Download or read book Innovations in Home Energy Use written by BRIAN G. SOUTHWELL and published by RTI Press. This book was released on 2016-01-03 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a collection of essays that explore innovations to encourage reduction in homeowner energy use, this volume reflects a confluence of ideas and initiatives rather than a narrow look at what a single, particular line of academic literature suggests might be possible to shape homeowner behavior. Not only do the contributors represent a wide array of institutions and backgrounds, but the very intellectual infrastructure that encouraged and allowed the summit that inspired this book itself represents a conscious effort to facilitate multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration for the purpose of addressing salient societal concerns. With this volume, we hope to provide a source of ideas for behavior change that will appeal to a range of people charged with curbing residential energy use through communication-based intervention.

Download or read book Designing Climate Solutions written by Hal Harvey and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the effects of climate change already upon us, the need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions is nothing less than urgent. It’s a daunting challenge, but the technologies and strategies to meet it exist today. A small set of energy policies, designed and implemented well, can put us on the path to a low carbon future. Energy systems are large and complex, so energy policy must be focused and cost-effective. One-size-fits-all approaches simply won’t get the job done. Policymakers need a clear, comprehensive resource that outlines the energy policies that will have the biggest impact on our climate future, and describes how to design these policies well. Designing Climate Solutions: A Policy Guide for Low-Carbon Energy is the first such guide, bringing together the latest research and analysis around low carbon energy solutions. Written by Hal Harvey, CEO of the policy firm Energy Innovation, with Robbie Orvis and Jeffrey Rissman of Energy Innovation, Designing Climate Solutions is an accessible resource on lowering carbon emissions for policymakers, activists, philanthropists, and others in the climate and energy community. In Part I, the authors deliver a roadmap for understanding which countries, sectors, and sources produce the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and give readers the tools to select and design efficient policies for each of these sectors. In Part II, they break down each type of policy, from renewable portfolio standards to carbon pricing, offering key design principles and case studies where each policy has been implemented successfully. We don’t need to wait for new technologies or strategies to create a low carbon future—and we can’t afford to. Designing Climate Solutions gives professionals the tools they need to select, design, and implement the policies that can put us on the path to a livable climate future.

Download or read book Taming the Sun written by Varun Sivaram and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 391 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How solar could spark a clean-energy transition through transformative innovation—creative financing, revolutionary technologies, and flexible energy systems. Solar energy, once a niche application for a limited market, has become the cheapest and fastest-growing power source on earth. What's more, its potential is nearly limitless—every hour the sun beams down more energy than the world uses in a year. But in Taming the Sun, energy expert Varun Sivaram warns that the world is not yet equipped to harness erratic sunshine to meet most of its energy needs. And if solar's current surge peters out, prospects for replacing fossil fuels and averting catastrophic climate change will dim. Innovation can brighten those prospects, Sivaram explains, drawing on firsthand experience and original research spanning science, business, and government. Financial innovation is already enticing deep-pocketed investors to fund solar projects around the world, from the sunniest deserts to the poorest villages. Technological innovation could replace today's solar panels with coatings as cheap as paint and employ artificial photosynthesis to store intermittent sunshine as convenient fuels. And systemic innovation could add flexibility to the world's power grids and other energy systems so they can dependably channel the sun's unreliable energy. Unleashing all this innovation will require visionary public policy: funding researchers developing next-generation solar technologies, refashioning energy systems and economic markets, and putting together a diverse clean energy portfolio. Although solar can't power the planet by itself, it can be the centerpiece of a global clean energy revolution. A Council on Foreign Relations Book

Download or read book Innovations in Home Energy Use written by Brian Glen Southwell and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Energy Technology Innovation written by Arnulf Grubler and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An edited volume on factors determining success or failure of energy technology innovation, for researchers and policy makers.

Download or read book Innovation Development for Highly Energy Efficient Housing written by E. Mlecnik and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2013-03-20 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In previous years we have seen a recognition of the significant potential that exists for reducing energy use through innovation in residential buildings. This study investigates innovation challenges and identifies opportunities that could lead to a rapid increase in the adoption of highly energy-efficient housing concepts, particularly that of the passive house. To this end, it exemplifies, interprets and develops the innovation adoption theory through an investigation of views and experiences on the supply side, the demand side and the policy side. It highlights successful innovation trajectories and barriers experienced by businesses. It addresses both problems and positive experiences from the perspective of the end user and investigates different policy approaches. As such, the research reveals important features of innovation-adoption strategies in the building sector. It shows how multi-player enterprise collaboration plays a key role, and the study also recommends the development of quality assurance schemes. It makes a valuable contribution to discussions about how active the role of government policymakers and enterprise networks should be.

