Britain proposed on Thursday to allow all households from 2012 to apply for loans and cash to save energy and cut carbon emissions, costs energy companies are likely to meet and pass on to all consumers.
Green groups welcomed the plans but criticized a perceived lack of clarity and timidity in timing and funding.
"We need to move from incremental steps forward on household energy efficiency to a comprehensive national plan," said Energy and Climate Change minister Ed Miliband.
"Energy efficiency and low-carbon energy are the fairest routes to curbing emissions, saving money for families, improving our energy security and insulating us from volatile fossil fuel prices," he told reporters and trade and policy experts.
One proposal under the plans, open for consultation from Thursday, would allow any household to get a loan to pay for insulation or to install renewable sources of heating, and repay that from the resulting energy savings.
"We want to ensure that this great British "refurb" is based on a plan which over time covers every area and every house in every area," Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said today in a speech in London. "Families are losing up to 300 pounds ($428) a year from inadequate energy efficiency."
The U.K., enduring its worst winter since 1991, is planning to save energy and cut residential greenhouse-gas emissions to almost zero through a "sustainable makeover" on each of the country's 27 million households.
The aim was for all UK homes to make near-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the energy and climate ministry said in a statement announcing its "Heat and Energy Saving" strategy.
The IT industry is joining the push toward energy efficiency by developing new power management technology to curb the sector's harmful contribution to climate change, operators say. It seems to be a global initiative stretching across Europe and North American from what I can tell.
In moves toward clawing back some of that damage, a number of IT companies are developing or upgrading power management technology which can turn off computers and other devices automatically, saving money and the planet.
"A bank branch could save nearly 40,000 euros ($53,020) just by turning off phones and wireless access points outside business hours," David Frampton, VP general manager of Cisco's LAN switching business unit, told Reuters.
Similarly, 1E, a leading provider of software products and professional services for Windows Management, has two plans to help with saving energy and reducing costs. Specifically, 1E WakeUp(TM) and the award-winning NightWatchman(R), together they are a "Power & Patch Management Pack" which save energy, cut costs and protect networks. The solution safely, remotely and automatically shuts down and "wakes up" PCs while saving user data.
Xcel Energy Inc. on Tuesday, January 27,2009, announced rebates for energy efficiency appliances and projects as part of its effort to cut energy demands by its customers by nearly 125 megawatts and cut natural gas use by more than 7.2 million therms.
This week Sun Microsystems unveiled its new energy-efficient data center. Located in Broomfield, Colorado, the power and cooling technologies at this data center will help the company save over $1 million in electricity costs and about 11,000 tons in CO2 emissions every year - or enough energy to power about 1,000 homes every month.
Sun Microsystems has recently completed energy-efficient projects in the UK, India, and Santa Clara, CA.
This morning, President Barack Obama signed two executive orders that could be remembered as the critical turning point toward achieving real energy independence and stopping global warming.
President Obama directed the EPA to review the Bush administration's denial of a waiver request by California to cut global warming pollution from automobiles. The president also ordered the Transportation Department to enact short-term rules on how automakers can improve the fuel efficiency of their new models.
Politically, what President Obama said was at least as important as what he signed.
The President's powerful statement affirming his commitment to moving aggressively to cut global warming emissions and unleash America's clean energy future laid out clear goals for action in the coming weeks and months.
The President's plan—including the next step of a cap on carbon pollution—means more new jobs, a rebirth for the American auto industry, and less global warming pollution.
[from David Yarnold Director of the Environmental Defense Fund]
The Energy Information Administration reported yesterday:
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels increased by 1.6 percent in 2007. Factors that drove the emissions increase included weather conditions that increased the demand for heating and cooling services and a higher carbon intensity of electricity supply.
Total U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have grown by 19.4 percent since 1990. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions account for over 80 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
I found these stats to me particularly interesting and alarming. Though I will admit you cannot always believe what you read. Statistic especially can be skewed depending on the target audience and the presenter.
Even more interesting is what President Bush said about this topic last year after the EIA released data for 2006, "We are effectively confronting the important challenge of global climate change through regulations, public-private partnerships, incentives, and strong economic investment." lol.
All the talk on green and conservation has led to more and more people delving into inventing new forms of solar energy. This one seems to be the most versatile of what I have seen lately because the panels are inflatable which means you could theoretically take them anywhere with you, right?
From ecofriend.org "An English company, IDC, has announced plans to mass-produce an inflatable solar panel and make it commercially available for less than $200. The SolarStore panels, which inflate from a backpack into a 2 meter square, are designed to replace hot water heaters, one of the primary consumers of power in most households. This means that you could just heat water anytime you want using these instantly inflatable solar panels."
It is capable of heating up to three full thanks. Impressive.
EnergyHotwire.com is the first fully comprehensive web site that teaches Americans how we can be energy-independent with a well-diversified team of experts led by Environmental Scientist & Energy Consultant Bill Lauto.
This Earth Day, April 22, the all-new version of EnergyHotwire.com will be launched, focusing our nation on step-by-step goals to help lower energy bills up to 60% without sacrifice! "We have the technology; we can be energy independent," Lauto has stated for over ten years.
Along with learning how to lower energy bills on topics such as Appliances, Cooking, Cooling, Heating, Insulation, Lighting, Shrubs, Solar, Water, Windows, and Doors, viewers can email EnergyHotwire.com with specific energy-related questions.
Right now the site is a mess, but it should be put together by the 22nd.
"How former miners transformed a pit into an energy village" the headline and reason for this village having received a Silver Jubilee Cup, the Royal Town Planning Institute's highest award.
"An industrial provident society in Nottinghamshire, which has carried out traditional northern doorstep-cleaning on a massive scale, has won the Silver Jubilee Cup, the Royal Town Planning Institute's highest award."
It's really quite fascinating if you ask me and I sincerely hope we see more of these communities cropping up in the future worldwide. "Sherwood Energy Village (SEV) is an Industrial & Provident Society. We are a fully trading company, but our profits are applied back to our Aims and Objectives rather than shareholder benefit."
A former coal mining town community of Ollerton has been made over into wha is now being called Sherwood Energy Village. Offices and homes are built in such a way that they trap and store sunlight. The entire "pit" is running on wind turbines. The energy village also includes rainwater harvesting, and is currently the construction site for some 196 sustainable homes.
I don't want to live in a pit/cult, but you get the idea of how fantastic something like this could be on a larger scale, right?
President George Bush: "The age of clean energy requires transforming the way we produce electricity. Electric power plants that burn coal are the world's leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions. The world's supply of coal is secure and abundant. And our challenge is take advantage of it while maintaining our commitment to the environment. One promising solution is advanced clean coal technology. The future of this technology will allow us to trap and store carbon emissions and air pollutants produced by burning coal. Since 2001 the United States has invested more than $2.5 billion to research and develop clean coal. And in partnership with other nations and the private sector we're moving closer to a historic achievement -- producing energy from the world's first zero-emissions coal-fired plant.
We also need to take advantage of clean safe nuclear power. Nuclear power is the one existing source of energy that can generate massive amounts of electricity without causing any air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. Without the world's 439 nuclear power plants, there would be nearly 2 billion additional tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere each year. And by expanding the use of nuclear power, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions even more."
He is such a *^%(&*@)! It's like he is seasoning soup the way he throws words like energy, emissions and technology around. He doesn't have a clue what he is talking about and it is absolutely frustrating!
President George Bush: "We will harness the power of technology. There is a way forward that will enable us to grow our economies and protect the environment, and that's called technology. We'll meet our energy needs. We'll be good stewards of this environment. Achieving these goals will require a sustained effort over many decades. This problem isn't going to be solved overnight."
He is the most redundant speaker I have ever heard! Not to mention it sounds like he stole lines from every "green" promoting commercial on the air today!
Yay! I am so excited to hear that solar panels are soon going to be far more affordable. Seems like an odd thing to be giddy over, but I know this will help a lot of people run their homes more energy efficient which means they will save money while also helping the environment.
Folks at Colorado State University are playing a huge role in figuring out how to make it easier for everyone to participate in helping their world at a lesser cost.
Professor W.S. Sampath and his research group at the Materials Engineering Laboratory at Colorado State have developed a manufacturing technology to efficiently produce photovoltaic solar cells, which can be one of the most affordable and efficient energy sources of the future.
