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World's Top Energy Ministers Launch Energy Efficiency Effort
The energy ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries and from China, India, and South Korea agreed to establish the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC).The IPEEC will serve as a high-level forum for facilitating a broad range of actions that yield significant gains in energy efficiency. The partnership will support the on-going energy efficiency work of the participating countries and relevant international organizations by exchanging information on best practices, policies, and efforts to collect data. The IPEEC members will also develop public-private partnerships for improving energy efficiency, participate in joint research and development efforts, and facilitate the dissemination of energy-related products and services. The energy ministers plan to hold the first IPEEC meeting before the end of the year. See the IPEEC declaration (http://www.energy.gov/media/IPEEC_declarationfinal_June082008.pdf).
Connecticut to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80% by 2050
Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell signed a bill that requires the state to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 10% below 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80% below 2001 levels by 2050. House Bill 5600, "An Act Concerning Global Warming Solutions," requires the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to determine the best strategies to meet the GHG limits. It also authorizes the DEP to work with other states and Canadian provinces to develop a cap-and-trade program to achieve the GHG limits. Connecticut is part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is establishing a cap-and-trade program for GHG emissions for much of the Northeast.
The bill requires the DEP to evaluate the potential of low-carbon fuel standards for motor vehicles and home heating fuels to help achieve the GHG reductions. It also establishes a subcommittee to evaluate the impacts of climate change on the state and to recommend to the governor and the state legislature any needed changes to state and municipal programs, laws, or regulations to mitigate such impacts. See the governor's press release (http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?a=3293&Q=416836&PM=1) and the full text of the bill, HB 5600 (http://www.cga.ct.gov/2008/ACT/PA/2008PA-00098-R00HB-05600-PA.htm).
FTC to Examine Green Building Marketing Claims
The Federal Trade Commission is planning to host a public workshop on July 15, 2008, to examine developments in green building and textile claims and consumer perception of such claims. The workshop will explore environmental or “green”' building and textile claims, consumer perception of those claims, and substantiation issues. The workshop is a component of the Commission's regulatory review of the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, announced on November 26, 2007.
Since the Commission last revised the Green Guides in 1998, there has been a significant increase in environmental claims concerning textiles, building products, and construction. In the building market, green claims are prevalent for a wide range of building products including flooring, carpeting, paint, wallpaper, lighting, insulation, and windows. In addition, builders are making claims that the homes they build are green. These green building claims often are based upon third-party certification programs, which have grown substantially since the last revision of the Guides.
For more information, see the Federal Register notice at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-13014.pdf.
EPA Launches IAQ Scientific Findings Resource Bank Web Site
The EPA’s Indoor Environments Division announced a new web-based resource, the IAQ Scientific Findings Resource Bank (http://eetd.lbl.gov/ied/sfrb). The Bank was developed through an interagency-agreement with the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). The Bank is a resource for building professionals, public health professionals, and others seeking scientific information about how IAQ can affect people’s health or work performance. The Bank provides information summarizing the state of scientific knowledge about the relationships between health and productivity for IAQ conditions or associated building characteristics.
The website is in a “drill-down” format that starts out with high level summary statements and then offers links to additional details and resources. The website will be updated as additional analyses are conducted and new information becomes available. Currently several key resources are available, e.g., detailed sections on “Health and Economic Impacts of Building Ventilation” and “Impacts of Indoor Environments on Human Performance and Productivity.” Also available are introductory sections on “Indoor Dampness, Mold and Health” and “Indoor VOCs and Health,” which will likely be developed into more detailed sections in the future.
EPA Issues Rule on Use of R-152a in Vehicles
Under the Clean Air Act, the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expanding the list of acceptable substitutes for ozone-depleting substances (ODS). The substitute addressed in this final rule (i.e., R–152a) is for the motor vehicle air conditioning (MVAC) end-use within the refrigeration and air-conditioning sector. This substitute does not pose significantly more risk than other substitutes that are available in this end use. Additionally, this substitute is a non ozone-depleting gas and consequently does not contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion.
This final action provides motor vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers an additional refrigerant option for motor vehicle air conditioning systems. The refrigerant substitute discussed in this action (i.e., R–152a) is non ozone depleting. Members of the MVAC manufacturing and MVAC service industries have all been actively engaged in the development of this rulemaking and are developing prototype systems with the use conditions defined in this rulemaking. This final action helps harmonize U.S. MVAC alternatives with European Union (EU) MVAC alternatives. The EU has banned the use of R–134a, the predominant MVAC refrigerant in the U.S and the EU, in new cars beginning in 2011. By 2020, cars sold in the EU may have to include the new alternative in this action. In response, U.S. original equipment manufacturers are developing MVAC systems using R– 152a and other alternative refrigerants for the European market and for possible U.S. sale as well. EPA is deferring final rulemaking on R–744 (carbon dioxide). EPA is currently continuing to consider further several issues with respect to this regulatory action.
In the final rule, EPA finds R–152a acceptable in new motor vehicle air conditioning systems with the use condition that systems must be designed to avoid occupant exposure to concentrations of R–152a above 3.7% in the passenger cabin free space for more than 15 seconds, even in the event of a leak. EPA requires prominent labeling of R–152a MVAC systems with a warning such as ‘‘CAUTION SYSTEM CONTAINS FLAMMABLE R–152a REFRIGERANT—TO BE SERVICED ONLY BY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL.’’
For more details, see the Federal Register Notice at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-13086.pdf.
Report: U.S. Competitiveness Hinges on Two Issues
A new report from the Massachusetts-based American Academy of Arts and Sciences identifies investment in early-career scientists and encouragement of high-risk, high-reward research as important priorities in preserving U.S. leadership in science and engineering.
Advancing Research in Science and Engineering: Investing in Early-Career Scientists and High-Risk, High-Reward Research provides examples of obstacles facing young researchers and their potentially transformative science and technology research. One example is a decline in access to grants. The average age for first-time recipients of primary research grants from the National Institutes of Health is 42.4 and rising. The success rate for first-time grant applicants has fallen from 86 percent in 1980 to 28 percent in 2007.
The American Academy’s report offers a series of steps that government, academic research institutions, and private foundations can take to sustain a steady pipeline of science and engineering talent. It recommends policies to help overcome barriers, and it calls on federal research agencies to re-evaluate peer-review systems, invest in program officers, and more systematically track demographic data on investigators government wide.
For a copy of the report see http://www.amacad.org/arisefolder/default.aspx.
San Francisco Launches Nation's Largest Municipal Solar Incentive
San Francisco, California, passed legislation to implement a 10-year solar incentive program that will be the largest municipal solar program in the United States. People and organizations that install solar photovoltaic power systems on their properties will earn taxable solar incentives of $3,000-$6,000 for residences, up to $10,000 for businesses and non-profits, and up to $30,000 for nonprofit affordable housing. Residents and businesses can earn the highest incentives by employing a solar installer that hires graduates of the city's workforce development program. One sponsor of the legislation claims that the new incentives will significantly expand the use of solar energy in San Francisco, which currently has less than 1,000 solar rooftops. See the press release (http://www.sfgov.org/site/mayor_index.asp?id=82535) from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
According to the city's assessor's office, the Solar Energy Incentive Program is expected to launch in the near future with a budget of $3 million, enough to provide incentives for 1.5 megawatts of solar power on residential and business properties. In addition, a one-year pilot program with a budget of $1.5 million will provide incentives to nonprofit organizations and residences for low-income families. The incentives will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis and are assignable to the building owner, the installer, or a third party. They apply only to new installations at existing buildings.
