Climate Action Plan Blog Series: Take Climate Action for Earth Day

Catch up on the Carbon Neutrality Ad Hoc Committee meeting, a recent City Council Study Session, and upcoming Earth Month events

Each month, the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) Ad Hoc Committee delves into various topics related to the S/CAP Update — the City’s roadmap of strategies needed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80 percent by 2030 and other communitywide sustainability goals. This blog shares the latest developments and news from the Ad Hoc Committee, which guides the development, implementation, communication, and future community engagement of the S/CAP Update.

Read on in this blog to learn what carbon neutrality is from experts at the California Air Resources Board, Lawrence Livermore and Stanford, what California is doing, and alternative technologies that support carbon neutrality. Plus, review the Sustainability Study Session from the April 11 City Council meeting and find an upcoming Earth Day events to attend and take climate action.

APRIL S/CAP AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETING RECAP

At the April 14, 2022 Ad Hoc Committee meeting, City staff and experts from the California Air Resources Board, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Stanford presented information about carbon neutrality, carbon removal opportunities, and alternative fuels and technologies for carbon removal and storage.

CARBON NEUTRALITY

What is Carbon Neutrality?

Carbon neutrality is the balance of emitting and absorbing, or removing, carbon from the atmosphere. If global warming continues to rise and reaches an increase of 2 degrees Celsius by mid-century, it could mean devastating impacts to the environment.

To help mitigate the impacts of this, the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report recommends limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the mid-century. This requires reducing both GHG emissions and carbon from the atmosphere. The magnitude of climate change impacts depends on when carbon neutrality is achieved globally.

To learn more about carbon neutrality in Palo Alto visit here.

What is California Doing to Reach Carbon Neutrality?

California emits GHGs from fossil fuels, industrial sectors, and natural and working lands. California’s primary focus is to reduce emissions from fossil fueled-energy sources like electricity, gasoline, and natural gas. In order to reach 100 percent carbon neutrality, the State is electrifying with clean energy, shifting focus to biofuels and hydrogen usage in industry and in trucking.

To watch the full Carbon Air Resources Board presentation on carbon neutrality, go here.

California plans reduce carbon emissions 40 percent by 2030, and an aspirational goal of achieving 100 percent carbon neutrality by 2045. To reach the latter goal, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Lab’s Carbon Initiative outlined the necessary path for California into three pillars:

Pillar 1: Maximize natural lands to uptake carbon by increasing forest health through the restoration of woodlands, wetlands, and grasslands, allowing for more carbon to be naturally absorbed by trees and soil.

Pillar 2: Convert waste biomass to fuel, such as hydrogen, and store carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during that process. This pillar has the largest promise for CO2 removal at the lowest cost.

Pillar 3: Implement direct air capture of CO2 by human-made machines. After CO2 is captured, it is stored safely deep within the Earth, like fossil fuels.

If California can accomplish these three pillars of carbon reduction, LLNL estimates that 125 million metric tons of CO2 per year can be removed from the atmosphere.

Watch the full video by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory about 100 percent carbon neutrality here.

What are Alternative Fuels and Technologies?

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is a versatile “clean” fuel that can be used to create energy through Green Hydrogen, where water is electrolyzed, or by biohydrogen, where hydrogen is generated from biomass. Hydrogen infrastructure may play a critical role in reducing emissions where combustion is still needed.

Biofuels

Biofuels are created using renewable organic material from plants, animals, forests, and agricultural waste. This organic material is known as biomass and gets transformed into natural gas and other biofuels.

These biofuels are said to be carbon neutral if the carbon dioxide absorbed by the biomass when it was alive is equal to the CO2 that is released when the biofuel is burned. This process can be made carbon negative by capturing the CO2 that biofuel production emits, then storing it underground. However, capturing CO2 in this manner may not result in negative emissions if transport emissions outweigh the benefits of production. It is also difficult to transfer CO2 to a secure geological location for storage.

The technology of capturing and storing carbon is called Bio-Energy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), which requires enormous amounts of land to capture CO2 if it is done at a large scale. Other types of carbon removal are in development, including direct air capture and mineralization. Another removal process is using carbon sinks, natural or artificial ecosystems that absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release, such as algae, biochar, and coastal lands.

While these operations are expensive, they should be used when other means of carbon removal strategies are exhausted. They are a good way of targeting hard-to-reduce emissions, and if done strategically, can make a large impact on reducing emissions.

Using Natural And Working Lands to Remove Carbon

To further the goal of reducing GHG emissions in California, natural and working lands must be utilized to create carbon sinks and maximize the amount of CO2 that can be extracted by natural locations.

Agriculture

During the Ad Hoc meeting, Chris Field, Director of Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment, discussed findings on natural carbon removal opportunities. A quarter of the world’s GHG emissions come from food, agriculture, and other land use — some of which is methane, nitrous oxide, and deforestation. A shift in agricultural practices is needed so that fields can store more carbon and soils can be more productive. This would also allow land to be returned to natural ecosystems that store more carbon. However, unless there is a societal shift away from the preference of meat, there will likely not be a decrease in the amount of land needed for agriculture.

