Earlier this week, the White House stated a climate bill passed in 2010 would be fine as long as it included the critical components President Obama included in his campaign promises. This is consistent with President Obama’s budget which includes revenue for carbon cap and trade allowances of $658 billion in total for the years 2012 through 2019. $150 billion of this will be committed to invest in clean energy along with tax credits.
26Feb
President’s Budget Includes Carbon Cap and Trade Revenue in 2012
Filed in Economy | Energy | Environment | Politics
03Feb
US #1 in Wind Energy Capacity
Filed in Economy | Energy | Environment
2008 was a bumper year for wind energy investment. The US added 8,300 megawatts (MW) of wind energy to lead the world with 25,170 MW. 42% of the country’s new power-producing capacity came from wind. The 50% increase in wind power generation also created 35,000 jobs bringing the total employee bast to 85,000.
Worldwide over 27 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity was added. China doubled capacity to 12.2 GW and is on tract to double capacity again in 2009 and may reach its goal of 30 (GW) by 2010, ten years ahead of plan. All of Asia added about 8.3 GW with Europe and North America adding 8.9 GW each.
In the US, the financial crisis hit the wind industry and orders for turbines and components has slowed to a trickle. This needs to be reversed quickly if the US is to stay ahead of schedule to reach 300 GW of wind capacity, or 20% of our electricity needs, by 2030.
22Jan
Wind Forecasters Request Lab Help
Filed in Energy | Environment
Three prominent weather forecasting companies took advantage of their podium positions to request laboratory support to help them provide better information to renewable energy projects, namely wind projects. The monthly Sustainable Energy and Atmospheric Sciences seminar series kicked off the new year January 21st at the National Institute of Standards (NIST) in Boulder, CO. Pascal Storck of 3Tier, Bruce Bailey of AWS Truewind, and Mark Ahlstrom of WindLogics spoke about the weather/wind forecasting process in the US and requested help in these areas:
1) Increased number of observation points to improve accuracy.
2) Independent evaluation of low profile observation instruments, such as LIDAR and SODAR, to increase adoption by the industry
3) High quality global and regional forecasts
4) Improved mathematical prediction models
It was the clear consensus that the US Labs are critical to providing the data needed to help wind projects successfully plan and use wind energy AND that the US Labs could do a lot more to help the forecasts being provided to the project operators. Today the European forecasts are often better at predicting weather over the western states than the forecast generated here. To insure the US meets the predicted increase in Wind Capacity from about 20 GW today to more than 300 GW by 2030, better information about the weather is critical.
15Jan
Solar Future at The daVinci Institute
Filed in Energy
Larry Kazmerski, from the National Research Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, CO was the keynote speaker at this month’s Night with a Futurist put on by The DaVinci Institute. Kazmerski entertained the largest crowd to attend a Night with a Futurist event throughout his lecture while hitting on these 5 key points:
- Solar is real – now
- Investment in Policy and R&D are priorities
- Cutting time from lab to manufacturing is key
- Significant increase in science and technical workforce is needed
- Balancing near and longterm R&D must be maintained
The highlight of the evening was a story from Kazmerski’s early days at NREL. A local newspaper reporter seemed uninterested in his description of the energy conversion properties of some of the PV cells they were testing. When the talk turned to the government officials visiting from Saudi Arabia, Kazmerski convinced the reporter the Saudi’s were investing heavily in solar energy and that they planned to sell the US sand for silicon production at $40 per barrel. This appeared in the the paper the following week and Kazmerski claims he still holds the record for fewest seconds between arrival at NREL and a summons to the director’s office.
13Jan
Google Searches and Boiling Tea Kettles…
Filed in Energy | Environment | Technology
So, how many Google searches produce the equivalent CO2 emissions as boiling a cup of water?
A confusing question unless you been following the stream of posts generated by the Sunday Times of London quoting (or misquoting) Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross‘ study on the energy used by view webpages. IN the story, the Times reporters stated “Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.” This seems to equate to about 7 grams of CO2.