Download or read book Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-06-10 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America's economy and lifestyles have been shaped by the low prices and availability of energy. In the last decade, however, the prices of oil, natural gas, and coal have increased dramatically, leaving consumers and the industrial and service sectors looking for ways to reduce energy use. To achieve greater energy efficiency, we need technology, more informed consumers and producers, and investments in more energy-efficient industrial processes, businesses, residences, and transportation. As part of the America's Energy Future project, Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States examines the potential for reducing energy demand through improving efficiency by using existing technologies, technologies developed but not yet utilized widely, and prospective technologies. The book evaluates technologies based on their estimated times to initial commercial deployment, and provides an analysis of costs, barriers, and research needs. This quantitative characterization of technologies will guide policy makers toward planning the future of energy use in America. This book will also have much to offer to industry leaders, investors, environmentalists, and others looking for a practical diagnosis of energy efficiency possibilities.

Download or read book Technology Assessment of Residential Energy Conservation Innovations written by Hittman Associates and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Engaging Beyond the Meter written by Bronwyn Mary Lazowski and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With scientists around the world indicating a brief window of opportunity for reducing irreversible climate change impacts, the time has never been more pressing for sustainability transitions (IPCC, 2018). The role of energy is especially important in these developments, where anthropogenic forces have created a "... twin energy and climate nexus," (Van De Graaf, 2013, p. 42) as a result of the extraction, production, and consumption of energy resources. At a global scale, 78% of human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are from energy production and consumption (Natural Resources Canada, 2018a). Therefore, clean energy developments are an essential element of international climate goals. A key element of clean energy developments is energy conservation and demand management. With Canada having one of the world's largest per capita electricity consumption rates, increased end-use management is essential to reduce system-level pressures within clean energy developments (International Energy Agency, 2018). Significant opportunities for electricity management exist in the residential sector, which contributes to 27% of international electricity consumption (International Energy Agency, 2017). This is especially the case in Canada, where the residential sector contributes to 34% of national electricity use, emitting 21.4 Mt of CO2e (Natural Resources Canada, 2019b, 2019a). Therefore, there is a strong need to transform Canada's residential consumption management and practices to benefit national climate change objectives. Technological innovations in the modern energy grid deliver new opportunities for clean energy developments. Specifically, the smart grid creates two-way flows of both data and energy, thereby transforming technological capabilities and end-user roles. Beginning in 2004, the Province of Ontario facilitated large-scale smart metering implementation to enable a 'conservation culture,' consequently, becoming a prominent testing ground for residential smart grid development. Although the smart grid offers new technological potential, investigating 'beyond' the meter and into end-user engagement is critical for making these large-scale shifts. Social science research applications have previously remained underrepresented in energy literature and deliver novel opportunities for studying smart grid engagement. The holistic and scalable energy cultures framework presents a comprehensive approach to study the complexity of residential energy management, with substantial opportunities for applications in smart grid research (Stephenson et al., 2010). This dissertation, entitled 'Engaging beyond the meter: Encouraging residential energy management using smart grid tools,' delivers novel contributions to residential smart grid and engagement research for developing insights on household engagement and energy management. Drawing from the literatures on smart grid interventions, social science energy research, and consumer engagement, this dissertation utilizes two Ontario residential smart grid case studies to assess the potential of smart grid technologies to facilitate consumption changes. Additionally, this dissertation incorporates a comprehensive review of existing approaches for intervention design and proposes a novel integrated engagement model for shifting consumer cultures towards sustainability. This dissertation research is presented in four distinct yet interrelated manuscripts. Chapter 4 investigates the impacts of smart grid interventions on household energy cultures during a multi-year residential smart grid case study, following participant interviews. The energy cultures framework is applied to identify the nuances surrounding household energy management, specifically the changes in norms, practices, and materials. Additionally, qualitative feedback on the effectiveness of these smart grid engagement mechanisms for household energy management is collected. The results identify the challenges surrounding household energy management in relation to smart grid developments and present a novel application of the energy cultures framework within the Canadian residential smart grid. Chapter 5 further examines the impact of two smart grid interventions (electricity report and mobile tablet) to re-engage consumers over the multi-year residential smart grid project. This study examines whole-house and appliance-level consumption data alongside participant interviews. As a result, this study determines whether re-engagement influenced consumption, highlights contributing energy management practices (e.g., cooking, laundry, entertaining, air conditioning, dishwashing), and determines underlying factors influencing energy management. Significant conservation and peak shifting in laundry consumption were identified during a 10-week autumn period. User experience interviews highlighted the preference for weekly reports over a tablet for re-engagement. Therefore, this chapter provides unique perspectives for long-term engagement and re-engagement in the smart grid for the promotion of lasting residential energy management. Chapter 6 assesses the influence of a large-scale introduction of in-home displays (IHDs) to central Ontario homes. Two years of hourly consumption data for IHD recipients (n=5274) are analyzed and compared to a control group (n=3020) to determine changes in conjunction with IHD feedback at population and cohort levels. Consumer segments incorporating behavioural (load-shape) and thermal consumption patterns were identified. Following an impact assessment, no significant impacts were experienced in the general population; however, specific consumer segments responded favourably by conservation or peak shifting. These notable segments only represented 12% of the IHD recipients and had evening peak and heating thermal consumption profiles. This study emphasizes the importance of effective program design that utilizes comprehensive datasets, user-centred approaches, consumer targeting, and multiple mechanisms extending 'beyond feedback.' This chapter also highlights opportunities for utilizing 'big' smart metering data to understand consumers and their energy practices using quantitative methods. Chapter 7 presents a novel model for intervention design for sustainability as an outcome of a conceptual review. The proposed ENGAAGGE model presents an integrated model for intervention design that bridges the limitations from the current disciplinary silos for collective change. The paper provides a comprehensive review of existing intervention approaches (social marketing, community based social marketing, social practice theory, and design thinking), highlights the key elements for intervention design, and proposes the ENGAAGGE model that incorporates the strengths of existing approaches, while addressing their respective limitations. Therefore, the outcomes of this chapter provide innovative opportunities for application in future research and practice for collective change. This dissertation research brings novel contributions to theory and practice. First, this research provides an innovative application of the energy cultures framework to the residential smart grid and delivers a new framing for a smart and sustainable energy culture. The holistic understanding developed from applying this framework delivers insights for household smart grid engagement applicable to future program design. Second, the IHD segmentation analysis extends research on smart grid-enabled feedback and consumer response by the combination of a large-scale cohort and consumer segmentation. The research outcomes deliver critical recommendations for future programming to include consumer targeting and user-centred design. Third, the longevity and mixed-methods approach of the EHMS study provides novel and detailed contributions to smart grid energy cultures and engagement research to test with broader audiences. These outcomes provide insights for consumer engagement for long-term engagement and re-engagement relevant for residential smart grid programming. Fourth, the conceptual review and integrated model presented in Chapter 7 bring critical contributions to the sustainability engagement literature and provide substantial opportunities for application in future research and practice. In conclusion, this dissertation research delivers novel contributions to smart grid research for engaging consumers beyond the meter.

