Topic 1: Retrofit Ramp-Up, $390 million

The first topic area will award funds for innovative programs that are structured to provide whole-neighborhood building energy retrofits. These will be projects that demonstrate a sustainable business model for providing cost-effective energy upgrades for a large percentage of the residential, commercial, and public buildings in a specific community. DOE expects to make 8 to 20 awards under this topic area, with award size ranging from $5-75 million. Eligible entities include states, formula-eligible local and tribal governments, entities eligible under Topic 2, and nonprofit organizations authorized by the preceding entities.

Topic 2: General Innovation Fund, $64 million

The second topic area will award up to $64 million to help expand local energy efficiency efforts and reduce energy use in the commercial, residential, transportation, manufacturing, or industrial sectors. DOE expects to make 15 to 60 awards, with award size ranging from $1-5 million. Eligible entities include local and tribal governments that were not eligible to receive population-based formula grant allocations from DOE under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program; a governmental, quasi-governmental, or non-governmental, nonprofit organization authorized by and on behalf of a unit of local government (or Indian tribe) that was not an eligible entity; or a consortia of units of local governments (or tribes) that were not eligible entities.

For complete details on the availability of funds please visit http://www.eecbg.energy.gov/about/competitive_grants.html

The RDEE Toolkit presents information that recipients of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding need to plan and implement 10 proven efficiency programs across the residential and non-residential sectors. The Toolkit also provides a brief overview of the energy efficiency- related funding opportunities set forth in the ARRA.

The Toolkit includes three major components:

• Planning Guide. Includes key considerations in program selection and budgeting, such as reasonable program costs, energy savings,and jobs to expect from each program.
• Implementation Guide. Includes information about benchmarking, the role and use of implementation contractors, strategies for customer targeting and marketing, training needs and resources, and tracking and estimating results.
• RDEE Program Snapshots and Templates. The snapshots provide a more detailed look at each of the RDEE programs. This section also includes several RFP and marketing plan templates.

The RDEE Toolkit Help Line is also available to assist state energy offices, program administrators, and local governments in deploying ARRA energy efficiency funding in a successful, sustainable manner by having a go-to resource for RDEE questions. Call 866-602-7333 or e-mail RDEE@icfi.com and receive a response within one business day.

Visit http://epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/ee_toolkit.html for more information and to download the Toolkit.

Ontario, Canada will have a smart meter in every home by the end of 2010, and its Information and Privacy Commissioner has now weighed in on the implications of placing detailed information on energy use online.

ConEdison Solutions is conducting a comprehensive campus energy audit and will begin implementing in late spring or early summer improvements such as solar water heating, rainwater harvesting, and heating and air-conditioning controls.

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) announced a $120 million statewide initiative to speed the adoption of the Smart Grid in Illinois. IIT is leading the Illinois Smart Grid collaboration with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, Village of Oak Park and more than 50 companies to make Illinois a hub for the effective innovation, validation, deployment and evaluation of Smart Grid technology. This initiative seeks to bring $60 million in federal stimulus money to Illinois to lower electricity bills, reduce blackouts, make energy cleaner and create green jobs.

If all AV products sold in the United States met the new Energy Star requirements, Americans would save more than $1 billion in energy costs annually while reducing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 1 million vehicles every year.

EPA revised the earlier Energy Star requirements for AV to address the rapid turnover of products and technologies, as well as changes in usage patterns within the category. The more inclusive and flexible specification will promote greater energy efficiency in today’s diverse market for audio/video products.

The new requirements for audio/video equipment cover a wider range of products including home-theater-in-a-box, audio amplifiers, AV receivers, shelf systems, DVD players, Blu Ray players, and docking stations that offer audio amplification or optical disc drive functions. Commercial AV products are also covered.

To earn the Energy Star label, AV products must consume less power when they are on and must power down automatically after a period of inactivity, using only small amounts of power to maintain settings and other features.

