In the absence of useful and established patterns of practice, a search is under way for new means of reconciling local government’s sectorial concerns, technological opportunities, and shifts in energy markets with global environmental imperatives. There are several hopeful initiatives, focusing squarely on comprehensive local action in urban and regional conversion to a renewable energy supply base. (more…)
The Solar City approach originally emerged from a new generation of International Energy Agency (IEA) energy research and developme ...
The aim is to work with cities in advancing renewable energy technologies and systems and to help promote the renewable energy indu ...
The age of industrialization came into full force through the modern exploration and use of fossil fuels. As one of its most striki ...
The renewable energy technology and policy organization Eurosolar has in 2001 issued a blueprint program, for the use by regional p ...
There are various and somewhat complementary reasons to foster the growth of renewable energy sources in Europe. A major incent ...
Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), also known as benefit–cost analysis, is rooted in applied welfare economics. It is a way of organizing and analyzing data as an aid to thinking. It provides a set of procedures for comparing benefits and costs and is traditionally associated with government intervention and with the evaluation of government action and government projects. The underlying rationale for CBA is rational choice; that is, a rational agent will weigh the costs and benefits of any proposed activity and will only undertake the activity if the benefits exceed the costs. (more…)
The first step in categorizing potential benefits and costs is determining the relevant scope of the analysis. We have concluded th ...
Energy efficiency is defined here to mean energy services provided per unit of energy input (for example, gallons of water hea ...
ISO document 14040 identifies four areas for using life cycle analysis (LCA) results: (1) identifying opportunities to improve ...
Recently, attention to energy efficiency has been gaining momentum. The attention given by policy maker is mainly due to concer ...
The question has long been not whether or not to reduce air pollution, but by how much and by what means. Since the extent of t ...
Electric and gas utilities’ Research & Development activities deal nearly exclusively with energy conversion, distribution, and energy usage (at least to the extent that these firms still focus on these core businesses). Although detailed data on utility Research & Development are not collected systematically, it seems that Energy R&D spending by many utilities has declined during the past decade or so. For example, a 1996 survey by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) found that the combined Research & Development spending of the 112 largest operating utilities in the United States dropped from $708 million in 1993 to $476 million in 1996. (more…)
Government expenditures on energy R&D, energy conservation have risen steadily over the past decade, but only two countries, Japan ...
Not surprisingly, most Energy Research and Development takes place in industrialized countries where both the public and private se ...
Nuclear fission and fusion Research and Development continues to account for nearly half of the total spending by IEA countries, al ...
Japan has the largest Photovoltaic installed capacity in the world as a result of the sustained investments made by the country thr ...
The aim of this broad sweep through the area of energy innovation, highlighting the main actors, activities, policies, institutions ...
We have seen that energy is basic for life and activities in nature and society. Energy is a measure of value in physical terms. However, the more complex a system or a process becomes, the less can be said by physics. Even the term ‘‘complexity’’ is problematic. There are several definitions of complexity as a quantitative concept in information theory. (more…)
Statistics on national production levels and indicators of environmental pressure have been collected during the past few decad ...
Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), also known as benefit–cost analysis, is rooted in applied welfare economics. It is a way of organizing ...
Although some scientists and critics still dispute that human caused greenhouse gases are causing climate change, the majority of s ...
Energy efficiency is defined here to mean energy services provided per unit of energy input (for example, gallons of water hea ...
The first step in categorizing potential benefits and costs is determining the relevant scope of the analysis. We have concluded th ...
Geopolitical risk refers almost always to primary energy carriers (oil, gas, coal, uranium or renewable energy) since their location depends on the vagaries of geology and climate. Production and energy consumption are thus often physically far apart and take place in countries and regions with different histories, cultures and values. Apart from oil & gas exploration and production, all other steps of the energy chain such as refinement or enrichment, energy conversion and distribution can be moved physically closer to the final customer or are, like consumption, directly under the latter’s control. (more…)
Nuclear energy has some distinct advantages in strengthening the external dimension of energy supply security. These include: ...
The continuous availability and affordability of energy and, in particular, electricity supply is an indispensable condition fo ...
For years it was out of desperation that observers have advised and viewed of American energy policy and geopolitical risks regardi ...
