Time to export energy efficiency?

By Elisa Wood

December 8, 2010

We keep hearing that China is going to become a really big deal in world energy markets. But it wasn’t until I read this statement by Jane Henley, CEO of the World Green Building Council, that I grasped the scope of its coming influence:

“China is projected to build the equivalent of 10 New York Cities over the next decade.”

For some, such rapid economic expansion by China is cause for fear. Others see opportunity. The US green energy markets were nudged toward the opportunity-seeker category this week with word from the Department of Energy of the nation’s first export strategy for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

It’s a funny place for us to be. We tend to be known on the international stage for our energy consumption. We are the world’s largest oil importer, and its third largest producer. And when it comes to green energy, the last few years have been marked by more imports than exports. A flock of international companies have established themselves in the US to build wind and solar energy, sometimes by buying out US companies.

Many US’ green energy companies simply do not export, according to the report “Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Export Initiative,” issued December 7 by the DOE and several other government agencies. The report pegs US export of renewable energy goods at about $2 billion last year. This isn’t a very big number when you consider that worldwide $162 billion in private capital went toward renewables and energy efficiency technologies and $183 billion in government stimulus funds.

While the report quantifies current US renewable energy exports, it has a tougher time defining the energy efficiency market, not an unusual problem for an industry that encompasses everything from home improvements to combined heat and power plants. However, the export market potential for energy efficiency technologies is “likely substantial,” the report said.

So if you want to export energy efficiency, what countries should you look to?

If you manufacture industrial energy efficiency equipment, clearly economically developed countries offer best opportunities Markets also are likely to be ripe for US imports if they consume more energy than they produce (Germany), or if they have high energy prices (Japan), according to the report.

Canada offers the best market for US building materials. Canada already imports more building materials from the United States than the next 20 export markets combined. Other top export markets for building materials include Australia, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

If you plan to export electronics, appliances, and information and communication technologies, look to Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, and Singapore, with Canada and Mexico representing the major importers, according to the report.

The full report, which explains specific strategies and supports the US will offer green exporters, can be found at http://export.gov/reee/eg_main_023036.asp.

Elisa Wood is co-author of “Energy Efficiency Incentives for Businesses 2010: Eastern States,” available at www.realenergywriters.com.

The one energy efficiency report to read

By Elisa Wood

May 14, 2009

Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, raised a lot of eyebrows recently when he suggested that the US may no longer need to build conventional power plants – that efficiency and renewable energy might meet our needs.

He has since clarified his position, saying much will depend on how we think about energy, its use in the system, and market response.

Still, critics say he overestimates green technologies. Are they right? Reading over the most recent report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy gives one pause about underestimating technology.

We know that semiconductors have given us computers, cell phones, the Internet – they’ve changed the way we live and work. But often semiconductors are thought of as the source of energy gluttony. We are all plugged in much more than we were 20 years ago.

Steve Nadel, ACEEE director, calls this “the high tech energy paradox,” in his introduction to the report. “Analysts tend to pay more attention to the energy-consuming characteristics of semiconductor devices than to their broader, economy-wide, energy-saving capacity.”

Turns out that in making life easier for us, semiconductors also have been taking a lot of strain off our power system. ACEEE looked at how we might have accomplished tasks without the semi-conductor and found it would have taken a lot more energy.

“Computers and servers show us that it can be easier to make decisions, and that it is easier to move electrons than it is to physically move people and goods,” says the report.

In fact, technologies that use semiconductors saved us 775 billion kWh in 2006 alone. Without semiconductors we would have used 20 percent more power that year. Or put more strikingly, had it not been for semiconductors, we would have built 184 additional, large power plants.

The report goes on to extrapolate that the semiconductor industry is likely to lead to even greater savings in the future.

Semiconductors could support an economy in 2020 that is 35 percent larger than today, but uses seven percent less electricity. By 2030 the economy could be 70 percent larger and use 11 percent less power. What does this mean in practical terms? About $1.7 billion in electricity savings, a lot less carbon dioxide and many more jobs, says the report.

Such startling projections make Wellinghoff’s statement seem less dramatic.

Here I’m in danger of sounding like a sales pitch on the jacket of a paperback. But if you read only one energy efficiency report this year, make it this one: “Semiconductor Technologies: the Potential to Revolutionize U.S. Energy Productivity. http://www.aceee.org/press/e094pr.htm. It is an eye opener.

Visit Elisa Wood at www.realenergywriters.com and pick up her free Energy Efficiency Markets podcast and newsletter.

How US businesses can access federal stimulus money

By Elisa Wood

March 11, 2009

I thought that “federal stimulus” would be high on Google’s hit list. But alas, when I checked its analysis of hot trends yesterday, I discovered that “Rockin’ Robin” is number one.

