China making significant progress in building energy code compliance

A new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Global Buildings Performance Network, published mid March, shows that compliance on building codes in China has been steadily improving since 2005. "The significant improvement is rooted in strong governmental regulatory support; clear rules about the responsibilities of key stakeholders and penalties for … Continue reading China making significant progress in building energy code compliance →

Consumer energy bills rise dramatically since 2001 in UK

Newspaper reports show that, according to official figures, average household consumption of gas and electricity fell by 11.3% between 2001 and 2011 as people tried to protect themselves against spiralling prices. Despite this reduction in use, the amount families, pensioners and others spent on keeping warm rose by 23.5%, according to the Office of National … Continue reading Consumer energy bills rise dramatically since 2001 in UK →

Financing energy efficiency in buildings – the American way

Financing energy efficiency in buildings is a challenge to policy makers, to consumers and to the energy efficiency industries (services and products). Two innovative approaches have recently been discussed in the US. SolarCity SolarCity, a national provider of clean energy services, on March 27th unveiled a Home Energy Loan for energy efficiency upgrades that will … Continue reading Financing energy efficiency in buildings – the American way →

Cost optimality

On Wednesday, March 21st, the European Parliament and the Council published a comparative methodology framework for calculating cost-optimal levels of minimum energy performance requirements for buildings and building elements. The publication sets a deadline of one year from March 21st for member states to submit their first report on cost optimality concerning all input data … Continue reading Cost optimality →

Member State progress reports on the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources

According to Article 22 of the Renewable Energy Directive, by 31 December 2011, and every two years thereafter, each member state is required to submit a report to the Commission on progress in promoting and using energy from renewable sources. These reports are expected to describe the overall renewable energy policy developments in each member … Continue reading Member State progress reports on the promotion and use of energy from renewable sources →

Russian steps . . .

Rod Janssen of EiD has worked in many regions of Russia and can testify to the problems with improving energy use in the country. This is an excellent article from Reuter’s on many of the issues facing Russia. Reluctant Russia wakes up to energy waste by Jennifer Rankin MOSCOW, March 20 (Reuters) - The … Continue reading Russian steps . . . →

Energy savings targets revisited

Negotiators of the draft Energy Efficiency Directive have been struggling for months to settle on a strategy to achieve the 2020 energy savings target. The Commission, Council, Parliament and all stakeholders agree that the indicative 20% energy savings target will not be achieved with current policies and programmes. There have been debates about how to … Continue reading Energy savings targets revisited →

Brussels . . . Briefly . . .

Following the vote by the European Parliament on February 28th, it is now the turn of the European Council under the Presidency of Denmark to get a common position in order to start the trialogues. For information on the co-decision process, go to the Reference Material page. All indications show that the negotiations will start … Continue reading Brussels . . . Briefly . . . →

Interesting reading . . .

Renewable Energies in Africa: Current Knowledge This report summarises current knowledge at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre regarding Renewable Energy in Africa. It assesses current energy consumption and the share of renewables in African states, and attempts to estimate the technical potential of available resources of solar, wind, biomass and hydropower that could be … Continue reading Interesting reading . . . →

What Policies Work Best to Deploy Renewable Energy and Increase Energy Efficiency?

The World Bank Group recently held a workshop to discuss the topic of what policies work best. The workshop noted that investment in renewable energy worldwide rose to about $250 billion in 2010, up from $160 billion in 2009, to reach about 20% of new investment in the energy space. This is rapid growth, but … Continue reading What Policies Work Best to Deploy Renewable Energy and Increase Energy Efficiency? →