Energy Use Can Be Cut By Efficiency, Survey Says
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The growth rate of worldwide energy consumption could be cut by more than half over the next 15 years through more aggressive energy-efficiency effort, according to a study.
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One in an occasional series Electric power has already become painfully expensive in Washington and its suburbs. Now, local utilities say, it could become something even worse: scarce. With its humming data centers and air-conditioned mansions, the region is using 18 percent more electricity than...
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Life & style: Survey contradicts rise of ethical consumption and increasing concerns over size of carbon footprints.
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Blog: Building energy costs fit within this tidy interface to help a home become more efficient.
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If motorists used rechargeable "plug-in" hybrid-electric vehicles in large numbers, the U.S. could see a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century, says a study released Thursday.
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The U.S. House aims to slash its energy consumption by 50 percent in 10 years under a "Green the Capitol" initiative.
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A smarter grid could mean new efficiency, and thus less need to build power plants.
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There's money on the table if you take some energy-saving steps.
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MADRID, Nov 15 (IPS) - The use of solar energy that has been declared   compulsory for new buildings by the Spanish government as of  next year will  not only save consumers money, but will also cut  the burning of fossil fuels  and reduce air pollution.
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A record number of buildings, from skyscrapers to supermarkets, won special recognition by U.S. regulators for being energy efficient in 2006.
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Skyrocketing energy prices are  expected to help lead to subdued U.S. economic growth for the  second half of this year, averaging 2.6 percent, according to a  survey of economists released on Monday.
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Residential energy use in the United States is predicted to increase 25 percent by 2025. A small but increasing share of that power will trickle in from renewable energy sources, experts say.
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(InfoWorld) - A group of some of the biggest technology companies said they've committed to a plan to improve the power efficiency of equipment they make and use. The Climate Savers Computing Initiative , which includes companies such as Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc., aims to improve the efficiency of power sources for computers and servers and encourage end users to take advantage of underused power management techniques. Only about 50 percent of the power that leaves a power outlet reaches a PC, because inefficient power cords leak energy, Google's Senior Vice President of Operations, Urs Holzle said Tuesday during a press conference to announce the program. Climate Savers has defined a series of standards for power supply efficiency in servers and PCs that it suggests members adopt between now and July 2010. By 2010, the Climate Savers standard will define a power supply that is above 95 percent efficient, Holzle said. The program asks manufacturing members to build products to the standard and companies to pledge to buy products that have the improved power supplies. The improvement doesn't require the development of new technologies. "This is all do-able today with technology we have and know," Holzle said. The reason that vendors haven't deployed such efficient power cords is because they cost more, said Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's digital enterprise group. A PC with a more efficient power cord would cost around US$20 more and a server an additional $30, he said. To address that price premium, Climate Savers is encouraging energy companies to issue rebates to users that buy products with the more efficient power supplies. Over time that cost premium is expected to drop with volume production, Gelsinger said. In addition, end users will save on their energy bills, also helping to offset the cost, he noted. Another component of Climate Savers is general education and encouragement for end users to take advantage of power management mechanisms that are typically built into existing PCs. "Ninety percent of PCs are capable but aren't utilizing power management techniques," Gelsinger said. "We want to drive IT policy in enterprises," he said. Improving power supply efficiencies and the use of power management techniques along the timeline Climate Savers has described would reduce global carbon emissions from the operation of computers by 54 million tons per year. It would save 62 billion kilowatt hours of energy in 2010, worth around $5.5 billion in energy costs, the group said. In its own data centers, most of Google's servers already have power supplies that comply with the Climate Savers standards for 2008 and 2009, Holzle said. Google began investing in the more expensive supplies because "it's worth spending a bit more on the power supply to save on the energy bill," he said. He defended Google's overall carbon footprint, despite questions about company jets that are hard on the environment. He pointed to the solar power used at the company's headquarters and incentives for employees to buy hybrid cars. In addition, he hinted at future energy-saving programs that the company plans to announce soon. Although Holzle said he knows Google's carbon footprint, he declined to share it. Other companies that are already part of the program include Yahoo Inc., Hitachi Ltd., eBay Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., NEC Corp., Red Hat Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., Unisys Corp. and the Linux Foundation.
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Larger supplies, more energy alternatives, and a slowing economy could be factors.
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Some factors to consider when measuring an efficiency ratio.
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The greening of IT In the wake of the Stern Report, businesses are starting to take energy efficiency seriously as an economic issue, but research from Intel suggests there is still some way to go before this concern filters down to the IT department.â¦
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A quarter of further education colleges are set to use solar panels, says a survey.