PUC eases rules of energy efficiency program

California regulators Thursday lowered the bar for an energy-efficiency program to allow utilities to earn about $89 million in customer-funded incentives for achieving as little as 65% of the power savings goals laid out for them. The California Public Utilities Commission also ruled that utilities could keep such incentives awarded to them even if a subsequent audit showed that the companies did not achieve the savings they reported.

Under that plan, utilities that achieved 65% of energy- efficiency goals collectively would have been penalized $142 million. Incentives would accrue after the companies reached 85% of the goals.

The energy-efficiency program "allows utilities to earn real money on an annual basis for their progress in meeting the state's energy-efficiency goals without having to worry that they'll have to give those monies back," he said. "This will significantly strengthen the motivation the utilities have to aggressively pursue energy efficiency."

Motel 6 Becoming More Energy Efficient

Motel 6 has signed on to participate in the Honeywell Cool Control Plus program, which is designed to help drastically reduce Motel 6’s environmental footprint. Working on behalf of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Honeywell will install energy-saving retrofits in a total of 7,530 rooms in the 66 Motel 6 properties located within PG&E’s service area in northern and central California.

Motel 6 has independently installed the Telkonet SmartEnergy (formerly Smart Systems) occupancy sensors and thermostats in 49 properties in California, and teaming with PG&E and Honeywell will bring the total number of rooms with retrofits to 13,440.

Rise In CO2 Emissions Predicted

Definitive figures for the UK's 2006 carbon dioxide emissions published on Thursday are expected to show further rises in the climate change gas, CO2. Provisional statistics for 2006, published last March, showed UK emissions were around 1.2% higher than 2005.

And despite the Government's commitment to taking action on global warming - shown most recently in the Climate Change Bill - figures look set to show a 2.7% increase since Labour came to power in 1997. While the UK is set to meet and exceed its Kyoto target of 12.5% cuts on 1990 levels by the period 2008 to 2012, it has become clear the Government will not meet its 20% cuts by 2010 manifesto target.

Nokia To Introduce More Energy Efficient Chargers

Nokia promises to reduce by 50% the average amount of energy used by battery chargers in "no-load" mode—when they are plugged into the mains but not charging a mobile phone.

The company also aims to reduce the average no-load power consumption by another 50% by the end of 2010. It will also remind consumers to unplug the charger from the electricity outlet once the phone has been fully charged.

Nokia said it reduced the company's overall global energy consumption by 3.5% though energy-efficiency programs. It is targeting further savings between 2007 and 2012 of 6% compared to 2006 levels. It uses green electricity to power 25% of the energy used by its facilities worldwide and will increase this to 50% in 2010.

Bush Commits To Climate Fund

The United States will commit $US2 billion ($A2.26 billion) over the next three years to a new international fund to promote clean energy technologies and fight climate change, President George W Bush has told Congress.

He said the United States is committed to working with major economies and the United Nations to complete an international agreement that "has the potential to slow, stop and eventually reverse the growth of greenhouse gases".

A European Climate Plan

THE EUROPEAN Union announced a new plan last week to combat global warming that would set firm caps on emissions by 27 countries. The initiative might be seen as widening the gap on climate change between Europe and the United States, given the Bush administration's refusal to consider such binding measures. But that's premature: In fact, the proposal in many ways mirrors initiatives under discussion in Congress and could be the beginning of a harmonization of climate change policy between Brussels and Washington.

Between 2013 and 2020, the E.U. plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels. Gone are the national action plans that saw countries adopt schemes that protected local industries. Instead, the European Union would set individual national caps to meet the overall goal. The reduction would be bumped up to 30 percent if the United States and China signed binding climate change agreements.

College to host 2-day global warming teach-in

North Shore Community College already has started making its campus environmentally friendly, but with the two-day National Global Warming Teach-in starting Thursday, the college hopes to shift the focus to the entire community. US Senator John Kerry will be among legislators who will participate in a 'Dialogue with Decision Makers' on Friday.

The school's Lynn campus on Thursday and Friday will join other colleges and universities across the nation in hosting the event as part of Focus the Nation, an effort to educate citizens about the effects of global warming and climate change. The event will host local lawmakers, environmental specialists, and members of local environmental councils, and will feature speeches, demonstrations, and displays.