Google immediately responded in a blog post stating “we have designed and built the most energy efficient data centers in the world, which means the energy used per Google search is minimal suggesting the number is closer to 0.02 grams per search.” And went on to state the energy used by the PC performing the search is greater than the search itself.
Meanwhile according to Tech News World, Wissner-Gross claims neither he nor the study mentioned Google or had anything to do with Google and certainly not with tea kettles. “They did that. I have no idea where they got those statistics,” Wissner-Gross said.
And in response to these back and forth discussions, more than a few bloggers have decided to weigh in:
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5489134.ece
http://www.livescience.com/technology/090112-carbon-internet.html
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/seven-grams-per-google-search.php
So what do you think? How much water could you boil while searching for the amount of CO2 emitted from a Google Search? or something like that?
05Jan
A brief history of wind power | Wind of change | The Economist
Filed in Energy | Environment
Wind Power installations to triple between 2007 and 2012 accroding to a brief history of wind power as reported in The Economist.
Globally, wind power installations are expected to triple from 94GW at the end of 2007 to nearly 290GW in 2012, according to BTM Consult, a Danish market-research firm. They will then account for 2.7% of world electricity generation, the company predicts, and by 2017 their share could be nearly 6%.
Well behind much of Europe in percentage of electricity generated from the wind, the US has 18% of worldwide wind power production following a year which saw an increase of 45% in wind power capacity.
31Dec
CO2 Eating Cement
Filed in Energy | Environment
British scientists at Novacem have developed a cement from magnesium silicate which absorbs more carbon dioxide while hardening than is emitted during production. The high heat cooking required for conventional or Portland cement production emits about .8 tons of CO2 for every ton of cement. When mixed with water cement absorbs about half of this amount of CO2. The net production of .4 tons of CO2 per ton of cement produces about 5% of the world’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Novacem’s cement emits only .5 tons of CO2 while the curing process absorbs more than twice this amount, 1.1 tons. Many years of testing remain and much will have to change to use this in more than a few applications. Converting even a small portion of the 2 billion tons of cement production from contributing .4 tons of GHGs to removing .6 tons is a good thing. Technology that turns a major CO2 emissions problem into a substantial abatement process are exactly what is needed to help solve Global Warming.
31Dec
Obama Adds More Green to Science Team
Filed in Energy | Environment
President elect Barack Obama added John Holdren, a clean coal and nuclear energy proponent, as his next Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. The head of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Science, Technology, Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Holdren will expand Obama’s clean energy team with his ideas on using nuclear energy and clean coal technologies to reduce global warming while reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
27Dec
Cow Patty Power from Idaho
Filed in Energy | Environment | Politics
Idaho State energy czar Paul Kjellander sees BTUs where other see Cow $#!+ and he hopes to get others to see it his way. As head of Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otters Office of Energy Resources, Kjellander is pushing a package of income tax credits, property tax waivers and other incentives in the 2009 Legislature starting Jan. 12 to transform Idahos southern heartland into a methane Mecca.
That odor wafting from 550,000 cows that make up Idaho's growing dairy herd smells like energy independence and economic development to state energy czar Paul Kjellander.
With over half a million cows and ranking 3rd in dairy production, there is definitely a lot of manure. This contributes greatly to agriculture being the third largest producer of methane in the US. Methane by volume has 25 times the greenhouse effect as CO2 on climate and is second to CO2 in greenhouse gas contribution to global climate change.
Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc. soon aims to sell electricity from its $8.5 million, 2.25 megawatt digester and generator facility at the 10,000-cow Bettencourt Dairy in Hansen to Idaho Power Co., the state’s largest utility.
This is the agricultural conglomerate’s first such project, but Cargill has another southern Idaho plant due to open in 2009. It’s also exploring similar endeavors in neighboring Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, California, Texas, New York and Indiana, said Craig Maetzold, Cargill Environmental Finance’s operations manager.
“We believe the credits in renewable energy are only going to increase in value in the future,” Maetzold said.
