Magazine ranks Santa Rosa as 23rd greenest, largely due to Geysers electricity project
You'd hardly venture a guess that Santa Rosa would be prominently mentioned in Popular Science magazine, or even mentioned at all.
But there it is, on page 56 of the March issue, listed as the 23rd "greenest" city among the 254 U.S. cities with populations exceeding 100,000.
Santa Rosa, the nation's 154th most populous city, is ranked just behind Milwaukee, Wis. and one spot ahead of Ann Arbor, Mich. among the most environmentally friendly cities.
Portland, Ore., ranked No. 1.
The rankings left Santa Rosa officials a bit perplexed but happy.
"It's a big deal because of the stature of the magazine, but I have no idea what's behind it," said Mayor Bob Blanchard. He echoed sentiments of other city officials who admitted they were at a loss to explain how their city ended up in a magazine devoted to science and technology.
"We've been mentioned in other magazines because of the stuff we've been doing. Maybe they came across it in some research," said Dell Tredinnick, the city's utility projects development manager. He is charged with helping develop innovative ways to produce green energy within the city's wastewater treatment and water supply systems.
The monthly magazine traces its publishing roots back to 1872 when it began documenting scientific and technological discovery beginning with the inventions of the telephone, phonograph and electric light bulb.
"Green" is now part of that evolution of discovery, said Tredinnick.
The magazine's editors said they used 30 criteria culled from the U.S. Census Bureau and National Geographic's Green Guide to rank the environmental friendliness of cities of 100,000 or more. They used four categories -- electricity, transportation, recycling and green living, a category that combines the amount of parks and open space a city has along with the number of certified "green" buildings built within its borders.
The ranking is the most recent distinction among several bestowed upon Santa Rosa in the past few years by a variety of publications.
Those include everything from being named one of the nation's top five "Flavor Landmarks" by the McCormick spice company in 2005 to being listed by the Men's Journal in 2003 as the 28th best U.S. city for men to live.
National Geographic's Green Guide named Santa Rosa the nation's fifth "greenest" city two years ago, sandwiched between St. Paul, Minn. in fourth place and Oakland in the sixth spot.
Popular Science boosted Santa Rosa to the upper echelon of greenest cities largely because of its Geysers' wastewater-to-electricity project, which garnered seven of the 17.2 total points Santa Rosa earned to take the 23rd spot.
The Geysers project garnered a two-page spread in the magazine titled "Tapping Geysers for Watts," which describes how it converts 12 million gallons of wastewater the city pumps to the steam fields daily into 85 megawatts of power, enough to power 85,000 homes.
"It's a sexy project" said Tredinnick, "and it's the biggest of its kind in the world."
Deputy Utilities Director Dan Carlson said the jointly funded $250 million project with the Calpine Corp. is expected to generate 150 megawatts a day when the city boosts the amount of wastewater it pumps daily to the steam fields to 20 million gallons within the next 20 years.
That would generate enough electricity to power a city twice the size of Santa Rosa's current 75,000 households.
While Santa Rosa gained modest points in the transportation and green living categories, it also ranked high in recycling.
Twelve years ago, only 42 percent of the city's garbage and waste was diverted from the county landfill to recycling. That figure is now 61 percent.
Within a few years, Northbay Corp., the city's garbage hauler, plans to divert 80 to 85 percent once it completes construction of a proposed $34 million transfer and sorting station, spokeswoman Sadonna Cody said.
The article, while drawing praise from Santa Rosa leaders for its acknowledgment of the city's environmental achievements, drew a few chuckles as well.
While Popular Science is an acknowledged expert in science and technology, it apparently is no Rand McNally when it comes to geographical precision.
The article tells readers The Geysers are located in "the redwood-studded wilderness outside Santa Rosa," when in fact the steam fields are in the barren mountains that separate Sonoma and Lake counties 24 miles north of Santa Rosa.
"There's only scrub brush up there," laughed Blanchard.
Tredinnick thinks Popular Science granted itself "poetic license" since The Geysers are technically part of the Redwood Empire.
"I'm not sure there is a redwood within 25 miles of The Geysers," he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Mike McCoy at 521-5276 or
mike.mccoy@pressdemocrat.com.
