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Matt Johnson, left, an HVAC technician, and Ben Sevigny, a thermal installer, both with ReVision ...
[+] Energy, a New England company specializing in solar energy and electric heat pump installations, work on installing electric heat pumps on a home in Windham, Maine on Thursday, January 19, 2023. (Photo by Tristan Spinski for The Washington Post via Getty Images) The International Energy Agency and the US Energy Star Program say that energy efficiency should be the foundation of reducing our carbon emissions to address global warming. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment Act provide billions of dollars in incentives, tax credits, and funding opportunities to help make U.
S. homes, businesses, and infrastructure more energy efficient. But, how much money and emissions will energy efficiency really save us? How do we tap those IRA and Infrastructure Act incentives? Screenshot - U.
S,. Dept. of Energy website on benefits of energy efficiency - energy.
gov/eere The Energy Star Program says energy efficiency can reduce carbon emissions by 34% and the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) has said it can reduce CO2 by 40%, so I asked Paula Glover, President of the Alliance to Save Energy, how. She has over 25 years of experience on all sides of the energy issue – solar, oil, natural gas, etc. – including having served on the National Petroleum Council since 2014 and working with state legislators and regulators.
“We are kind of a coalition of companies and nonprofits, environmental organizations, government organizations, and so on. But we all have some sort of interest in efficiency.” It includes trade associations, utilities, and companies like Siemens, and has a bipartisan, bicameral honorary advisory board, representing both political parties and the Senate and the House.
Glover said, “Our job at the Alliance is to bring those people together, think about the kinds of policies that we either have existing and we want to improve, or new policies that we need to get adoption of for energy efficiency.” Paula Glover, Alliance to Save Energy ‘The Perfect Couple’ Dethroned In Netflix’s Top 10 List By A New Show A ‘Huge’ BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Price ‘Surprise’ Is Suddenly About To Hit Apple’s New iPhone 16 Pro Delivers Delight And Disappointment Here are five key points from my exclusive interview with Glover on Electric Ladies Podcast: + What is energy efficiency? It’s about “doing more, using less.” Glover said, “The megawatt not used is the cheapest megawatt.
And, there's so many things either by using technology, old technology like insulation, or digitalization, that allows us to really stretch what we can get out every single megawatt, kilowatt, electron that we use. So, that's what we're talking about. And so, if we had the kind of massive adoption that we need, we could get to a big 40% reduction.
It's not an easy task,” she admitted. “It is really about an intersection between policy and behavior change.” Energy efficiency would also greatly reduce the stress on the grid , which is critical especially as artificial intelligence (A.
I.) and the magnitude and speed of how the economy is being electrified add to that stress. An aircraft takes off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) behind electric power lines at .
.. [+] sunset a(Photo by PATRICK T.
FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) + Energy efficiency needs to be customized to individual needs : “I think the real benefit and beauty of about efficiency technology is that it can be tailored to who you are and where you are, where you live, what climate, what geography, all that stuff, you know, can be tailored for each individual customer.” What they need is determined also by what kind of building it is, how well its insulated, what kind of windows it has, etc. All of that can be identified in an energy audit , the costs of which may be covered in part by components of the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Act.
Screenshot - Treasury Dept website on Inflation Red Act, clean energy - treasury.gov + Saving money on energy efficiency technologies with the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Act : The Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment Act have several ways to reduce a home’s energy use. For example, Glover pointed out The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the IRA, which has ways you can save on energy efficiency technology, including on an energy audit.
That checks for leaky doors, windows and/or insulation, before installing solar panels or another alternative energy technology, to maximize your savings. “If you own your own home, or you are able to make investments in where you live, you may want to look at tax credits and you can get tax credits for all kinds of efficiency technology,” she said. Those can include more energy efficient windows, lighting, insulation, or furnace, which she thinks is a 25C tax credit.
She suggests asking your utility and/or your state energy agency for energy efficiency and rebate programs too, and if you’re building a new home, the tax credit for energy efficiency is 45 L. “If you are in the market for a new refrigerator, (or) any kind of household washing machine dryer,” Glover recommends, “Look for that Energy Star label. You do save consider about considerable amounts of money.
Teresa Hui, wearing 2024 glasses, poses in front of a sign with the 2024 numerals after an ...
[+] illumination ceremony in Times Square on December 20, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images) + What we each do matters : “A lot of it is driven by behavior change and at every consumer level, getting people to think about how we save energy, just in the same way that we should be thinking about how we save water, and how we think about how we need to recycle,” Glover explained. “We can do some of these things and still use less, and it not only benefits our bill, it can also help to provide greater resiliency on our grid, as well as reduced carbon and greenhouse gas.
” She added that, “Efficiency is a powerful tool, but there's a requirement that we all be involved, and that's really the rub, that's the part that makes it challenging.” + Roadmap for a just energy transition : “When we talk about a just (energy) transition, we're really talking about how do you have a transition that doesn't leave people behind? And that's so much more than just jobs, and re-skilling,” Glover emphasized. “It is about investment in the community.
And I always think about it in terms of our infrastructure,” adding, “And that requires that you have to be really aware of what each community needs.” Energy efficiency jobs are all local too, Glover pointed out, since they come to your home. “A just (energy) transition,” Glover insisted, “requires, I think, that we have a commitment and interest in improving every single community, no matter where they are located and who is in charge and what the politics are.
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