California accelerates energy storage deployment with new legislation Energy Storage News, September 28, 2016 California state legislature and governor Jerry Brown have signed into law four key new energy bills that are set to accelerate energy storage deployment in the Golden State. Bill AB 1637 follows up on the previous victory that storage experienced with recent Self … Read more
Several States Show Marked Improvement in 2016 ACEEE State Energy Efficiency Scorecard Ethan Forauer, ERS, for Zondits Energy efficiency continued to accelerate across the United States over the last year, and the improvements are evident in the tenth annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, released today by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). … Read more
Could green mortgages help deliver the energy efficiency revolution Europe needs? Business Green, September 20, 2016 Backed by the World Green Building Council, the “groundbreaking” energy efficiency financing project could offer homebuyers across the EU better borrowing rates on mortgages in return for purchasing more energy efficient homes or committing to implementing energy saving work … Read more
Cornell wants to drill 2 to 4 miles underground for enhanced geothermal heating ARS Technica, September 19, 2016 Geothermal energy—energy drawn from the internal heat of the Earth—has long been the purview of mountainous, volcano- and earthquake-prone regions like the western United States or Iceland. The US’ eastern states, on the other hand, have been … Read more
Progress on Commercial Building Energy Efficiency has been Good, but More Attention is Needed to Decrease Waste in Several Areas The Energy Collective, July 4, 2016 Data recently released as part of the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) highlights changes in commercial sector energy demand between 2003 and 2012. The Energy Information Administration conducts CBECS approximately … Read more
California is about to find out what a truly radical climate policy looks like Vox, September 9, 2016 Within the United States, California is No. 1 (by far) in solar power and No. 3 in wind power. It boasts the third-lowest carbon dioxide emissions per capita behind New York and Vermont. Since 2000, the state has managed to shrink its overall carbon footprint slightly … Read more
Valerie Eacret, ERS, for Zondits As with any nonrenewable resource, there are limits to efficiency as a resource. Steven Nadel’s recent paper explores the potential for energy efficiency to provide consistent, sustained savings. The good news is that a 1% load reduction appears to be feasible to at least 2030 – and potentially 2050 – … Read more
Sue Haselhorst, ERS, and Joe Dolengo, National Grid, presented at ACEEE Summer Study, 2016 ABSTRACT It has become clichéd that implementers want evaluation results sooner and with actionable recommendations; however, impact results often arrive two to four years after the measures are installed and paid, for and the evaluator recommendations are stale. National Grid’s (NGrid’s) … Read more
Jesse Remillard, ERS, for Zondits A startup company, Quidnet Energy, founded by Aaron Mandell and Howard Schmidt, has the potential to drastically lower the cost of energy storage. The pilot project implemented in 2015 uses excess electricity to pump large volumes of water into an abandoned natural gas well in Texas at high pressures. When … Read more
An In-Depth Look at What Data Is Useful for the Utility of the Future Isaac Wainstein, Ryan Bossis, ERS, Presented at the 2016 ACEEE Summer Study It is often recognized that gathering large and robust data sets is a critical component for the utility of the future to successfully integrate energy efficiency as a grid … Read more