The Northeastern eight-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) would have a positive impact on the region’s economy if states made increased investments in energy efficiency a centerpiece of their RGGI implementation efforts. This finding is the central conclusion of a report released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). RGGI is a multi-state effort to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation through a cap-and-trade regulatory program. The report, Energy Efficiency’s Role in a Carbon Cap-and-Trade System: Modeling Results from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, is based on extensive and collaborative analysis of the RGGI states’ electricity sector and the regional economy, for which ACEEE provided key input for the energy efficiency analysis. ACEEE worked closely with the state agency staff working group and modeling consultants in this effort. Based on the modeling analysis results, ACEEE finds that doubling the region’s current energy efficiency investment would: 1. Reduce growth in electricity consumption by two-thirds; 2. Keep electricity prices virtually flat; 3. Cut carbon allowance prices by one-third; 4. Increase economic growth in the region by almost 1% beyond the reference case; and 5. Reduce average energy bills for residential, commercial, and industrial customers by 5% -12% in 2021. […]

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Energy Efficiency Makes Regional Climate Pact an Economic Winner

The Northeastern eight-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) would have a positive impact on the region’s economy if states made increased investments in energy efficiency a centerpiece of their RGGI implementation efforts. This finding is the central conclusion of a report released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). RGGI is a multi-state effort to reduce carbon emissions from electricity generation through a cap-and-trade regulatory program. The report, Energy Efficiency’s Role in a Carbon Cap-and-Trade System: Modeling Results from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, is based on extensive and collaborative analysis of the RGGI states’ electricity sector and the regional economy, for which ACEEE provided key input for the energy efficiency analysis. ACEEE worked closely with the state agency staff working group and modeling consultants in this effort. Based on the modeling analysis results, ACEEE finds that doubling the region’s current energy efficiency investment would: 1. Reduce growth in electricity consumption by two-thirds; 2. Keep electricity prices virtually flat; 3. Cut carbon allowance prices by one-third; 4. Increase economic growth in the region by almost 1% beyond the reference case; and 5. Reduce average energy bills for residential, commercial, and industrial customers by 5% -12% in 2021. […]

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California Clean Energy Initiative Turns In Over 1M Signatures

Voter outrage over high gas prices, unhealthy air quality and record-breaking oil company profits are fueling the California Clean Alternative Energy Initiative campaign. The campaign submitted 1.18 million voter signatures – nearly double the number of signatures needed – to county registrar offices statewide to qualify for the November ballot. The Clean Energy Initiative will fund a $4 billion effort to reduce California’s dependence on gasoline and diesel by 25% over the next 10 years by making alternative fuel vehicles and alternative fuels more widely affordable and accessible to consumers. “The Clean Energy Initiative will rush cleaner, cheaper and more reliable fuels to the marketplace more quickly, which will help to break California’s dependence on foreign oil,” said Nate Lewis, PhD and Professor of chemistry at California Institute of Technology. “Voters are demanding an alternative to our oil dependence – and they are recognizing that this Initiative presents a real solution to breaking the stranglehold that Big Oil has over us,” added Lewis. Local, state and national leaders have yet to offer a realistic or achievable solution to our state’s dependence on oil and high gas prices – which now hover around $4 per gallon. “California motorists are paying the […]

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Shaping Restaurants to Be Models of Efficiency

By Laura Novak, May 17, 2006 Here’s food for thought: if restaurants were automobiles, they would be Hummers. That’s because the restaurant business wastes more energy than any other industry in America. Experts say that 80 percent of the $10 billion annual energy bill for commercial food service is squandered by the use of inefficient equipment. But one organization here, the Food Service Technology Center, has been trying to turn gas-guzzling eateries into energy-efficient hybrids. For 20 years, the center has been “road-testing” restaurant equipment, as Don Fisher, the center’s project manager, calls it. The center applies the equivalent of a mile-per-gallon rating to the appliances that cook and refrigerate food and clean the hardware used to prepare it. Mr. Fisher says the energy waste in restaurants is “the same thing as if people go out and buy all the materials to make 10 hamburgers or sandwiches and then just throw eight of them away.” According to the National Restaurant Association, a trade group in Washington, there are 925,000 restaurants and food service outlets in the United States, with sales expected to reach $511 billion in 2006. About 50 percent of restaurant operators have bought energy-saving equipment in the last […]

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MTI Micro Announces Alliance With Samsung

MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. (MTI Micro) has entered into an exclusive alliance with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. to develop next-generation fuel cell prototypes for Samsung’s mobile phone business. Mobion, MTI Micro’s patented direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) technology, has been chosen to power a series of prototypes designed for Samsung’s mobile phone and mobile phone accessories. Frost & Sullivan, an industry research firm, estimates that Samsung is the third largest handset manufacturer in terms of units shipped in the market for mobile handsets worldwide. Further, Frost & Sullivan forecasts the market for micro fuel cells for consumer electronic devices to reach approximately 80 million units by 2012. “MTI Micro’s alliance with Samsung is a significant step towards direct methanol fuel cell commercialization. As today’s consumer electronic devices are becoming increasingly power hungry and multi-functional, conventional rechargeable batteries are challenged to provide the required runtime consumers demand. Micro fuel cells are expected to provide the solution to this challenge,” said Sara Bradford, Research Director, Power Systems Group, for Frost & Sullivan. Due to its anticipated longer runtime and instant recharging advantages (compared with batteries in today’s mobile phones), Mobion is being designed as the advanced power solution which will allow future […]

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