Energy Exchange

Clearing the Air: L.A.’s Vision for Clean Transportation

By EDF Blogs / Published: April 15, 2015

There’s something remarkable happening in the city of Los Angeles, you can feel it in the air – and it’s definitely not the country’s worst pollution or the record-breaking heat – it’s the winds of change. Los Angeles is in the process of reinventing itself from a dystopian vision of traffic jams and unbreathable air into an urban leader in sustainability.

Last week L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled a bold new plan (pLAn) to revolutionize sustainability in Los Angeles, including taking a bite of the big enchilada responsible for the most air pollution that gets in our lungs and greenhouse gas pollution that causes climate change – the transportation sector. Mobile sources (think diesel trucks, trains, ships, aircraft, and cars) account for 90 percent of Southern California’s harmful air pollution. Statewide, the transportation sector is responsible for nearly 70 percent of smog-forming gases and 40 percent of the state’s climate change pollution every year.

While some progress has been made – the number of non-attainment days (days when an area doesn’t meet the federal air quality standard) has decreased dramatically since the 1990s and the Port of Los Angeles has reduced diesel particulate matter by 80 percent since 2005 – there are still huge clean air disparities. We know the dirtiest zip codes in L.A. are also the ones with a disproportionately large amount of low-income communities and people of color. We cannot run a victory lap on this issue until EVERYONE in L.A. can safely get around the city and breathe healthy air at the same time. Read More »

Also posted in Air Quality, California, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, State / Comments are closed

Methane Gets its Day in the Los Angeles Spotlight

By Tim O'Connor / Published: March 16, 2015

Los Angeles City Council members Paul Koretz and Tom LaBonge at a press conference prior to the event

Los Angeles has a methane problem. Recent analysis by NASA and CalTech reveals that concentrations of methane in the Los Angeles basin are more than 60 percent higher than previously estimated. That’s a serious issue, because the invisible, heat-trapping gas packs a volatile climate change punch that is 84 times greater than carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it is released.

The good news is that cutting methane pollution is a no-nonsense, can’t-lose proposition for fighting climate change. A dynamic discussion of solutions to the methane challenge brought nearly 200 people to a symposium in downtown Los Angeles last week.

The event was sponsored by EDF, in partnership with Climate Resolve and 11 other organizations representing diverse communities across California. Participants heard from climate change and methane experts from leading academic and research institutions about the science of methane pollution and what can be done to control it. The event drew officials from local, state, and federal agencies; utility representatives; business leaders; and a large array of concerned citizens.

NBC4 Los Angeles has a great story HERE.

Posted in General / Comments are closed

New York’s ‘Reforming the Energy Vision’ Just Got a Little Bit Clearer

By Elizabeth B. Stein / Published: March 12, 2015

Nearly a year ago, the New York Public Service Commission (Commission) initiated a groundbreaking effort, called ‘Reforming the Energy Vision’ (REV), to overhaul the longstanding electric utility business model. In the months since starting the REV proceeding, the Commission has sought advice from Department of Public Service staff, industry stakeholders, and environmental non-profits, among others, quietly refining its vision while largely refraining from big pronouncements about the progress of the proceeding.

That changed late last month when the Commission issued its ‘Track 1’ order establishing the ‘vision’ component of the REV proceeding. We are now starting to get a better sense of what sort of future electric marketplace the Commission anticipates and what role utility companies would play in this new marketplace. We can also begin to assess the extent to which this new marketplace will lead to the improved environmental outcomes stated as a goal of this proceeding. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Grid Modernization, New York, Utility Business Models / Read 1 Response

Europe’s Love Affair with the Investor Confidence Project Gets Serious

By EDF Blogs / Published: March 11, 2015

By: Panama Bartholomy, Director of ICP Europe

Flag_of_Europe The European Commission is putting its weight behind an initiative designed to increase private investment in energy efficiency, the Investor Confidence Project (ICP). ICP is accelerating the development of a global energy efficiency market by standardizing how energy efficiency projects are developed and energy savings are calculated.

In late February, the European Commission released a landmark report on energy efficiency in Europe that was 18 months in the making, and it had ICP all over it. The report, Energy Efficiency – the first fuel for the EU Economy, was issued by the Energy Efficiency Financial Institutions Group (EEFIG), a group of financial and energy efficiency leaders and building owners convened by the European Commission and United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.

Earlier that same month, the European Commission awarded a €1.92 million grant to the European version of the project, ICP Europe. The grant will pay for a consortium of companies to:

develop ICP’s project protocols for the European market;
work with financial institutions to embed them into their financing process; and
organize National Steering Groups in five countries: (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal and the U.K.) to take the protocols to markets in those countries.

Also posted in Clean Energy / Tagged Clean Energy, Investor Confidence Project | Comments are closed

Oil and Gas Lobby Says Up Means Down

By Mark Brownstein / Published: February 27, 2015

Marcellus_Shale_Gas_Drilling_Tower_1_crop The Environmental Protection Agency just released the draft of its yearly greenhouse gas emissions inventory. It shows in no uncertain terms that methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector are going in the wrong direction: Up.

Emissions from this overall sector are up two percent in 2013, which includes emissions from oil (petroleum) systems which were at their highest levels ever since estimates began in 1990 – and up 68 percent since 2005. Emissions from natural gas processing, where impurities are removed to produce pipeline quality gas, are up 38 percent since 2005. From transmission and storage: Up 11 percent.

Yet the industry’s public relations machine says emissions are falling. So what’s the disconnect? Read More »

Also posted in Methane, Natural Gas / Read 1 Response

A Possible Antidote to the Fossil Fuel Economy

By Tim O'Connor / Published: February 2, 2015

Much has been written about the causes of the recent downturn in world oil prices. So it shouldn’t be much of a surprise to hear that many places which derive a significant share of their economic activity from oil production have begun to feel the effects of this downturn.

As less money is taken from the sale of each barrel of oil produced, both major and local economies alike – from Alberta, to Texas, the Middle East, and Kern County – have seen a rapid decline in their tax base and overall economic output. In some cases, the drop in oil money has been so rapid and significant that some jurisdictions have declared fiscal emergencies.

Whether from layoffs at oil and gas operators, or government program cuts due to reduced tax collection, the downturn associated with reduced oil and gas profits shows just how fragile, and damaging, the fossil fuel-based economy can be. Just as families are hit in the pocketbook when prices at the pump shoot up, so too are many family livelihoods hurt when prices plummet. With this lose-lose proposition, we need to know now: are other options available?

Thankfully, there is another way. A new report released today from the fuels and energy consulting firm Promotum, (commissioned by Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Union of Concerned Scientists) shows that an abundance of locally-based, alternative fuels is on the horizon. According to Promotum, the state is on track to achieve significant fuel diversification by 2020 and cut carbon emissions associated with fuel production and use. This positive forecast also means we can expect prolonged domestic economic growth from emergent alternative fuel companies up and down the state. Read More »

Posted in General / Comments are closed