The U.S. government is making great strides in implementing programs that encourage more efficient use of energy as a means of reducing negative environmental impacts, conserving resources, and reducing pollution. 

DOE’s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, for example, are estimated to save some $17 billion in residential energy costs by 2005, $12.5 billion in commercial energy costs, and $5.8 billion in industrial energy costs. Federal energy programs will save taxpayers some $400 million by 2005.

DOE will work expand the use of wind power in the United States, and sees significant potential in areas with wind speeds that are too low to tap economically with today's wind turbines—areas with average annual wind speeds of about 13 miles per hour. To allow wind power projects in these areas, DOE is establishing 21 partnerships with public and private entities to develop low-wind-speed wind turbines. The program includes conceptual design studies and the development of both turbine components and complete wind turbines, and DOE expects the total investment in the partnerships to total $60 million over the next four years. The wind energy resources that DOE intends to capture through the new partnerships are currently considered "marginal" or "poor" wind resources. Harvesting wind power from these sites will open up much of the United States to wind power, excluding only the Southeast. See the press release.

DOE and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development agency of the U.S. government, signed an agreement in September 2004 acknowledging their partnership to promote investment in cleaner, more efficient energy technologies in emerging markets throughout the world. Under the agreement, both agencies will work to create an Efficient Energy and Renewables Program, focused on innovative financing and creative partnerships that will lead to environmentally sound economic growth in developing countries throughout the world. Read the press release.

The U.S. is joining forces with other countries to encourage energy efficiency and renewables, as well. For example, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham joined China's Science and Technology Minister Xu and Beijing's Vice Mayor Fan in January 2004 to sign the Green Olympic Protocol for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. DOE and China signed a Statement of Intent on Green Olympics cooperation in September 2002, and since then the two countries have established 11 teams to move forward on the agreement. Two joint working group meetings were successfully held in Beijing in 2002 and 2003, leading to new proposals for cooperation. The new protocol transforms the Statement of Intent into a legally binding international agreement.

Abraham and Philippine Secretary of Energy Vincente Perez also signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2004 to strengthen the Sustainable Energy Development Program between the two countries and to promote the use of cleaner-burning fuels in vehicles. The Sustainable Energy Development Program is a $5 million project sponsored by DOE, the Philippines Department of Energy, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It includes efforts to develop a renewable energy bill for the Philippines and to expand the use of cleaner alternative fuels such as natural gas.

And, the U.S. and Russia have signed a new Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The protocol provides a framework and establishes a coordinating committee for the two countries to work together on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

DOE announced the launch of a new effort to educate state and local government officials about the vision of a hydrogen economy in February 2004. Called "Hydrogen Power: The Promise, The Challenge," the effort will involve workshops in six U.S. cities, kicking off in Lansing, Michigan, on March 23, 2004

In July 2003, DOE kicked off its new "Smart Energy Campaign" to educate businesses, homeowners, and consumers on ways they can cut energy bills. The Smart Energy Campaign emphasizes DOE's new Energy Savers website and features a series of public service announcements and a four-city Smart Energy Tour led by Secretary Abraham.

The White House has awarded the Presidential Awards for Leadership in Federal Energy Management to energy-saving teams at the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force last week. The teams implemented measures that will save the federal government about 1.3 trillion Btu (British thermal units) of energy each year -- more energy than is used by 13,000 typical U.S. homes. Read the press release.

Links

The following programs represent some federal resources your community might tap into when designing an energy program: 

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has many programs in place that provide technical and other forms of assistance to encourage the efficient use of energy across all sectors. Among them: 

