Topic: Energy
In recent years, electricity rates have risen significantly across California, affecting us all. It's key to understanding the underlying causes behind these changes and exploring effective strategies for managing electricity usage and costs together.
Decarbonizing the U.S. housing sector, while crucial for combatting climate change, faces challenges of market scalability and affordability. A recent report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory identifies key challenges to advancing residential decarbonization and explains how solutions—such as the Oakland EcoBlock project—offer opportunities for a clean energy future.
Here in California, we are working to be world leaders in the fight against climate change. State law requires that by 2030, 60% of electricity be supplied by renewable energy, and by 2045, 100% of electricity be from carbon-free or renewable energy sources. To reach these goals, we will need to build and use more renewable energy, primarily solar and wind generation.
Cambodia has one of the lowest electrification rates in Southeast Asia, with a large difference in energy access between city and rural residents. EcoBlock Postdoctoral Scholar Dr. Miriam Aczel looks at one creative solution utilizing smart community microgrids that could be a model for bringing power to Cambodia’s under-resourced areas.
Dr. Therese Peffer and Rich Brown discuss the challenges and highlights of implementing the Oakland EcoBlock project at the 2023 Annual Institute.
The use of residential smart technology has led to new energy efficiency investments, but important questions remain regarding who benefits from home energy digitalization and how to ensure it is equitable. Empowering and engaging with people, particularly the most vulnerable, is key to better understanding and utilizing these technologies.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 includes $369 billion for climate and energy programs—the biggest federal investment to combat climate change in U.S. history. So how will this bill help everyday Americans?
Over the past year, researchers from the Berkeley Lab have surveyed EcoBlock renters and homeowners to better understand how they decide on different energy-efficient home improvements and use energy-consuming equipment. Here are a few key insights from their survey work.
In San Giovanni a Teduccio, a coastal suburb in Naples, a new people-driven project has become Italy’s first renewable “solidarity energy community.”
October 5 marks Energy Efficiency Day, a nationwide campaign that celebrates the benefits of sustainable energy use. The EcoBlock team is certainly no stranger to efficiency–in fact, here are some of the ways they conserve energy in their daily lives.