Lynn Price, LBNL

The China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance is pleased to announce that Lynn Price, Senior Scientist and Group Leader of the China Energy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), has joined the Alliance Leadership Council.  The Leadership Council provides strategic advice and insights to the Alliance on a variety of policy, network development, and programming issues.

Lynn Price has worked at Lawrence Berkeley since 1990, and has also been a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 1994. She has provided technical and policy assistance to many projects for groups as diverse as the US EPA, the US DOE, the State Department, UNDP, USAID, The Energy Foundation, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Energy Commission.

The China Energy Group at LBNL works to understand ways in which demand for energy in China can be met, including via energy efficiency. You may see a variety of publications that Lynn Price has researched and coauthored at the China Energy Group’s publications page.

“8 Ways that China and California Can Work Together to Reduce Pollution and Protect the Environment”.

The piece details insights from California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent trip to China. Finamore notes that climate change and environmental protection were a key focus on this trip, and that the importance of collaboration between China and California was emphasized.

Finamore’s article underlines the fact that although there is renewed attention to environmental technology in China, as well as cooperation with California, there is an existing history of collaboration in this area.

In fact, the China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance’s work is part of this history of cooperation – given the Alliance’s involvement in bringing the energy-efficiency expertise of California utilities and regulators to China.

Check out the complete article here to read an in-depth discussion of the 8 ways that China and California can work together in the future to ensure a cleaner environment and more sustainable future for all.

Air Pollution In Beijing January 2013 By Flickr User Chris Aston

National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” radio show recently featured Barbara Finamore, President of the China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance and NRDC Asia Director. The radio piece, entitled: “China’s Air Pollution Linked To Millions Of Early Deaths” aired on NPR on April 2.

The interview was prompted by a new analysis that claims that each year, up to one million Chinese citizens succumb to premature deaths linked to air pollution. The report focused in on the fact that air pollution is now regarded as the 4th leading cause of death in China.

Finamore noted the tide seems to be turning in terms of the national government’s willingness to institute stronger regulations to protect the air and environment.  As international and local attention  focuses on the dire air pollution challenge, the Chinese government is becoming more and more likely to take strong action to protect human health and the environment.

From ASE 2030 Homepage

The Alliance to Save Energy is heading up an initiative aimed at envisioning what the energy picture in the US could look like in 2030 “if energy productivity doubles”. Dubbed “Energy2030″ this initiative is part of a larger project: “The Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy”. The Commission works with a bipartisan group of experts and politicians to work on a set of energy goals and policy recommendations. The result of this partnership and work is the “Energy2030″ project.

On the “Energy2030″ page, you can view a tidy infographic that visually represents just some of the key impacts that increased efficiency could have in the US by 2030. Cutting across livability, economic productivity, cost savings, security, and environmental impact, the “Energy2030″ project makes a clear case for enacting strong energy-efficiency policies and incentives immediately.

If you are interested in learning more, the Commission’s full report is available to the public here.  While this project focuses on the US, we think the lessons learned and the importance of promoting the potential impact of energy efficiency is a message we can take worldwide.

Photo of solar field in Massachusetts by Flickr account Office of Governor Patrick

Terry Fry, Senior Vice President at Nexant and Member of the Board of the China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance, has been selected for another term with the Department of Commerce’s Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee.

This Commerce committee makes recommendations on improving federal policy as it relates to the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector. In addition,  the committee advises on the competitiveness of US energy efficiency-related goods and services.

• Read more about the Department of Commerce Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee

• Read the full press release

• Read more about Nexant

As an official export promotion partner of the US Commercial Service, the Alliance will be helping create awareness of the resources for US businesses offered by the US Commercial Service abroad.

This partnership is a great opportunity for Alliance partners to gain greater access to the tools and resources available via the US Commercial Service to help them invest in energy-efficiency technologies and service in China and beyond.

“Communicating the ‘financeability’ of energy efficiency projects (EEPs): Guide to data needs for financing EEPs in China“.

