Sustainable energy, energy efficiency, renewables
Two years of the SE blog
A sustainable blog
The Sustainable Energy Blog celebrated its second birthday this summer.
Two years may not sound like much, but we're talking about the world of blogging. After all, it is only three years ago that Tim O'Reilly introduced the term Web 2.0. So if you think of the computer as a young adult today and the Internet a teenager, then Web 2.0 and blogging are still pre-school kids. An awful lot happens to the blank slate of the newborn in its first two years, and blogging is no different. In this context, a blog that has existed for two years can indeed be called an exciting learning experience and a sustainable blog.
The Sustainable Energy Blog already contains about 500 articles. Its number of visitors has been increasing steadily, and has surpassed 120,000 for the last 12 months. Quite a number of the blog posts have already been visited by more than 1,000 surfers, some by more than 10,000.
Less abundant than the number of visitors, are the number of reactions that we are receiving from our readers. We would like to know more about what you really think. So feel free to post your additions, complaints, considerations, corrections, objections, praise, or whatever. A large community knows more than a small group of people.
The synergies between EE and RES
My apologies for using the word 'synergy'
I humbly beg your forgiveness. I recently used the word 'synergy' in one of my blog articles. It is a word that has - it is scientifically proven - a strong correlation with stomach cramps, headaches, and general malaise.
But I can't help it, some synergies between Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Systems do exist. In reading it over again, I found no less than three real synergies in the list of five that I gave in the article. Here is that list, so you can judge yourself:
- Timing synergies. EE can provide large savings in the short and medium term, but the remaining opportunities in the long term will be limited. Conversely, RES will supply limited amounts energy on the short term, but its opportunities are expected to expand over time.
- Economic synergies. Combining EE with RES can reduce the overall cost of the electricity system compared to a renewables-only policy.
- Geographic synergies. States with fewer RES can exploit EE opportunities to compensate. This will also help build a broader political consensus around a clean energy policy.
- Power system synergies. EE and RES have different load shape impacts, depending upon the time of day and season, so a combination of both can be a benefit to overall system operations.
- Several other synergies exist. For example, there are major opportunities for combined heat and power (CHP). CHP can play a role in both energy efficiency and distributed generation programmes.
I demonstrated these synergies by describing six case studies. Is that enough to absolve me of my sins?
Synergies between energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy systems (RES)
Zero-energy houses
'Zero-energy' = 'zero-gravity'?
What is a 'zero energy house'? Speaking in absolute physical terms, this expression is nonsense. As we all know, 'conservation of energy' is a fundamental law of physics. Therefore the amount of energy flowing into a house will always be the same as that which is flowing out. In this sense, every house is a zero energy house and 'zero-energy' is a 'zero-gravity' expression.
But it ain't necessarily so in everyday language, where it can have various meanings. It can mean a zero carbon-emission house, or a house that is not connected to the utility grids, or one that has a zero net-consumption from the utility grids. In the Sixth Building America Best Practices report by the US Department of Energy, 'zero-energy home' is even defined as a house with at least a 50 per cent reduced utility bill compared to standard practice. In the real world of climate change and high fuel prices, 'zero-energy' is hot, and as is often the case with hot topics, its definition is susceptible to erosion.
But that is only the words. The hard facts stand just as firm as ever: the built environment has a huge potential for both increasing energy efficiency and implementing distributed generation. And as proved by the Building America report, the combination of both can be cost-efficient for the owners. This last fact was confirmed by the Leonardo Energy case study of a Belgium home: 'Combining heat pumps with a PV system - A comfortable zero-emission house.'
- Energy efficiency, photovoltaics and with near zero-energy homes
- Zero-energy homes: reducing zero energy consumption
- What is Building America?
- Combining heat pumps with a PV system - A comfortable zero-emission house
Eco-design
Eco-Design for Dummies
Eco-design and Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) are growing in relevance, but they are also complex domains. So complex, in fact, that more than a few non-experts have bitten off more than they can chew. To assist people in the field, Leonardo Energy has created the Eco-design Toolbox. But even that toolbox was a hard nut to crack, and that was one of the reasons why we have now developed Phase 2 with further simplifications for the user. I would not exactly call it Eco-Design for Dummies - that would I fear create false expectations - but the new toolbox interface was designed to facilitate the use of the models by non-experts in LCA.
Another major improvement in the Phase 2 toolbox is that it now looks at energy consuming products from a systems perspective, instead of regarding them as simple products. Furthermore, the number of products that can be modelled has been enlarged.
Ecodesign Toolbox for EuP Phase 2 - From product to system ecodesign
Motor efficiency
Trans-Atlantic ping-pong
EU: You didn't ratify Kyoto!
US: But your carbon emissions rose more steeply in the past six years!
EU: But you are still the biggest carbon emitter per capita in the world!
US: But we have a larger number of world records on renewable energy power plants!
EU: But the first priority is energy efficiency, and we are taking energy efficiency much more seriously!
US: Oh, you think so? Better take another look at your motor systems!
And they're right. While Europe continues to discuss how motor efficiency should be monitored, the U.S. is about to take yet another step forward in their motor efficiency programme.
Last month, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the National Electric Manufacturers Association (NEMA), and two utility companies proposed a plan to Congressional leaders to increase the existing Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards (MEPS) and to expand the MEPS coverage to many other types of motors. They calculated that such a stricter standard would save two million tons of CO2 emissions annually.
The MEPS were introduced for certain types of motors by the Energy Policy Act in 1992. This was followed by the NEMA Premium voluntary labelling programme to encourage companies that want go further than the obligatory standard.
