Energy efficiency does have a big impact yet that very program at DOE (appliance and equipment standards project) in charge of all that was cut back significantly with more cuts likely. Trump is currently proposing to roll back and / or eliminate most appliance and equipment standards.
Heat pumps are great but their COPs usually aren’t. If power is expensive, as it is in MA, they usually cannot economically compete with well performing condensing, natural gas - fired heating units.
In MA, a cold climate heat pump would have to reach a COP of 4 @ 15*F to achieve operational cost parity. Look to through the various equipment databases, such units are basically nonexistent. DOE sponsored various cold climate heat pump initiatives to deal with that very issue. That program is likely toast also.
MA also has the distinction of having largely converted its local dispatchable electrical supply to gas turbines which last winter burned as much diesel as Hawaii thanks to constricted gas supplies. See (among other sources)
Talk to people in the MA power industry and you can get an earful re: the impact of regulations and roadblocks imposed while at the same time government politicals are pushing for more electrification.
One example is a PUC requirement that new power stations are not allowed to raise ambient noise levels. Even if they are sited in the middle of an industrial zone. Etc.
The only glimmer of hope is that Healey finally seems to have gotten enough of an earful that she might start taking steps to lower the cost of electricity. And not just by addressing the 2/3 of the bill that is T&D.
Excellent article, I particularly appreciated its emphasis both on lighting and on the potential energy saving that DeepSeek offers.
But I am not sure his optimistic conclusion is that well founded. Increasingly it is commercial proponents of renewable power options who are all too often to be found dissing the considerable potential for energy saving.
Thanks for your encouragement. It is very much in the interests of renewable energy developers to encourage energy efficiency through electrification. Indeed, the continued rapid expansion of renewable energy after the early 2030s is dependent on the rapid electrification of domestic, transport and industrial/commercial sectors
Energy efficiency does have a big impact yet that very program at DOE (appliance and equipment standards project) in charge of all that was cut back significantly with more cuts likely. Trump is currently proposing to roll back and / or eliminate most appliance and equipment standards.
Heat pumps are great but their COPs usually aren’t. If power is expensive, as it is in MA, they usually cannot economically compete with well performing condensing, natural gas - fired heating units.
In MA, a cold climate heat pump would have to reach a COP of 4 @ 15*F to achieve operational cost parity. Look to through the various equipment databases, such units are basically nonexistent. DOE sponsored various cold climate heat pump initiatives to deal with that very issue. That program is likely toast also.
MA also has the distinction of having largely converted its local dispatchable electrical supply to gas turbines which last winter burned as much diesel as Hawaii thanks to constricted gas supplies. See (among other sources)
https://electricityforum.com/news/new-england-record-oil-burning
Talk to people in the MA power industry and you can get an earful re: the impact of regulations and roadblocks imposed while at the same time government politicals are pushing for more electrification.
One example is a PUC requirement that new power stations are not allowed to raise ambient noise levels. Even if they are sited in the middle of an industrial zone. Etc.
The only glimmer of hope is that Healey finally seems to have gotten enough of an earful that she might start taking steps to lower the cost of electricity. And not just by addressing the 2/3 of the bill that is T&D.
I suppose they think that energy efficiency conflicts with the needs of the energy suppliers!
Excellent article, I particularly appreciated its emphasis both on lighting and on the potential energy saving that DeepSeek offers.
But I am not sure his optimistic conclusion is that well founded. Increasingly it is commercial proponents of renewable power options who are all too often to be found dissing the considerable potential for energy saving.
Thanks for your encouragement. It is very much in the interests of renewable energy developers to encourage energy efficiency through electrification. Indeed, the continued rapid expansion of renewable energy after the early 2030s is dependent on the rapid electrification of domestic, transport and industrial/commercial sectors
Good article, very interesting