By: Bob Barr

Right now in Washington, our elected officials are ignoring an important solution to many of this country’s most pressing problems, and it’s one that has been staring Congress straight in the eye for almost a year. I’m talking about the NAT GAS Act.

Pull up the House and the Senate versions of the bill, and what do you see? A long list of cosponsors, particularly on the House side where 130 members have signed on. You’ve got everybody from Libertarians like Ron Paul to more progressive members as well as conservatives. Democrats and Republicans look at H.R. 1835 and say, “This makes perfect sense.” Its broad-based support spans geographic lines, commercial interests, and the political spectrum.

Look over at the Senate side. There are some pretty influential people on there including some very powerful people. Harry Reid’s on board. So are Orrin Hatch and Mark Udall. A New Jersey Democrat, Bob Menendez, sponsored the Senate version, yet there are more Republican cosponsors than there are Democrats. Think about that. Right now everyone is talking about how partisan Washington has become, yet here’s a bill that is the exception to the rule. The only problem is on the Senate side, just as in the House, there has hardly been any movement on NAT GAS. Why isn’t it going somewhere? Why hasn’t something happened on it? What can be done?

Read the rest of this entry »

GTM Research has released its “2010 North American Utility Smart Grid Deployment Survey”, a comprehensive analysis of the trends emerging in the US as utilities across the continent roll out smarter grids. The report shows that smart grids are no longer just a concept and are beginning to become critical to utilities’ business plans.

The 2010 North American Utility Smart Grid Deployment Survey draws on over 30 detailed smart-grid deployment questions posed to decision makers at more than 50 North American utilities. It provides critical insights about the near-term issues and longer-term plans for the developing smart grid market including: AMI and smart meter deployment schedules, priorities for building out a networked grid, utility deployment concerns, connecting smart grid networks to consumers, and the integration of renewables, storage and PHEVs.

“Many North American utility executives hold smart-grid initiatives as a very high priority,” said David J. Leeds, Smart Grid Analyst with GTM Research. “70% of survey respondents regard smart-grid projects as either a strong priority or the highest priority relative to their overall business plans between now and 2015.”

Read the rest of this entry »

What do dieting and energy policy have in common? The SnackWell effect. The name comes from those tasty little cookies that are advertised as being lower in fat and sugar. And they are–which often leads dieters to eat more of them than regular cookies and then wonder why they’re not losing weight.

It turns out there’s a SnackWell effect for energy use too–and it may make it tougher for us to cut back on carbon. When environmentally conscious consumers buy an energy-efficient dishwasher, for example, they may feel less guilty about running the machine more often and as a result may not end up saving much on their utility bills. Owners of new tankless hot water heaters consume more hot water because they can and don’t realize they’re offsetting any monetary benefit of the system’s higher efficiency. Likewise, studies indicate that people who install more-energy-efficient lights lose 5% to 12% of the expected savings by leaving them on longer.

Much like dieters eating too many SnackWell’s, we can hamstring our attempts to save energy and money. So resist the urge to raise your thermostat after you buy a more efficient furnace; lower the temperature by a degree and shave another 1% off your heating bill.

But even if we do what Jimmy Carter did and wear a stylin’ ’70s sweater all winter, we may end up spending those energy savings somewhere else–like on a plane ride to Bermuda. Although studies are scant, a 2007 report by the UK Energy Research Centre estimated that globally, this rebound effect could reduce the savings from energy efficiency by 10% or more.

That doesn’t mean energy-efficiency measures are useless–or that we should never go on vacation. But it does mean that cutting back on energy consumption, like dieting, is not an excuse to gorge ourselves on less guilty pleasures.

By: Bill McKibben

Twenty-one years ago, in 1989, I wrote what many have called the first book for a general audience on global warming. One of the more interesting reviews came from the Wall Street Journal. It was a mixed and judicious appraisal. “The subject,” the reviewer said, “is important, the notion is arresting, and Mr. McKibben argues convincingly.” And that was not an outlier: around the same time, the first president Bush announced that he planned to “fight the greenhouse effect with the White House effect.”

I doubt that’s what the Journal will say about my next book when it comes out in a few weeks, and I know that no GOP presidential contender would now dream of acknowledging that human beings are warming the planet. Sarah Palin is currently calling climate science “snake oil” and last week, the Utah legislature, in a move straight out of the King Canute playbook, passed a resolution condemning “a well organized and ongoing effort to manipulate global temperature data in order to produce a global warming outcome” on a nearly party-line vote.

Read the rest of this entry »

GBI Research has published its “North America Renewable Energy Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2015” report giving an in-depth analysis of the North America renewable energy market and providing forecasts up to 2015. Offshore wind and photovoltaic solar are expected to perform well, although infrastructure bottlenecks and a skills shortage could hamper growth.

The report analyses the growth and evolution of the North America wind, solar and biopower markets up to 2008 and gives historical and forecast statistics for 2001-2015. This research looks at the market scenarios for these technologies and regulatory policies that govern them. Detailed information on key current and upcoming wind farms, photovoltaic (PV) solar parks and biopower production facilities give a roadmap to this market’s development. This coupled with elaborate company profiles of key market participants give a comprehensive understanding of the market’s competitive scenario.

Read the rest of this entry »