Current utility energy programs underserve low-income American families in multi-family housing. With support from the JPB Foundation, we partnered with the National Housing Trust and the Natural Resources Defense Council to look for solutions. We knew a network approach made sense. In a recent post in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, we share some lessons learned from that experience. Read it here.
Last week’s Climate Leaders Summit in Los Angeles, California, showcased clear commitments by U.S. and Chinese states, provinces, and major cities to address climate change—in many cases beyond national targets. And with the signing of a series of MOUs, it also cemented efforts by the two countries to deepen and strengthen cooperation by governments, the private sector, and NGOs.
The Energy Foundation welcomes its newest board member, David Nieh, a well-known Chinese American business leader based in Shanghai and a well-regarded urban planner and architect. We look forward to gaining David’s insights and expertise, especially as it informs our program work in China.
At a White House event in August, 13 of America’s biggest companies pledged to cut their carbon emissions, representing a total of at least $140 billion in new low-carbon investment. This in turn will create good jobs, strengthen national security, and keep our air and water clean and healthy. Read more about it.
Curtis Seymour, Power Sector program director at the Energy Foundation, writes in a guest post in Energy Collective that while advances in battery storage are impressive and important, it may be a long time before we need them to achieve a very-low-carbon electricity system. To understand why batteries may or may not be a key component of such a system, it’s important to know how the electricity grid works, and how low-cost, commercial-scale technologies are already being deployed in service of a clean energy future.
In this guest post for Utility Dive, Energy Foundation Transportation Program Director Patty Monahan and Vice President of Power Strategies Dan Adler make the case that a growing convergence between utilities and EV manufacturers may move the U.S. from the internal combustion engine and toward a transportation system powered predominantly by electricity. Click here to read How Utilities Can Drive the Future of Transport.
A new study finds that, in the past three years, the Northeast’s cap-and-trade program added $1.3 billion in economic value to the nine-state region, led to the creation of more than 14,200 new job years, and cut electricity and heating bills, saving consumers $460 million. States participating in the program have found that “regulating carbon emissions from power plants through market-based mechanisms goes hand in hand with economic benefits.”
We want to share this opinion piece by Larry Kramer, President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Carol Larson, President of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. It appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Foundations Must Move Fast to Fight Climate Change By Larry Kramer and Carol Larson Climate change is the defining … Continued
The Midwest’s annual Clean Energy Challenge honors the longstanding American traditions of innovation and competition. One winner, for example, has developed a method for storing gases that is more efficient and safer than traditional compression, and less energy intensive. Learn about all of the winners and find out how they’re helping to build the clean energy economy.
Texas cotton farmer Cliff Etheredge used to pray for rain and cuss the wind. Then he helped establish a local wind turbine project that pumps $10 million a year into the community. “Now what we’ve been cussing all these years turned out to be a blessing,” he says.
The Energy Foundation’s 2013 Annual Report, “American Clean Energy Stories,” shows how families, businesses, local governments, schools, and the military are enjoying the benefits of clean energy technology born of the long tradition of American innovation. We hope you enjoy it.