Download or read book The Power of Change written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-09-30 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Electricity, supplied reliably and affordably, is foundational to the U.S. economy and is utterly indispensable to modern society. However, emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that could have significant negative economic, security, and human health consequences. Large-scale installation of cleaner power generation has been generally hampered because greener technologies are more expensive than the technologies that currently produce most of our power. Rather than trade affordability and reliability for low emissions, is there a way to balance all three? The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies considers how to speed up innovations that would dramatically improve the performance and lower the cost of currently available technologies while also developing new advanced cleaner energy technologies. According to this report, there is an opportunity for the United States to continue to lead in the pursuit of increasingly clean, more efficient electricity through innovation in advanced technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies makes the case that America's advantagesâ€"world-class universities and national laboratories, a vibrant private sector, and innovative states, cities, and regions that are free to experiment with a variety of public policy approachesâ€"position the United States to create and lead a new clean energy revolution. This study focuses on five paths to accelerate the market adoption of increasing clean energy and efficiency technologies: (1) expanding the portfolio of cleaner energy technology options; (2) leveraging the advantages of energy efficiency; (3) facilitating the development of increasing clean technologies, including renewables, nuclear, and cleaner fossil; (4) improving the existing technologies, systems, and infrastructure; and (5) leveling the playing field for cleaner energy technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies is a call for leadership to transform the United States energy sector in order to both mitigate the risks of greenhouse gas and other pollutants and to spur future economic growth. This study's focus on science, technology, and economic policy makes it a valuable resource to guide support that produces innovation to meet energy challenges now and for the future.

Download or read book Smart Energy Technologies in Everyday Life written by Y. Strengers and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-09-25 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book interrogates the global utopian vision for smart energy technologies and the new energy consumer intended to realise it. It enriches and extends the possibilities of four residential smart strategies: energy feedback, dynamic pricing, home automation and micro-generation, focusing on how they are being integrated into everyday practice.