The new requirements for audio/video products previously eligible for the Energy Star will be effective July 30, 2010. For products previously excluded from Energy Star, such as commercial AV products and docking stations, the new requirements are effective immediately.

More information on Energy Star qualified audio/video products: http://www.energystar.gov/av

Have you been wanting to green your home, but don’t have the green to do it? As part of the federal stimulus package, the government is offering a tax credit on various products that will help boost your home’s energy efficiency. The tax credit covers 30 percent of the purchase price–and, in some cases, the installation cost as well–of eligible products “placed in service,” or put into use, in existing primary residences (not new construction) between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010. The maximum credit you can receive for all qualifying products during this period is $1,500.

“Smart appliances” are officially on their way to American households.

This month, General Electric began distributing a type of hot water heater that can link into the smart electric meters being doled out around the country — the first such “smart appliance” sold commercially in the United States, industry experts believe.

Whirlpool, meanwhile, plans to make one million smart dryers by 2011.

What constitutes smart? According to Kevin Nolan, a vice president for technology at G.E.’s consumer and industrial division, the water heater — which is very efficient in its own right — contains a port resembling an Ethernet port that can, in theory, plug into a converter box that, in turn, connects to the utility’s meter.

At times of high electricity use, such as the late afternoons, the consumer or the utility will be able to switch to a different, electricity-saving mode.

But there is a catch. Right now, smartness has virtually no benefit to average Americans — or to their utilities. “Smart meters” — which help control these devices — are not present in most households, though millions are on their way.

Fortune Data Centers’ San Jose facility earned the prestigious LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council last week, six months after opening the green facility.

With the certification, Fortune Data Centers has joined a very small number of LEED-rated data centers; the company estimated that it is one of only five such buildings in the United States.

The eight-megawatt data center can also brag a gold-star tenant: internet phenomenon Facebook confirmed that it is leasing some of the floor space in the facility, part of an ongoing expansion for the website, all of which has gone to green data centers, according to Data Center Knowledge.

Energy Explained
From e-mail:

Energy Explained , a new web portal launched today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), celebrates Energy Awareness Month with the most comprehensive energy education resource available from the U.S. Government.

The site explains where gasoline comes from, what determines the price of electricity, how much renewable energy the United States uses, and hundreds of other energy topics.

“Energy touches us in many ways every day, from the electricity that lights our homes to the fuel we use in our cars,” said EIA Administrator Richard Newell. “Energy Explained uses plain language and clear graphics to help explain a sometimes complex, but vital subject.”

Energy Explained allows easy navigation between major energy topics:

• What Is Energy?
• Use of Energy
• Energy and the Environment
• Nonrenewable Energy Sources
• Renewable Energy Sources
• Secondary Energy Sources

Source: Energy Information Administration

The scorecard examines state’s performance in six energy efficiency policy areas: (1) utility-sector and public benefits programs and policies, (2) transportation policies, (3) building energy codes, (4) combined heat and power, (5) state government initiatives, and (6) appliance efficiency standards. It also documents the best practices and leadership roles that states are playing in national efforts to reduce energy use.

This year, the scorecard found that the top 10 states doing the most to implement energy efficiency were California (1), Massachusetts (2), Connecticut (3), Oregon (4), New York (5), Vermont (6), Washington State (7), Minnesota (8), Rhode Island (9), and Maine (10). In addition, the average state energy efficiency score improved from 15 to 17 points (out of 50) when compared with last year’s average score. The “most improved” states, which climbed at least eight spots from last year’s rankings, include Maine, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

For states further down the list, the successful practices, examples, and information highlighted in this scorecard can serve as a roadmap for getting started with energy efficiency.

The database is searchable by state or by policy, and documents state activities in the energy efficiency policy areas covered in the scorecard. For detailed information about energy efficiency initiatives at the state level, visit ACEEE’s State Energy Efficiency Policy Database on the Web at http://www.aceee.org/energy/state/index.htm.

