Boarding a helicopter to get an aerial view of the Athabasca Oil Sands project, refineries, upgraders and open pit mines. Then visiting the Oil Sands Discovery Centre for a general overview of the processes involved in extracting oil from sands. Afterwards, a tour of the Suncor upgrading plant.

The oil sands, located outside Calgary, CAN, are believed to hold 60% of the world's remaining oil – including 175 billion barrels in proven reserves. The bitumen process of extracting oil from sand requires large amounts of energy (equivalent to heating 4 million homes a day) and many question its usefulness because of the high cost of the operation. The trip is led by George Butterfield and Edward Burtynsky, a world-renowned photographer. We hope to be participating in more trips like this, that provide a rare insight into “destinations at risk”.

After nearly two years of nose-to-the-grindstone work building and managing our clients' marketing and PR, we at Blue Practice just held our first company offsite. We're still relishing the afterglow. That rare opportunity to close our doors, shut off our phones and turn our attention inward for a long and critical look at our business, the landscape of sustainability, and how our talents can best serve a quickly-evolving world couldn't have been more rewarding. We brought forth some revolutionary thinking and creative program ideas that will really help us build a stronger agency in the months ahead.

Helping set the mood, of course, was the venue for our meeting – the EcoShack. Jessica recently bought one of these DIY yurt setups from Stephanie Smith, the company's founder. Smith is an architectural designer, an entrepreneur and a champion of light and nomadic lifestyles. Her designs are inspired by the ad hoc, indigenous and archetypal typologies typically found at the fringes of society and culture. The structure was actually much bigger than I expected, and provided an airy interior for our day.

Here's my greentech find of the week.

When I speak with people about renewable energy, the conversation inevitably turns to battery storage, and inefficiencies riddled in the process of pulling power offline to use when the sun's not out, or the wind's not blowing, etc.

Now, scientists at MIT have found a way to build a better battery, using a technique nature's perfected over millions of years: photosynthesis. With inexpensive and readily-available materials, the scientists have learned to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen in room-temperature conditions with neutral pH. The two can later be recombined, generating energy with near 100% efficiency. They say they'll be able to matriculate this technology out of the lab and into commercial applications in as little as ten years. While the timeline is doubtlessly optimistic and relies heavily on engineering of the technology into energy applications, I am very excited to hear of an elegant, nature-inspired solution to this very important challenge.

Another way that the government shirked their responsibilities when it comes to environmental protection. Saving a stand of redwoods to protect an owl, or a river for a fish, seems a whole lot less commital than trying to fix our climate for who may ultimately be the martyrs for climate change - the polar bear. What good is endangered status if we refuse to address the nature of their situation? Maybe we should rename them instead - solar bears? Read the press release.

Yesterday was the high holy holiday for bike commuters - "Bike to Work Day".  As a daily bike commuter, it's a kind of dream come true to see so many people taking advantage of the fresh morning air, a bit of exercise, zero emission transit, and the relaxing certainty that comes from knowing you're not getting in a jam. Overall, more than 50,000 riders participated in the Bay Area. The Chronicle reported that bikes made up 2/3 of all traffic heading down Market Street!

We're celebrating Earth Week this year with the addition of our new Blue Practice Client/Partner Manager, Marc Tamo. Marc's bio will soon grace the pages of our little site, but in the meantime I'll mention that he's got an amazing history in the entertainment industry as a marketing guru and an ace at events and campaigns, viral marketing and overall project and account management. He's a stand-up guy - literally. Marc's a member of Big City Improv, a San Francisco comedy troupe. Perhaps there's no better primer for PR, where quick thinking, razor sharp communications skills and a sense of humor go a long way.  Marc will have you in stitches. We're very happy to have him aboard!

At the Goldman Prize last night, environmentalists from all over the world were recognized for local grassroots activism. It's called the Oscars for the environment - and and greenies like our very own Jessica Switzer got to rub shoulders with eco-advocates from all over. They rustled some feathers, too.

Much of the attention last night rallied around Pablo Fajardo Mendoza and Luis Yanza. The two have brought legal pressures on Chevron to take responsibility for Texaco's environmental pollution in Ecuador and resulting environmentally-induced cancers. Fajardo was an Ecuadorian farmer who turned lawyer to take action against oil companies like Texaco, who of course was purchased by Chevron in '01, and Chevron's located just across the Bay in Richmond, CA.

High fives in the office as we learned about the Senate passing a bill to extend the renewable energy tax credits.  OK, not just passed, but overwhelmingly supported:  88 to 8 voted to amend the comprehensive housing bill to add a 8-year extension to the commercial ITC, and a 1-year extension to the residential.  (And disappointing to see that all 3 presidential candidates opted out of the vote... that's politics... but I digress).  We're that much closer to keeping the clean train on track. 

The industry is really relying on some continued economic support for clean energy - and for good reason.  These incentives are the best way to give solar and other renewable industries the foothold they need to build a market and encourage the development of new technologies that can eventually drive prices down without subsidies.  Why would innovators push for advancing technology if there's no market to sell it in?

The big difference between the House and Senate versions is how the extended incentives get paid for.  While the Senate side hasn't yet explained where the money will come from (and maybe that's why there wasn't much opposition), the House has consistently pushed for paying for the ITC by diverting subsidies from the oil and gas industry.  I'm sure that will be an issue to wrangle between both sides of the aisle, but if it's stealing from Peter to feed Paul, Peter is the Goliath with gout and a life sentence; maybe it's time to perform some triage and start supporting our future. 

The green restaurant boom has not escaped the growling bellies at Blue Practice. In fact, I was surprised to see that there are now some 30 "green" restaurants within a mile of our office, touting ingredients that are organic, local, free-range, biodynamic, or otherwise addressing some greater agricultural or social consciousness. They are nearly universally delicious; the dilemma is which to choose. Today's organic salads (as pictured) came courtesy of Sellers Market, just a dash away on the bottom floor of our building. Tomorrow - who knows? Two blocks away, the Ferry Building is like the Luxor for foodies around here, and the noontime chimes are like Pavlov's bells for the downtown crowd - especially for the Tuesday farmers market. New joints crop up constantly - Farmer Brown is on my hitlist this month - organic soul food sounds too good a plate to pass.

On February 27th, Jessica Appelgren helped produce a fantastic panel discussion as part of her role as SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research) Young Urbanist Host Committee member. The topic was “Green in the City” and the 150 capacity room at the Pacific Energy Center on Howard was packed.

The discussion captured an in depth look at innovative green practices, cleantech and the link between economics and the environment. Moderated by the San Francisco Business Times’ reporter Adrienne Sanders, the panel featured Anne Vollen of Green Zebra, a green consumer guide, Peter Liu, Initial Founder and Vice Chairman of New Resource Bank, Nikki Martinez of EcoTuesday a sustainable business leaders networking forum and Johanna Partin of SF Environment. The links between values and business were explored, as well as how products and services need to distinguish themselves as superior apart from any green message to appeal to savvy consumers overwhelmed with green marketing tactics. Johanna’s recounting of the aggressive plan San Francisco has to reach 50 MW of the city’s energy sourced from renewables by 2012 was also a high point of discussion.