Sep. 22, 2023 -The 25 states that are part of the US Climate Alliance agreed this week to promote policies that will speed up the installation of heat pumps in their states. Combined, those states account for 60% of the US economy and are home to more than half of all Americans. Today, there are 4.7 million heat pumps installed in America. The Climate Alliance wants to see that total grow to 20 million by the end of this decade.

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Sep. 12, 2023 -Heat pumps are more than twice as efficient as fossil fuel heating systems in cold temperatures, research shows.

Even at temperatures approaching -22 F, heat pumps outperform oil and gas heating systems, according to research from Oxford University and the Regulatory Assistance Project thinktank.

Aug. 31, 2023 -When it comes to cutting carbon emissions, a renewable power grid and electric vehicles are the big-ticket items. But buildings, which produce about 40 percent of global carbon emissions, are also a key part of the transition to net-zero emissions.

According to a new study, the U.S. has the potential to cut building emissions by 91 percent compared to 2005 levels. That could save the country over $100 billion per year on energy costs, researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report in the study published in One Earth.

Aug. 25, 2023 -TerraGo Technologies, a provider of smart streetlight operations software with over five million streetlights under management, announced that Duquesne Light Company (DLC) has deployed TerraGo’s applications to install and manage its smart streetlight infrastructure.

A provider of electric service to more than 600,000 customers across two counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, DLC chose TerraGo’s software for its ability to compress smart lighting deployment schedules and lower operations and maintenance expenses, TerraGo said.

Aug. 24, 2023 -In parts of the world with hot, sunny climates, it is common to see houses painted white to reflect sunlight and stay cool during the day. White rooftops serve the same purpose. But now engineers at Stanford University have added color to such cooling paints.

Click to read all about it.

Aug. 21, 2023 -The climate crisis has made heat waves more likely and more intense around the world. The summer of 2023 saw soaring temperatures worldwide, with NASA saying July was the hottest ever recorded.

Even in 2018, the use of air conditioners and electric fans made up 10% of global electricity consumption, according to the International Energy Agency.>/p>

AC units are only widespread in a few countries like Japan and the United States — where more than 90% of households have them. They're only available to 8% of people in the hottest parts of the world.

Aug. 2, 2023 -A ban on most kinds of traditional bulbs renews a cultural squabble between regulatory efforts to curb energy consumption and the very American impulse to do whatever one wants in one’s domicile.

The response to the bulb ban was more of a whimper than a battle cry.

July 27, 2023 -Strained by the double burden of increased demand and more frequent extreme weather events, our grid struggles to provide reliable electricity in many areas of the country – and the challenge will only intensify in the years to come.

The related search for reliable expanded grid capacity has generated buzz about a relatively new term for a solution that has been around for some time: Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). These networks aggregate electricity from customer-owned distributed energy resources (DERs) such as batteries, building management systems, smart home devices, and electric vehicle chargers, then use these assets to help keep the grid balanced by reducing or shifting energy use.

July 20, 2023 -An inexpensive, lightweight new fabric could help keep cars, spacecraft, and machinery cool in the summer and warm when the temperatures dip in winter. Detailed in the journal Device, the new “thermal cloak” does not need any power, and could reduce the energy needed for cooling and heating.

Besides making cars more bearable to get into in sweltering heat or frigid cold, this electricity-free fabric cover could have a key benefit for electric cars. Exposure to extreme temperatures degrades battery performance and shortens their lifespan. The thermal cloak could help reduce that damage.

July 12, 2023 -Xiulin Ruan, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, didn’t set out to make it into the Guinness World Records when he began trying to make a new type of paint. He had a loftier goal: to cool down buildings without torching the Earth.

In 2020, Dr. Ruan and his team unveiled their creation: a type of white paint that can act as a reflector, bouncing 95 percent of the sun’s rays away from the Earth’s surface, up through the atmosphere and into deep space.

July 7, 2023 -Most energy insiders recognize that the transition to clean energy will require a large percentage of distributed energy resources (DER), particularly distributed solar PV, batteries, electric vehicles, grid-interactive buildings, and more. These DER will need to be dispatched as part of a system that asks them to both push energy to the grid and absorb it in order to keep the grid stable as it seeks to balance generation from large inverter-based resources, i.e. wind and solar power.

July 5, 2023 -In an era where environmental consciousness and sustainable living have taken center stage, finding efficient and eco-friendly power solutions is crucial. Portable power stations have emerged as a game-changer in the realm of sustainable energy, offering a versatile and reliable source of power on the go. In this review, we delve into the Bluetti EB70S portable power station, a cutting-edge product that not only caters to our energy needs but also aligns with our commitment to reducing carbon footprints.

