The increasing prevalence of wildfires (often sparked by utility wires) and other extreme weather events highlights the urgent need for DERs and local microgrid systems to provide true resiliency against climate-induced disruption and state authorized Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) that would preemptively deenergize transmission lines. Unfortunately, there are many hurdles to be cleared before […]
Santa Barbara
WATCH: Video of Global Citizens Club November 2019 Event “Designing Dreams from Derricks”
On November 6th, 2019 we concluded the Global Citizens Club 2019 conference series on “Greening our Infrastructure.” With the company of over 100 Santa Barbara community members and four key panelists, “Designing Dreams from Derricks” focused on the new discussion of the decommissioning of oil platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara. Panel Moderated by: Rinaldo […]
Global Citizens Club Meeting: Designing Dreams from Derricks
On November 6th, 2019, we concluded the Global Citizens Club 2019 conference series on “Greening our Infrastructure.” With the company of over 100 Santa Barbara community members and four key panelists, “Designing Dreams from Derricks” focused on the new discussion of the decommissioning of oil platforms off the coast of Santa Barbara. With a controversial […]
Designing Dreams from Derricks
Global Citizens Club Community Meeting Wednesday, November 6, 2019 5:00pm – 7:00pm Belmont El Encanto Hotel SANTA BARBARA, California – The future of the stranded oil derricks off of the Santa Barbara coastline will be the subject of a community meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Belmond El Encanto Hotel & Spa. “Designing Dreams […]
Repurposing Offshore Oil Infrastructure to Save the Planet
By Robert Perry When most people think of climate change, they focus on the atmosphere. In truth, it is our oceans, lakes and other water resources that serve as the bulwark in preserving a livable climate and are closer to collapse than most realize. Indeed, acceleration of climate change will reach a whole new level […]
PSPS Outages Expected in Santa Barbara This Week (including Montecito)
Southern California Edison (SCE) has recently announced that a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is possible for some Santa Barbara County areas starting Friday, due to high wind conditions. The length of the outages is currently unknown and depends on weather conditions. Santa Barbara county urges residents, for all PSPS events, to be prepared for […]
Urban Housing Development in Santa Barbara: A symposium presented by the local UC Berkeley Community
On July 10th, 2019, the World Business Academy hosted a Global Citizens Club meeting focusing on housing solutions for a vibrant Santa Barbara. The incredible turnout at this event underscored how much our audience cares about making our community work well. Topics addressed in July included millennial housing, project affordability, and policy allowances. The panelists and […]
Resiliency Through Repurposing
By Robert Perry, Director of Research In facing our climate crisis, a lot of emphasis is placed on adding to, or replacing infrastructure. While this impulse is a logical reaction in the transition to clean energy, a strategy to repurpose existing facilities should always be considered first as a means to accelerate the transition, while […]
Rebuild with Resilience: Montecito Community Microgrid Initiative
In partnership with the Clean Coalition, the World Business Academy has engaged the Montecito community towards the development of a Community Microgrid, starting with independent microgrids at three critical community facilities: Montecito Fire Protection District (FD) headquarters and primary fire station, which maintains and deploys the majority of Montecito’s fire-fighting resources. Montecito Water District (WD) headquarters and […]
Santa Barbara County Votes to Join Central Coast CCA: Now What?
By Robert Perry, Director of Research On June 16th, the County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to participate in the Monterey Bay Community Power Authority (MBCPA), Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program. Following years of deliberation and analysis concerning the feasibility of forming its own CCA, the vote could lead to the inclusion of Santa […]
Downtown Santa Barbara Retail Discussion Moves Forward With New Consultant’s Report
When it comes to the issue of revitalizing Downtown Santa Barbara and bringing back some of its lost luster, momentum is building towards a solution and the World Business Academy is gratified to see that the public discussion we launched last year about this vital issue continues to move forward. The World Business Academy started […]
Global Citizens Club Meeting: Housing Solutions for a Vibrant Santa Barbara
On July 10th, 2019, we enjoyed the company of over 100 Santa Barbara community members and four key panelists at the Global Citizens Club meeting on Housing Solutions for a Vibrant Santa Barbara. As part of the 2019 conference series, this meeting focused on the pressing topic of housing in Santa Barbara, specifically on the […]
