Washington, U.S.A. — As we approach Earth Day, it’s a good time to remember that energy efficiency can help “green” the planet while keeping more “green” in your wallet, says the Alliance to Save Energy.

Based on April data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Alliance has calculated that the average U.S. household will spend about $2,100 on home energy this year.

“Consumers who experienced high winter heating bills and are already contending with spiraling gasoline prices are eager to spend less on home energy this spring and summer,” said Alliance President Kateri Callahan. “Energy efficiency not only significantly cuts home energy costs, it also increases indoor comfort.”

Top 10 [Simple Yet Effective] Home Energy Tips

To help U.S. consumers go green and save green, the Alliance offers this compilation of energy-saving tips:

The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, the economy, and national security.

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The California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) is spearheading a statewide initiative to better educate the public, regulators, and local, state and federal leaders on the role they need to play in achieving new state and national clean energy goals.

In Governor Jerry Brown’s 2012 State of the State address, he called for “…a goal of 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2020.” In President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address, he set a goal of having 80 percent of all Americans’ electricity provided through clean energy by 2035. California’s clean water agencies are listening and responding to the demand for clean energy.

Many of California’s publicly owned clean water agencies and wastewater treatment plants are successfully generating clean energy to offset their individual agency needs. Wastewater plants are identified as resource recovery agencies producing energy in the form of biogas, biosolids, and methane.  They are also able to produce energy when processing foods, fats, oil and grease provided by restaurants and residents.

“California’s clean water agencies are ready to be active partners at the state and national level to achieve these clean energy goals,” CASA President Gary Darling said. He added, “Local wastewater treatment and recycled water facilities are the ideal places to look at when investing resources into clean energy generation.  Increased clean energy production at local wastewater facilities is just one of the ways we are protecting the environmental and local waterways.”

CASA’s initiative is not only aimed at educating about the value of clean energy, but it will identify opportunities in public forums to advocate for investing in its members’ clean energy production, as well as removing any obstacles for funding and production.

“Clean energy production is a relatively new industry, both the public and the decision-makers need to understand dollars invested today will reap benefits in the future by helping to significantly reduce our reliance on traditional, and rapidly dwindling, energy supplies such as oil,” Darling said.

In April 2009, a Water Environment Research Foundation report stated, “The energy potential contained in wastewater and biosolids exceeds by at least five times the energy used to treat it.”  Currently, someCalifornia wastewater facilities are striving for a net zero energy consumption, literally becoming energy neutral by generating their own heat and power and even having excess energy available for outside use.

“This is an exciting time for California’s clean water agencies,” said Darling. “We have the opportunity to be part of our nation’s transformation from energy users to energy producers by expanding our everyday resource recovery work practices. Waste to watts, that’s our vision.”

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A new study estimates that in 10 years, Kentucky could create over 28,000 jobs while lessening the growth of electricity bills by passing clean energy legislation currently in front of the General Assembly. Synapse Energy Economics produced the study, which is an analysis of the Clean Energy Opportunity Act introduced by Representative Mary Lou Marzian.

“This study confirms that legislation to diversify our electricity portfolio would be economically beneficial to Kentucky,” said Justin Maxson, President of the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development.

“The bill would allow the state to hedge against increasing rates by making homes and businesses more energy efficient. And it would spur the creation of clean energy jobs, installing renewable energy projects and making energy efficiency upgrades.”

“The era of cheap energy is coming to an end,” said Maxson, “and it is really a question of whether we, in Kentucky, take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the clean energy economy of the future.”

The Clean Energy Opportunity Act calls for the establishment of a renewable and efficiency portfolio standard (REPS). An REPS requires utilities to obtain a small, but growing, share of their electricity from clean renewable energy and increase their energy efficiency programs. The bill would require utilities to get 12.5 percent of their electricity from renewable energy and achieve 10.25 percent cumulative savings from energy efficiency efforts by 2022.

Synapse’s study is a high level analysis of the proposed legislation’s impacts on Kentucky’s electricity bills, jobs, and economy. The study concludes that making small, but significant, steps to begin diversifying Kentucky’s portfolio over the next ten years will lower the bills of Kentucky’s residents, business owners, and industrial facilities compared to their bills without a clean energy standard.

Synapse projects that, under the REPS, average annual electricity bills could be eight to ten percent lower than under a do-nothing scenario. In addition to saving Kentuckians money, the REPS would lead to over 28,000 net new jobs over and above any jobs lost in fossil fuels and add $1.5 billion to gross state product once fully implemented in 2022.

“Efficiency and renewables are already the emerging trend in construction in the Commonwealth,” said Kentucky solar entrepreneur, Matt Partymiller, of Solar Energy Solutions in Lexington. “This report by Synapse captures what Kentucky engineers and contractors already know and what other states have already seen.

Legislation like the Clean Energy Opportunity Act will provide the tools necessary for Kentucky builders to create jobs while ensuring Kentucky energy costs stay low.”

The study’s findings are supported by what neighboring states that have passed similar legislation have experienced. North Carolina has seen tremendous growth in the number of clean energy firms operating in their state since passing an REPS in 2007. Ohio built on the strengths of its traditional manufacturing sector to start building clean energy equipment in state, and reap real economic benefits from their 2008 law.

Synapse carried out the study for the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development, a Berea-based economic development organization, and the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Alliance, a coalition of over 50 businesses, affordable housing advocates, non-profit organizations and faith-based groups.

MACED and KySEA wanted to understand the economic impacts of an REPS in Kentucky, and a comprehensive analysis of a bill like the Clean Energy Opportunity Act has not been part of the policy conversation until now.

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American DG Energy, a leading On‑Site Utility, offering clean electricity, heat, hot water and cooling solutions to hospitality, healthcare, housing and athletic facilities, has reached an agreement to supply clean energy to Governor Paterson Towers, a 225 unit, 30 story, residential high-rise, located in Paterson, New Jersey.

Under the terms of the agreement, Governor Paterson will soon receive a significant portion of its energy from a 75 kW combined heat and power (also called CHP or cogeneration) system, which will be owned and operated by American DG Energy. Governor Paterson will receive a discount on the energy produced by the CHP system and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The value of the agreement to the company is $1.9 million over the fifteen-year term.

Working with its partner, Peter Westerhoff, to develop this project, American DG Energy will produce clean energy in the form of electricity, space heat and domestic hot water at Governor Paterson Towers and sell it to the residential property at a price lower than the local energy utility rates. Having opted for the company’s On-Site Utility energy solution, Governor Paterson will pay only for the energy used by the property and will avoid all capital, installation and operating costs.

The energy will be produced with small-scale, combined heat and power equipment, located at the property site but owned and operated by American DG Energy. The company will also handle all service, maintenance and repair; therefore, Governor Paterson will not need to provide manpower to support the equipment.

CHP systems offer considerable environmental benefits when compared with purchased electricity and on-site-generated heat from a boiler. By capturing and utilizing heat that would otherwise be wasted from the production of electricity, CHP systems require less fuel than equivalent separate heat and power systems to produce the same amount of energy. Because less fuel is combusted, greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, as well as air pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, are reduced.

The CHP system planned for Governor Paterson Towers will be comprised of a CM-75 Ultra by Tecogen, which is equipped with a proprietary ultra-clean emissions technology and has recently been granted the new air emissions certification from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

This certification eliminates the process of applying for pre-construction operation certification and air permits prior to installation which will save time and money on implementation of this project. In addition, the CHP system is expected to reduce the residential property’s emissions by 252 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of removing the carbon emissions of 42 cars each year.*

* Figures were calculated using the EPA CHP Partnership emissions calculator.

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