June 21, 2023 -Con Edison (CE) will soon place the largest battery system in New York City into service, increasing reliability in northeastern Staten Island just in time for the summer heat season, the company’s president said on June 20.

The system, which is at a substation in the Fox Hills area, can hold 7.5 megawatts and discharge that electricity to customers for four hours. It is expected to help ease stress on CE’s electric delivery system in the area when the demand for power is high, which occurs in the late afternoon and evening hours during the summer.

June 20, 2023, by Michael J Coren - Years ago, I walked onto the roof of the Palo Alto Research Center. The nondescript beige building in Silicon Valley, known for groundbreaking technology, is the birthplace of the mouse, laser printer and Ethernet.

That afternoon, researchers were sending heat from the roof into space.

Although the building’s rooftop was scorching hot under the burning sun, when I reached out to touch the prototype I was there to observe, a box covered with a white material, it felt inexplicably cool, as if I was touching a steel refrigerator door.

June 19, 2023 -By 2050, two out of every three people will likely live in cities. This urbanization will introduce a number of environmental challenges, especially in the heating sector, which accounts for half of the world’s energy consumption.

This is where a company from Finland might come in. Engineers at The Warming Surfaces Company have created a novel concept for a paper-thin warming film that can turn any wall or even furniture into a radiator.

June 16, 2023 - If you're trying to look at something at 500km (311 miles) away, the odds are you won't see much. But the HotSat-1 satellite has enough resolution to see individual rooftops and walls. Furthermore, it has sensors to see if the buildings are leaking heat and should be better insulated. It's the eye in the sky we need to make our buildings more efficient and eco-friendly.

June 7, 2023 -As 30 energy environment and trade ministers plus 50 CEOs assemble in Paris for the 8th international conference on energy efficiency, the International Energy Agency is urgently calling for greater investment in energy efficiency for factories, cars and appliances to meet international climate goals.

The agency touted recent global progress: A report released June 7 says that demand for energy is growing, yet emissions are not growing as fast. Efficiency is increasing every year as technology improves, and last year that increase was twice the average of the previous five years.

June 1, 2023 - Summertime heat and humidity are cranking up in the Northern Hemisphere, leading many to switch on an electric fan or air conditioner for relief.

But imagine if that electric power could be drawn from the humid air itself.

May 26, 2023 -Sustainability has long been a buzzword thrown around in climate change workshops and conferences. But it’s now become an issue that concerns almost everyone on the planet.

In this post, we’ll examine how embracing eco-friendly boiler solutions might help you save a penny while doing something positive for the future of humanity.

May 18, 2023 - The internet is an amazing thing. It’s without a doubt one of the most impactful inventions in history, right there with the mobile phone, antibiotics, and the flushable toilet.

But the internet, for all the advantages it brings, uses up a lot of power. Now, a research consortium in Denmark wants to build a laser-based infrastructure that can transport great volumes of data faster, cheaper, and with less emissions than today.

Apr. 28, 2023 - Superconductivity is an amazing phenomenon that occurs when certain materials are cooled to extremely low temperatures, allowing them to conduct electricity with no resistance.

This means that electrical current can flow through a superconductor without any energy loss, making it an incredibly efficient way to transport electricity.

Apr. 18, 2023 -A system that circulates underground water to heat and cool buildings could save 40% of the electricity and natural gas used for this purpose in the United States, according to a new study. The findings suggest that the method, known as aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), could help decarbonize the energy system—and increase the resilience of the electrical grid to extreme weather.

Apr. 18, 2023 -Smart home products and services that can help households reduce their electricity consumption are likely to see growth in the coming years, the report said. Smart air conditioners, heat pumps, thermostats and other products that enable households to reduce costs are anticipated to increase in popularity.

North America is the leading market in terms of penetration with 39.2% of all households having at least one smart home product or system. During 2022, the number of smart homes in North America grew by 12% year-on-year, the report said.

Apr. 10, 2023 -Heat pumps, induction stoves and other electric devices are increasingly seen as key to a clean energy future. And most new homes have electric service robust enough to handle them.

But older homes were not designed for big electrical loads, and millions will require updates before those new appliances can be safely plugged in.

Mar. 26, 2023, (THE FEDERAL) -The modern world runs on electricity, and wires are what carry that electricity to every light, television, heating system, cellphone and computer on the planet.

