My name is Colin Davis. Beginning July 7th, 2007 I will be leading a three month, 4,000 mile bicycle tour from San Francisco to Boston; filming a documentary as I visit examples of renewable energy solutions and sustainable technologies all across America. The goal of the ride and accompanying documentary is to create a source of freely available information on climate science, renewable energy and other “green” technologies. I want to demonstrate how businesses and individuals can implement renewable resources into their everyday lives without sacrificing financial interests.

Over the course of the project, I will be touring the facilities and interviewing developers of wind, solar and geothermal power installations, green architecture firms, climate science research groups, sustainable communities, environmentally conscious universities, corporations and investment groups, organic farms, and green utilities in 17 states. I will post videos of these interviews and upon completion of the ride I will compile them along with footage of the trials and tribulations of the ride into a feature length documentary that will tour college campuses and film festivals.

A 4,000 mile bicycle ride of discovery

I am not going this alone; a number of friends, family and total strangers are joining me for an afternoon, week, or in the case of my good friend and designated camera man Jon Filmer, the whole shebang. If you are interested in physically joining the ride, visit www.ridetosustain.com for dates that I will be in your area. Celsias.com is going to be the home for my blog posts, most recent interview videos and our new Brag About It competition.

Why am I doing this?

I was born with an insatiable sense of curiosity. I did all of the things that you would imagine the future scientist to do: I dissected my toys to see how they worked, turned myself various colors with science kits and drove my parents and teachers mad with a chorus of ‘why’s in response to every statement. It is no small miracle that my experimenting and inquiring did not lead to my being electrocuted or strangled.

That same fascination with how things work and why has recently led me to complete a degree in physics. The focus of my studies has been so called green or renewable energy technologies; devices that accomplish the same end as conventional tools while cutting the environmental impact of their use. These tools; photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, heat engines that harness geothermal energy, hydrogen fuel cells, and others hold the potential to largely eliminate the ecological cost of doing business.

While some of these technologies have been well understood for decades, they are just beginning to be implemented on a significant scale. Some environmentalists will claim that the oil, gas and coal industries have been conspiring to suppress these technologies to maintain the status quo; a point to which there is some truth. However, the primary factor that kept these technologies from the market was the entrenched infrastructure. Conventional logic says ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, and until recently there was no compelling cause to redesign a system that had done so much to increase our quality of life. Thus interest in developing these cleaner technologies was little to none.

Then came the issue of climate change. While initially a highly controversial topic, in recent years a consensus has been reached in the scientific community that the burning of oil, gas and coal; our primary methods of energy production is shifting our global climate system. This shift will lead to storms of increasing intensity and frequency, droughts, floods, heatwaves, and the extinction of species unable to adapt quickly to a changing environment which can in turn lead to collapses of entire ecosystems. At this point the only uncertainty about if our climate is changing is due to intentional misinformation campaigns by industries which fear displacement, and media seeking out any nay-sayer who will create controversy. Renewable energy is the only long term solution to climate change.

Even as a physics student whose primary interest is renewables, I realized that I could not explain the most effective ways to move away from fossil fuels. I knew how most all green technologies worked in theory, but when it came to what solutions were best for what regions, what a world-wide shortage of silicon meant for the solar industry, how economies of scale would affect price-competitiveness of wind versus solar, if we should cap or tax emissions, and what subsidies needed to be added or eliminated I was at a loss. And not surprisingly in speaking with others I realized most people were equally or more in the dark when it came to green technology. Sure they knew about solar panels and windmills, and many had heard that both were too inefficient to be real solutions to the energy problem.

I decided that I was in a perfect position to learn and teach others about sustainable solutions to climate change. My physics background makes me a good middleman between the scientific community and the general public, or to put it another way, I am fluent in geek. I had always wanted to bicycle across the US and to do it for a cause, but had not found anything compelling enough to motivate me. One day I had a Eureka moment when it all came together, and so Ride to Sustain was born.

What do I hope to achieve and how do I plan on doing it?

As I said, a lot of people don’t know how to make head or tails from the energy question, so they shrug their shoulders and say ‘I’m sure someone will figure it out’. And they are probably right, eventually it will get figured out. Unfortunately, time is of the essence in addressing climate change. The longer we let our green house gas emissions climb, the worse off we, our children, and future generations will be as a result - and the world will devolve into a less ecologically diverse and wondrous place.

I want Ride to Sustain to separate fact from fiction when it comes to fostering a sustainable economy. If I can show people all over the country how they can use clean energy and efficiency in their home or business without significant financial sacrifice or change in lifestyle, we can get the ball rolling that much sooner. Also, by becoming more educated about climate change and renewable energy, the public won’t be fooled by half baked schemes passed off as real solutions to the energy problem.

This blog and my website www.ridetosustain.com will serve as the educational center of the ride. I will be conducting interviews with the scientists, politicians, organizations, and companies who are shaping the energy industry and all of the information I pick up along the way will be passed on via my blog and website. I will also have links to studies on climate change, information on how various renewable technologies work, policy issues regarding energy, reviews of books on climate change, sustainable business and renewables and tons of other great content.

Videos of each interview will be freely available each day on my blog and also logged chronologically on my website (check interviews page). Upon completion of the trip I will compile the footage into a feature length documentary and possibly a series of shows on sustainability issues.

Also, to motivate Celsias.com readers to take action we have a section called Brag About It on the site where readers will have an opportunity to talk about the ways they are working to decrease the environmental impacts of their lifestyle. The most innovative posts will win prizes from my sponsors (more on that soon!).

Check back with us soon, and stay with us for the ride! You may even wish to get involved by helping fill out our itinerary - suggesting extra stop suggestions for the trip!

Note: Interview/itinerary suggestions for the trip can be emailed to me.