New focus on energy demand and competitiveness can improve EU mandatory energy audits: new eceee report

The European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has just published an important new report on one of the important elements of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive: mandatory energy audits for large enterprises. A new eceee review of EU’s mandatory energy audit schemes points at improvements that would help make EU industry more competitive. The … Continue reading New focus on energy demand and competitiveness can improve EU mandatory energy audits: new eceee report →

Progress on the deployment of smart meters in the UK

EU Member States are required to ensure the implementation of smart metering under EU energy market legislation in the Third Energy Package. According to the European Commission, “implementation may be subject to a long-term cost-benefit analysis (CBA). In cases where the CBA is positive, there is a roll-out target of 80% market penetration for electricity … Continue reading Progress on the deployment of smart meters in the UK →

Putting the emphasis on energy efficiency in the power sector

It is heartening to read about a new power plan in the US that will place a big emphasis on energy efficiency. Hal Bernton explains in an article for The Seattle Times. Panel OKs Northwest power plan focused on energy efficiency A regional council Wednesday approved a new power plan for four Northwest states … Continue reading Putting the emphasis on energy efficiency in the power sector →

Fifth fuel? First fuel? Gains from energy efficiency “biggest energy resource, and cheapest”

Increasingly, people are starting to appreciate the impact of improved energy efficiency. In Europe, every day we are reading about “energy efficiency first” or even, as in this article, continuing to consider it the “fifth fuel.” The important point is that improved energy efficiency is finally getting the recognition it deserves because it has silently … Continue reading Fifth fuel? First fuel? Gains from energy efficiency “biggest energy resource, and cheapest” →

This week’s briefs

There are some good news items this week. They concern the upcoming World Sustainable Energy Days, the Central and Eastern European Energy Efficiency Forum and the nomination of Energy Pages for an important award in Germany. • World Sustainable Energy Days coming soon The World Sustainable Energy Days, one of the largest annual conferences … Continue reading This week’s briefs →

Now we are even phasing out CFLs

The lighting industry is going through an interesting period with great technological developments that are having an important impact on overall consumption. Diane Cardwell writes in the New York Times about the decision by General Electric to stop manufacturing CFLs in favour of LEDs. G.E. to Phase Out CFL Bulbs Just a few years … Continue reading Now we are even phasing out CFLs →

The Middle East and North Africa are realising the benefits of improved energy efficiency

As Nada Al Rifai writes on the Reuter Thompson’s ZAWYA website, energy policy in the MENA region is evolving quickly to make energy efficiency a higher priority. MENA steps up energy efficiency drive Energy demand in MENA is growing at more than three times the global average Energy efficiency projects in the Middle East … Continue reading The Middle East and North Africa are realising the benefits of improved energy efficiency →

Reflections on a COST-JRC workshop on the role of cities-regions in achieving a low-carbon economy

Increasingly, we are better understanding the important role cities and regions can and should play to effectively address priority areas such as climate change and sustainable energy. Cities and regions are unique because so much happens in a relatively small area: we live, work and play there and globally we are becoming increasingly urbanised. This … Continue reading Reflections on a COST-JRC workshop on the role of cities-regions in achieving a low-carbon economy →

Appreciating the benefits of green buildings

The World Green Building Council has recently published new research suggesting greener shops can boost customer experience – and grow the bottom line. Madeleine Cuff explains the results in an article on the BusinessGreen website. How retailers can harness green buildings to boost profits Shopping can be a miserable experience. Dragging handfuls of heavy … Continue reading Appreciating the benefits of green buildings →

The future may be under the sea for storing our data

Many of us have done deep dives for data. Now there is an entirely new meaning to that. Data centres consume considerable amounts of energy and it is important to keep them cool to keep them operating. John Markoff writes a good article in the New York Times about a prototype data centre being tested … Continue reading The future may be under the sea for storing our data →