Energy Exchange

Mad Global Props: The International Energy Agency Hearts ICP

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 9, 2014

By: Panama Bartholomy, Director of ICP Europe

iea ee reportThe Investor Confidence Project (ICP), was recognized by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a global organization for 29 member countries, in its annual energy efficiency report, released today.

The IEA’s Energy Efficiency Market Report 2014 highlighted ICP as a program that will accelerate the development of a global energy efficiency finance market, saying in its energy efficiency finance chapter that the EDF initiative will “facilitate a global market for financings by institutional investors that look to rely on standardized products.”

For investors, the IEA puts the financial market for energy efficiency in the range of $120bn, with the launch of new products, such as green bonds, corporate green bonds, energy performance contracts, and expanded sources of finance likely to expand that figure. Lending from multilateral development banks and bilateral banks alone amounted to more than $22bn in 2012. Read More »

Posted in Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, Investor Confidence Project / Comments are closed

Finding Gold in the Value Chain

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 9, 2014

By: Victoria Mills, Man­ag­ing Di­rec­tor of EDF Cli­mate Corps

chinafellowblogphotoEnergy efficiency is a goldmine, but not everyone has the time or resources to dig. That’s why for the past seven years, over three hundred organizations have turned to EDF Climate Corps for hands-on help to cut costs and carbon pollution through better energy management. And every year, the program delivers results: this year’s class of fellows found $130 million in potential energy savings across 102 organizations.

But this year we also saw something new. In addition to mining efficiencies in companies’ internal operations, the fellows were sent farther afield – to suppliers’ factories, distribution systems, and franchisee networks. What they discovered demonstrated there is plenty of gold to be found across entire value chains, if companies take the time to mine it.

Here are three places where EDF Climate Corps fellows struck gold: Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency / Read 1 Response

The Social Cost of Stagnation: A Call for FERC Action

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 7, 2014

By: James T. B. Tripp, EDF Senior Counsel

Fossil fuel plantAmerica’s electricity industry – the single largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. – is at the heart of some of the world’s biggest environmental challenges, especially climate change. Given this connection, you would think an agency called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would take into account the major environmental consequences of its policies, which fundamentally shape the U.S. power industry. Sadly, you would be wrong.

FERC is charged by law with ensuring wholesale rates and other critical aspects of the electricity industry, such as transmission practices, are “just and reasonable.” Yet FERC’s official policy is to exclude environmental considerations from its regulation of the industry. Why? FERC’s reasoning is based on a combination of questionable statutory interpretation and an approach to energy regulation that is stuck in the past. In fact, FERC’s statutory mandate over wholesale electricity sales and transmission dates back to the 1930s, long before scientists discovered climate change. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Climate / Tagged | Comments are closed

Live Stream EDF’s Panel Discussions at SXSW Eco Oct. 6-8

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 5, 2014

sxswecoSXSW Eco attracts a global community to explore, engage, and co-create solutions for a sustainable world. A uniquely inclusive platform for professionals, SXSW Eco examines the critical challenges of our times through a kaleidoscopic lens of design innovation, policy tipping points, technological breakthroughs, conservation practice, entrepreneurial spirit, and a culture of creativity to transform inspiration into action.

EDF will be there in full force, including participating in four panels (CST): Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Texas / Comments are closed

Making the World a Better Place: One Megawatt at a Time

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 2, 2014

By: Supraja Sudharsan, student at Georgia Institute of Technology

pic-for-blog_sudharsanWhat does it take for a manufacturing firm with 24/7 operations to incorporate sustainability goals into its daily activities? I learned the answer to the question this summer at Owens Corning.

Owens Corning is an innovator in fiberglas™ technology operating in 27 countries around the world, with its products’ end-uses ranging from insulation and roofing shingles to wind turbines. The company has been a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the last five years, and has rallied around climate change issues to achieve key milestones in its energy intensity and greenhouse gas reduction goals since 2002. Having picked the so-called “low hanging fruits” in energy efficiency, Owens Corning now aspires to purchase 100 percent of its primary energy from renewables. In this, the company’s most recent milestone has been the installation of the largest onsite solar PV system in New York State funded by the New York Sun program in 2013.

One reason this has been possible is due to a shift in the cost of renewable technology, with solar and wind approaching grid parity in some regions of the United States. This has provided an opportunity to enter the renewables space that did not exist a few years back. Technologies like net metering, which allows businesses to sell excess clean energy back to the grid and profit from their renewable deployment, and availability of third party energy suppliers in some states, as well as a means to track and retire the renewable certificates and the reporting standards that have emerged around these, have all been crucial for enabling this shift towards greater renewables. Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Renewable Energy / Comments are closed

Three Ways to Boost Energy Efficiency after the “Low-Hanging Fruit” has been Picked

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 1, 2014

By: Lana Zaman, graduate student at UC Berkeley

2014berkeleyfellowsCompanies today are increasingly investing in energy efficiency upgrades, both to conserve energy and to reduce operating costs. By lowering greenhouse gas emissions and fuel expenses, energy efficiency benefits the economy as well as the environment in the face of climate change. Being from Bangladesh, a country that is on a trajectory to become completely submerged as sea levels rise, climate change is an important issue to me and is largely the reason why I joined EDF Climate Corps.

Before I began my fellowship, I asked myself: When there exists a seemingly obvious solution to current energy challenges, why aren’t more companies investing in these solutions? What is holding the private sector back from pursuing initiatives that not only save the company money, but can also contribute to mitigating climate change? Read More »

Posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency / Comments are closed