City of San Francisco Department of the Environment – Anna Ju Yeon Bae – 2012

Goals 

To help the City of San Francisco defend its title as the greenest major city in North America, Anna Ju Yeon Bae was hired as an EDF Climate Corps fellow.

Solutions

Bae modeled a plan for utility-scale residential solar water heating. She documented how local utilities could offer solar energy just like other currently available energy sources, such as natural gas and electricity, but for a lower cost and without greenhouse gas emissions. After researching solar water heating programs in other cities, Bae designed a Power Purchase Agreement that could pay back the utility’s investment within 10 years and lower customers’ current utility costs. 

Bae also examined a wind energy generation project with the America’s Cup yacht race, which takes place in San Francisco from 2012 to 2013. Bae and the event’s sustainability team explored the installation of wind turbines at the event camp, which could generate renewable energy for the camp, as well as the Port of San Francisco, and be an educational resource for residents and visitors.

Potential Impact

The solar project, which has little or no upfront cost, would avoid 12,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 20 years.