- Global Leaders Meet to Collaborate on Energy Efficiency Goals
- DOE Awards $62 Million to 13 Concentrating Solar Power Projects
- DOE Offers $60 Million for Small Business Clean Energy Projects
- DOE and USDA Offer $30 Million for Biomass Research and Development
- DOE Awards $13 million for the Industrial Energy Efficiency Grand Challenge
- EIA Examines the Impacts of Alternate Future Scenarios on Energy Trends
Global Leaders Meet to Collaborate on Energy Efficiency Goals
Leaders from 15 countries including the EU and US met on May 11 for the first policy meeting of the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC).
The group sought to forge partnerships among governments to combat climate change, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and boost the global clean energy economy.
DOE Assistant Secretary Cathy Zoi, elected to a two-year term as the first chair of the IPEEC policy committee, called for nations to use unprecedented speed and scale in the effort to deploy energy efficiency, thereby cutting energy demand and emissions worldwide while building economic development. Assistant Secretary Zoi heads DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
IPEEC was launched in May 2009 by the Group of Eight Energy Ministers. Last year, IPEEC member countries contributed more than $1.6 million in funding to support six key energy efficiency initiatives.
Projects include:
- an effort to share the best efficiency practices through on-site training and online materials, with technical assistance provided by the International Energy Agency and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory;
- the Sustainable Buildings Network, which connects numerous building efficiency organizations to focus on intelligent tropical architecture, zero-energy buildings, and innovative policies to make existing buildings more efficient;
- an undertaking to assess how energy efficiency efforts can better leverage financing from domestic sources, such as commercial banks;
- a forum for industry leaders and policymakers to share ideas on managing and reporting industrial energy consumption;
- better application of energy efficiency indicators that measure and report energy performance-such as energy consumption per ton of steel produced-to allow countries to meet energy and carbon reduction goals;
- a global initiative, launched with the support of the Major Economies Forum (MEF), to collaborate across borders on test methods for measuring appliance efficiency and on efficiency incentives for appliance manufacturers. The United States is the lead country for the effort and has committed to support it with up to $3 million per year in funding.
IPEEC members include Brazil, Canada, China, the European Commission, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, the Russian Federation, the UK, and the US. Indonesia and South Africa also sent observers, and Australia joined as a member during the meeting. All IPEEC members are also members of the MEF's Global Partnership that is collaborating to accelerate the global switch to clean energy. All MEF partners have been invited to send their clean energy technology ministers to the first-ever Clean Energy Ministerial, hosted by DOE on July 19 and 20 in Washington, D.C. See the DOE press release.
DOE Awards $62 Million to 13 CSP Projects
On May 7, DOE announced its selection of 13 concentrating solar power (CSP) projects to receive up to $62 million in funding.
The funding will support improvements in CSP systems, components, and thermal energy storage to accelerate its market-readiness. Grantees will work to improve component and system designs to extend operation to an average of about 18 hours a day, a level of production that would make it possible for these plants to displace traditional coal-burning power plants.
