Drawdown Projects in New Mexico
350 New Mexico Drawdown Project Summary and Highlights
Last updated Aug 21, 2019
Drawdown Solutions numbers and other items in green added by RJC
Recommendations and Next Steps for NM are mostly still in development.
Overall Project Goal
“Create an overall drawdown vision for NM - to be carbon neutral by pursuing Drawdown – Keep It In The Ground, a Just transition over 20 years to 100% CRE, electrify everything including EV transport, no methane use (replace home & space heating), sustainable agriculture, etc.
Team members have been assigned Sectors from the Drawdown Project to research items listed within each, with a focus on the top few (higher ranked), to find those applicable to New Mexico. Research should identify recommended actions, any organizations of agencies to work with and who to communicate with. Some summary findings follow, much taken from the Drawdown project.”
Electricity Generation – Damian
Residential Solar
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) proposal is an option for financing residential solar. County would pay for the up-front capital cost of panels, rather than having to take out a loan. County provides zero% financing, pay it back via you property tax bill, 15-25-year amortization. Cost of panels does not increase your property tax assessment.
Legislation is required. Details need researching. See NM EMNRD/ECMD at:
“ECMD teamed with the New Mexico Association of Counties (NMAC) to help develop standards, model ordinances, and guidelines in order to help New Mexico’s counties implement Property Assessment Clean Energy Bond (PACE) financing. PACE financing is an innovative approach to spreading out the costs of energy improvements over a long period. This has the effect of greatly reducing the up-front costs of renewable energy while more closely matching the costs of an energy improvement with the provided benefit on a year to year basis. PACE programs have been implemented across the country and new programs are being formed rapidly.”
ECMD = Energy Conservation and Management Division [The division has several Clean Energy Program Managers – RJC]
Damian continues to study implementation by county.
Landfill Methane
Thailand power generation application to be examined. Colorado uses landfill gas to heat a detention center. Works better if digester is built in from the start of landfill construction.
Food – Nancy
The top solutions for Food are;
- Reduced food waste #3
- Plant-Rich Diet #4
- Silvopasture #9
- Regenerative Agriculture #11
- Conservation Agriculture #16
- Tree Intercropping #17
- Managed Grazing #19
- Farmland Restoration #23
- Multistrata Agroforestry #28
- Farmland Irrigation #67
NM Farming stats have been found and are separately documented in another Google doc., e.g.
Dairy Farms: just over 77 percent of the milk in New Mexico is produced on the eastern side of the state in Curry, Roosevelt, Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties. Milk and dairy products generated $1.3 billion in cash receipts.
NM could eat well and locally if at least 50% of farmers converted to raising food for humans rather than for cattle.
NM Agricultural Crops/Products:
- Dairy
- Cattle and calves
- Pecans
- Hay
- Onions
- Chili Peppers
- Cotton
- Corn
- Wheat
- Sorghum
and lots more info. is included. Other solutions include the using seaweed (Asparagopsis taxiformis) in cattle and other livestock feed to reduce methane [burps – RJC]. Research needs to continue to see how this applies to NM – can we find a ranch owner to test this possibility?
Women and Girls – Dylan
Educating Women and Girls and the role of family planning and the effects of schooling have a big impact ~120 GT tho’ mostly in the Third World. Ideas include:
- XPRIZE for teach-yourself software for kids
- Education laptops
- Micro loans
Building and Cities – Dylan
Drawdown solutions in this sector under Buildings include:
- Building Automation #45
- Green Roofs #73
- Heat Pumps #42 – low cost options becoming available.
- Insulation #31 – hard to compete with Nat Gas, – solar panels are cheaper than retrofitting insulation
- LED Lighting (Commercial) #44
- LED Lighting (Household) #33
- Net Zero Buildings #79
- Retrofitting #80
- Smart Glass #61
- Smart Thermostats #57
- Solar Hot Water
Drawdown solutions in this sector under Cities include:
- Bike Infrastructure #59
- District Heating #27 – hard to compete with Nat Gas
- Landfill Methane #58
- Walkable Cities #54
- Water Distribution #71
Potential NM Items:
New Construction - No gas hookups in new homes, plus better insulation.
Solar Thermal Requirement for Multifamily
Encourage Downtown Growth (for Walkability)
Replace old failed gas furnaces with air source heat pumps
Land Use – unassigned
Transport – Tom
Drawdown divides Transport into the eleven categories of the most impactful solutions. Two do not especially apply to New Mexico, i.e. Airplanes and Ships. The others are in order of CO2 impact:
- Electric Vehicles,
- Mass Transit,
- Trucks
- Cars,
- Telepresence,
- High-speed Rail,
- Electric Bikes,
- Trains,
- Ridesharing,
Details and potential actions are suggested, e.g. Convert school buses to EV.
Materials – Robert
(compiled Sept 1, 2019)
Drawdown Solutions unique to Materials are:
- Alternative Cement #36
- Bioplastic #47
- Household Recycling #55
- Industrial Recycling #56
- Recycled Paper #70
- Refrigeration Management #1
- Water Saving #46
Solutions that interact with Materials are:
- Composting #60
- Landfill Methane #58
- Plant-rich Diet #4
- Reduced Food Waste #3
- Waste-to-Energy #68
Only two of the unique solutions to Materials are in the top 40.
Coming Attractions – unassigned
TODO
