Each year, St. Patrick’s Day brings out the Irish in all of us - that unexplainable urge to wear green, to enjoy soda bread with a Guinness and to listen to fiddle music. These days, Ireland offers an entirely new way to ‘go green’ as the Emerald Isle boldly charges into the 21st century powered, [...]
Last week, Friends of the Earth launched two television ads challenging $54.5 billion in loan guarantees the Obama Administration proposed to hand out for the construction of the first new nuclear reactors in the U.S. in 30 years. The 30-second television ads, “Family” and “Risk,” will run in both South Carolina and Georgia. In South [...]
For most of the past decade (8.5 years to be exact), America has been talking about developing her first offshore wind farm. With all eyes turned towards New England, we have witnessed a high-profile, public, all out Not-In-My-Backyard brawl.
The brawl that spanned the entire Bush administration recently took another black eye on January 4, 2010 [...]
This blogpost was co-authored by Rita Kilpatrick and Brandon Blevins
Imagine a society that draws on the power of the wind to generate a significant portion of its electricity. I’m seeing firsthand how Denmark is just such a place. For the past two decades the Danes have committed themselves to developing wind farms on land and [...]
Updated Science Report Provides Window Into Key Climate Trends
As the world prepares for the next round of international climate talks in Copenhagen, a new study has been released on the recent science. The Copenhagen Diagnosis, which was a year in the making, documents the key findings in climate change science since the publication of the [...]
This post was co-authored by Dr. Stephen Smith and Toni Reale, SACE’s coastal program coordinator.
On Monday, November 23rd the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to a consortium led by Clemson University’s Restoration Institute to build the World’s first large offshore wind turbine drive-train testing facility.
This $98 [...]
This video tells the history and stories of places in South Carolina that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Places such as Charleston and the Lowcountry’s coastal bays and swamps as well as Southern Appalachia’s mountain streams are treasured places valued by residents and visitors each year. The message of [...]
If reason drove the national energy and climate debate, we wouldn’t need more studies about costs and jobs. It seems fairly obvious that if you invest in a lower cost energy resource (such as energy efficiency), it will save consumers money. And if that lower cost resource depends primarily on American workers, rather than buying [...]
As the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) makes it way through Congress, SACE has expressed some important concerns, notably the weak energy resource standards and allowance give-aways. But there is still a lot to like in the proposed legislation. One of those things is the development of national energy efficiency building codes.
While SACE [...]
With less fanfare than you might expect, state governments and utilities in the Carolinas have moved forward on energy efficiency. In total, we estimate that these programs could reduce electricity demand by about 8% in 2020.
Cumulative Impacts
Total
North Carolina
South Carolina
Duke Energy
Progress Energy
2009-2020
New Efficiency Initiatives
Efficiency Building Codes Update
Efficiency Building Codes Legislation
Save-a-Watt Agreement
Announced Programs
Energy Savings (GWh)
93,531
30,046
25,078
34,164
4,243
Cost Savings
$ [...]
