All posts published in 2018
Chicago dials down LED street lamp intensity — and controversy Written by Kevin Stark, energynews.us, March 7, 2018 As the city of Chicago begins converting more than a quarter-million street lamps to high-efficiency LEDs, the light — and public reaction — hasn’t been as harsh as what was seen in cities that were earlier adopters. “It’s … Read more
State Report: Budget Raid On Energy Funds Hurting Connecticut Economy Written by Gregory B. Hladky, www.courant.com, March 30, 2018 Lawmakers’ deficit-driven decision to “sweep up” $127 million in energy efficiency program funds will trigger far larger economic losses, according to a state board created to monitor Connecticut’s efforts to cut energy use. The Connecticut Energy Efficiency … Read more
Lighting standards loophole jeopardizes energy and cost savings for fluorescent tubes Written by Chris Granada, appliance-standards.org, March 23, 2018 A legal loophole has already denied American consumers expected energy savings from efficiency standards on fluorescent tubes. Unless it is closed, this loophole threatens additional missed savings, particularly for households and small businesses. General service fluorescent … Read more
Written by Allison Donnelly, ERS for Zondits, March 29, 2018 Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have seen an unprecedented boom in the last year, going from a speculative, fringe industry often associated with its use in shady industries to a major financial market player. At the same time, cryptocurrency mining – the “minting” of new “coins” … Read more
Clean Energy Programs, as Explained by Baseball Written by Allison Donnelly, ERS for Zondits, March 28, 2018 Suppose you wanted to improve how your community or customers use energy. A common way to do that is to create a program that offers incentives to decrease the cost of buying a more expensive – but better … Read more
Padres installing baseball’s biggest solar project Written by Rob Nikolewski, sandiegouniontribune.com, January 17, 2018 Petco Park is about to become home to the largest solar power system in Major League Baseball. Workers have begun to install a 336,520-watt project, with 716 solar modules that can produce more than 12 million kilowatt-hours of electricity in the … Read more
Clean Heating Is Part of NY’s Energy Efficiency Solution Written by Sneha Ayyagari & Miles Farmer, nrdc.org, March 16, 2018. Achieving New York’s climate and clean energy goals hinges upon a comprehensive and ambitious plan to increase energy efficiency savings in New York across all fuels. As NRDC and a large coalition of advocates expressed … Read more
This College Wants To Be The First 100% Renewable Campus In The U.S. After a long process of implementing energy-efficiency measures and installing solar arrays and battery storage, Maui College is ready to cut ties with fossil fuels forever. Written by Elli Anzilotti, fastcompany.com, March 19, 2018. In 2015, the state of Hawaii committed to … Read more
Germany awards ecolabel to R290 split AC Written by Charlotte McGlaughlin, hydrocarbons21.com, March 12, 2018 The German government’s Blue Angel Ecolabel has been awarded to Chinese manufacturer Midea for its split air-conditioning (AC) system using propane (R290), according to the scheme’s website. The ‘Blue Angel’ initiative is an Ecolabel for certifying some 120 different product types, … Read more
Anti-EE Bill Advances in Iowa Legislature Written by Leah Scull, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, March 21, 2018 Last week the Iowa House Commerce Committee passed Senate File 2311, a bill that will significantly alter the way utilities drive customer energy savings programs in Iowa. The bill has already passed the Senate and is now eligible to go … Read more