The changing face of solar energy

The changing face of solar energy

According to Grist, there are numerous energy options available to consumers. In deregulated areas, households can select from a number of available options within the realm of solar energy alone.
The most traditional choice is the purchase of personal solar panels. In the past, federal tax incentives have eased the financial burden of a solar panel purchase. Going forward, however, many consumers are looking for other alternatives.
Solar panel leasing programs have become popular in many states, including California, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Consumers lease solar panels for a nominal monthly fee which, in combination with their energy usage fees, still totals less than traditional utility bills, according to Grist.
Community solar projects have also gained popularity, and can function in varying ways. A small utility company may own a solar project, allowing sustainable energy to function very similarly to traditional utility services.
Power purchase agreements have also gained popularity. Grist reported that the military is in the process of signing up for a power purchase agreement, which would provide 120,000 military residences with solar panels.
Companies and stores are also turning to solar power as an energy alternative.
"Companies seem to be adopting solar energy because of the financial gain that these energy systems represent," reportedHydrogen Fuel News.

Cutting energy use in hospitals with renewables

Cutting energy use in hospitals with renewables

The U.S. Department of Energy's Commercial Buildings Program and National Renewable Energy Laboratory announced that they are working with the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers and the general buildings industry to research means to reduce the energy used by high-level consumers such as large hospitals, schools and retail buildings. The partnerships resulted in a series of guidelines for energy design that could help facilitate a 50 percent savings for buildings designed for high-level consumers, achievable by making electric choices that are designed to be "easy to implement."
Shanti Pless, NREL Senior Research Engineer and Chair of the Advanced Energy Design Guidelines project, revealed that the AEDG series "represents the best practices in industry for energy efficiency in buildings."
Given the fact that U.S. hospitals spend more than $5 billion a year on energy, which on average equals 1 to 3 percent of a hospital's budget for operating, Pless said, "We felt this industry needed resources, and there weren't many out there helping them to achieve 50 percent savings in energy."
The NREL has been operating for roughly 35 years, aiming to help facilitate the emergence of the green energy industry, and is reportedly the only national laboratory that is dedicated to advancing the renewable energy industry and energy efficiency technologies from the initial concept phase through to commercial applications.

Sustainability changes for every organization

Sustainability changes for every organization

Climate and sustainability expert Bob Doppelt wrote a recent article published in Business Review USA, in which he offered up six changes that he said every organization is capable of making to cost-effectively reach sustainability.
Doppelt noted the need to revise the classic "more and cheaper is better" approach to business, offering up an alternative mantra for personal happiness and economic success, saying, "sustainable is better, healthier, morally just - and essential to sustain life on the planet."
Doppelt's six cost-effective changes for sustainability begin with his recommendation for businesses to complete a Life Cycle Analysis to fully explore the effects the company's goods and services have on the environment and society. Then, Doppelt advised undertaking an analysis of the company's carbon footprint for all production facilities, and to simultaneously perform an energy audit. These beginning steps are key for helping companies inexpensively discover where there is room for improvement and new ways to save money.
The next change Doppelt offered up was to hold a company-wide dialogue with the goal to establish clear ethics to help manage the company's activities around sustaining the natural environment.
Fourth on Doppelt's list is arguably his boldest suggestion, telling companies to set an ambitious target - something similar to either increasing efficiency or reducing energy use by 30 percent - in an effort to show commitment to the company's initiatives.
The fifth change is to have the company establish a plan to reduce its use of coal across its value chain, completely eliminating coal use in a period of five to 10 years. Doppelt maintains that this is achievable by transitioning to renewable energy sources such as wind or solar while simultaneously working to increase energy efficiency.
Doppelt's final change involves setting yet another ambitious goal, this time to reduce company waste that goes to landfills through the gradual building up of recycling and reuse at facilities.
Once organizations have gone through Doppelt's six changes, he advises them to then continue approaching goals like these in a similar fashion until they have gone through the company's entire value chain.
Today, companies around the globe recognize the necessity to restructure their sustainability efforts, residential households are making individual efforts to do their parts, and entire cities are taking on the sustainability challenge. For example, a recent article in Peoria new source the Peoria Times described how that city developed a sustainability initiative in 2009 in an effort to counter financial hardships and have "positive, lasting effects" on Peoria's future.

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