Air conditioners on the Hong Kong Golden Mansion by Flickr user See-ming Lee

The team behind the report, Xiaoyu Shi, Thomas K. Dreessen, and Alexander Perera, seeks to help industrial companies finance EEPs at their facilities. Since the guide focuses on the data needed to make financing decisions, it could also be of use to energy services companies (ESCOs), financial institutions, and project managers.

The authors of the guide present three key findings that could help improve successes in securing financing for EEPs:

• Understand the information and decision-making needs of financiers and communicate early and often.

• Perform a self-assessment of the proposed EEP to be financed such as the project size, technology, etc.

• Provide detailed information at the beginning of the project to improve credibility with financiers.

By following the guidelines presented by the authors, a “host” (a facility or group seeking financing for an EEP project) can improve chances of securing funding, thereby making much-needed energy efficiency upgrades that can reduce energy usage and pollution.

With detailed information on each step of the EEP financing process – from pre-screening and creditworthiness assessments all the way through to financing decisions – the guide offers information that can help increase financing for critical energy efficiency upgrades at Chinese facilities.

The China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance is pleased to welcome EnerNOC as our newest member.

One of the largest providers of energy management technology and services, EnerNOC also provides demand response and consulting services for energy supply management. EnerNOC’s customers include commercial, industrial, and institutional entities, in addition to utilities and grid operators. EnerNOC’s service offerings include everything from energy data analytics to energy price and risk management. EnerNOC, which stands for “Energy Network Operations”, seeks to provide alternatives to investment in traditional power generation, transmission, and distribution.

The Alliance looks forward to working together with EnerNOC to help promote energy efficiency.

By Flickr user Alexandra Moss

Alvin Lin and Yang Fuqiang of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Beijing office recently published a piece on China’s carbon tax in China Dialogue.  The two NRDC experts published their thoughts in reaction to a controversial piece in the Wall Street Journal, which claimed that China’s plans to introduce a new carbon tax are not in earnest.

John Lee of the Journal posits that China’s leadership will prioritize economic growth over stringent limits on carbon emissions – thus their choice of a carbon tax versus a cap-and-trade system. Lee also argues that the costs of the carbon tax will eventually be passed on to end-users – mainly consumers of the goods distributed via foreign export. This could have the effect of disadvantaging foreign firms over state-owned enterprises, which, Lee claims, will be beneficiaries of special credits and other assistance to mitigate the economic impact of a carbon tax.

Lin and Fuqiang dispute this viewpoint in their article, which points out that during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (which covered the period 2005-2010), China saved approximately 1.5 billion tons of carbon emissions. With plans to reduce emissions even further during the 12th Five-Year Plan, it is not inconceivable that the proposed carbon tax could lead to additional reductions in carbon emissions in China, which could have a real and lasting impact on global warming, air pollution, and the continued need for newly constructed coal-fired power plants.

The authors of the China Dialogue article also point out that China may be suffering from a PR problem. Even though China has just announced carbon-trading pilot projects in several cities and provinces, such advances are rarely well-publicized. This problem is exacerbated by the paucity of media coverage for such carbon reduction schemes outside China’s borders.

You can read Lin and Fuqiang’s entire article over at China Dialogue to read more about why they believe the Chinese government is serious about taking action to reduce carbon emissions and why the carbon tax is “real”.

Photo taken in Jiangsu by Philip Lai

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has recently launched a risk-sharing facility to support clean energy development in China’s Jiangsu province.

A member of the World Bank Group, the IFC finances investments and provides advisory services in support of sustainable growth in developing markets.

The IFC runs the “China Utility-Based Energy Efficiency Finance Program”, established in 2006,  to help the central and provincial governments of China address climate change. To date, the initiative has provided loans to 178 energy efficiency and renewable energy projects which have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 19 million tons/year.

The overall aim of the new agreement is to mitigate risk for the Bank of Jiangsu when financing climate-friendly projects, in addition to supporting loans for sustainable energy projects. Funding is being provided by the Ministry of Finance of China, the China Clean Development Mechanism Fund, and the Jiangsu Provincial Finance Department.

This agreement not only advances energy efficiency in China, it also demonstrates that climate mitigation and efficiency can be good business.