Get Energy Smart! NOW!

Without doing fully burdened cost-benefit analysis, NOAA and University of Colorado Boulder researchers analyzed various electricity portfolios (article) over the coming decade and found that: Even in a scenario where renewable energy costs more than experts predict, the model produced a system that cuts CO2 emissions 33 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and delivered electricity […]

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an electric car is a relatively low-polluting vehicle today and will be even less polluting tomorrow. A simple truth upfront: All things being equal, electric vehicles (EVs) reduce pollution loads. Now, there are many caveats and corollaries to this truism. For example, Better to reduce transport requirements (build/live in walkable communities; telecommute; etc …) than […]

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Another guest post from the very thoughtful BruceMcF. Several points: Key:  If viewed as “portfolio” (and combined with advancing smart grid and storage options as penetration increases), clean energy can phase into replace 100% of the fossil-foolish electricity grid. Second, BruceMcF violates the cardinal law of debunking myths (here):   Don’t lead with the myth because, […]

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In a series of guest posts, Assaf addresses — from the perspective both of an EV owner and an analyst — myths about electric vehicles. The first post addressed the life-cycle CO2 Footprint of various types of cars … and … the simple truth (in line with Debunking Handbook guidelines): Electric Vehicles have lower (LOWER!) […]

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JamesS had an interesting turn of phrase amid a discussion of the need for a national smart grid with significant change to management of our electrical system. Patch work is great for quilts and old jeans — not so great for a 21st century Electric Utility system. This caught my attention, the word paints a […]

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100 … 100 percent.  Such a ’round’ and definitive figure provides the basis for a very clear, simple target to think about. With all the delays toward action related to climate mitigation and the mounting impacts of climate disruption around the globe, the concept of 80 by 50 (80 percent reduction carbon emissions by 2050 […]

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The Romney-Ryan energy plan has been appropriately castigated for embracing and enshrining fossil fuels while disdaining and dismissing renewable energy systems (and, well, totally ignoring energy efficiency).  (One could say that the Romney-Ryan campaign is rejecting energy from heaven and embracing (with passion) energy from hell.) With mindless ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ cheering, enraptured sonnets for Keystone […]

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Guest Blogger J. Siegel has been doing a series of pieces on this blog (list below … latest here) on her work within her own master-metered condominium and, beyond that, on working to develop a community of master-metered communities to share lessons and seek leverage for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs to help them […]

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Understanding how feedback impacts people and institutions (whether in sports, school, militaryoperations, or …) in learning and change (hopefully, improvement) is a complex and fascinatingworld.  Data collection and feedback systems, as a tool for providing building/system operators the ability to make more informed decisions about energy use, are a critical pathway toward more effective (generally, […]

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