• Rebuild America focuses on energy-efficiency solutions as community solutions. Rebuild America helps communities across the country sort though an often overwhelming array of options for building improvements and develop and implement an Action Plan that meet their needs. Working on a local level, Rebuild America helps community organizations access innovative technologies, industry services, customized assistance, and a variety of business and technical tools needed to perform energy retrofit on buildings. The program focuses on five building sectors: K-12 Schools, Colleges and Universities, State and Local governments, Public and Multi-family Housing, and Commercial Buildings. Its Community Energy page identifies useful resources to help design and implement a successful community energy program.
• Office of Building Technology, State, and Community Programs. This program aims to provide technical leadership, promote energy efficiency, and stimulate collaborative activities to make U.S. buildings more efficient, comfortable, affordable, and sustainable. The goal of its Web site is to provide users with information about advanced building technology systems and partnership opportunities that promote energy efficiency and pollution prevention. 
• Federal Energy Management (FEMP). FEMP’s mission is to reduce the cost of government by advancing energy efficiency, water conservation, and the use of solar and other renewable energy sources. This mission is accomplished by creating partnerships, leveraging resources, transferring technology, and providing training and support. 
• Energy Savers. A new website that offers tips on saving energy and money at home.
• Industrial Technologies Program. Works in partnership with U.S. industry to develop and deliver advanced technologies that increase energy efficiency, improve environmental performance, and boost productivity. Programs include: 
  • Best Practices. Works with industry to identify plant-wide opportunities for energy savings and process efficiency.
    
  • Industrial Assessment Centers. Sponsors industrial assessments for small- and medium-sized manufacturers at no cost. Recommendations from these assessments have averaged $55,000 in potential annual savings for each manufacturer. 
  • NICE3. A cost-sharing program to promote energy efficiency, clean production, and economic competitiveness in industry. NICE3 provides funding to state and industry partnerships (large and small business) for projects that develop and demonstrate advances in energy efficiency and clean production technologies.
    
• Office of Power Technologies. Its mission is to develop clean, competitive power technologies for the 21st century, including renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass), energy storage, hydrogen, and superconductors. Much information on these topics can be found at this website.
• Distributed Energy Program. Advances decentralized energy technologies that offer a solution to many of the nation's most pressing energy issues, including blackouts. The program focuses on a range of distributed energy technologies, such as microturbines, as well as integrating the technologies into systems for a variety of users.
• Solar Energy Technologies Program. Works to develops solar energy technologies to provide power that is clean, reliable, and secure.
• Powerful $avings. DOE and the Alliance to Save Energy launched this new public education and awareness campaign in May 2004. The campaign will provide consumers with the information and tools necessary to make smart energy choices a part of their daily lives.

Powering Sustainable Development Initiative, announced by the Bush Administration in August 2002, is a joint effort of the Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These partners "will coordinate their resources and expertise to provide new access to energy services, help save money and reduce waste by increasing the efficiency of energy use, and significantly reduce readily preventable deaths associated with indoor and outdoor air pollution by changing vehicle and domestic energy use patterns."

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a DOE-operated national laboratory whose mission is to develop renewable energy technologies and transfer them to the private sector. NREL’s staff is internationally recognized and respected for its work in photovoltaics, wind, biofuels, and building energy efficiency. NREL’s Web site offers much useful information, including a database of all NREL-produced publications, an on-line photo library, articles explaining energy technologies and energy solutions, and links to other energy resources. 

Energy Efficiency Campaign
DOE launched a national public service advertising campaign in March 2004 designed to make children and their parents aware of energy efficient behavior. The campaign features a reprehensible new villain—the energy-wasting Energy Hog—and includes public service announcements on television, radio, and the Internet. The centerpiece of the campaign is the new Energy Hog website, which is aimed at children, but also includes resources for parents and teachers, as well as Internet versions of the Energy Hog ads. The Web site's main attractions are the Energy Hog Training Camp and its five training games, where children can train to become Energy Hog Busters and learn fun and simple ways to use energy more efficiently.

NREL's Photovoltaics Manufacturing Initiative, known as PVMat, has a goal to improve photovoltaic manufacturing processes and products, while reducing manufacturing costs and developing technologies that support large-scale manufacturing of solar cells.

Sandia National Laboratories and Boeing Company announced an agrreement in September 2002 to develop technologies that mutually benefit both. The initial tasks will deal with concentrating solar power technology. The project objective is to establish a Boeing-Sandia partnership that will combine the strengths of each organization to make Concentrating Solar Power (CPS) a success. This relationship will include a broad range of CSP technologies, including power towers, dish engine systems, solar troughs and concentrated photovoltaics. The project will focus on the development of key demonstrations, risk-reduction testing and economic/system analyses.

