Renewable Power Set to Surpass Coal Globally by the End of 2025

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 2/29/2024 The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that renewable energy-generated electricity will surpass coal-generated power by the end of 2025. Further, the IEA predicts that by 2026, nuclear power and renewable energy combined will generate almost 50% of the world’s electricity.  The report, titled Electricity 2024, is the current edition of … Read more

Green Carrot & Stick: How Sweden Became a Heat Pump Success Story

Emily Collins, Zondits guest, 2/1/2024 By now, it’s no secret that heat pumps just might be a key factor in climate solutions. From reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to saving homeowners money on their monthly utility bills, the heat pump continues to increase in popularity. In 2022 alone, even before the U.S. passed the Inflation … Read more

Getting to Fan-Tastic: Overcoming Barriers to Energy Efficiency in the C&I Fan Market

Christopher Dyson, Zondits guest, 1/16/2024 Fans not embedded in HVAC equipment—”stand-alone” fans—are used in many industrial, commercial, and agricultural applications (such as exhaust, ventilation, and manufacturing processes). The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that installed fans in the industrial sector alone consume about 79 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, which amounts to about 11% of all … Read more

Was COP28 a Success? It Depends on Who You Ask 

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 1/9/2024 At the close of 2023, 100,000 individuals representing nearly 200 nations met in Dubai to negotiate an updated climate action agreement at the United Nations COP28 conference. The UN Climate Change Conference – United Arab Emirates | UNFCCC, officially known as the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties, … Read more

Heat Pumps and Refrigerants, It’s Complicated 

Emily Collins, Zondits guest, 12/12/2023 It’s fair to say that heat pumps have become a thing in the green energy ethos. In 2022, the U.S. Heat Pump Market was valued at 12 Billion USD and is anticipated to reach 165 Billion USD by 2032. The projection is staggering but not unrealistic. With more than 17 … Read more

Biden Administration Awards $7 Billion for Seven New Hydrogen Hubs

hydrogen hubs

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 11/7/2023 The Biden administration is making good on its pledge to invest billions in “clean” hydrogen, with the announcement of $7 billion in awards for regional hydrogen hubs. The funding was included in the 2021 Infrastructure Law to establish multiple regional hubs to produce hydrogen for fuel, agricultural, and industrial uses. … Read more

Demand-Side Resiliency Reduces Risk and Insurance Costs

Demand side resiliency

Peter F. Hoffman, C.E.M., LEED AP, Zondits guest, 10/30/2023 This article has been amended from a version previously published on LinkedIn: Demand-Side Resiliency leading to risk mitigation and reduced insurance costs under a traditional Energy Efficiency programmatic framework Utilities invest significantly in the resilience of the electrical and natural gas transmission and distribution systems in … Read more

A Plea for More Heat Pumps With Less Drama – Can Homeowners Get More Professional Help?

Heat pump HOA

Camryn Hansen, Zondits guest, 10/24/2023 I blogged previously about the numerous cumbersome steps it took to have heat pumps installed in my 100-year-old Maine house. In that blog I promised to publish future blogs exploring the topic of support—who or what would have made my process easier and how can we remove barriers to the … Read more

Heading into COP28, the United Nations Calls for the Rapid Acceleration of Climate Change Action

Brian McCowan, Zondits staff, 9/26/2023 The first United Nations Stocktake on Climate Change Progress calls for a dramatic acceleration of policy and technical action to combat climate change. The report, released in early September, recognizes that some progress has been made since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, but states that both “ambition and implementation” must … Read more