Unfortunately, on average, about 5% of the power generated at a coal or solar power plant is lost as the electricity is transmitted from the plant to its final destination. This amounts to a USD 6 billion loss annually in the U.S. alone.

Mar. 24, 2023 -Consumers have more opportunities than ever to participate in energy efficiency programs and leverage smart energy technologies, and they generally understand the importance of saving energy at home. However, the consumers that would benefit the most from energy efficiency and clean energy programs still face significant barriers to participation, according to a new report from the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC).

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Mar. 23, 2023 -Heat pumps are widely seen as the most important technology when it comes to decarbonizing heating. Organizations including the International Energy Agency and McKinsey see heat pumps providing most of our heating needs in the future, on the path to net-zero emissions.

Until recently, heat pump sales had been struggling to take off, but this is changing rapidly.

Mar. 23, 2023 -Glass windows have been around since ancient Rome. Modern windows, made of two glass panes of glass with air in between, have come a long way since those drafty windows of old. But they still let some heat and cold through, wasting energy.

Replacing the air in today’s double-pane windows with a new see-through gel made from wood could make them as insulating as walls, a new study shows.

Mar. 13, 2023 -The computers inside the white box are surrounded by oil to capture the heat - enough to heat the pool to about 30C 60% of the time, saving Exmouth Leisure Centre thousands of pounds.

The data centre is provided to the council-run centre free of charge.

Feb. 28, 2023 -In California during times of grid strain, customers are asked to voluntarily reduce demand so keep the grid stable. While this practice has seen success, most stakeholders agree that customers won’t always be so helpful.

A program in New York, managed by AI and technology company Logical Buildings, rewards enrolled customers with cash payments for doing the same thing.

Feb. 22, 2023 -1. Exploit natural light

2. Invest in energy-efficient lighting

3. Add some plants

4. Consider sustainable office furniture

5. Opt for Eco-friendly gadgets

6. Reduce, reuse, recycle

By following these tips, you can create an eco-friendly home office that will help you save energy and reduce waste. You’ll be doing your part to protect the environment while also saving money on your utility bills.

Feb. 22, 2023 -Over the past decade, heat pumps have been steadily making their way into more American homes. There was a major milestone last year when they surpassed gas furnaces in annual sales by a wide margin.

But the blistering cold weather descending on the Midwest this week has many homeowners wondering: Do heat pumps still work in freezing temperatures?

Feb. 8, 2023 -Generac Power Systems, Inc., a leading global designer and manufacturer of energy technology solutions and other power products, has announced that its entire line of Wi-Fi and cellular-enabled home standby generators will soon integrate with the latest ecobee smart thermostats, creating a single energy management hub for the home.

Feb 23, 2023 -Even as the world reveled in the athletics on display at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, it was hard to shake off the threat climate change poses to the winter sports on display in the gleaming ice arenas and artificially created snow slopes. As the world warms, we will spend increasingly more energy and money to produce ice for sports, and even more crucially, for refrigerating food.

A new film made from abundantly available biodegradable materials could help reduce that energy use. Reported in the journal Science Advances, the film scatters sunlight falling on it to cool the air around it enough to keep ice from melting for days even under direct sunlight.

Feb. 2, 2023 -Liquid-filled panels that dynamically change how they let light through could cut the energy costs of heating, cooling, and lighting buildings by over 40%

Windows are critical for improving building energy efficiency. Over a quarter of a building’s energy is lost through today’s glass-pane windows. Now, drawing inspiration from the color-changing skins of squids and krill, researchers have designed liquid-filled panels that dynamically change how they let light through.

Jan. 26 2023 -TS Conductor Corp. said it opened a U.S. manufacturing facility in Huntington Beach, California, with a capacity to produce up to 5,000 miles of conductors per year.

The company also added four people to its board of directors and advisory board. Charlie Bayless was named to its board of directors; Amory Lovins, Audrey Zibelman, and JD Hammerly joined its advisory board.

June 4, 2022 - This energy-efficient device not only can heat your home in the winter, it can cool you down on hot days — while saving you money.

As temperatures and energy bills spike this summer, it might be time to consider installing a heat pump. Despite its name, a heat pump cools your home as well as warming it in winter, but the device is far more efficient than a conventional air conditioner and fossil fuel furnace.

Mar. 15, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -You may not have heard much about the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands since a series of treaties signed there in the spring of 1713 brought an end to the War of Spanish Succession. The city is famous for the number of its residents who rely on bicycles to get around. It built the first bike lane in in the Netherlands in 1885. Last year it built the world’s largest multi-story bicycle parking garage with room for 12,500 bikes.

