2012 January 16

Environmental Disaster Looms Over Wrecked Cruise Ship

Solar Lanterns Replacing Kerosene With Self-Sustaining Revolving Loan Fund

“Thinking Big” on Efficiency Could Cut U.S. Energy Costs up to $16 Trillion, Create up to 1.9 Million Net Jobs by 2050

America is thinking too small when it comes to energy efficiency … according to a major new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

The new report outlines three scenarios under which the U.S. could either continue on its current path or cut energy consumption by the year 2050 almost 60 percent, add nearly two million net jobs in 2050, and save energy consumers as much as $400 billion per year (the equivalent of $2600 per household annually).

According to ACEEE, the secret to major economic gains from energy efficiency is a more productive investment pattern of increased investments in energy efficiency, which would allow lower investments in power plants and other supply infrastructure, thereby substantially lowering overall energy expenditures on an economy-wide basis in the residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric power sectors.

“The evidence suggests that without a greater emphasis on the more efficient use of energy resources, there may be as many as three jokers in the deck that will threaten the robustness of our nation’s future economy,” explains John A. “Skip” Laitner, ACEEE’s director of economic and social analysis.

Examples of potential large-scale energy efficiency savings identified by ACEEE include the following:

• Electric Power. Our current system of generating and delivering electricity to U.S. homes and businesses is an anemic 31 percent energy efficient. That is, for every three units of coal or other fuel we use to generate the power, we manage to deliver less than one unit of electricity to our homes and businesses. What the U.S. wastes in the generation of electricity is more than Japan needs to power its entire economy. What is even more astonishing is that our current level of (in)efficiency is essentially unchanged in the half century since 1960, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower spent his last year in the White House.

• Transportation.   The fuel economy of conventional petroleum-fueled vehicles continues to grow while hybrid, electric, and fuel cell vehicles gain large shares, totaling nearly three-quarters of all new light-duty vehicles in 2050 in the report’s middle scenario. Aviation, rail, and shipping energy use declines substantially in this scenario through a combination of technological and operational improvements. In the most aggressive scenario, there is a shift toward more compact development patterns, and greater investment in alternative modes of travel and other measures that reduce both passenger and freight vehicle miles traveled. This scenario also phases out conventional light-duty gasoline vehicles entirely, increases hybrid and fuel cell penetration for heavy-duty vehicles, and reduces aviation energy use by 70 percent.

• Buildings.   In residential and commercial buildings the evidence suggests potential reductions of space heating and cooling needs as the result of building shell improvements of up to 60 percent in existing buildings, and 70-90 percent in new buildings. The ACEEE scenarios also incorporate advanced heating and cooling systems (e.g., gas and ground-source air conditioners and heat pumps and condensing furnaces and boilers), decreased energy distribution losses, advanced solid-state lighting, and significantly more efficient appliances.

• Industry. In the industrial sector, energy efficiency opportunities reduce 2050 energy use by up to half, coming less from equipment efficiency and more from optimization of complex systems. The ACEEE analysis focuses on process optimization in the middle scenario, but also anticipates even greater optimization of entire supply chains in the most aggressive scenario, allowing for more efficient use of feedstocks and elimination of wasted production.

Are such advances in energy efficiency realistic?

As the ACEEE report points out, the U.S. already has achieved considerable advances in the energy efficiency context and is poised to do more: “The U.S. economy has tripled in size since 1970 and three-quarters of the energy needed to fuel that growth came from an amazing variety of efficiency advances-not new energy supplies. Indeed, the overwhelming emphasis in current policy debates on finding new energy supplies is such that emphasis on new supplies may be crowding out investments and innovations that can help to achieve greater levels of energy productivity. Going forward, the current economic recovery, and our future economic prosperity, will depend more on new energy efficiency behaviors and investments than we’ve seen in the last 40 years.”

This is a news release published by ACEEE. You can find the whole report at the ACEEE website.

A New Cycling Superhighway. Not in the U.S.A.

U.N.’s New Sustainability Plan: Double Renewable Power Worldwide, Give Energy Access to All

UN chief call for action on clean energy

Governments and the private sector must ramp up their investments into sustainable energy as part of a larger effort to alleviate poverty around the world and combat climate change, the U.N. chief told an energy conference on 16th January.

Ban Ki-moon told delegates at the World Future Energy Summit that he wants to see the world double its share of renewable energy, which typically includes wind, solar and hydropower, by 2030.

“This is the right time for the initiative,” Ban said. “Across the world, we see momentum building for concrete action that reduces energy poverty, catalyzes sustainable growth and mitigates climate change. Achieving sustainable energy is both feasible and necessary.”

“It is neither just nor sustainable that one in five lacks access to modern electricity. It is not acceptable that 3 billion people have to rely on wood, coal or charcoal for cooking and heating,” he continued. “We need to turn on the lights for all households. To do that, we need to scale up success examples of clean energy and energy efficient technology. We need innovation that can spread throughout the developing world where energy demand is growing fastest.”

China has become world’s top producer of hydropower and the fastest growing region for wind and solar power. It also has set a goal in the country’s 12th, five-year plan of increasing the amount of renewables from the current rate of 8.3 percent to 11.4 percent and cutting energy intensity 16 percent by 2015.

Allen & York are Renewable Energy Recruitment Specialists.  With Renewable Energy Job Opportunities that include:

When We Struggle, We Learn

Big Energy Week

Today, Citizens Advice are launching Big Energy Week, which was brought about following news that 38% of people in the South West are worried that they can’t afford their next energy bill.

From the 16th to the 21st of January, Citizens Advice will give thousands of people from across the South West important practical help and advice on how they can save money on their gas and electricity bills, as well as how to recieve all the financial support that they are entitled to.

The event is supported by consumer organisations Consumer Focus and Which?, Ofgem, energy suppliers and accredited switching websites.

To find out more about Big Energy Week click: http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/bigenergyweek

Sustainability Recruitment Consultancy, Allen & York recruit within the Energy Sector.

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