SmartPower celebrates launch of America’s Next Eco-Star

September 14, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

SmartPower, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, has launched a nationwide campus search for eco-savvy individuals who will compete in an online video competition to earn the title of America’s Next Eco-Star. The title requires a commitment to energy efficiency and campus sustainability, in addition to strong storytelling and video skills.

Students are nominated by campus sustainability directors — each

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director can nominate up to three students, administrators or faculty members — and the nominees can then submit videos through our competition app on Facebook.

Deadlines:

Nominations end October 28th, 2011
Submissions end December 30th, 2011
Voting takes place throughout January
Winner is announced on February 1st, 2012

The ultimate prize includes an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2012 Sustainable Futures Academy at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria and a summer fellowship in SmartPower‘s Washington, D.C., office. The winning contestant’s campus sustainability director will receive $1,000 to spend on school sustainability efforts – not to mention complete bragging rights!

For more information about the competition, visit the competition website: www.americasnextecostar.com.

There’s no confusion about solar’s success

September 13, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

If you follow solar news, you’ve probably seen a mix of good and bad press. Manufacturing plants are filing for bankruptcy while the number of residential and commercial projects are booming. What’s the deal?

Solar is getting cheaper.

The market price of photovoltaics continues to fall because China’s government pumps tens of billions of dollars in loans into the manufacturing of solar panels. The U.S. simply cannot compete with these investments, resulting in failing manufacturing companies.

But that doesn’t mean that solar is failing us. As a result of falling prices, solar is getting cheaper, and we are seizing the opportunity.

First Solar and SunPower are the world’s leading commercial solar suppliers, with a Chinese company coming in third. While much of First Solar and SunPower’s production has moved to Asia, domestic installations from companies like these provide great value to local economies. We may be losing some jobs to China, but we are definitely gaining from the drop in prices.

The domestic solar industry grew by 102 percent just last year, and it is expected that this year’s growth will match it, giving the U.S. a 12 percent share of the global solar market by 2015.

So to clarify any of the confusion about solar’s success, domestic solar is without a doubt an expanding and successful industry. If there’s one thing it’s not — it is not a money drain.

China may

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have more to invest in solar manufacturing and therefor more jobs and money to reap from the industry, but the U.S. is staying competitive without much help from the government, and we can be very proud of that.

A larger, more efficient fleet of commercial vehicles

September 9, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

Back in April, President Obama announced the National Clean Fleet Partnership to get major corporate fleets aligned in their commitment to reduce oil consumption. The original partners included AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo/Frito-Lay, UPS and Verizon. Five months later, the fleet has expanded to viagra does it work incorporate Coca-Cola, Enterprise Holdings, General Electric, Staples and more — buy cialis collectively operating nearly one million commercial vehicles nationwide.

The companies have collectively committed to deploy more than 20,000 advanced technology vehicles in an effort to save more than 7 million gallons of fuel per best place to buy cialis online year, resulting in improved fuel where to buy cialis efficiency and cost-savings.

But the newcomers are hardly arriving viagra active ingredient late to the game.

Coca-Cola had previously established the largest hybrid delivery fleet in North America while Enterprise Holdings have expanded their rental car offerings to include Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs. Staples has curbed its fleet’s oil consumption by more than 20 percent since 2007 — no small amount of energy savings.

We can expect these new partnerships to foster even greater energy savings, along with improved fuel economy technology, in

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the near future, and we what is viagra used for congratulate the National Clean Fleet Partnership for embracing energy efficiency, reducing our dependency on foreign oil and spurring new innovation.

SmartPower’s Daniel Francis talks GOP and energy on Think Talk Radio

September 7, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

SmartPower Program Assistant Daniel Francis was recently approached by Think Talk Radio to represent the liberal perspective in a debate about the role energy policy will play in the 2012 presidential election.

Think Talk Radio acknowledges its “conservative ideals,” yet still values voices from all sides. Daniel represented the clean energy side, supporting presidential candidates that accept human-caused climate change and advocate for a green economy.

When asked about the future of offshore drilling, Daniel replied that such measures would simply serve as “a short term fix to a long term problem.” And when asked which GOP hopeful is, in his opinion, most suited to take on the appropriate energy policy, he said,

None of them. But if I had to choose strictly for environmental policy it would be Jon Huntsman. He’s been very vocal about his belief in climate change and I think for that very reason he’s been overlooked by a majority of the Republican electorate.