Download or read book Sustainable Development and Innovation in the Energy Sector written by Ulrich Steger and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores how these conflicting scenarios could be reconciled; how can we shape a more sustainable energy system from the existing one; and possible technological progress and innovations to enable a brighter future. Addresses the reality that there exists no consensus on the extent to which innovations can really contribute to reconciling ever-growing energy consumption, availability of resources and the environment, and the structural demands on any energy system. Offers and explains a four-point strategy: Energy should according to its importance regain a top priority in the political arena; higly targeted subsidies should be given for a limited amount of time to speed up the market introduction of energy-efficient and regenerative techniques in analogy to the ‚Dutch model‘; Negotiated agreements and unilateral self-commitments can subsequently ensure further market diffusion of sustainable energy innovations.; the basic research in energy should not be diminished but intensified instead

Download or read book Understanding Energy Innovation written by Heather Lovell and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book uses smart grids to explore and better understand energy innovation, from a social science perspective. Understanding Energy Innovation has four core themes--networks, nodes, narratives and nostalgia--and each chapter tackles a theme, using case studies from Australia and Europe. Energy innovation is currently occurring at a rapid pace, in response to a host of problems including climate change, high energy prices, and unreliable supply. Understanding Energy Innovation provides ways to think about and plan for energy sector reform and innovation, drawing on core ideas from social and innovation theory, and centred on smart grids as a case study. These academic ideas are written about in an accessible way, recognising that a diversity of people have an interest in energy innovation generally, and smart grids more specifically, and would like to find out more about ways of understanding energy innovation that integrate the social and the political.

Download or read book Winning Teams and Innovative Technologies from the 2005 Solar Decathlon written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science. Subcommittee on Energy and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Innovations in Sustainable Consumption written by Maurie J. Cohen and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Few people who think about the state of the world are content with the status quo. The increasingly complex mix of economic, social, environmental and political problems at all scales requires new ways of thinking. It also requires new ways of integrating mutually supportive ideas and approaches, which is what this useful new book offers around the theme of sustainable consumption. The editors and contributors offer a breadth and depth of research from three domains: the new economics, socio-technical transitions and social practice, with a focus on consumption that meets the needs of people within the limits of the biosphere.' – Peter A. Victor, York University, Canada 'In recent years much hard thinking has been devoted to exploring the transition to true sustainability and consumption's role in it. Innovations in Sustainable Consumption offers an impressive and enormously useful synthesis of this new work. Highly recommended.' – James Gustave Speth, Vermont University Law School, US and author of America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy 'This is a very timely and inspiring book. The editors have carefully compiled original contributions from leading researchers in sustainable consumption, reflecting the important work of the SCORAI network and beyond. This is a "must" read for those who want to know where research in sustainable consumption is really heading.' – Lucia A. Reisch, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark This timely volume recognizes that traditional policy approaches to reduce human impacts on the environment through technological change – for example, emphasizing resource efficiency and the development of renewable energy sources – are insufficient to meet the most pressing sustainability challenges of the twenty-first century. Instead, the editors and contributors argue that we must fundamentally reconfigure our lifestyles and social institutions if we are to make the transition toward a truly sustainable future. These expert contributions pinpoint specific areas in which innovation will be required. These include economic policies, socio-technical systems of production and consumption, and dominant social practices. Drawing on these and other diverse areas of scholarship, this fascinating book highlights new conceptual frameworks for achieving the twin sustainability goals of decreased resource use and enhanced individual and societal well-being. Students, professors and policymakers in ecological economics, innovation studies, environmental policy and many other related fields will find much of interest in this pathbreaking volume.

Download or read book Transitions in Energy Efficiency and Demand written by Kirsten E.H. Jenkins and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781351127264, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Meeting the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement and limiting global temperature increases to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels demands rapid reductions in global carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing energy demand has a central role in achieving this goal, but existing policy initiatives have been largely incremental in terms of the technological and behavioural changes they encourage. Against this background, this book develops a sociotechnical approach to the challenge of reducing energy demand and illustrates this with a number of empirical case studies from the United Kingdom. In doing so, it explores the emergence, diffusion and impact of low-energy innovations, including electric vehicles and smart meters. The book has the dual aim of improving the academic understanding of sociotechnical transitions and energy demand and providing practical recommendations for public policy. Combining an impressive range of contributions from key thinkers in the field, this book will be of great interest to energy students, scholars and decision-makers.

Download or read book Green Innovation in China written by Joanna I. Lewis and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just a decade ago, China maintained only a handful of operating wind turbines -- all imported from Europe and the United States.