Now a new development of 6,000 homes in the city’s Merwede district is being planned with bicycles as the preferred mode of transportation. It is expected to be serviced by 20,000 bicycles but no cars, with construction scheduled to begin in 2022. The new 24-hectare community will be home to about 12,000 people and will include 2 new primary schools, a high school, and several health centers, together with an assortment of shops and businesses.

From: Huber Technology -Most companies and agencies today operate with the concept of business sustainability. This is a holistic way of managing a business that includes environmental, social, and financial responsibilities. To meet this triple bottom line, companies must find ways to be cost-efficient, socially responsible, and eco-friendly at the same time.

Heating and cooling facilities uses large amounts of energy, and accounts for much of a company’s operating costs. With new technologies, companies can reduce reliance on fossil fuels while saving money.

Union of Concerned Scientists,   - How you drive and take care of your vehicle can have a big effect on how much fuel you use. Follow these simple tips to save money and reduce pollution.

Covered are “Before You Hit the Road,” “Behind the Wheel,” and “Driving a Clean Car Revolution.”

(8Rivers)-The future of our planet – considering a rapidly growing global population – demands a balanced portfolio of renewables and carbon-based methods of power generation, particularly those employing carbon capture.

Free emissions capture is the holy grail of carbon-based power generation. Today, power cycles require the addition of expensive, efficiency-reducing equipment to decrease and capture emissions. The Allam Cycle embodies major advantages over conventional systems: attaining high efficiencies at low costs with low to no water consumption. All this with full, free emissions capture.

EnergyCentral Apr. 9, 2019 -Offsets are financial instruments that are used by the California Cap and Trade Program and other similar programs. This paper we will reviews the types of offsets, offset protocols and offset verification.

Jan. 14, 2021(ScienceDaily)-Just one hour of videoconferencing or streaming, for example, emits 150-1,000 grams of carbon dioxide (a gallon of gasoline burned from a car emits about 8,887 grams), requires 2-12 liters of water and demands a land area adding up to about the size of an iPad Mini.

But leaving your camera off during a web call can reduce these footprints by 96%. Streaming content in standard definition rather than in high definition while using apps such as Netflix or Hulu also could bring an 86% reduction, the researchers estimated.

-With clean energy from the sun and wind, we have the technology to provide for our energy needs without the global consequences of pollution. Yet we’re still producing and consuming virtually all of our energy in ways that do lasting damage to our environment, our health and our climate. And to make matters worse, of all that dirty energy we produce, two-thirds of it ends up being wasted.

We can address the largest environmental challenges of our time by shifting toward 100% renewable energy. The fastest, easiest and cheapest way to do that is to first reduce the total amount of energy we use and let go to waste. Learn how you can reduce your energy waste and become more energy efficient in your home.

The article tells about the many ways we can save power and reduce both our carbon footprint and utilty bills.

Everyone loves electric cars—they’re clean, fun to drive, and increasingly affordable to own. But what do electric vehicles (EVs) mean for the electricity grid? Could they enable the use of more renewable power?

Drivers, electric utilities, and the environment can all benefit when electric vehicles are better integrated with the grid.

July 2020, (Bloomberg Green)-In Singapore, close to the Equator, temperatures regularly rise above 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) — but inside the soaring glass greenhouses of Gardens by the Bay, the country’s award-winning botanical park, it’s a pleasant 24 degrees.

The daffodils and tulips of the flower dome, along with two dozen nearby towers that are normally full of bankers, shoppers, residents, hotel guests and gamblers, are chilled by what is probably the world’s largest underground district cooling system.

Feb. 7, 2017- Taxa Outdoors’ tow camper, the TigerMoth, is a compact home on wheels geared towards traveling adventurers. The lightweight camper sleeps two, has LED lights, and even better, comes with a built-in electrical system that generates energy while being towed. The camper’s battery can store energy for at least seven days, making off-grid living easier than ever before.

Solar and wind are poised to become a larger part of that green-power mix. But there’s a problem: people need electricity even when the sun’s not shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

One way to solve this problem is to store the excess energy and then release it when there’s a need.

Energy conservation is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think about freeways jammed with idling vehicles.

But in California, which has some of the most congested freeways in the country, that's about to change. The CEC has approved a pilot program in which piezoelectric crystals will be installed on several freeways.

An international team of engineers, physicists, and chemists have created the first fiber-optic solar cell. These fibers are thinner than human hair, flexible, and yet they produce electricity, just like a normal solar cell. The US military is already interested in weaving these threads into clothing, to provide a wearable power source for soldiers.

