Physicist and MIT Researcher Ernest Moniz was officially confirmed as the next US Energy Secretary, replacing Stephen Chu, yesterday. The Senate voted 97-0 in favor. Moniz served as energy undersecretary under the Clinton Administration. Various groups and organizations from private business to the environmental community made statements supporting Moniz’s confirmation. They highlighted his work and… Keep reading →
The Energy Efficient Buildings Hub, a public-private organization whose largest funder is the U.S. Department of Energy, is leading an ambitious charge to reduce energy consumption in Philadelphia’s commercial buildings. The hope is the model can be replicated in other cities across the US.
Because of the Hub’s efforts to “start moving the needle” on discussion of energy retrofits, the City of Philadelphia is likely to have a successful response to its new law requiring energy disclosure for large buildings, predicted Marla Thalheimer, Director of Sustainability at Liberty Property Trust, a commercial real estate firm and Hub partner. Keep reading →
Energy efficiency and solar are the low hanging fruit for American companies both at home and overseas, former President Bill Clinton said yesterday.
“We should pick the low hanging fruit. It always begins with efficiency. We’re much more energy efficient than we used to be but we have not made a serious attempt to get it to scale,” Clinton said in the closing keynote of the National Clean Energy Conference in Las Vegas last week. Keep reading →
Natural gas exports are clearly in the US national interest, concludes a year-long Brookings Institution study, and the Department of Energy should approve the nine export applications now pending.
All the projects won’t get built because there’s not a big enough global market for all the liquefied natural gas they could produce, said Charles Ebinger, Director of the Brookings’ Energy Security Initiative, who led the study team. Keep reading →
The Fueleconomy.gov mobile website allows users to estimate their car’s fuel mileage per gallon and other information related to their vehicle’s fuel usage. according to the Mobile Gov blog. The mobile website is maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy and is accessible on any phone that has web browser functionality. According to DOE, the mobile website users can calculate gas mileage (MPG), annual fuel costs, annual petroleum use, and the carbon footprint information for your car or truck. You can find more mobile products like the Fueleconomy.gov mobile website on the USA.gov Apps Gallery.
Former Commerce Secretary Gary Locke (L) and Energy Secretary Steven Chu (R) held a media availability following a White House meeting to advance Smart Grid development at the White House.
Like the utility industry itself, the Department of Energy has long operated in siloed departments. Some months ago, several of them developed a shared vision of the US electricity system in 2035. Although the DOE originally developed the vision for internal use, it has decided to take the show on the road and pitch it to external stakeholders. The first stop on the tour was to state utility regulators at their 2012 National Electricity Forum. Keep reading →
Men with Cabot Oil and Gas work on a natural gas valve at a hydraulic fracturing site on January 18, 2012 in South Montrose, Pennsylvania.
The oil and gas industry is facing a traffic jam of federal regulators rushing to regulate hydraulic fracturing, and industry representatives says the Obama administration needs to do more to consolidate new rulemaking. Keep reading →
In a quiet shift from the past two years, President Barack Obama’s 2013 budget includes no new money for the Department of Energy loan guarantee program, the same program that House Republicans have scrutinized for losing more than $500 million in taxpayer dollars to the now-defunct solar power company, Solyndra. Obama has regularly included huge increases to the program’s loan guarantee authority in his budget, though Congress has not approved his proposals. He provided a $36 billion increase for nuclear reactors in his 2011 budget, and again in his 2012 budget. He also included $200 million in credit subsidies for renewable and energy efficiency projects in his 2012 budget. This year, he provided nothing.
Exporting US natural gas could mean minimal price rises for consumers and a boost in jobs for the economy.
Or it could mean US prices soaring as volumes equaling a quarter of current consumption are shipped to foreign markets. Keep reading →
Who will be America’s Next Top Energy Innovator? You choose: http://go.usa.gov/nBb ENERGY