22Dec
Plug-in Hybrid Retrofit Plan
Filed in Energy | USA politics
Andy Grove has a plan to test the viability of retrofitting US autos into plug-in hybrids fashioned along the lines of GM’s Volt design. He suggest testing this on 1 million cars at a cost of about $10 billion mainly due to the continued high cost for batteries ($10,000 per car). He is also pushing Intel to get back into the battery business, suggesting he sees this idea as more than just idle speculation.
Grove wants to focus on retrofitting a few high volume, low mileage models to test the theory. His goal is to reduce the dependency of our transportation system on petroleum and therefore foreign interests by moving more of our transportation miles to rely on electricity. Arguing that electricity is generated using a variety of fuel sources and a higher carbon productivity rate, this will also reduce GHGs emissions.
His article received a significant amount of feedback encouraging him to prepare a response only a few days after the original was posted. Primary concerns of those writing in were:
Electricity Generation
Electrical Grid Capacity
Small Impact of 1 million Cars
Getting Political Support
and one reader who suggested he stick to his knitting and leave energy to others.
17Dec
EU to cut CO2 emissions 20% by 2020
Filed in Energy | Environment | Politics
The European Parliament has approved a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the 27-member bloc. The package will obligate EU nations to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. The package also seeks a 20 percent energy savings and increasing the use of renewable energy sources up to 20 percent of the total. Lawmakers in Strasbourg also agreed measures to cut CO2 emissions from new cars by 18 percent by 2015.
16Dec
Obama’s Green Team
Filed in Energy | Environment | Politics
President-elect Obama has followed up on his campaign climate commitments in selecting his “Green Team” for environment, energy and new coordinating positions. His picks confirm the Obama administration intends for the US to make an about-face on energy and environmental issues. His selections are experienced in alternative energy and cap-and-trade systems. In several cases choosing science and engineering over legal and political experience, Obama is clearly indicating the climate debates in his administration will include significant scientific evidence.
Steven Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a 1997 corecipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, is Obama’s pick for secretary of energy. Lisa Jackson, a former commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection who was trained as a chemical engineer, is nominated for the post as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. And Carol Browner, former EPA chief in the Clinton administration, has been asked to serve as a “high-level coordinator” on energy issues—and perhaps something of a “czar” on climate change.
Department of Energy – Steven Chu
At Berkeley, Chu has strongly advocated research into solar power and advanced biomass, in particular biofuels made from grasses that won’t compete for space with farmland. At a talk this summer in Nevada, Chu said, “In the first eight months of a new research program, we have developed ways to separate out cellulose, and we have already made a yeast [that] makes a gasolinelike fuel. Already within eight months, we are working on diesel and jet replacement fuels. We need to work with making this really scalable so it will outperform the yeast we have to today.” (One potential disagreement with Obama: Chu has criticized corn-based ethanol, which Obama has strongly supported in the Senate and in the campaign.)
Administrator of the EPA – Lisa Jackson
Ms. Jackson had been the head of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection since 2006, and in October, Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced that she would become his chief of staff starting on December. She presently serves as Vice President of the Executive Board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a program organized by northeast states to develop a regional cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy producers. She has a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton and spent 16 years at the federal E.P.A. as a top enforcement officer in Washington and New York. She has led the Obama transition team at E.P.A. and knows the agency inside and out, according to associates.
Coordinator of Energy and Environmental Policy
Browner will work closely with Obama, who pledged his “personal engagement” in these issues, and coordinate the work of the DOE, EPA, as well as the federal, state and local governments. Obamo pointed out that Browner will bring her experience from the EPA of establishing the NOx and SO2 emissions trading programme. On the international stage, she was behind drafting the US’ submission to the Kyoto protocol in 1997, which he said was the “the best framework for carbon policy that has ever been developed.”
Ms. Browner, an acolyte of former Vice President Al Gore, will have forceful support in the new Congress, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, who will be the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who is returning as chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Opposing their efforts will be many Republicans and some Democrats, as well as manufacturers, utilities, oil companies and coal producers who will bear the brunt of the costs of any steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the main culprit in global warming.
