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Water and Wastewater Plants Join Energy Star

U.S. drinking water and wastewater plants are joining a new EPA initiative to increase their energy efficiency and reduce municipalities’ electric bills. Over the next year, with participation by more than 20 organizations, the new Energy Star Industrial Water and Wastewater Focus will develop an energy performance rating system, a guide to assessing energy efficiency opportunities, strategies for superior energy management, and innovative approaches to financing energy efficiency projects. This new Energy Star program for water systems is part of a series of efforts to improve the energy efficiency of selected industries. Drinking water and wastewater systems spend about $4 billion a year on energy to pump, treat, deliver, collect, and clean water — with much of this cost borne by ratepayers and municipalities. The energy costs to run drinking water and wastewater systems can represent as much as one-third of a municipality’s energy bill. If drinking water and wastewater systems reduce energy use by just 10 percent through cost-effective investments in energy efficiency, collectively they would save about $400 million and 5 billion kWh annually. Currently, the Energy Star Water and Wastewater Focus includes the American Council for An Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), […]

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Historic Coalition of Ag, Consumer, Auto, Environmental, Union, Renewable Fuel Producers

A coalition of agriculture, consumer, auto, union, and renewable fuel producers today sent a letter to members of the U.S. Senate Energy Committee urging them to adopt an 8 billion gallon renewable fuels standard (RFS) as part of their comprehensive energy legislation. Senators Jim Talent (R-MO), Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) plan to offer an amendment to establish an 8 billion gallon RFS during markup of the energy bill. The letter stated: “The undersigned organizations believe a robust RFS is a vital and necessary component of any comprehensive energy bill and we urge you to vote in favor of this amendment when it is brought up in committee? “The Talent, Johnson, and Dorgan RFS amendment represents a historic opportunity to put the nation on a path of greater energy independence and national security. Increasing the amount of domestically produced biofuels is supported by more than 25 national security leaders as a vital component of any strategy to reduce our foreign oil dependence. In a recent letter to the President, these leaders urged him to ‘launch a major new initiative to curtail U.S. consumption through improved efficiency and the rapid development and deployment of advanced biomass, alcohol and other […]

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