The 2009 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard is available for free download at http://www.aceee.org/pubs/e097.htm; hard copies may be ordered through a link on the download page.

The Green Grid, which helps the IT industry manage its energy use, has analyzed current and pending energy regulations in Europe, and concluded that datacenter managers need to be proactive about limiting their energy use and plan expansion carefully.

Energy Trends; Highlights on Consumer Energy usage (PDF; 325 KB)
Source: Nielsen
From Nielsen Wire blog:

While there are many motivating factors behind the green energy movement, for the average American “saving money” topped the list according The Nielsen Company’s latest Energy Trends report. Eighty percent of the 32,000 respondents polled cited cutting costs as their main motivation for conserving energy.

Overall, the study shows that many consumers have adopted more environmentally friendly habits, while others have not acted as quickly. “The current momentum surrounding green initiatives and reduced energy consumption presents utilities and home improvement companies with a golden opportunity,” says Jonathan Drost, Account Executive, Energy for The Nielsen Company. “When going green is cost effective, such as opting for Energy Star appliances or government incentive programs, customers migrate in that direction. The biggest hurdle for energy companies is educating the consumer on things like Smart Grids, Energy Efficiency programs and Renewable Green Energy.”

The Energy Savers blog provides a place for consumers to learn about and discuss energy efficiency and renewable technologies at home, on the road, and in the workplace. This blog supports the Energy Savers site of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Web site. The most recent post, entitled What Is Your Energy-Saving Success Story?, asks readers to share their energy conservation accomplishments. Energy Savers is also on Facebook.

Vice President Biden Unveils Report Focused on Expanding Green Jobs And Energy Savings For Middle Class Families
Source: Office of the Vice President

Vice President Biden today unveiled Recovery Through Retrofit, a report that builds on the foundation laid in the Recovery Act to expand green job opportunities and boost energy savings by making homes more energy efficient. Joining the Vice President today were Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy; Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor; Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and Karen Mills, Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

At a Middle Class Task Force meeting earlier this year, the Vice President asked the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop a proposal for Federal action to lay the groundwork for a self-sustaining home energy efficiency retrofit industry. In response, CEQ facilitated a broad interagency process with the Office of the Vice President, eleven Departments and Agencies and six White House Offices to develop recommendations for how to use existing authority and funding to accomplish this goal. These recommendations are described in detail in the Recovery Through Retrofit Report.

+ Full Report (PDF; 496 KB)

Report Examines Hidden Health and Environmental Costs Of Energy Production and Consumption In U.S.
Source: National Research Council

A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates “hidden” costs of energy production and use — such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health — that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them. The report estimates dollar values for several major components of these costs. The damages the committee was able to quantify were an estimated $120 billion in the U.S. in 2005, a number that reflects primarily health damages from air pollution associated with electricity generation and motor vehicle transportation. The figure does not include damages from climate change, harm to ecosystems, effects of some air pollutants such as mercury, and risks to national security, which the report examines but does not monetize.

Read full report for free online. (National Academies Press)

Strengthening U.S. International Energy Assistance to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improve Energy Security
Source: RAND Corporation

This study provides information on U.S. international energy-assistance programs, a potentially important tool for addressing the challenges of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and increasing U.S. energy security. International energy assistance may provide a low-cost, effective opportunity to reduce future growth in greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption before current development patterns become increasingly locked in throughout the developing world. The report reviews U.S. government energy-assistance trends and strategies, along with similar data for Germany, which has a different, highly coordinated approach to planning and implementing energy assistance. Recent studies that address U.S. energy and climate policy are also reviewed to gain insights that can inform efforts to improve U.S. energy assistance. Recommendations for further investigation include assessing the effectiveness of U.S. and other approaches to providing energy assistance to determine the reasons for any differences in effectiveness; comparing the longer-term benefits of supporting energy-sector policy reform with the shorter-term benefits of supporting more-specific technical assistance or investment projects; and assessing the advantages and disadvantages of focusing more U.S. energy assistance on fewer recipients.