The entire concept of energy independence revolves around using the resources within a country. Simply put, it's "Stay within ...
Following the recent completion of three nuclear power plants, there is now some 9.6 GW of nuclear capacity in the United Kingd ...
Based on estimates of the U.S. Department of Energy, the energy used in homes accounts for 20% of all the energy consumption in the United States. The ability to control the indoor temperature is one of the most important achievements of modern technology. (more…)
Want state of the art LED lighting for your home? If so then this article will help to teach you about the many benefits to be gain ...
Take a look at the following energy saving ideas and new green products and see how many you can use to save your hard earned c ...
These days we have two main concerns in the world of business and finance. First the greenhouse global warming and second the finan ...
Nowadays, a lot more people are increasingly aware of the amount of energy they consumed everyday and what effect it was having ...
It is a reasonable and sensible action to tighten our belts and cut spending as living cost are climbing nowadays. We have to m ...
Interest in rating the real-life energy performance of buildings has increased in recent years, and the real life efficiency performance rating of buildings is important for any sustainable energy future. (more…)
As the need for energy efficiency becomes more pronounced, the drive toward efficiency in the commercial sector will be impeded by ...
Energy performance ratings tell what the energy performance of a building is, but if the energy performance of a building is to be ...
Current forecasts call for solid growth in world energy use over the next 20 years, potentially increasing 60% above current energy ...
There are only a few compulsory energy efficiency programs aimed at industrial facilities. It is only recently that the EU introduc ...
The amount of energy consumed in the commercial sector often must be estimated as a fraction of energy use in the combined resident ...
The amount of energy consumed in the commercial sector often must be estimated as a fraction of energy use in the combined residential and commercial sectors; national energy use in buildings is often tracked within the major sectors, categorized as industrial, transportation, and ‘‘other,’’ with residential and commercial buildings aggregated and accounting for most of the energy use in this ‘‘other’’ sector. Thus some quick checks on world total energy consumption are useful. The units used to sum world energy use are not easily comprehended by most people, so the important knowledge to retain is the relative values. (more…)
Current forecasts call for solid growth in world energy use over the next 20 years, potentially increasing 60% above current energy ...
Energy performance ratings tell what the energy performance of a building is, but if the energy performance of a building is to be ...
As the need for energy efficiency becomes more pronounced, the drive toward efficiency in the commercial sector will be impeded by ...
Here, the sensitivity of energy demand to climate is measured two ways. The first method uses elasticities that provide simple summ ...
Interest in rating the real-life energy performance of buildings has increased in recent years, and the real life efficiency perfor ...
The global cycling of carbon involves both biological and physical processes. Only the biological components are discussed here. Plants and other photosynthetic organisms assimilate CO2 and eventually convert the CO2 to simple sugars trough sugar extraction fermentation. From simple sugars, plants synthesize a variety of compounds and store them in the form of plant tissue. (more…)
The global carbon cycle involves both biological and physical processes. Only the biological components are discussed here. Pla ...
The flux of carbon among terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric pools is at least partially controlled by photosynthetic process ...
The accumulation of carbon within a forest growth cycle can be considered in four stages. The initial establishment stage involves ...
Reductions in carbon intensity, C/E, the carbon emitted per unit of energy generated, reflect the degree to which societies decarbo ...
It is of interest to examine potential sources of greenhouse gases sources or atmospheric CO2 by analysis of the global distrib ...
Another possible non-market-failure explanation for the energy efficiency gap is associated with the fact that even if a given technology is cost-effective on average, it will mostly likely not be for some individuals or firms.
If the relevant population is heterogeneous—with respect to variables such as the purchaser’s discount rate, the investment lifetime, the price of energy, the purchase price, and other costs— even an electricity technology that looks very good for the average user (more…)
Beginning at the end of the technological change process, research has consistently shown that diffusion of new, economically ...
It is important to remember that labeling and MEPS programs aim to influence the selection of products by consumers at the poin ...
Recently, attention to energy efficiency has been gaining momentum. The attention given by policy maker is mainly due to concer ...
Energy efficiency is defined here to mean energy services provided per unit of energy input (for example, gallons of water hea ...
Energy labeling is a policy tool that informs consumers about the energy performance of appliances and thereby encourages them ...