Buildings account for more than 70% of U.S. electricity use and one-third of economy-wide CO2 emissions. Andrew Satchwell at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory presents the U.S. Department of Energy’s comprehensive plan, “A National Roadmap for Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings”, that could deliver up to $200bn in savings to the U.S. power system and cut CO2 emissions by 80m tons per year by 2030 (6% of total power sector emissions). … [Read more...]
Non-energy firms lead investments in clean energy start-ups
Investments in innovative “blue sky” companies tell us where the bets are being placed on the energy sector’s future. Such investments leaped in 2016, mostly directed at clean energy technology. This analysis by Simon Bennett at the IEA usefully includes a long list of firms and their investments. Digital sensors, batteries, electric vehicles and smart algorithms are among the main recipients this year. Other fascinating categories include … [Read more...]
U.S. buildings electrification hindered by “new” renovation policies that are already out of date
U.S. buildings renovation policies are not keeping up with technological progress and therefore risk slowing down electrification and the uptake of cleaner fuels, say Jessica Shipley and Donna Brutkoski of the think tank Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). For example, there are policies and incentives that favour the installation of more energy efficient appliances, but ignore whether the appliance is greener. Put simply, policies need to … [Read more...]
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