Thanks to American Idol this 1950s song dominates the search engine. Bringing more music to the ears of business owners, however, is the $20 billion made available for energy efficiency through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. While it is easy to find information about homeowner opportunities (www.energystar.gov), it is difficult to ferret out how Joe-business USA can take advantage of the act’s benefits.

I did, however, find a few valuable sources. Linked-in brought me to a paper by law firm K&L Gates that advises companies with early stage projects on how to apply for money. The paper focuses on renewable energy, but also touches on efficiency, and includes guidance on how to approach government fund managers. Applicants need to make the case that their projects are “game changing” to win priority. They also must be “shovel-ready” – able to begin in 90 days. The paper is available by contacting fred.greguras@klgates.com.

Energytaxincentives.org, a coalition of public interest groups, offers detailed information on existing incentives for commercial buildings, appliance manufacturers and combined heat and power. But the site appears to be still updating to include the ARRA, not surprising considering how many funding details are yet to be worked out, particularly at the state level.

The old standby, Dsireusa.org, is quickly updating information to include ARRA offerings. Those who manufacture certain energy saving and renewable energy products will find details about the 30% tax credit at the site. The program offers $2.3 billion in credits for projects certified by the US Treasury. Preference will go to those projects that are commercially viable, and are best at producing jobs, reducing air pollution, deploying commercial technology and getting off the ground quickly. The Treasury also will look at the applicant’s costs for generating energy, saving energy or reducing greenhouse gases. Additional guidelines will be available in August.

Please post here, or email lisawood@aol.com, with other sites, papers or reports that offer details about how businesses can access incentives through the ARRA 2009.

Visit Elisa Wood at www.realenergywriters.com and pick up her free Energy Efficiency Markets podcast and newsletter.

Energy Tax Credits and the Devil in Congress

By Elisa Wood

October 2, 2008

It is difficult to get beyond the hyperbole of the election season to uncover a candidate’s true position. The non-partisan Pew Center on Global Climate Change performed a service with a recently released just-the-facts guide on the energy platforms of the presidential contenders http://www.pewclimate.org/voter-guide.

What is remarkable about this year’s election, Pew says, is that “both major party candidates for the presidency are deeply concerned about global climate change and publicly support a mandatory, economy-wide cap-and-trade system for reducing the U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”

What does this mean in a practical sense for energy efficiency markets? “Both candidates recognize that improving energy efficiency across the economy can be a powerful tool for reducing GHG emissions,” Pew says.

Sen. John McCain says he would create higher efficiency standards for new or retrofitted buildings leased or purchased by the federal government, the largest energy consumer in the world. McCain also promotes investments to upgrade and smarten the national electricity grid.

Sen. Barrack Obama would set national standards to reduce demand by 15%; make new buildings carbon-neutral or zero-emission by 2030; improve new building efficiency by 50% and existing building efficiency by 25%; improve efficiency in all new federal buildings by 40%; and make federal buildings zero-emitting by 2025.

The policies of both candidates sound positive. Of course, the devil is always in the details.

The devil also appears to be in Congress. One wonders if these policies would make it through Congress, given lawmakers’ treatment this year of the all-important tax incentives for efficiency and clean energy. Most lawmakers claim to support the tax credits, many of which expire at the end of this year or already have expired. Yet Congress wrangled all year over the incentives without extending them, mostly for reasons that had little to do with the credits and their merits. Now, at the 11th hour, just before recessing, the Senate has approved the ‘tax-extenders bill’ as part of the credit-crisis bail-out package. The House reportedly will take up the bill Friday, Oct. 3.

Long-time energy lobbyist Scott Sklar has watched Congress’ shenanigans from a front row seat and explains why he is “hopping mad” about treatment of the tax incentives in an insightful Renewable Energy Weekly column, “Fuming in D.C.” http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/recolumnists/story?id=53711

Why is the tax-extender bill important to energy efficiency markets? The Senate bill includes tax incentives for consumers and building owners who install energy-efficient products, builders of energy-efficient new homes and commercial buildings, and manufacturers of certain energy-efficient appliances, according to the Alliance to Save Energy. The bill also includes incentives for combined heat and power.

“Congress is preparing to pass one of the largest pieces of legislation in a century to bail out Wall Street and, with that in mind, it is unthinkable that Congress would adjourn before providing critical tax incentives to ‘Main Street’ to help consumers facing a lagging economy and growing energy costs and the nascent clean energy industry, so that it can create new jobs and help to build a new ‘green’ economy,” said Kateri Callahan, ASE president.

Unthinkable, yes. Improbable? We’ll know after Friday.

Visit energy writer Lisa Wood and pick up her free Energy Efficiency Markets newsletter and podcast by clicking on www.realenergywriters.com.