BLACK & VEATCH Introduction On August 3, 2015, President Obama announced the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final Clean Power Plan (CPP) rule for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing fossil fuel electric generating units (EGUs). The final rule establishes CO2 emission performance rates based upon the EPA’s determination of the best system of emission […]
View this complete post...Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category
Market Impacts of the Clean Power Plan
Thursday, November 12th, 2015Industrial Efficiency in the Changing Utility Landscape
Wednesday, November 4th, 2015Infrastructure Repair Is About People, Not Profits
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015As we sit and watch our infrastructure crumble, what can we do? We all depend on the roads, the bridges, the canals, the rails. But we’re not in the same position as Congress. We don’t play the role of financing the renovation. They pass the bills, then we do the work. But the question still remains. What can the individual do in the face of a system that struggles with enabling the individual to do anything?
View this complete post...Lights Out? Storm Surge, Blackouts, and How Clean Energy Can Help
Monday, November 2nd, 2015UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
To maintain our present and future access to reliable electricity—and all the health, safety, and economic benefits such access allows—we must prepare our electric grid for increased coastal flooding. One necessary approach is adapting electricity infrastructure. However, it is also critical to simultaneously pursue solutions that go beyond intervening with specific pieces of equipment. For that, we can look to bolstering the overall electricity resilience of critical facilities and vulnerable populations.
Minnesota DOT: Protecting Bats Along the Mississippi River
Tuesday, October 27th, 2015The Minnesota Department of Transportation and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources worked together to create new habitat for over 3,000 bats that will be displaced by the replacement of bridges crossing from Minnesota into French Island, Wisc. over the Mississippi River.
View this complete post...Peak Energy Demand Reduction Strategy
Tuesday, October 27th, 2015After launching a project assessing peak demand and demand response (DR) standards at the state level, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) discovered that no currently existing study examined existing DR programs or made recommendations on best practices for structuring a DR/peak demand initiative. AEE engaged Navigant to perform quantitative and qualitative analysis in order to gain an understanding of peak demand reduction standards, their potential benefits, and how such standards should be designed.
View this complete post...The Decisions We Make Today Will Shape Tomorrow
Monday, October 26th, 2015C40 CITIES CLIMATE LEADERSHIP GROUP
The world is becoming ever more urban, with 1.5 million people moving into towns and cities every week, all requiring infrastructure like homes, roads, electricity and water supplies. As a result, the approach taken to urban infrastructure construction, renewal and refurbishment will play a substantial role in avoiding or locking in future emissions. For example, hundreds of millions of new homes will either produce large quantities of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through poor energy performance, or avoid emissions through sensible and efficient design.
2015 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard
Thursday, October 22nd, 2015AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY
In this ninth edition of our State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ranks states on their policy and program efforts and recommends ways that states can improve their energy efficiency performance in various policy areas. The State Scorecard provides an annual benchmark of the progress of state energy efficiency policies and programs. It encourages states to continue strengthening their efficiency commitments in order to promote economic growth, secure environmental benefits, and increase their communities’ resilience in the face of the uncertain cost and supply of the energy resources on which they depend.
Shared Solar: Current Landscape, Market Potential, and the Impact of Federal Securities Regulation
Wednesday, October 14th, 2015NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY
This report provides a high-level overview of the current U.S. shared solar landscape and the impact that a given shared solar program’s structure has on requiring federal securities oversight, as well as an estimate of market potential for U.S. shared solar deployment. Shared solar models allocate the electricity of a jointly owned or leased system to offset individual consumers’ electricity bills, allowing multiple energy consumers to share the benefits of a single solar array. Despite tremendous growth in the U.S. solar market over the last decade, existing business models and regulatory environments have not been designed to provide access to a significant portion of potential PV system customers.
Infographic: Greening Buildings with LEED Certification
Tuesday, October 13th, 2015LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a green building certification program. From sustainable site development to indoor environmental quality—LEED focuses on building practices that support areas of human and environmental health. There are more then 68,000 LEED commercial projects in the United States and LEED certified buildings exist in more than 150 countries and territories and 6 continents.
View this complete post...Follow InfrastructureUSA
CATEGORIES
- Accountability (219)
- Aging Infrastructure (747)
- Aviation (130)
- Biking (323)
- Bipartisan (271)
- Bridges (491)
- Broadband (57)
- Buses (160)
- Carbon Tax (22)
- Clean Air (182)
- Climate Change (199)
- Competitiveness (229)
- Congestion (327)
- Dams (77)
- Democrat (123)
- Drinking Water (191)
- Economic Stimulus (275)
- Employment (207)
- Energy (584)
- Environment (615)
- Equity (239)
- Funding (879)
- Global (205)
- Great American Infrastructure (33)
- Green (293)
- Guests on The Infra Blog (263)
- Hazardous Waste (27)
- High Speed Rail (224)
- Highway (783)
- Inland Waterways (204)
- Jobs (251)
- Land Use (97)
- LEED (28)
- Levees (42)
- Local (1,909)
- National (1,523)
- Policy (1,121)
- Pollution (215)
- Private Investment (213)
- Public Opinion (189)
- Public Parks & Recreation (194)
- Public Transportation (1,025)
- Racism (6)
- Rail (501)
- Recession (65)
- Recovery (218)
- Republican (109)
- Roads (1,118)
- Schools (79)
- Seaports (66)
- Smart Grid (98)
- Smart Growth (442)
- Solid Waste (26)
- Sustainability (763)
- Tax (112)
- Technology (395)
- Telecommunications (46)
- Transit (1,330)
- Urban Planning (977)
- Wastewater (180)
- Water Treatment (165)
Video, stills and tales. Share images of the Infra in your community that demands attention. Post your ideas about national Infra issues. Go ahead. Show Us Your Infra! Upload and instantly share your message.
Is the administration moving fast enough on Infra issues? Are Americans prepared to pay more taxes for repairs? Should job creation be the guiding determination? Vote now!
What do the experts think? This is where the nation's public policy organizations, trade associations and think tanks weigh in with analysis on Infra issues. Tell them what you think. Ask questions. Share a different view.
The Infra Blog offers cutting edge perspective on a broad spectrum of Infra topics. Frequent updates and provocative posts highlight hot button topics -- essential ingredients of a national Infra dialogue.
Dear Friends,
It is encouraging to finally see clear signs of federal action to support a comprehensive US infrastructure investment plan.
Now more than ever, our advocacy is needed to keep stakeholders informed and connected, and to hold politicians to their promises to finally fix our nation’s ailing infrastructure.
We have already engaged nearly 280,000 users, and hoping to add many more as interest continues to grow.
We require your support in order to rise to this occasion, to make the most of this opportunity. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to InfrastructureUSA.org.
Steve Anderson
Managing Director
SteveAnderson@InfrastructureUSA.org
917-940-7125