When asked what we should do in the interim while oil prices continue to rise and green jobs falter, he said,

This is something we should have started on yesterday and the day before that. This isn’t an issue that is going to go away. Oil is a finite resource, as is natural gas. We can’t keep prolonging these decisions for other generations to deal with — we have to deal with them now.

To listen to the program, please visit ThinkTalkRadio.com. You can find the program — “Top 3 GOP” What are their views on energy and oil? — under the Our Shows tab.

Lessons learned: Reaching “peak coal” in China

September 6, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

China, like the U.S., relies heavily on coal for electricity. Even if you ignore the health and environmental problems that come with the black rock, you’ll find that coal is not capable of meeting all of our energy demands. And China is learning this the hard way.

China has a supply and demand problem: With an increasing population and a rapidly growing economy, the demand for power is greater than ever. But supply is not.

Coal prices have risen 75 percent since 2007, but the Chinese government has limited electricity price increases to 15 percent. This is not sustainable – and, as local Chinese coal mines are depleted, power plants are shutting down, further driving up the cost of coal.

The result? More renewables.

China has at least 75 gigawatts worth of clean energy power plants on the books for future construction — that’s more than four times the output of China’s Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest power station.

The U.S. has yet to make the commitment to clean energy that China has. But at least we know that, should the lights go out on U.S. coal as they did on China’s, renewables will be there to save us.

The only question left to ask: How many times must we be saved before we get truly energy smart?

Just how much will EPA coal-fired plant regs affect the economy?

September 1, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

…Not as much as some would have you believe, according to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.

In an op-ed in

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the Huffington Post, Jackson says the claims that her agency’s plans to regulate air pollution from dirty coal-fired power plants are an economic “train wreck” waiting to happen, leading to plant closure and job loss, are a bunch of nonsense:

On the issue of plant closures, I take the word of industry leaders like the Chairman and CEO of Exelon Corporation, who said “These regulations will not kill coal… up to 50% of retirements are due to the current economics of the plant due to natural gas and coal prices.” The Congressional Research Service report also found that EPA’s standards will primarily affect “coal-fired plants more than 40 years old that have not, until now, installed state-of-the-art pollution controls.” That echoed the remarks of the CEO of American Electric Power from April of this year: “We’ve been quite clear that we fully intend to retire the 5,480 megawatts of our overall coal fleet because they are less efficient and have not been retrofitted in any particular way.”

But there’s a bigger picture here.

Jackson points out that her agency’s goals – to protect Americans from pollution that causes asthma, cancer and other serious conditions – are being framed as job-killers by politicians with a hefty financial stake in the continued use of dirty energy. In other words: Consider the messenger.

As a senior official from the Bush EPA recently wrote, “Abolishing the EPA will not cause a revival of America’s economy, but it will certainly result in a major decline in public health and our quality of life.”

What do you think of the EPA’s efforts to regulate anachronistic coal-fired power plants? What about the political machinations that are hampering these efforts? Let us know in the comments.

This week’s cues for the next era of electric cars

August 25, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

It’s been a good week for electric cars — a pleasant break from all the fretful talk of low sales. While consumers may be having a difficult time making the leap from fuel-efficient cars to all-electric plug-ins, it appears manufacturers — and even the rental car companies — are full speed ahead.

Volkswagen will unveil a one-seat experimental electric car this September in Berlin. And CEO Martin Winterkorn said VW is aiming for their battery-powered vehicles to account for 3 percent of sales by 2018.

Three percent doesn’t seem like much, but when you consider that VW plans to sell more than 10 million cars in 2018 alone, that’s more than 300,000 electric cars entering the market from one single manufacturer.

Ford and Toyota also announced this week plans for a line of hybrid trucks and SUV’s to compete among the next generation of green cars. These heavy lifters won’t be rearing their cleaner engines anytime soon, but the step reflects the auto industry’s acceptance of their role as leaders and playmakers in the clean energy marketplace.

“This is the kind of collaborative effort that is required to address the big global challenges of energy independence and environmental sustainability,” said Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally.

With Ford’s reputation in pickup trucks and Toyota’s leadership in hybrids, we can expect some high-selling, high-energy-saving vehicles from this automotive matrimony.

As all of these car companies are gearing up for the next era of green four wheelers, many are concerned that demand will not be able to keep up with supply — especially once you consider that fuel efficiency and electric more often than not = $$$.

Our friends Hertz, Avis and Budget may have the answers.

Hertz will begin renting electric cars in China as soon as tomorrow, and the Avis Budget Group has started renting several hundred electric cars to drivers in France, England and other European countries.