Sandia announced in November 2004 that it will work with Stirling Energy Systems, Inc. (SES) to build a 150-kilowatt solar thermal power plant at its National Solar Thermal Test Facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico. By January 2005, Sandia and SES staff will construct five prototype dish-Stirling systems at the facility to complement a system installed earlier this year. Sandia and SES will use the six-dish installation to improve the reliability and performance of the dish-Stirling systems while determining how best they can be integrated to form a large solar power plant. Although each prototype system now costs about $150,000, SES estimates that a production unit would cost less than $50,000, which would make it cost-competitive with conventional power technologies.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division conducts multidisciplinary research on energy and environmental topics to advance the efficient, environmentally acceptable use of energy. 

Northwest Bioproducts Research Institute is a new collaboration for the production of energy and industrial products from biomass resources. Formed in 2002, the institute combines the talents of DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), DOE's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Washington State University, and the University of Idaho. Using their existing laboratory facilities, they will examine and develop methods for converting agricultural and food processing residue and wastes into bio-based fuels, power and industrial products.

A Consumer's Guide to Buying a Solar Electric System is a DOE guide produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It offers an overview of the ins and outs of purchasing a photovoltaic system for home or business use. Arranged in an easy-to-use question and answer format, the guide covers everything from PV basics to acquiring a net metering agreement.

EPA's Energy Star programs focus on assisting consumers, businesses, and industry with saving money and thus reducing pollution. There are several different Energy Star programs, each with a different focus. For example, the Energy Star Homes Program assists new home builders in developing energy-efficient homes and identifies financing opportunities for new home buyers. The Energy Star Office Equipment Program helps promote the manufacture and purchase of more energy-efficient office equipment. The Energy Star Small Business Program helps businesses considering energy-efficient upgrades of their business equipment and facility systems. The Energy Star programs are voluntary, and participating partners have access to a variety of assistance to help them reduce energy consumption and operating costs. 

Announced in spring 2004, Energy Star also is allowing new commercial building designs to earn an Energy Star label. If an architecture firm designs a commercial building that is expected to earn the Energy Star label once it is built, that firm can apply for permission to use the new "Designed to Earn the Energy Star" label.

As well, Energy Star in summer 2004 launched a new multi-year campaign to encourage people to save energy in their homes. The campaign lists five easy steps for saving energy: changing your five most-used lights with lights that carry the Energy Star label, buying appliances and other products labeled with the Energy Star, being energy-efficient when heating and cooling your home, sealing and insulating your home, and spreading the word to your friends and family. The campaign features public service announcements on television and radio and in the print media. See the Energy Star campaign Web page, which includes links to the EPA press release, an Energy Star Action Guide, and the public service announcements for television.

In 2003 alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy to power 20 million homes and avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 18 million cars--all while saving $9 billion. Read more.

DOE and EPA presented the 2004 Energy Star Award Winners in March 2004. The awards highlight the efforts of leading manufacturers, retailers, utility companies, and a variety of state and regional programs that promote energy efficiency and awareness of the Energy Star label.

2004 Presidential Energy and Environmental Awards
Six federal teams were honored for their renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts include DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Purchase Program, the Air Force Renewable Energy Team, and energy management teams from the Marine Corps, the New England Region of the General Services Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Together, the six teams helped save 1.8 trillion Btu per year.

The Green Power Parnership is another program administered by the EPA that encourages companies to buy green power. Companies that commit to buying green power will gain technical support and public recognition from EPA by joining the partnership.

The USDA's High Energy Cost Grant Program provides grants for improvement of energy generation, transmission, and distribution facilities serving communities with extremely high energy costs.

DOE, USDA, and the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) will all work together to encourage the use of woody biomass products as a source of energy. Secretaries Abraham, Veneman, and Norton signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes consistent policies and procedures across the three agencies to support the use of woody byproducts from forest thinning and other land management practices. The agencies agreed to explore opportunities to create a reliable, sustainable supply of woody biomass and to encourage the formation of stable markets for converting that biomass supply into energy. The agencies will also support Indian Tribes that wish to make use of their woody biomass resources. Read the press release.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) signed an agreement with rural electric cooperatives in Fall 2003 to increase the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in rural areas by removing technical and market barriers. The USDA signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to identify cost-effective, voluntary opportunities for rural electric cooperatives to partner with farmers and ranchers to reduce greenhouse gases. The agreement includes the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency, fuel cells, microturbines, and biobased products. The agreement identifies areas for public-private cooperation in research, standards development, and education.

Last updated: February 3, 2005

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