The college has also recently made a commitment to using wind power for energy. They will be running 20 buildings on campus with wind power. This will save them $4,700 a year in utility costs!
I hope more schools begin to follow suit with Colorado State.
It's not often my home state makes national news. Especially when the news is positive. But Delaware has plans for an offshore wind power installation.
"Bluewater Wind completed a critical phase of negotiations with Delmarva Power & Light. The result of these negotiations is expected to lead to the development of the nation's first offshore wind park, and a 25 year supply of stable-priced, clean renewable energy for Delaware."
It would provide 30 percent of the power to about 300,000 homes. Delmarva would pay 10.59 cents per kilowatt hour for the wind energy. Lord I hope that doesn't mean our electric bills go up again.
The plan will put 150 turbines off the coast of Rehoboth Beach by about the year 2014. (That's two to three years later than Bluewater originally proposed finishing the project.) "The turbines would sit 400 feet above sea level when a blade is at its highest point."
LED Fluorescent Replacement Tubes last up to 50,000 hours which is up to 50 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs. They do NOT contain toxic mercury as compact fluorescent(cfl) bulbs do which makes LED bulbs MUCH more environmentally friendly, safer, more energy efficient and more durable.
Section9 LED you will find the most advanced LED lighting products available. And really why wouldn't you want to save yourself some money while also helping the environment? Kermit says it's not easy being green, but this seems pretty simple to me. =o)
The site is dedicated and about "cool cities" that have made a commitment to stopping global warming by signing the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement. Begun in 2005, the Cool Cities campaign empowers city residents and local leaders to join and encourage their cities to implement smart energy solutions to save money and build a cleaner, safer future.
Currently, there are 681 "cool cities" across the United States and each city has a profile describing the steps they have been taking to improve their local environment. In Delaware the only cool city is Wilmington and it has one milestone because the City Signed the US Mayors' Agreement. Tennessee has four "cool cities" Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville. Nashville has four logged milestones: Establish Campaign, Engage The Community, City Signs the US Mayors' Agreement and Advanced Smart Energy Solutions.
It's really interesting to look through and see what different places are doing to help with the issues at hand in our environment.
Maybe when people talk about mice running in a wheel to power their Internet connection...they are indeed onto something.
Science Daily has published an article which states, "Two graduate students at MIT's School of Architecture and Planning want to harvest the energy of human movement in urban settings, like commuters in a train station or fans at a concert."
My first initial thought was, I'm not sure how one could actually go about doing this. Do we really want a bunch of people in charge of running a train?
The students' prototype was ingenious to say the least. "The students' test case, displayed at the Venice Biennale and in a train station in Torino, Italy, was a prototype stool that exploits the passive act of sitting to generate power. The weight of the body on the seat causes a flywheel to spin, which powers a dynamo that, in turn, lights four LEDs."
I'm all for conserving energy. Absolutely all for it, and many moons ago people did power everything they used on their own. But there are reasons those practices ended. This can impact public safety on such a great level. Energy conservation is a must. You'll hear no arguments from me on that fact, but I'm not sure this would be the best route.
This graphic is from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning.
There is currently a plan underway to open wide areas of the Arctic to oil drilling.
Despite the overwhelming objections of scientists, native communities and Members of Congress, the Bush Administration has reversed many of these protections and plans to allow drilling in nearly all the remaining Teshekpuk Lake area, as well as other parts of the Western Arctic region.
We need to act and take a stand now. 70 million acres in the Arctic Ocean are already open to oil and gas drilling. The Sierra Club says, "What our country needs is a cleaner, smarter Energy policy that focuses on safe renewable forms of energy."
Please don't think I am biased because I am a member of the Sierra Club. But I couldn't possibly agree more with their statement! That is exactly what needs to be done. Less reactive and more proactive measures need to be taken!
Hippyshopper is a site I frequent and one of their most recent posts talks about Eco-awareness. I found it interesting and thought I'd send you their way.
Sky: The Bigger Picture is a website that is constantly updating with new information on what we can do to actively make a positive difference in our environment. It's a pretty useful site and fun to browse through so check it out.
All the talk on green and conservation has led to more and more people delving into inventing new forms of solar energy. This one seems to be the most versatile of what I have seen lately because the panels are inflatable which means you could theoretically take them anywhere with you, right?