We’re not too sure what it is with U.S. drivers that has rental car companies withholding the goods from us, but we’re glad to see that some of the excess EVs can be put to good use.

SmartPower staff saddles up during Traverse City site visit

August 22, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

A bike meeting in Traverse City: (left to right) SmartPower Program Assistant Pat Doherty, SmartPower Vice President Jonathan Edwards, SEEDS Project Manager Mike Powers, SEEDS Executive Director Sarna Salzman, and Michigan Land Use Institute Policy Specialist Brian Beauchamp.

SmartPower staff members Jonathan Edwards and Pat Doherty recently visited Traverse City, Michigan, where SmartPower is providing marketing support for TC Saves, our third BetterBuildings program.

TC Saves is gearing up for fall energy efficiency canvasses in select neighborhoods. To get a sense of what’s ahead, Jonathan and Pat joined a few of our partners from SEEDS and the Michigan Land Use Institute for a moving meeting – literally, biking through Traverse City communities, getting a sense of the work ahead and laying the groundwork for a successful sweep!

SmartPower is also providing marketing support to Energize Northern Westchester and the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge, both part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s efforts to create models for residential energy efficiency programs. To learn more, visit the BetterBuildings website, or read up about our efficiency programming on SmartPower.org.

SmartPower Ventures Announces Strategic Partnership with Welectricity to deliver Energy Efficiency to Caribbean Consumers

August 12, 2011 By smartpower Leave a Comment

SmartPower Ventures, the leading marketing firm solely dedicated to energy efficiency and renewable energy in the United States this week announced a strategic partnership with Welectricity Inc, based in Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, to promote household energy efficiency across the Caribbean. The partnership combines the award winning and nationally acclaimed marketing of SmartPower and SmartPower Ventures with the award-winning, social web platform for consumer energy efficiency created by Welectricity.

The combination is intended to foster a new approach to residential energy efficiency across the Caribbean that will focus on motivating consumers to be more energy efficient.

“The savings potential from energy efficiency across the Caribbean is enormous,” stated Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower Ventures. cialis generic “Behavioral modification alone can help an individual save a viagra and high cholesterol lot of energy in their homes and those actions and savings will give someone the incentive to find more and more ways to save. That is real money in individual pockets, real value to the Caribbean economies and a real benefit to the environment.”

SmartPower Ventures when to take viagra 50mg has won numerous national and regional awards in the United States for energy efficiency and buy cialis online in spain renewable energy marketing. Last year, the firm received the highly coveted Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and in 2007 SmartPower received the Green Power Pilot Award from the United States Department of Energy.

Welectricity is an innovative, multiple award-winning and free social platform that helps users track, compare and reduce energy consumption at home, without the need for smart meters or in-home electricity monitoring devices. Its founder, Herbert A (Haz) Samuel, notes that “the vast majority of Caribbean countries depend on imported fossil fuels to power their economies, and households account for canadianpharmacy-toprx.com a large proportion of electricity end use – as much as 60% in some countries. Our low-carbon, behavior-based approach to reducing consumption is particularly suited to the regional situation and in fact Caribbean consumers are already using Welectricity to deliver significant savings on their electricity bills. This partnership facilitates a much larger impact.”

The partners will seek to engage with Caribbean governments that have made the commitment to promote and deliver energy canada world pharmacy efficiency to households.

“Working with energy sector officials across the Caribbean, we can save households in the region a lot of energy and a lot of money,” said Keane.

About SmartPower

SmartPower Ventures is a national leading marketing firm dedicated to promoting clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our mission is to build the clean energy and energy efficiency marketplace by helping the American public make smart energy choices.

Our work has been recognized with awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (above), the U.S. Department of Energy, the Service Industry Advertising Awards and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Learn more at www.smartpower.org.

About Welectricity

Welectricity, a free social web application (at www.welectricity.com) that allows users to track, compare and reduce their electricity consumption at home was launched on April 22nd 2010 (the 40th anniversary of Earth Day) and to date has registered users from 93 countries worldwide.

Welectricity has won multiple international innovation awards and recognition, including awards from GE, Knowledge@Wharton and a 2009 IDEAS Energy Innovation Contest award, which was sponsored by GVEP International, GTZ, the IDB and the Korean Government. GVEP International (Global Village Energy Partnership) is an international non-profit organisation seeking to reduce poverty through accelerated access to modern energy services. The funding for the Energy Innovation Contest was provided to GVEP International by the Dutch Government (DGIS).