Mar. 30, 2022, (ENERGY.GOV)-Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), sometimes referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps, have been in use since the late 1940s. They use the relatively constant temperature of the earth as the exchange medium instead of the outside air temperature.

Although many parts of the country experience seasonal temperature extremes -- from scorching heat in the summer to sub-zero cold in the winter—a few feet below the earth's surface the ground remains at a relatively constant temperature. Depending on latitude, ground temperatures range from 45°F (7°C) to 75°F (21°C).

Apr. 1, 2021 (ZME Science) -Seemingly small changes in lifestyle can add up to have a huge impact at the societal level. According to a new study, choosing to bike rather than drive a car may reduce the average person’s transportation-related carbon emissions by 67%.

These findings apply for choosing to bike over driving a car only once over the course of a day, meaning you don’t have to substitute all car trips in order to make a huge dent in your carbon footprint. This also means you could reduce your transportation-related emissions by 95% if you choose to exclusively bike.

Oct. 3, 2019 (inhabitat)- Just in time for the annual celebration of Energy Efficiency Day, the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has released its 2019 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard.

July 14, 2015  (National Resources Defense Council(NRDC))-There has been a veritable explosion in the number of electronics, appliances, and other miscellaneous devices plugged into, or permanently connected to, America's homes.

Most are consuming electricity around-the-clock, even when the owners are not using them or think they have been turned off. This always-on energy use by inactive devices translates to $19 billion a year -- about $165 per U.S. household on average -- and approximately 50 large (500-megawatt) power plants' worth of electricity.

July 22, 2019 (National Resources Defense Council(NRDC))) -One of the easiest, cheapest ways to fight climate change may be shining down on you right now. The bulbs you use in your kitchen ceiling, chandelier, bedside lamp, or bathroom vanity can be either a major energy suck or a smart way to lighten your power load.

Jan. 15, 2019 Energy.Gov -Professional energy assessments generally go into great detail to assess your home's energy use. The energy auditor will do a room-by-room examination of the residence, as well as a thorough examination of past utility bills. Many professional energy assessments will include a blower door test. Most will also include a thermographic scan. There's also another type of test -- the PFT air infiltration measurement technique -- but it is rarely offered.

Check out the Energy Saver 101 home energy audit infographic to get an idea of what energy auditors look for and the special tools they use to determine where a home is wasting energy.

Aug. 26, 2014,  -Researchers at Mich. State have created a fully transparent solar concentrator, which could turn any window or sheet of glass (like your smartphone’s screen) into a P.V. solar cell.They can be efficiently deployed in a many settings, like tall buildings or any kind of mobile device that demands high aesthetic quality like a phone or e-reader.

January 13th, 2014 -Yes, all you rhubarb fans take note. A new energy storage breakthrough is under way at Harvard University, and it is based on a common little molecule that is almost exactly the same as one found in rhubarb.

June 23, 2018 -Energy bills are one of the largest regular bills behind mortgages, rent and council tax.

The average annual dual-fuel bill, which covers both gas and electricity, stands at more than $1,700 per household – and this is on the rise.

For most homeowners, cost is secondary to the aesthetics and milieu of the home they are creating. Can you design a beautiful home that still helps you save each month on your energy bill?

June 13, 2014 - LEDs outperform incandescent lights, hands down. But they should also give farmers unprecedented control over plant growth, development and nutritional content in future, say researchers.

Jan. 26, 2015 -Reducing energy use by enhancing efficiency has long been viewed as “low-hanging fruit” in the drive to lower energy bills, boost economic productivity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Can a home be beautiful, powered entirely by solar energy, use sustainable heating and cooling systems and save it’s owners roughly $3,500 a year? Why, yes it can. Just ask Joanne Coons, who built her award winning, single-family, Net Zero Energy Home in 2010. Sustainable Woman Joanne talks Net Zero standards, efficient appliances and goods, her 10kW solar panels and more.

Click now to sign up for a free estimate.

December 1, 2014 -It requires no electricity, uses the universe as a heat-sink even with the sun shining. -A material that simultaneously reflects light and radiates heat at frequencies that vent it through the Earth’s atmosphere could one day help cool buildings on hot days.

Powered by a five-watt solar panel and a built-in thermal fridge, the Beachill waterproof mattress lets beach-goers keep their drinks cold and their portable devices charged while making a positive impact on the environment.

Experts weigh in on tips for energy efficiency. Appliances, home energy audits, driving tips. Try it, you might just learn something.

Want to save money and reduce your carbon footprint? Who wouldn't?