin film solar panels, will help bring down the cost of solar power.
SolarCity has partnered with FirstSolar to deliver inexpensive thin film solar panels to residential and commercial customers. The FirstSolar Panels are sexy black! Here is a pictures of the first FirstSolar install out of the SolarCity LA office in Malibu.
My Solar Installation Toolbag
Installing a FirstSolar Panel in Malibu
Active Transportation Argument
Call me crazy but I think LA could become the greenest city in the country. It has huge transportation corridors that could be smothly converted to use other than freeway traffic. Some studies suggest that the ROI for active transportation (biking & walking) infrastructure are much higher than for anyother transportation type (http://www.railstotrails.org/resources/documents/whatwedo/atfa/ATFA_20081020.pdf).
Categories: California and Energy | No Comments »
December 06 2008 William writes:
I have moved back to California for a job with SolarCity, an aggressive residential solar company that aims to make solar installations as easy as a phone call. I am very impressed by its horizontal management style and cutting edge financial instruments. LA could become the epicenter of the residential solar industry with its intense sun, many roofs, and strong incentives.
Culver City is a nice area and is similar to the Lower East Side of Manhattan with its many diverse restaurants, young population and random hipsters. I live only a bike ride from the beach and work so my car is one of the many just take up a parking place.
LA in general is interesting. Huge roads and too many cars define the city but this situation of a frustrated public and many lanes might help the city create pragmatic transportation solutions. California recently authorized funding for the costruction of a bullet train system to link all major CA cities.
I do miss the open space and mountains of Wyoming.
Categories: California and Energy | No Comments »
