New article on energy efficiency product standards

Now that the Commission has published the Ecodesign working document for 2012-2014, our minds should be focussing more on how products can become more energy efficient. Noah Sachs recently published an article in Vanderbilt Law Review entitled “Can We Regulate Our Way to Energy Efficiency? Product Standards as Climate Policy.” In the United States, regulation … Continue reading New article on energy efficiency product standards →

New eco-label for renewable energy

Green Economy describes a new voluntary label that certifies the share of electricity coming from renewable energy. 'WindMade' Eco-Label Now Covers All Kinds of Renewable Energy To encourage corporations to use renewable energy, last year wind-related organizations launched “WindMade” a label that certifies that 25% of their electricity comes from wind energy. Since businesses tend … Continue reading New eco-label for renewable energy →

Re-thinking energy efficiency strategies

James Murray has an excellent blog in Green Business. While the example is about the UK, there are lessons for all of Europe. Murray raises the issue of why politicians are so reluctant to support standards-based policies such as minimum energy performance standards and labelling. Unfortunately, he does not mention that most of those standards … Continue reading Re-thinking energy efficiency strategies →

Tackling energy use at airports

Carmel Doyle writes for the website SiliconRepublic about the efforts at Dublin Airport to reduce its energy consumption. Dublin Airport on mission to cut energy use by third by 2020 Dublin Airport on mission to cut energy use by third by 2020 Dublin Airport is aiming to cut its energy use by up to … Continue reading Tackling energy use at airports →

New report on green procurement

The European Commission’s DG Environment published a new brochure titled “Green Public Procurement: A collection of good practices”, illustrating how European local authorities successfully launched green tenders and providing guidance to those wishing to do the same. Green public procurement is highlighted as an important element in the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) guidebook, which … Continue reading New report on green procurement →

Two excellent energy efficiency papers

The journal Energy Policy provides two excellent energy efficiency papers on the impact of energy labels and the possible role of how feed-in tariffs can be an option to promote energy saving. The first paper, entitled The impact of energy labels and accessibility on office rents is by Nils Kok from Maastricht University and Maarten … Continue reading Two excellent energy efficiency papers →

Important tools to help success in the renewables industry

David Worthington writes for Smart Planet about the role insurance can play to promote the deployment of renewable energy. Insurance: the key to renewable energy success? Many banks are wary to finance renewable energy projects, and that hesitation can stall or even stop new projects. Insurers have stepped in to help mitigate the risks … Continue reading Important tools to help success in the renewables industry →

Changing behaviour in the work place

The Environmental Leader website provides an excellent description of the use of an energy saving tool to change employee behaviour in one of Britain’s major financial institutions. This could prove to be a valuable example to other companies. Nationwide to Use Carbon Trust’s Energy Saving Tool with 15,000 Staff Nationwide, the UK financial institution … Continue reading Changing behaviour in the work place →

Good results from Dutch investment tax

Ulrika Lomas of Tax-News.com presents some important results showing that an Energy Investment Allowance has had a significant impact on investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency in the Netherlands. Dutch Investment Tax Boosts Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency The Dutch ministry of economic affairs, agriculture and innovation has recently announced that the government’s tax … Continue reading Good results from Dutch investment tax →

Reflecting on consumer preferences

This blog by Brian McGraw for GlobalWarming.org discusses a new paper by the Mercatus Center. The Mercatus Center released a paper (PDF) this month co-authored by Ted Gayer (an economist at the Brooking Institution) and W. Kip Viscusi (an economics professor at Vanderbilt), titled “Overriding Consumer Preferences with Energy Regulations” which questions the economic justification … Continue reading Reflecting on consumer preferences →