The nominees have a record of supporting high levels of federal involvement in energy and environmental issues, both in terms of money invested and regulatory oversight. During the early 1990s, Browner earned a reputation for attempting to uphold water and air regulations in the face of opposition from congressional Republicans. Jackson, likewise, at a congressional hearing last May on mercury emissions, told lawmakers, “Implementing the real maximum achievable protections is simply the only moral and ethical choice available if we are to meet our responsibility as public officials.”
15Dec
Analysts cut EU Allowance Price Forecast
Filed in Economy | Energy | Environment | Politics
Citing lower forecasts in 2009 output along with an increase in the number of firms announcing temporary shutdowns, analysts are scaling back their forecasts for carbon emissions and the price for allowances for those emissions. Societe Generale has cut their forecast for EUAs a third to 17 euros a ton. They went on to say prices could rise to 20 euros by 2012, sharply down from estimates earlier this year that prices would reach 37 euros during this timeframe.
Deutsche Bank believes EU emissions in 2009 could be 10% below 2007 levels. This would push emissions below allowances for 2009. The excess allowances for 2009 can be “banked” for use through 2012 and the forecasted emissions for 2009-2012 remain slightly above the EU carbon allowances. As a result of reduced emissions and smaller shortfall, UN-approved Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) which EU industry can import from developing nations to meet compliance, may be able to meet the entire shortfall. Price estimates for EUAs and CERs clearly indicate analysts believe CERs will set the pricing for EUAs for the next few years.
The good news is EU will be able to meet the allowances under phase 2 with a small “carbon price” in this recessionary period. This is also the bad news, as the lower price reduces the investment per ton of CO2 available for carbon abatement projects. The net is by 2012, the European Union will have done less and perhaps much less to lower the Green House Gases (GHG) they produce per unit of energy they consume than anticipated when the allowance allocations were set.
12Dec
Obama Picks Green Scientist for Energy Secretary
Filed in Politics
Packing up his campaign talk of tackling global climate change head-on, President-elect Obama has selected Nobel physics laureate Steven Chu to head up the department of energy. 
Chu heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, stamping his imprint on the lab with an aggressive focus on developing new alternative energy technology. “If I were emperor of the world, I would put the pedal to the floor on energy efficiency and conservation for the next decade,” Chu stated in an interview last year.
Chu’s experience in advanced technology and renewable energy and lack of background in fossil fuels signals Obama expects the energy department to concentrate on new fuels, experts said.
“I believe that the selection of Steve Chu suggests that President-elect Obama is quite serious about reordering the energy sector and executing his vision of a green economy,” said Jerry Taylor, a senior fellow at Cato Institute.
11Dec
Lower Energy Costs vs. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Filed in Energy | Environment
The 2008-2009 economic recession has had a major impact on energy prices and price estimates for 2009. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates petroleum products consumption in 2008 will fall 5.8% from the 2007 average and another 1% in 2009. Electricity consumption in 2008 is expected to be flat with 2007 and to decline in 2009. With spot fuel prices down from summer 2008 highs, residential electricity rates are predicted to rise 6% in 2008 and 5% in 2009.
The good news is that carbon based energy will be lower as petroleum consumption and electricity demand decrease. And with an increase in wind, nuclear, natural gas and petroleum fueled electricity generation, electricity produced by burning coal should fall 0.2% in 2009. Unfortunately, these changes do little to alter the GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions forecast from the “Business as Usual” scenario (See Increasing Carbon Productivity Tenfold).
According to the The Carbon Productivity Challenge published by McKinsey & Company, the world has 50 years to increase carbon productivity from $7,300 GDP per ton of CO2e to $740 GDP per ton of CO2e. Some big steps are needed with a cost for GHG emissions via a cap and trade system at the top of the list.
10Dec
Van Jones on Green Economics
Filed in Energy | Environment
Big Think shares the views of Van Jones president of profiting from a Green Economy.
