Why This Conservationist is Voting YES on Measure E—Green Energy and Compost Here in Palo Alto

Please join me in supporting Measure E, the Palo Alto Green Energy and Compost Initiative—that will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Measure E will help keep composting in Palo Alto by repurposing 10 acres (8 percent) of the city landfill next to the sewage treatment plant for an organic waste conversion facility. Right now, all 126 acres of the landfill are scheduled to be added to Byxbee Park, which is why we need a vote to undedicate a small portion for an alternative use.

If the land becomes available, this would allow Palo Alto the option of building an anaerobic digester, a proven technology that uses microorganisms in enclosed containers to break down yard trimmings, food scraps and even sewage sludge into renewable energy and compost. 

The benefits are:

1) Saving the city (and rate payers) $1 million per year.
2) Producing 1.4 megawatts of biogas (natural gas), enough to meet the needs of 1,400 households.  This energy would be available even when the grid goes down.
3) Reducing our greenhouse  gas emissions by 20,000 tons per year compared to current practices (the equivalent of planting 1.5 million trees or taking 2,600 cars off the road).
4) Enabling us to retire our dirty sewage sludge incinerator, which is expensive to operate and produces tremendous greenhouse gas emissions.
5) Allowing Palo Alto to maintain its yard waste drop-off.

You can view the current list of endorsers here.

To add your name, please fill out the form on the endorsements page or send an email to info@pagreenenergy.org.

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