In our energy law classes at Cal, we like to start the day by talking about Energy in the News. The media never fails us. Every day, there are multiple energy-related stories of significance touching on resource development, new technologies, policy shifts, jobs, regional politics, prices, international relations, or the environment. Once you start looking … Continue reading »
energy
Good electricity grids make good neighbors
In the poem “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost asserted that “good fences make good neighbors.” World history is replete with foreign policy built around physical walls, from Emperor Hadrian, to the Great Wall of China, to the Berlin Wall, the wall between Palestine and Israeli, to the US-Mexico border. Containment and isolation have often been the cornerstones … Continue reading »
The softer side of hydro
What I understand so far is that we are about to visit a company that develops renewable-energy technology. On the way to an old Navy air station in Alameda, I ask my fellow passengers, “So, what do these guys do, again?” Someone mentions wind; I have assumed solar, but I am a bit taken aback … Continue reading »
How California’s K-12 schools can teach us about energy efficiency
California has long been a leading indicator of national energy-efficiency trends. The state passed minimum efficiency standards for refrigerators in 1976, 11 years before the federal government adopted similar standards. And, the recent Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards are based on legislation passed in California several years earlier. The state is about to blaze another energy … Continue reading »
Student competitions: representing a sustainable future
Recently I was asked to serve as a judge for the Shell Student Energy Challenge, an infographic competition that was part of the student fuel-efficiency contest, Shell Eco-Marathon. Shell sponsors National Geographic‘s Great Energy Challenge initiative. This provided a fascinating opportunity to evaluate what many of us feel: that we must begin by not only communicating … Continue reading »
Putting a collar on carbon prices
When it was launched in 2005, the European Union cap and trade program for greenhouse gases (known as the Emissions Trading System or EU-ETS) was a bold and important step in addressing climate change. But from the beginning, the EU-ETS has often been a painful learning experience, much of the learning by politicians: – A … Continue reading »
Fracking: BLM’s illegal sale of oil and gas leases in California
On April 8, a federal magistrate judge issued the first major ruling in a California fracking lawsuit, finding that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to take the necessary “hard look” at the impact of hydraulic fracturing when it sold oil and gas leases in California. … Continue reading »
From big energy consumption (E) to lower energy consumption (e)
Very little shocks me anymore. But I was shocked – SHOCKED! – to discover that one space in our house which takes up only about 5% of the floor space draws more than 20% of the KWH our house consumes in a day. Can you guess which room this is? It is the space my … Continue reading »
Farewell to the NYT’s ‘Green Blog.’ Now what?
A few days ago, The New York Times cancelled its “Green Blog,” dedicated to environmental and energy news. The Times told readers to look for environmental policy news on the “Caucus blog,” dedicated to politics, and energy technology news on the “Bits blog,” dedicated to the business of technology. The demise of the Green Blog came less than two … Continue reading »
Comments on FHFA’s proposed rule on enterprise writing standards for PACE programs
As we have chronicled earlier on the Legal Planet blog, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)’s court-ordered rulemaking on Enterprise Writing Standards for Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs resulted in thousands of public comments in response to the Agency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) — the overwhelming majority in support of PACE. Today (Sept. … Continue reading »
Solyndra uproar threatens to eclipse the benefits of solar
The Solyndra uproar and the recent International Trade Commission decision to investigate Chinese solar panel manufacturers threatens to distract us from what we need most: a proactive, long-term clean and sustainable energy strategy. If you look beyond the partisan politics that has recently engulfed the solar industry, two irrefutable facts stand out. First, the solar … Continue reading »
Lost in the ozone again
Particularly given Governor Perry’s presidential candidacy, I thought it would be interesting to see how Texas is doing on air pollution. Perry’s record has been controversial, but the Texas environmental quality agency has a graph showing improvement in ozone levels over the past decade: However, in considering this graph, it’s important to realize that over … Continue reading »
The G.O.P. candidates on energy (and environment)
I’ve taken this information from the websites of some of the Republican contenders. What they say about their policies and records may not be exactly objective, but it’s interesting to see how they’d like to be perceived on environment and energy. Here are four takeaway points: Republican primary voters apparently don’t care very much about … Continue reading »
AgBiotech and combating climate change
There is a growing concern about climate change and much of the worry pertains to the implications of climate change for food and agriculture. There is emerging evidence that increased heat beyond a certain threshold is likely to reduce yields and that climate change will require adaptation and change in land use patterns across locations. … Continue reading »
Targeted financing needed to expand energy access in developing world
Energy poverty cripples development prospects. Where people don’t have access to modern energy services, like reliable electricity, their ability to earn a livelihood is sabotaged. That’s why UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called — admirably — for “a revolution that makes energy available and affordable for all” in 2012, designated the International Year of Sustainable … Continue reading »
Tokyo energy workshop: Where do we go from here? (#5 in a series)
This is one of a series of posts on an energy conservation workshop a group of us from Berkeley offered in Tokyo June 23-26. “I received your mail with the resources of the whole workshop. Thank you very much for giving us the wonderful opportunity. The workshop was very fun, and productive! The chance made … Continue reading »
Software for study and simulation – and often free (Workshop 4)
This is one of a series of posts on an energy conservation workshop a group of us from Berkeley offered in Tokyo June 23-26. In my last post, I noted that we brought a number of tools to measure light levels, heat, and air movement. Many of these are in fact made in Japan, but … Continue reading »
Technology and toys (Workshop 3)
Every morning for four days of the workshop, Susan, George, and Brendon (sometimes assisted by Dept of Architecture grad students or Loisos + Ubbelohde staff) gave basic lectures on the physics of building performance, based on daily themes: Light, Heat, Air, and supplementary energy. Most of the lecture materials were mined from courses that Susan teaches at … Continue reading »
Brown administration’s view of renewable energy in California by 2020
Governor Brown entered office in January with an ambitious agenda for renewable energy, calling for 20,000 megawatts from renewable sources by 2020, including 12,000 of localized or distributed generation and 8,000 from large-scale development. So how will this vision become a reality? UCLA and Berkeley Law gathered key leaders in California to discuss this issue at … Continue reading »
California collaboration: Activate a cloud (Workshop 2)
By mid-March, Susan Ubbelohde and I had a plan: we were going to hold a workshop on energy analysis and conservation, in Tokyo. What would we need? People with a variety of technical skills, money to get them to Japan (plus house and feed them), a variety of equipment, well-organized teaching materials, and, lastly, people … Continue reading »