energy efficiency

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The Global e-Sustainability Initiative, an information and communication technology (ICT) industry partnership, just released a new report that details how expanded use of ICT could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 16.5% by 2020 and offset $1.9 trillion in gross energy and fuel costs. Unsurprisingly, the power and transportation sectors are found to have the highest potential for GHG emission reduction via greater ICT adoption.[read more]

This week in Doha, Qatar, world leaders are struggling with how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough, and in amounts great enough, to protect people from the droughts, food shortages, rising sea levels, and severe weather events that climate change is likely to bring.Leaders are debating a range of solutions including carbon...[read more]

Energy efficiency seems to have many supporters, but often they are not willing to put their money where their mouth is.[read more]

FossilTrax

It can seem counter-intuitive, but passage and enactment of a carbon tax would have far-reaching positive effects on the US economy and society, stimulating investment, innovation and economic growth, and making US business and industry more competitive. Or will it?[read more]

Energy Efficiency Conservation via Shutterstock

This week two different conferences adddressing energy efficiency are being held: one in Quito, Ecuador, and the other in Mexico City.In Quito, there are four events to promote energy efficiency in the productive sectors of Latin American and the Caribbean countries. The events, which together form an Energy Efficiency Week, are being...[read more]

Energy Efficiency Concept via Shutterstock

The significance of the “rebound effect” remains a matter of some debate. (The rebound effect is the frequently observed tendency for energy efficiency improvements to increase consumer use of the now more efficient good or service).[read more]

Energy efficiency is a key component of climate change policy, and is promoted as a low cost means to reduce greenhouse emissions and reduce peak demand. Indeed, it has been almost universally adopted as a key plank of the “sustainability project” by environmental NGOs, green parties, and large sections of Government. Yet, is this justifiable?[read more]

A variety of recent articles have trumpeted how U.S. oil and gas production is up.  For example, Daniel Yergin, in a New York Times op ed, notes that U.S. oil production has increased 1.6 million barrels per day since 1998 and that a further 0.6 million barrel increase may be possible this year.  He also notes how shale gas is...[read more]

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Last week I attended Realcomm’s first IBCON in Las Vegas. This gathering of real estate professionals, information technology and building efficiency vendors represented major stakeholders in the Smart Buildings market. The presentations and discussions at this inaugural meeting provided valuable insight into the challenges and...[read more]

Say you were getting ready to put your home on the market and wanted to make a quick investment to boost the selling price. Would you be better off buying a granite countertop for your kitchen, or an ultra-efficient furnace that would lower heating bills by hundreds of dollars every year?[read more]

The IEA’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) is an annual tradition, the result of much work, data analysis and presentation. A formative volume is produced for all to read and digest, but few of us have the time to do so in the detail required. As such we rely to some extent on IEA presentations and summary documents. One such presentation was given by IEA Chief Economist Dr. Fatih Birol for the British Institute of Energy Economics. Rather than a WEO “tour de force”, the format was closer to storytelling, or more correctly short stories. Here are five pearls that emerge from the most recent WEO.[read more]

This post is the second of three on sustaining local energy efficiency efforts. The first post described trends in local implementation of energy efficiency. The next post will explore sustainable funding sources.While some local governments are still just testing the waters of energy efficiency; many others have decided to dive in...[read more]

To the casual observer, energy efficiency means very little, that is until they see the cost savings associated with making tweaks to their homes and businesses.  According to a new report, one energy retrofit may be more efficient than the rest. Who's thought of installing window film on their windows lately?  Well, the...[read more]

The Defense Department recently released its widely anticipated roadmap to transform operational energy security. Energy security has become a strategic as well as an operational imperative for U.S. national security.[read more]

The Northeast stands at a cross-roads for the future of our region’s energy system.  Over the last decade there have been events that have alerted us to our growing need to diversify our energy resources: the great blackout of 2003 which left 50 million people throughout the Northeast and Canada in the dark, not to mention several...[read more]