Maximizing the potential of natural carbon removal strategies will be less expensive compared to engineered solutions like direct air capture and carbon sequestration.

Soil Carbon Sinks

The four main carbon sinks on Earth are the oceans, the atmosphere, forests, and soils. To maximize the opportunity for natural climate solutions, the uptake ratio of atmospheric CO2 must be increased relative to the loss from harvesting, decomposition, and wildfires.

If we could increase the primary production of carbon that stays in soils by a fraction of a percent, it could make a huge difference in emission reductions. This is an attractive solution because increased carbon within soils increases fertility. This can potentially be done by decreasing tillage, producing higher yield crops, and genetically engineering crops so that they are less prone to decomposition.

A substantial amount of carbon could be mitigated through natural climate solutions if there is a willingness to make a worldwide commitment. If natural climate solutions were deployed, it is estimated that we can reduce 23 billion tons of CO2 per year. This is about half of current emissions. If there were only $100 per ton dedicated to these solutions, we could achieve more than 10 billion tons of CO2 reductions per year. Even with these opportunities, it’s not enough carbon reduction to avoid raising global temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius.

Watch the full presentation by Chris Field and Stanford Energy on atmospheric carbon removal here.

City of Palo Alto’s Carbon Neutrality Initiatives

The City of Palo Alto’s carbon neutrality efforts follow recommendations by the Air Resources Board’s Scoping Plan update as well as the State Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy report. The City is also taking a closer look at California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program, SB 1440 Implementation, AB 74 and SB 100 to utilize credits for carbon capture and further neutrality strategies.

A Stanford Public Policy Practicum Team evaluated strategies and scenarios for Palo Alto to reach 100 percent emission reduction once the 80 by 30 goal is achieved. Some recommended strategies include:

• Creating 10 acres of algae farms within the City;
• Partnering with Producers of cement, steel, ammonia, aluminum, methanol, and hydrogen to bring a pilot Svante Model to a Bay Area plant; and
• Collaborating with Climeworks to build a direct air capture facility.

If these carbon sequestration strategies were added, they would get Palo Alto to about 43 percent of CO2sequestered from the remaining 20 percent left once the 80 by 30 goal is achieved. Since these recommended strategies are not quite enough to get to 100 percent reduction in emissions relative to 1990 levels, reducing emissions in buildings and transportation are the primary focus for the City.

To learn more about the City’s 80 by 30 goals go here.

EARTH DAY CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION

At the April 11, 2022, City Council Earth Day Study Session, updates on the S/CAP Ad Hoc Committee efforts and electrification challenges were discussed, and the 2020 Palo Alto GHG emissions data were presented.

Some challenges discussed regarding electrification and electric vehicles included implementation of new infrastructure, increasing charging network capacity in the residential sector, and finding ways to mitigate power demands on technology systems.

Staff presented to the City Council that in 2020, Palo Alto had reached a total GHG emissions reduction of an estimated 51 percent relative to the 1990 baseline. Notably however, 2020 marked the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2020 GHG inventory includes pandemic-related impacts resulting in emissions reductions that may be temporary. Without the pandemic effects, emissions reductions are estimated to be closer to 42 percent.

View more data and educational resources regarding emission reductions here.

CLIMATE ACTION EVENTS

April is Earth Month, the perfect time to get involved with the local community to think globally and act locally. If you’d like to participate in Earth Month events read below for upcoming workshops and festivals.

March and Rally for Our Earth

Friday, April 22 | 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. | King Plaza

The March and Rally for Earth is a chance to celebrate the climate progress our cities have already made and to encourage a community spirit as we push for a more sustainable future. Learn more about this student-led effort and RSVP here.

Palo Alto Youth Council Earth Day Fair

Saturday, April 23 | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Mitchell Park Bowl

Come to the Earth Day Fair to visit booths dedicated to Palo Alto climate policy, climate anxiety, electrification, succulent planting, and more! Bring the whole family for fun activities and informational tables!

e-Bikes in the Park

Saturday, April 23 | 10 a.m. to Noon | Mitchell Park Community Center

Bring your helmets and take an e-Bike out for a test ride in the park to find out why they have become the most popular vehicle in town. View a variety of models, talk to experts and owners, and learn the basics of how to operate, charge, and purchase one of your very own. Reserve your test ride today and register now!

May Fete Parade and Fair

Saturday, May 7 | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | University Ave, Downtown Palo Alto

Gather your family or friends and show off your float-making skills and potentially take-home big prizes! No group? No problem! Walk with the City of Palo Alto’s Friends, Family and Pets category — we’d love to have you! After the parade head over to the fair for more family friendly fun, such as school bands, games and prizes for kids, food trucks and community organization booths. For more information, visit www.cityofpaloalto.org/mayfete.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION AND GET MORE ONLINE RESOURCES

• Sign up to receive the monthly Sustainability Newsletter here
• For the City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan and S/CAP Ad Hoc meeting materials, go here
• For more about carbon neutrality, go here
• For more on the City’s electrification programs, go here
• Read our S/CAP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)