Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




ENERGY TECH
APS Urges Greater Federal Investment In Energy Efficiency Research
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 02, 2010


Energy efficiency, an APS Study Panel concluded, is the easiest and least inexpensive way to significantly reduce the nation's demand for imported and domestic oil and its greenhouse gas emissions without causing any loss of comfort or convenience.

The American Physical Society, a leading organization of physicists, presses congressional leaders to increase research investments for future energy technologies that will strengthen energy security and reduce the likelihood of disastrous effects associated with fossil fuel exploration as evidenced by the BP oil spill.

The Gulf oil spill - the worst in the history of the nation - has caused extraordinary environmental and economic damage to the communities along the Gulf Coast. Out-of-work fishermen are wondering how they will provide for their families; oil-drenched birds are struggling to live; and globs of oil are washing ashore on area beaches causing tourists to look elsewhere for vacation.

Current technologies exist to begin the job of achieving true security. But to dramatically reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil and domestic drilling and to meet the nation's 2030 target to substantially reduce greenhouse gases, advanced technologies are needed. And that means a greater investment in long-term research.

The U.S. House cap-and-trade (Waxman-Markey) bill shortchanged that kind of research. The Senate must do better. Legislators should start by including in the bill the president's Clean Energy Technology Fund, an investment of $15 billion per year over 10 years to develop affordable, low-emission energy technologies.

Energy efficiency, an APS Study Panel concluded, is the easiest and least inexpensive way to significantly reduce the nation's demand for imported and domestic oil and its greenhouse gas emissions without causing any loss of comfort or convenience.

"Energy efficiency reduces demand, and energy we do not use costs nothing, emits nothing and does not pollute the Gulf," said Nobel Laureate Burton Richter, who chaired the APS energy efficiency study and authored the newly released book, "Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Climate Change and Energy in the 21st Century."

Numerous technologies already exist to increase the efficiency of U.S. vehicles and buildings that will save consumers money. But, as the panel's report, Energy Future: Think Efficiency noted, realizing future gains, as with other energy technologies, will require a larger and better focused federal research and development program on energy efficiency than exists today.

The APS report also noted that consumers often are not provided with information that allows them to make informed decisions on energy consumption.

The cap-and-trade legislation should include a provision to help consumers save money by requiring energy audits at the point of sale for new homes. The audits would give home buyers valuable information regarding energy efficiency upgrades to lower their utility costs.

.


Related Links
American Physical Society
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ENERGY TECH
Enterprise PCs Work While They Sleep, Saving Energy And Money
San Diego CA (SPX) Jun 25, 2010
Personal computers in enterprise environments save energy and money by "sleep-working," thanks to new software called SleepServer created by computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego. Sleep-working enterprise PCs are accessible via remote connections and maintain their presence on voice over IP, instant messaging, and peer-to-peer networks even though the PCs are in ... read more


ENERGY TECH
Building A Better Robot Arm For Lunar Rovers

The Earth From The Moon

Moon Whets Appetite For Water

Water Content Of Moon's Interior Underestimated

ENERGY TECH
Opportunity To See More Detail At Crater Destination

Spirit Standing By At Troy

Rocky Mounds And A Plateau On Mars

NASA Instrument Will Identify Clues To Martian Past

ENERGY TECH
New U.S. space policy sets global agenda

Voyager 2 At 12,000 Days

NASA And International Space Agencies Meet To Discuss Human And Robotic Space Exploration

NASA Plays Key Exploration Role In New Administration Space Policy

ENERGY TECH
China Sends Research Satellite Into Space

China eyes Argentina for space antenna

Seven More For Shenzhou

China Signs Up First Female Astronauts

ENERGY TECH
Russian cargo ship fails to dock with ISS

Russian Space Freighter Blasts Off To ISS

Soyuz spacecraft redocks on ISS: report

Space station crew to re-position Soyuz

ENERGY TECH
Orbital Rockets Selected To Launch Two NASA Scientific Satellites

Arianespace To Launch Argentine Satellite Arsat-1

Six Astrium Satellites Launched In A Month

Ariane rocket places two satellites into orbit

ENERGY TECH
First Directly Imaged Planet Confirmed Around Sun-Like Star

VLT Detects First Superstorm On Exoplanet

Earth-Like Planets May Be Ready For Their Close-Up

Plentiful And Potential Planets

ENERGY TECH
Apple hit with lawsuit over iPhone 4 antenna woes

New Multi-Year LTA With EADS Astrium To Power All GEO Satellites

Google News revamped to get more personal

Ball Aerospace Begins Integration Of CrlS Instrument For NPP Weather Satellite




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement