IPMVP and Politics

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Being in an interesting situation, that of an American in Québec, I often reassure my Canadian counterparts that both candidates in the US presidential election are pro climate change initiatives.

Although after reading this article though, I wonder if I should start to question McCain's stances.

I'd like to know more about it. If anyone is following this more closely let us know.

With a possibility of federal elections in the fall here in Canada, the political landscape touching climate control is possibly going to change in major ways in North America.
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Nathan Shetterley (nathan.shetterley@gmail.com)
EVO New Media Director

del.icio.us Tags: IPMVP,politics

What's a Negawatt?

A few weeks ago my Montreal development representative Michael Jeffcott passed on this article from the Economist.

The article is titled "The elusive negawatt" and it asked the question:
"If energy conservation both saves money and is good for the planet, why don't people do more of it?"

A very good question for those of us concerned by measurement and verification.

From the article:

IN WONKISH circles, energy efficiency used to be known as “the fifth fuel”: it can help to satisfy growng demand for energy just as surely as coal, gas, oil or uranium can. But in these enviroinmentally conscious times it has been climbing the rankings. Whereas the burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming, and nuclear plants generate life-threatening waste, the only by-product of energy efficiency is wealth, in the form of lower fuel bills and less spending on power stations, pipelines and so forth. No wonder that wonks now tend to prefer “negawatts” to megawatts as the best method of slaking the world's growing thirst for energy.

The article give some preliminary, yet detailed, answers to the question put forward. It touches on the difficulty of measuring the value of energy efficiency versus, for example, a power plant but I think it would have helped to delve deeper into the nuances of M&V and the role it could play to help investors better understand energy efficiency.

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Nathan Shetterley (nathan.shetterley@gmail.com)
EVO New Media Director

del.icio.us Tags: negawatts,energy effciency,M&V