Clean Energy Transition

AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that revised energy efficiency standards proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") on February 1, 2012 are not expected to significantly impact the overall competitiveness of the company's grain-oriented electrical steels ("GOES") used in the manufacture of electrical distribution transformers.  In fact, AK Steel said that with respect to some types of distribution transformers the new standards have the potential for increasing the market for GOES.

In partnership with EEFG, Hawaii Energy is sponsoring a new Hawaii Energy Series.  This series offers classes to help sell energy efficiency retrofits.

This project will examine how people make decisions about appliance purchases and the effect that these choices have on energy demand. Currently, approximately half of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to residential appliance use. However, consumers can reduce their long-run energy needs by replacing old appliances with ones that are more energy efficient. It is not surprising, then, that efficiency standards have been the cornerstone of U.S. energy conservation efforts to date. Unfortunately, the effect of these standards on appliance purchase behavior is not well understood. There are two primary reasons why. Current datasets lack crucial information, and even with appropriate data it is difficult to accurately model the dynamic aspect of appliance purchase behavior. This project addresses both of these issues.

Our fact-checking revealed that empirical estimates of energy rebound cited by the Breakthrough Institute are over-estimated or wrong, and they contradict the technological reality of energy efficiency gains observed in many industrial sectors.  For journalists, the Rebound Effect is a trap—it is a man-bites-dog story that never happened.

Le projet qui réunit les sociétés SCHOTT Solar, RENA et le CiS Forschungsinstitut für Mikrosensorik und Photovoltaik vise à remplacer les contacts en argent (couramment utilisés en face avant des cellules solaires) par une couche de nickel-cuivre, moins coûteuse. Il a déjà atteint un objectif important : une cellule solaire métallisée au cuivre, avec un rendement de 18 %.