The amount of food wasted each year by Americans represents the energy equivalent of 350 million barrels of oil, or about 2 percent of the nation’s annual energy consumption, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Texas say it takes the equivalent of about 1.4 billion barrels of oil to produce, process, package, and transport a year’s worth of food in the (more…)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) this week announced new efficiency standards for most new refrigerators as of 2014. Energy efficiency for these domestic appliances is set to increase by 25%. They account for about 10% of household electricity use.

Advocacy groups and appliance (more…)

New labels for light bulb packaging will arrive in 2011 with the emphasis on Lumens instead of Watts as the measure of brightness and primary benchmark.  This is a much anticipated overhaul by the Federal Trade Commission which will help in the marketing and comparison of CFLs and LEDs to the old incandescent bulbs being phased out. (more…)

As most parents are giddily aware of, this week marks the annual migration back to school for children and teens across the US and Canada. For the next ten months, kids will be ensconced in their daily routines, busy learning how to grow up to become mostly coherent, socially acceptable adults. Parents left with a delightfully quiet house during the day are not the only ones (more…)

What two countries lead the world in energy consumption, energy production and greenhouse gas emissions? The United States and China. Can our two countries work together to help lead the world in a transition to clean energy? A recent announcement by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu is an important step in that direction. (more…)

The use of renewable sources of energy in Europe continues to grow at a brisk pace and energy efficiency also is improving, significantly reducing reliance on coal and natural gas, according to a new report. In
2009, renewable energy accounted for 18.4 percent of the European Union’s primary energy production, an increase of 8.3 percent from 2008, according to a (more…)

The Chinese government has ordered the closure of 2,087 aging steel and cement mills and other factories in an aggressive push to improve the country’s energy efficiency. The closings — which target “backward” facilities that produce steel, coke, paper, and other products — are part of a drive to reduce energy consumption per unit of economic output (more…)

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable as opposed to fossil fuels for example which once gone are gone. In 2008, about 19% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.2% (more…)

China has overtaken the United States to become the world’s largest consumer of energy, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The agency reported that in 2009 China consumed 2,252 million metric tons of oil equivalent in the form of crude oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable sources, surpassing the 2,170 million tons used by the United (more…)

And now for a dose of reality.

No doubt smart meters are a good thing, but even their most ardent fans must admit that a degree of hoopla surrounds these little digital boxes. We hear that if consumers can just see how much power they use in real time, and what it costs, our energy woes will be no more.

Smart meters will even cure the blind. The energy blind that is.

“It can be difficult to separate the hype from legitimate claims,” said the American Council for an Energy- (more…)