Future of energy conservation

The Council continues to promote savings programs through its Regional Technical Forum, where conservation standards for home and industry are being continually improved. Here's how they will affect home users, commercial/industrial, and agricultural sectors.

Home/residential users

One of the biggest areas for potential savings and efficiencies is in residential lighting. In its 1998 Fourth Power Plan, the Council identified 60 average megawatts of potential energy savings in residential lighting. Today, as it develops the latest version of the power plan, the Council is identifying over 600 average megawatts of potential savings in residential lighting. The reason for such a big jump was an increase in the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs during the 2000-2001 energy crunch. The spike in demand signaled a turning point in their production bringing costs way down.

Other areas where consumers will see improvements include appliances, especially washing machines and space heating and cooling equipment. Although developments for washing machines had been static for many years, with the re-entry of horizontal axis machines, new washers are more efficient than the old machines. You can buy washers now that exceed the 2007 minimum efficiency standards by as much as 75 percent.

In residential heating and cooling systems, Energy Star, or equivalent, heat pumps and central air conditioners are available that are 20 to 30 percent more efficient than those currently being installed in new homes today. In addition, reducing the air leaks from duct work in both new and existing homes offers still more potential for savings. In particular, recent research has shown that sealing leaks in manufactured homes could save the region around 120 average megawatts of electricity.

Commerce/industry

In the commercial sector, improvements in building lighting, heating, and cooling systems continue to present considerable cost-effective savings as technology and building design practices improve. The Council is also identifying savings in areas not looked at before such as "packaged refrigeration"?appliances like vending machines, icemakers in hotels, and reach-in coolers in grocery stores and delis. Such appliances are currently not subject to federal efficiency standards. The savings potential becomes apparent when you consider that the average vending machine uses between 3,000 - 4,000 kilowatt hours a year, and that includes its lighting which is often inefficient. Simple low-cost measures can provide 1,000 kilowatt savings per year in vending machines, and about 40 percent of that from lighting alone.

Technology will be the source of greater savings in many other untapped areas, like sewage treatment facilities where state-of-the-art control systems will bring a more efficient use of energy. In small and mid-size sewage treatment plants, low-cost remote monitoring and process control technology will help in sensing when to turn on and off certain treatment processes, much like an electronic robot, rather than depending on human testing and operation. Implementing this new approach not only reduces energy costs, it can help plants comply with water quality regulations and better manage sludge accumulation, chlorination and de-chlorination, effluent ammonia, and odors.

Agriculture

Agriculture is another area where technology will improve efficiencies in things like irrigation systems, and most recently, in the dairy industry. One improvement enables milking pumps to work only when attached to an animal, rather than operating the whole system at maximum capacity. But some savings simply rely on ingenuity. Dairies have found that by using "flat plate heat exchangers," comprised of stainless steel tubes alongside each other, they can accomplish two goals at once and save energy. While one tube carries warm milk, straight from the cow, to refrigeration for cooling, another tube carrying water runs by it in the opposite direction. Through a simple heat exchange process, the water cools the milk down before it reaches refrigeration, and the water, in turn, is heated from the milk for use in the dairy. It's an elegant solution that gets the most from what we use, which is, after all, the whole point behind conservation.

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Conservation
	Future of energy conservation The Council continues to promote savings programs through its Regional Technical Forum, where conservation standards for home and industry are being continually improved. Here's how they will affect home users, commercial/industrial, and agricultural sectors. Home/residential users One of the biggest areas for potential savings and efficiencies is in residential lighting. In its 1998 Fourth Power Plan, the Council identified 60 average megawatts of potential energy savings in residential lighting. Today, as it develops the latest version of the power plan, the Council is identifying over 600 average megawatts of potential savings in residential lighting. The reason for such a big jump was an increase in the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs during the 2000-2001 energy crunch. The spike in demand signaled a turning point in their production bringing costs way down. Other areas where consumers will see improvements include appliances, especially washing machines and space heating and cooling equipment. Although developments for washing machines had been static for many years, with the re-entry of horizontal axis machines, new washers are more efficient than the old machines. You can buy washers now that exceed the 2007 minimum efficiency standards by as much as 75 percent. In residential heating and cooling systems, Energy Star, or equivalent, heat pumps and central air conditioners are available that are 20 to 30 percent more efficient than those currently being installed in new homes today. In addition, reducing the air leaks from duct work in both new and existing homes offers still more potential for savings. In particular, recent research has shown that sealing leaks in manufactured homes could save the region around 120 average megawatts of electricity. Commerce/industry In the commercial sector, improvements in building lighting, heating, and cooling systems continue to present considerable cost-effective savings as technology and building design practices improve. The Council is also identifying savings in areas not looked at before such as "packaged refrigeration"?appliances like vending machines, icemakers in hotels, and reach-in coolers in grocery stores and delis. Such appliances are currently not subject to federal efficiency standards. The savings potential becomes apparent when you consider that the average vending machine uses between 3,000 - 4,000 kilowatt hours a year, and that includes its lighting which is often inefficient. Simple low-cost measures can provide 1,000 kilowatt savings per year in vending machines, and about 40 percent of that from lighting alone. Technology will be the source of greater savings in many other untapped areas, like sewage treatment facilities where state-of-the-art control systems will bring a more efficient use of energy. In small and mid-size sewage treatment plants, low-cost remote monitoring and process control technology will help in sensing when to turn on and off certain treatment processes, much like an electronic robot, rather than depending on human testing and operation. Implementing this new approach not only reduces energy costs, it can help plants comply with water quality regulations and better manage sludge accumulation, chlorination and de-chlorination, effluent ammonia, and odors. Agriculture Agriculture is another area where technology will improve efficiencies in things like irrigation systems, and most recently, in the dairy industry. One improvement enables milking pumps to work only when attached to an animal, rather than operating the whole system at maximum capacity. But some savings simply rely on ingenuity. Dairies have found that by using "flat plate heat exchangers," comprised of stainless steel tubes alongside each other, they can accomplish two goals at once and save energy. While one tube carries warm milk, straight from the cow, to refrigeration for cooling, another tube carrying water runs by it in the opposite direction. Through a simple heat exchange process, the water cools the milk down before it reaches refrigeration, and the water, in turn, is heated from the milk for use in the dairy. It's an elegant solution that gets the most from what we use, which is, after all, the whole point behind conservation. ^ top