Audit Report: The Department’s Management of the ENERGY STAR Program (PDF; 263 KB)
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General

As evidenced by the commitment of $300 million in Recovery Act funds, the ENERGY STAR Program plays an important role in the U.S. efforts to reduce energy consumption. We initiated this audit to determine whether the Department had implemented the actions it announced in 2007 to strengthen the Program.

Results of Audit
The Department had not implemented planned improvements in the ENERGY STAR Program. Our audit revealed that officials had not:

• Developed a formal quality assurance program to help ensure that product specifications were adhered to;
• Effectively monitored the use of the ENERGY STAR label to ensure that only qualifying products were labeled as compliant; and,
• Formalized procedures for establishing and revising product specifications and for documenting decisions regarding those specifications.

In our judgment, the delay in the Department’s planned improvements in its management of the ENERGY STAR Program could reduce consumer confidence in the integrity of the ENERGY STAR label. Such loss of credibility could reduce energy savings, increase consumer risk, and diminish the value of the recent infusion of $300 million for ENERGY STAR rebates under the Recovery Act.

Fossil Fuel Production Up Despite Recession
Source: Worldwatch Institute

World production of fossil fuels-oil, coal, and natural gas-increased 2.9 percent in 2008 to reach 27.4 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) per day. In the first half of the year, producers strained to meet global demand, but when the recession took hold later in the year the market was swamped by excess supply. Energy prices reflected this shift: oil peaked at $144 per barrel in July, then fell to $34 per barrel in December. Continuing a decade-long trend, most of the growth was in the Asia-Pacific region, where production grew 6.3 percent.

Although the global economic crisis has caused a temporary slump in demand, the longterm trend is clear: fossil fuel consumption in developing countries has surpassed that in industrialized countries. With four times the population and a vast demand for economic development to raise standards of living, developing countries will see energy use rise further.

For six years running, coal has led the growth in fossil fuel production. In 2000, it provided just 28 percent of the world’s fossil fuel energy production, compared with 45 percent for oil. But by 2008, coal production reached 9.1 Mtoe per day, representing a third of fossil energy production and a 0.7 percent increase over 2007. The growth in China’s coal consumption since 2000 dwarfs that of all other countries combined. India, second in growth, added less than an eighth as much coal consumption as China during that period.

The plan sets an energy savings target of 2.4% for electricity sales in 2012. Utility energy efficiency programs have traditionally produced savings of 0.8% to 0.9 % annually, backers said. If energy efficiency investments reach the 2012 target, it will save 2,648,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or 15% of the utilities’ annual residential customer usage. With energy savings of 2.4% per year going forward, Massachusetts would meet 30% of its electricity needs by 2020 through improved energy efficiency, rather than additional generation. Now that it has passed the state’s Energy Efficiency Advisory Council, it will go to the Department of Public Utilities for final approval this fall. See the Massachusetts governor’s press release.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), a division of the U.S. Department of Energy, has selected 37 forward-thinking energy research projects to receive a portion of $151 million in funding. The $151 million is part of the $400 million that ARPA-E has received from the Recovery Act.

ARPA-E received 300 applications for the initial round of funding. Ultimately, 37 research projects in 17 states received funding with 43 percent going to small businesses, 35 percent to educational research teams, and 19 percent to large corporations.

Companies worldwide are recognizing the value of embracing green tech — and not just IT vendors such as HP, IBM, Cisco, and Dell. Organizations large and small, from universities to SMBs to sprawling corporations such as Procter & Gamble, have embraced sustainable technology practices for one (or more) of the usual reasons: saving money on various forms of waste, cutting carbon emissions, complying with current or future legislation, and simply being better environmental stewards.

