Solar Trifecta Comes to Mother Lode

What is a Solar Trifecta? This is it!

Picturesque is not what you necessarily think of when you mention solar power, yet this view of Highway One just south of Monterey is about as close as it gets. How is it a "Solar Trifecta"? Check this out:

First, the Dodge truck you see here pulling the trailer is soon to become the main gear shuttle vehicle for our American River rafting expeditions this season. It is currently completing its conversion to 100% waste vegetable oil (WVO) at GreaseKings in Sacramento and will join the EcoBus as the first 100% WVO powered whitewater river rafting transportation system in use on the American River. Similar to EcoBus, this truck requires the installation of a second fuel tank to contain the WVO, an electrically controlled fuel management valve to switch from the Diesel#2 fuel tank to the WVO tank, a countercurrent exchange system to heat the WVO, and a special filter system to both heat and purify the WVO before it enters the sensitive fuel management system of the Cummins turbodiesel engine of this 2005 Dodge Ram 4x4 pickup. Also similar to EcoBus, using 100% WVO will achieve an 80% reduction is greenhouse gas emissions. However, this improvement will occur not only for our rafting shuttles but for food shopping and errands, all while achieving approximately 17 miles per gallon of WVO. Amazingly, this is better mileage than we get with our current Toyota T-100 with a V6 gasoline engine. Not only will we be saving carbon, our mean fuel cost for WVO is 50 cents per gallon or approximately one tenth the current cost of petro products!

Second element in the Trifecta: six solar hot water heating panels hidden in the bed of the truck. Our solar guru and benefactor, Allen Carrozza, is generously loaning them to the River Center to expand our solar hot water heating and educational opportunities. These panels will reduce the propane required to heat hot water for showers, etc., all by a whopping 73%.

Third in the Trifecta is the object under the cover on the trailer behind the truck. Yes, its "PLUGRIN", the electric car we are transporting from Santa Barbara that is being lent to us by Dorothy Pearce. It will be recharged from the photovoltaic panels attached to the front of the Solar Energy Exploratorium. This four passenger car has a range of 35 miles, a top speed of 25 mph and will be used to draw attention to the SEE as well as to run errands to Coloma. Such cars are of increasing interest and a similar car, the "ZEN" or Zero Emissions Neighborhood car, was recently featured on the front page of the Sacramento Bee. With gas prices rising above $4 per gallon, interest in electric cars is no longer academic.

We now will be able to collect vegetable oil from local restaurants in Coloma with an electric car, recharge the car with our PV panels, then power our larger vehicles with the WVO. Solar power makes the electricity to power the electric car, solar energy creates the vegetable oil through photosynthesis, solar energy from the panels will heat the water that warms the WVO while we refine it. A solar scenario that's renewable, cheap and near zero carbon emissons. The Solar Trifecta, and you saw it first here at Mother Lode!

American River Rafters Support Solar Power

Archer School Students Write Letters to their Legislators

What better way to conclude your freshman year in high school than by rafting, hiking and camping on the historic and beautiful South Fork of the American River in Coloma, California? For five days this week, the Mother Lode River Center and Santa Barbara Adventure Company played host to seventy members of the freshman class of the Archer School for Girls. These intrepid adventurers tent camped on our beach, rafted two days, hiked another day and generally had the time of their lives! Spending an extended period outdoors helped them encounter the natural world while learning about themselves, bonding with their classmates, and expanding their ability to accomplish team challenges such as navigating a raft through Class III whitewater rapids.

Seamlessly integrated into these activities were challenge course group games that heightened their awareness of their surroundings and also promoted connection to each other and the natural world. Campfires, facilitated sing-alongs, quiet time by the ever changing river- all these elements combined to make the experience something the students will remember fondly and benefit from for the rest of their lives.

This season the students also had the advantage of encountering the new Sustainable Practices Program at the River Center. For instance, each time they left the river center in Mother Lode's new EcoBus, the fuel powering their journey was ecologically responsible 100% waste vegetable oil which reduced their carbon footprint by 80% when compared to the use of petrochemicals. The hot water they used in the kitchen was heated by our new solar panels. The Solar Energy Exploratorium was open for those interested and during their visit "PLUGRIN" the electric car made its debut demonstrating the potential for a true zero emissions vehicle.

On the their next to last day, blushing with the success of running "Troublemaker", the largest rapid on the exciting Chili Bar Run, they had the opportunity to exercise their environmental muscle as well. One of their guides explained the importance of supporting the investment tax credit for solar power by writing a letter to their legislator. They enthusiastically wrote eloquent and well informed letters that Mother Lode will forward to Governor Schwarzenneger, President Bush, Senators Reid, Boxer and Feinstein and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as well as the three candidates for President. By requesting a reply, these letters will allow each of them to discover where their political leaders stand and make each of them aware of their power to change the world in positive ways.

Experience, Connection, Observation, Stewardship- this is "ECOS" and for over thirty years this has been the Mother Lode Way. These Archer School students had a great opportunity to encounter and complete the full circle. We are pleased to have been a part of their world and we look forward to collaborating with the Santa Barbara Adventure Company to bring similar experiences to other students from the Los Angeles area in the future.