Van is correct that the Green Economy can provide opportunities for a people of all walks of life. And that we have to move and move quickly. The need to conserve, use renewables and offset Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) will create many jobs where there have been few. (i.e. Building Nuclear and Wind power stations.) There will be many jobs that come from the need to reduce GHGs throughout the rest of the economy starting with our own actions to conserve energy. And while the US does need to move toward better family balance sheets, the picture painted here is overly bleak.
23Oct
Generation-WE
Filed in Economy | Education | Energy | Environment | Politics | USA politics
This video is worth a few minutes of your time.
The Generation WE movement is the largest generation in history, they are independant – politically, socially, and philosophically – and are spearheading a period of sweeping change in America and around the world. Check it out.
17Oct
Replace the White Picket Fence with a White Roof
Filed in Energy | Environment
Is a white roof in your future? Reflective Roofing may in fact be most cost effective geo-engineering option for fighting Global Climate Change. Roof and pavement surfaces with a higher albedo, or ability to reflect the Sun’s energy back into space, may prove to be a critical factor in buying us enough time to lower Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. The Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley Labs suggest reflective roof and pavement in 100 of the largest cities could offset the climate change impact of 44 GT CO2. That’s more than the world emits today. Doesn’t solve the longterm problem, but lowers the impact while CO2 emissions are reduced.
28Sep
RGGI Holds First US Auction
Filed in Energy | Environment
With allowances exceeding current emission’s forecast the first auction of allowances in a mandatory US system brought little new information. Keith Johnson at Environmental Capital put it this way:
“But don’t get too excited. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or ”RGGI,“ is more likely to start with a whimper than a bang. Prices for the carbon permits are likely to be low, and that will probably undermine the scheme’s plan to force utilities to generate cleaner power.”
22Sep
Cutting US Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Filed in Energy | Environment
US GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions are estimated to rise to 9.7 gigatons of Carbon Dioxide equivalents (CO2e) up from 7.2 gigatons CO2e in 2005. Coupled with a gradual decrease in cabon sinks’ absorption many experts and legislation currently before the US Congress places the 2030 target at 3.5 to 5.2 gigatons of CO2e.
All of this is from McKinsey & Company in a report on how the US can cut GHG emissions by 3.0 to 4.5 gigatons at a marginal cost below $50 per ton using tested approaches and high-potential emerging technologies.
Key findings are both encouraging and at the same time, highlight the effort facing the US and the world in dramatically cutting GHG emissions.
- Carbon abatement opportunities are highly fragmented and widely spread across the economy.
- Almost 40% of abatement can be achieved with a positive ROI.
- Abatement costs, potential and mix vary across regions of the country.
Investments of about $50 billion annually through 2030 are needed to cut 3.0 gigatons of emissions. These investments are highly concentrated in the power and transportation sectors. This number will increase if the nation chooses to mandate higher-cost options and/or if some energy efficiency gains do not materialize.
Five abatement potential sectors from least to highest average cost:
- Improve building and appliances efficiency – 710 to 870 megatons
- Increase fuel efficience in vehicles – 340 to 660 megatons
- Industrial sector – 620 to 770 megatons
- Cargon sinks – 440 to 590 megatons
- Reduce carbon intensity of electricity generation – .8 to 1.57 gigatons
Across all sectors, greater energy productivity can reduce the need for abatement investment and in many instances provide net economic gains. Energy efficiency in buildings, appliances and industrial uses could offset up to 85% of incremental electricity needs cutting most if not all of the incremental coal-fired power plants used in the baseline.
Bottom line is things need to start soon around these themes:
- Stimulate action through strong, coordinated policies to capture GHG reductions effiently across all sectors and geographies.
- Quickly pursue energy efficiency and positive ROI options.
- Accelerate low-carbon energy infrastructure development.
Acting soon, we can reach these goals at an acceptable impact to lifestyle and quality of life. Delay will increase the cost greatly and is likely to lead to significantly larger impact to those least able to absorb it.
