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Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category

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It’s Smart To Be Dense

Thursday, July 9th, 2015

Urban density is fundamental principle of sustainable development. Density supports economic and creative vibrancy, social integration, and a healthy, environmental sustainable development model. As the world’s population continues to urbanize, our cities have two options for growth: densify or sprawl. The private-car dependent sprawl model of the 20th century must change, and move away from a reliance on private cars, to accommodate a more populous, and more prosperous world.

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Posted in Environment, Land Use, Pollution, Public Transportation, Show Us Your Infra, Smart Growth, Sustainability, Transit, Urban Planning

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2015 U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index

Thursday, July 9th, 2015
2015 TOP 10 STATES (INCLUDING HISTORICAL RANKINGS)

CLEAN EDGE
The United States has seen a significant shift in its energy landscape since Clean Edge began publishing its clean-tech leadership index five years ago. The transition to a clean tech and energy efficiency-based economy, based on the many indicators we track, is well underway. Solar and wind power, along with natural gas and energy efficiency, are now the mainstream choices for meeting the nation’s electricity needs; coal-fired and nuclear power, the dominant choices of the 20th century, have become the marginalized “alternatives.”

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Posted in Clean Air, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Infra Views, National, Pollution, Sustainability, Technology

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Bill Nye on Energy Storage and Transmission

Friday, July 3rd, 2015

Fracking isn’t a bad idea in theory but it can’t be allowed to go unregulated, says Bill Nye. New technological advances have promoted irresponsible fracturing practices with severe environmental and public health consequences.

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Competitiveness of Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency in U.S. Markets

Friday, June 26th, 2015
Figure A. Actual vs. Projected U.S. Installed Solar Power Capacity

ADVANCED ENERGY ECONOMY INSTITUTE
Questions have been raised about whether renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) resources can provide substantial emission reductions at reasonable cost under EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP). These concerns reflect fundamental misperceptions about the performance and cost of today’s renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, rooted in outdated information and perpetuated by inaccurate official market projections. This paper shows that RE and EE are competitive resources in today’s marketplace that will not only be cost-effective mechanisms for CPP compliance but should also be expected to grow strictly on the basis of competitiveness.

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Renewables and Electricity Storage

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015
Figure 1: Annual share of annual variable renewable power generation in 2014 and in 2030 if all REmap options are implemented

INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY
International and national assessments of the global electricity storage market have been hindered by uncertainty
about which technologies and market segments to include. A central question for this roadmap is
whether storage is used to support the integration of renewables or for other purposes.

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Posted in Energy, Environment, Global, Green, Infra Views, Sustainability, Technology

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Tom Kimbis, Vice President of Executive Affairs, Solar Energy Industries Association

Wednesday, June 17th, 2015
Tom Kimbis, SEIA

Tom has been working in renewable energy since 2000, when he began supporting research, analysis, legislative, and planning efforts across all energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

“I’ve seen efficiencies for solar increase over time, and for many years efficiency was talked about as the Holy Grail…what we need right now is not for panels to double their efficiency; what we really need is to have access to cheaper capital, and to eliminate some of the barriers that exist in states and jurisdictions across the country that make it difficult for people to choose solar.”

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Posted in Energy, Environment, Funding, Green, Guests on The Infra Blog, National, Policy, Sustainability, The Infra Blog

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Bringing Low-Carbon Trucks to the United States

Tuesday, June 16th, 2015

Lew Fulton and Marshall Miller talk about Low-Carbon Truck Strategies.

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Posted in Clean Air, Climate Change, Environment, Pollution, Show Us Your Infra, Sustainability

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Analysis of the Impacts of the Clean Power Plan

Tuesday, June 9th, 2015
Figure 3. Change in electric power sector CO2 emissions in Clean Power Plan (CPP) cases relative to baseline, selected years

UNITED STATES ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION
Power sector CO2 emissions declined by 363 million metric tons between 2005 and 2013, due to a decline in coal’s generation share and growing use of natural gas and renewables, but the CO2 emissions are projected to change only modestly from 2013 through 2040 in the 3 baseline cases used in this report. Relative to the AEO2015 Reference case, the projected emissions trajectory is somewhat lower in the High Oil and Gas Resource case baseline, which has cheaper natural gas, and somewhat higher in the High Economic Growth case, which has higher electricity use.

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Posted in Energy, Environment, Infra Views, National, Policy, Sustainability

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North Carolina: The Impact of Electric Choices on Residential Rates & Bills

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015
Figure 1. North Carolina

NC SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION
In North Carolina, there are three types of electric power providers that sell electric power to retail customers: investor-owned utilities (IOUs), electric membership corporations, and municipally-owned utilities…Reliable and affordable energy is essential to support businesses, jobs, hospitals, and government services – but it comes at a cost. What makes up these costs and, in turn, customers’ rates is complex.

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Guest on The Infra Blog: Dr. Ernest Moniz, United States Secretary of Energy

Thursday, May 28th, 2015
Dr. Ernest Moniz on The Infra Blog

As United States Secretary of Energy, Dr. Ernest Moniz is tasked with implementing critical Department of Energy missions in support of President Obama’s goals of growing the economy, enhancing security and protecting the environment.

“What we have to do right now is make the investments in building and re-building the energy infrastructure that will be appropriate for the next decades ahead. That will include building infrastructure that is resilient against a whole variety of risks, but it also involves opportunity: the issue in the long term of transitioning to a low-carbon economy, and a tremendous increase in renewables, for example.”

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