“This is the right thing for our environment and our economy – and the right time for action,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.  “Our Energy Star program can help families cut up to 30 percent off their energy bills – saving the average household more than $700 a year through efficiency investments.  Capitalizing on efficiency opportunities in millions of American homes will bring good jobs to communities, help families save money when they need it most, and reduce air pollution while we grow our green economy.”

The Recovery Through Retrofit Report builds on investments made in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to expand the home energy efficiency and retrofit market. With the Energy Star program, EPA brings to the table one of the federal government’s most successful programs. The Energy Star program will play a central role in promoting energy efficiency to consumers under the implementation of the Recovery Through Retrofit recommendations.  In particular, Home Performance with Energy Star offers homeowners a whole-house, building science-based approach to improving the energy efficiency of their homes.

EPA will expand Home Performance with Energy Star to identify and work with communities that already take advantage of the financing and worker training made available through the Recovery Through Retrofit initiative.  These showcase communities will be used as models to help accelerate home retrofits and innovative financing to drive greater energy efficiency across the country.

EPA will also help develop a new energy performance label for homes and work to establish national workforce certifications and training standards.

Energy Star was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.  Today, the Energy Star label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products including lighting, appliances, TVs, computers and other office equipment, and consumer electronics, as well as new homes, schools, and commercial buildings.

Existing techniques and technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting can reduce energy use by up to 40 percent per home and lower total associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160 million metric tons annually.  Retrofitting existing homes also has the potential to cut home energy bills by $21 billion annually.  Yet, despite the real energy cost savings and environmental benefits associated with improving home energy efficiency, a series of barriers have prevented a self-sustaining retrofit market from forming.  These barriers include a lack of access to information, financing and skilled workers.

The recommendations and actions in this report have been carefully designed to help overcome these barriers and to leverage recovery act funding to help ensure that the energy efficiency market will thrive long after the recovery act money is fully spent.

Some recommendations in the Recovery Through Retrofit report include:

• Provide American homeowners with straightforward and reliable home energy retrofit information:  Consumers need consistent, accessible, and trusted information that provides a reliable benchmark of energy efficiency and sound estimates of the costs and benefits of home energy retrofits.
• Reduce high upfront costs, making energy retrofits more accessible:  Access to retrofit financing should be more transparent, more accessible, repayable over a longer time period, and more consumer-friendly.
• Establish national workforce certifications and training standards:  A uniform set of national standards to qualify energy efficiency and retrofit workers and industry training providers will establish the foundation of consumer confidence that work will be completed correctly and produce the expected energy savings and benefits.  Such standards should incorporate healthy and environmentally friendly housing principles, as outlined in the report titled, the Surgeon General’s Call to Action To Promote Healthy Homes (2009).  Proper certification and training standards will ensure that retrofitted homes are healthy homes.  Consistent high-level national standards will spur the use of qualified training providers that offer career-track programs for people of all skill levels, promote and expand green jobs opportunities and facilitate the mobilization of a national home retrofit workforce.

The full report and recommendations: http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/document/Recovery_Through_Retrofit_Final_Report.pdf

Massachusetts is considering adopting energy-efficiency requirements for televisions, becoming the only state — besides California — weighing such a move.

A draft of the Boxer-Kerry senate version of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill was leaked to the media this week. I have previously posted about the proposed National Energy Efficiency Code in the Waxman-Markey bill and in the first proposed senate bill ACELA.

Both of those proposed Energy Efficiency Codes had specific energy efficiency targets, timelines, adoption and implementation plans, and enforcement, though they differed somewhat in the specifics. Not so the Boxer-Kerry Bill. What had been pages of turgid regulatory prose in the prior two bills has been condensed to a mere page and a half — Section 174, starting on page 113 of the draft bill for those of you following at home.

The most interesting part is that all specifics have disappeared. No mandated energy efficiency savings, no specifics for implementation timeline, no enforcement, nothing. Just a mandate that the Department of Energy or “other agency head or heads as may be designated by the President”

It’s estimated that the power a server burns over its lifetime will soon cost more than the server itself. A panel of industry speakers discussed a lot of options for saving power, and described how institutional issues can block their adoption.

Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings: Learning from the European Union and Australia
Source: RAND Corporation
From press release:

The United States can become more energy efficient and create more “green” jobs by adopting some of the strategies used by the European Union and Australia to rate and disclose the performance of commercial and government-owned buildings, according to a new RAND Corporation study issued today.

The study finds that wealthier countries use more than a third of their energy to heat, cool and illuminate buildings, but not always efficiently. Recent steps taken by the European Union and Australia to inspect, rate and publicly disclose the energy efficiency of buildings indicate the buildings use less energy and are worth more when sold or leased.

The buildings sector has unique characteristics that make design of energy efficiency policies particularly challenging: transactions are infrequent, capital costs are high, and the variablility of design and siting makes energy efficiency comparisons difficulty. Often, owners must bear the costs of efficiency improvements while costs savings are obtained by tenants.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has launched a new online portal for companies looking for help in developing energy efficiency strategies.

The Corporate Energy Efficiency website is part of a larger Pew Center project focused on sharing corporate energy efficiency best practices related to internal operations, supply chains, products and services.

Green IT may be on the rise, but most IT professionals are not yet looking at the best ways of reducing computing’s impact: According to Gartner’s survey of IT managers, only 52 percent are actively measuring their data centers’ energy use.

EFDs were first proposed by the City of Berkeley, California, in 2007 and have received increasing attention as a mechanism for financing residential or commercial clean energy projects, including energy efficiency, solar photovoltaic, or solar thermal systems. EFDs enable local governments to raise money by issuing bonds to fund these clean energy projects. For local governments, an EFD provides an opportunity to address climate change locally, to support residents’ environmentally friendly building improvements at low cost to government, and to strengthen the local economy in energy efficiency retrofitting and solar installation. Because the loans are secured by property liens, an EFD program provides virtually no risk to the local government’s general fund.

For more information and to download the report, please visit
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=44262

The guide may also be accessed at:
http://rael.berkeley.edu/files/berkeleysolar/HowTo.pdf

ePals and Team Earth are joining forces to tackle five of the biggest issues facing our planet: climate, water, food, health and waste.

Electronic devices are the fastest-growing source of power demand in the world, but there is resistance to efficiency.

Philips has the first entry in an Energy Department contest to build a more efficient 60-watt light bulb.

As my colleague Jad Mouawad and I write in an article in Sunday’s Times, virtually no electronic gadgets in American households — including televisions and computers — are subject to energy efficiency requirements.

Today’s data center is going through a constant state of flux in an attempt to keep up with current demands. The data landscape grows exponentially, and with that growth comes the need to expand current storage and data center infrastructures. This expansion is a fact businesses in every vertical have come to accept, but it comes with a price.

If The Graduate (1967) were remade today, the famous scene where Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) gets career advice might have to be rewritten this way:

Mr. McGuire: I want to say two words to you. Just two words.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr. McGuire: Energy efficiency.Energy efficiency is not as sexy as solar power or wind turbines or electric cars. It’s not even as sexy as plastics. In fact, it can be stupefyingly dull. It’s not much of a punchline. But it matters. It matters a lot.

Internal Treasury Department documents released this week confirm the Obama administration’s expectations for a nationwide global warming “cap and trade” plan.  The documents were obtained by CEI Senior Fellow Christopher Horner through a Freedom of Information Act request.

California today unveiled energy-efficiency requirements for televisions, becoming the first state in the nation to devise regulations for one of the largest users of energy in American households.

The proposed requirements, which still require final approval, would apply to new televisions for sale starting in 2011. By 2013 — when the standards tighten further — total energy consumption would be reduced by an average of 49 percent, according to the California Energy Commission, the body that announced the rule.