12Sep
Increasing Carbon Productivity Tenfold
Filed in Energy | Environment | Management
In The Carbon Productivity Challenge, McKinsey & Company focuses on two objectives — stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) and maintaining economic growth — and proposes the world has 50 years to increase the GDP per unit of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) tenfold. A task the authors equate to the productivity improvement delivered during the 100 years of the industrial revolution.
A daunting task for sure, yet the study highlights that current technology allows us to get there provided investments, significant investments, begin soon.
06May
Gas Tax Holiday Hoax
Filed in Economy | Energy | Environment | Politics | USA politics
The McCain – Clinton Gas Tax Holiday is a farce and voters are beginning to realize this. Of course, Obama has been correctly outlining the problems all along. There are numerous problems with this approach even if the money would trickle into the hands of the consumers who most need it and therefore spend it on other items. At 18.4 cents per gallon, the family burning two gallons per day would receive a savings of $11 dollars per month or 5% of the cost of gasoline at the current $3.61 per gallon.
And of course, it is a proposal that few in Congress support and President Bush will veto. So, it’s a non-starter and perhaps in the eyes of two candidates a safe proposal aimed to win voter favor without having all the downsides. And there are several.
First of all, the tax generates revenue to pay for roads and bridge maintenance, which if anything is too small for our aging infrastructure. Of the three ways to pay for this, Clinton suggests taxing the windfall profits on Oil Companies while McCain says cut other spending. Let’s start with McCain. Congress has shown little appetite for cutting spending and the Whitehouse seems to agree that deficits matter not to voters. So, he is really offering the third option of borrowing to pay for this when we need to do the opposite.
Clinton wants to tax the Oil companies with a Windfall Profit tax which would do two things. First of all, it would diminish the expected returns on oil production and over the long term would decrease supply. It would in the short term put higher price pressure on Oil and with more demand coming during the summer driving season, it is more likely this added tax expense would be passed on to consumers.
If you want to help consumers and the retailers they visit, there are better ways to insure the money get to the right people. The stimulus package aims (many would argue aims poorly) to get $600 to those who need it most and are most likely to use it. The gas tax suspension would do no such thing.
And now here is the real catch. The realities of market economics cannot be suspended. Demand will increase to a point where it meets supply. Fiddling with the gas tax will not change this and the US Fuel Retail system has very little slack capacity. Therefore, supply is relatively inelastic and prices will move with demand. Bottom line, the gas tax will be eaten by the Gasoline Value Chain and consumers will be left with little in their pocket other than a higher debt and nothing done to solve the longer term energy issues. It’s bad policy, bad economics and it is time for us to show politicians, that pandering for votes is bad politics.
18Apr
I love these play while you work toys.
Filed in Economy | Energy | Environment | International Politics
Now you can generate energy and pump clean water by just being a kid. 
Developed by Daniel Sheridan, now a British student at Coventry University, the Springwise: See-saw power for schools generates electricity while kids play on it. Brilliant!
20Mar
Colorado issues RFP for managers of carbon fund.
Filed in Colorado | Energy | Environment
The state of Colorado is looking for managers for its newly formed Colorado Carbon Fund. This fund aims to aggregate Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER) offsets in an effort to help the state cut its GHG emissions by funding proven carbon abatement project in Colorado. This is in support of Colorado’s climate action plan which aims to reduce GHG emissions in-state 20% by 2020. Gov. Bill Ritter (D) is a big supporter of renewable energy, helping the state to become one of the leaders in wind energy generation in the US. Colorado emits over 120 million tones of CO2e per year, of which 48 million tons comes from electricity consumption. In tandem with these goals, the State’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) mandates that 20% of that electricity will come from renewable resources by 2020. The Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) aims to have the carbon fund launched by the early summer.
22May
Energy Productivity – Key to meeting accelerating needs
Filed in Energy
Meeting the fast growing energy needs of the world just may be the most daunting task mankind has faced to date. No doubt many things must be done to address this issue before fossil fuels are depleted and without destroying economic progress or the environment. McKinsey and Company has produced a paper on Energy Productivity which they claim is the key to curbing global energy demand growth.