The big news of this week was the release of yet another report on energy efficiency from the prolific folks at McKinsey. The news was picked up in many quarters with a variety of takes. Much of the interest surrounding the latest report stems from numbers. The potential savings from energy efficiency alone, according to Greenmonk: $1.2 trillion on an investment of $520 billion over 10 years. To look at it another way, as CNET pointed out, quoting a McKinsey partner, "If we do nothing, we will waste $1.2 trillion of energy." We are encouraged by the attention paid to this report, and relieved to see that existing housing stock holds the potential for nearly one-third of those savings. Even the periodically reticent Wall Street Journal chimed in: "The upshot: A massive efficiency push over the next decade could save the U.S. economy $700 billion." And... "Energy efficiency is emerging as the true low-hanging fruit in the race to satisfy electricity demand and curb emissions at the same time."
For a full copy of the report (pdf) and McKinsey & Company's write-up: "McKinsey: Unlocking Energy Efficiency in the US Economy.
Another Horse has entered the monitoring race, and by the looks of things, it can't be counted out. Efficiency 2.0 has been quietly in the works for four years, and promises to deliver data and tips directly to consumers in order to enable them to reduce energy usage in ways that work for their specific lifestyle and location.
Smart Meter flu? In the wake of H1N1 (the flu formerly known as Swine), the last thing most of us care to hear about is a fresh virus. But Earth2Tech has unearthed a worm it thinks we ought to know about. It's the work of IOActive and it premiered at a recent security conference. The risk? That utilities lose control over Smart Meters to hackers. Rather ironically, we've been championing the need to have data available directly to consumers, and lamenting that the data must first take a round-about route to the utilities. This worm would hijack data and send them to the hijacker's headquarters, rather than the utility... and then could presumably manipulate those data. Is there a vaccine? Not exactly "It's hard to see how a vendor could react quickly enough."
Architecture 2030 won't quit.. until we've figured out how to make the most of our stimulus dollars and create a sustainable approach to energy usage. Their latest gambit- helping municipalities earn 14x in return for each of their stimulus dollars. Once again, the people at Architecture 2030 have come up with a scheme that is overtly ambitious and endlessly practical.
Mickey Going Greener. We've written before about Disney going green. Now you can feel green getting there, too, so long as you start from the ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center). The rail station with Disney as a destination will rely on photovoltaics and hot water heating cells, and a magical sounding "expandable EFTE membrane - a material that expands and contracts to control natural light."
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