In case you haven’t heard (or aren’t obsessively following IT trends like we are), the great trend in software is the evolution from traditional “on-premises” software (e.g. client/server software installed at the office) to Software as a Service (SaaS) (i.e. web-based applications that are managed in the vendors’ data center and accessed “on-demand” through a web browser).

Given what’s at stake for software companies in either camp, debating the merits of each model has led to some fiery discourse. We thought we’d fan the flames by introducing another angle: which model is “greener;” that is, better for the environment.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has launched an experimental multimedia news Web site that explores U.S. energy use and its relationship to the country’s demographics.

“Powering a Nation” (www.poweringanation.org) is Carolina’s contribution to the News21 project led by eight of the 12 top journalism programs participating in the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education funded by the Carnegie Corp. of New York and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, Fla.

Europe has long used a letter-grading system for indicating the efficiency of consumer electronics (above right). The labels runs from the letter G, representing the least efficient electronics products, to A, representing the top tier of efficiency.

But after more than a decade, the authors of a new study note, “the embrace of innovation has led to the development of so many energy-efficient products that for many product categories, the highest class of the scale has already been achieved or even surpassed. The E.U. Energy label has become a victim of its own success with too many appliances crowded in the top of the scale.”

An energy management solution that Site Controls crafted for Michaels Stores Inc. has led to a more than 25 percent drop in consumption among the retailer’s nearly 1,000 stores.

Nowadays, the “developed” world gets most of its energy from fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — along with nuclear power and hydroelectric dams.

But this era of easily accessible fossil fuels is likely to be but a brief blip in the history of humanity. The peaks of oil and gas production are expected to be reached within the next 50 years, and coal production is likely to peak about the end of this century, if business continues as usual.

Moreover, scientists advise us that we would be wise to leave a lot of the fossils in the ground, to reduce the risk of climate change.

So where will the world get its energy from next — when, inevitably, humans stop using fossil fuels?

Is it realistic to imagine a comfortable return to renewable energy sources? Whales are not a realistic source of oil anymore, but could windmills, water mills, energy crops and all the other renewable options provide enough energy for today’s vastly increased population to maintain today’s lifestyle?

Discussion of those questions is astonishingly polarized. On the one side, advocates point out that the earth receives more energy from the sun in just one hour than the world’s population uses in a whole year or argue that wind power could theoretically supply all the world’s electricity.

The other side of the cacophony responds with a litany of its own: Renewables are pathetic, intermittent and expensive. They are not good but bad for the environment. And ugly.

Neither is very illuminating. To have constructive conversations about the world’s energy options, one needs to take a calm look at the numbers.

New standards will make beverage vending machines energy sippers
Source: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

The average energy use of the most common new cold beverage vending machines would be cut by about 42% according to new national minimum standards published today by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Today’s move fulfills President Obama’s February 5th pledge to complete five new efficiency standards by August. Energy efficiency and environmental groups lauded the new standards and DOE’s prompt fulfillment of the President’s commitment while lamenting the lack of energy-saving smart controls for vending machines that could have achieved even larger savings.

“With roughly 3 million beverage vending machines in the U.S., or 1 for every 100 Americans, a strong national standard means real savings for all the universities, park districts, hotels, and other institutions and businesses that pay the electric bills for these machines,” said Noah Horowitz, Senior Scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “With these standards, we are assured that all new soda vending machines will be energy sippers and not the energy guzzlers of old.”

These standards build on a series of improvements in vending machine efficiency achieved over the past decade. According to Horowitz, who pioneered research into vending machine energy use, many machines used as much as 3,000 to 5,000 kilowatt-hours per year in the mid-1990s. With the new standards, per unit energy use will be no more than about 1,400 to 1,800 kilowatt-hours per year. Once the new standards take effect in three years, typical new machines will save well over $100 per year, with the savings being much greater for larger machines and those in warm climates.

+ Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Refrigerated Bottled or Canned Beverage Vending Machines (PDF; 847 KB)

“Energy efficiency isn’t just low-hanging fruit; it’s fruit lying on the ground.  We have the tools to reduce energy use at home and at work and to provide huge savings to families and businesses on their energy bills.  But use of these technologies has been far too limited because we lack the simple and effective ways for people to access them,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

“The ‘Retrofit Ramp-Up’ program will support large-scale models that can open new energy efficiency opportunities to whole neighborhoods, towns, and, eventually, entire states,” continued Secretary Chu.  “The Recovery Act will allow innovative communities to demonstrate a variety of sustainable business models that can be replicated across the country.”

The Request for Information (RFI) being issued today is for competitively-selected local energy efficiency projects.  This competitive portion of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program will target community-scale retrofit projects that make significant, long-term impacts on energy use and can serve as national role models for grassroots energy efficiency efforts.  DOE is seeking public comment on this newly funded program under the Recovery Act.  Public comment ends on September 28, 2009.

The Department of Energy is accepting feedback on both the competitively-selected portion of the EECBG program for up to $390 million for neighborhood-scale building retrofits, as well as up to $64 million for local governments that were not eligible to receive the formula grants announced earlier this year.  The EECBG program empowers local communities to make strategic investments to meet the Nation’s long-term goals for energy independence and leadership on climate change.

This first topic area under the funding solicitation will target a select number of innovative programs that are structured to provide whole-neighborhood building energy retrofits.  These will be projects that demonstrate a sustainable business model for providing cost-effective energy upgrades for a large percentage of the residential, commercial, and public buildings in a specific community.  Possible approaches could include innovative partnerships between the public and private sector, utility retrofit and audit programs, alternative financing, retail partnerships, and others.  The Department of Energy will award up to $390 million for these projects.

The second topic area for up to $64 million is reserved for cities, counties and State-recognized Indian Tribes that were not eligible to receive population-based formula grant allocations from DOE under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.   These funds are intended to help expand local energy efficiency efforts and reduce energy use in the commercial, residential, transportation, manufacturing, or industrial sectors.

“The aim of the ‘Retrofit Ramp-Up’ program is to jump-start an industry that makes energy efficiency savings easy to access and available to everyone.  By encouraging partnerships between local governments and effective private enterprises, we hope tune-ups for buildings will become as accepted as tune-ups for cars.  These efforts will save Americans millions of dollars, reduce carbon pollution, and create new green jobs,” said Secretary Chu

The complete Request for Information is available HERE.  Public comment is requested by September 28, 2009. The Funding Opportunity Announcement is expected to be released in early October, following the public comment period.

For more information on the EECBG program, visit www.eecbg.energy.gov.

Not everyone is sold on alternative fuels as the solution to energy problems. Time magazine senior correspondent Michael Grunwald is a skeptic when it comes to renewable fuels. He tells Steve Inskeep instead of emphasizing alternative energy sources, the U.S. should focus on boosting efficiency and reducing consumption.

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability was developed by the Earth System Science Partnership to ensure that specialists keep up to date with the expanding volume of information published in the interdisciplinary research area of environmental change and sustainability. The journal is divided into six major sections: Climate Systems; Human settlements and habitat; Energy systems; Terrestrials systems; Carbon and Nitrogen cycles; and Aquatic systems. Reviewed once a year, each section aims to cover the latest advances and trends on the environmental dimensions of sustainability and provides the views of invited experts on recent literature, with particular emphasis on articles published in the past two-three years.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has made more than $1.6 million available through the Multifamily Performance Program to the Schenectady Municipal Housing Authority (SMHA) as part of a comprehensive statewide energy reduction plan. Following an efficiency upgrade, SMHA will reduce energy use by more than 20 percent in six of its apartment complexes, which is expected to save SMHA nearly $480,000 annually. The NYSERDA initiative is part of Governor David A. Paterson’s ‘45 by 15’ plan to meet 45 percent of the State’s electricity needs through efficiency and renewable resources by 2015.