Energy conservation
White House highlights Delaware's SEU among nationwide energy conservation programs
8:45 a.m., Dec. 14, 2011--The White House announced nearly $4 billion in combined federal and private sector energy upgrades to buildings over the next two years in a Dec. 2 press release. The Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility’s Bond Program was one of several initiatives highlighted by the White House as a positive example of how to capture the enormous potential of energy efficiency and to lead the country in achieving a clean energy economy and green workforce.
Former President Bill Clinton also praised the Delaware bond in an interview on the TV news program PBS NewsHour. (The reference to Delaware begins at 3:40.)
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The SEU, and its tax-exempt bond program, is a Delaware-grown idea conceived and developed at the University of Delaware by John Byrne, director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy and Distinguished Professor of Energy and Climate Policy in the College of Engineering.
The SEU bond will create 900-1,000 construction jobs and guarantees participants an average savings of 20-30 percent on their future energy bills.
Total guaranteed money savings are nearly $148 million and cover all capital, installation, debt and administrative costs. A unique feature of the bond is that the state earns a 36 percent rate of return (or $27 million), which can be used for other vital services and programs.
“The program offers a structural reform of the energy sector along five dimensions: a transition to carbon-free energy sources; a reorientation from energy as a commodity to energy as a service; the transition to a distributed energy infrastructure; rapid job creation; and the direct involvement of energy users in energy decisions,” says Byrne.
Outfitting public buildings with this type of energy saving measures, he continues, will allow the government to use the cost savings to purchase solar, fuel cell and geothermal technologies that have the potential to render a building’s energy consumption and carbon emissions at or near zero.
Byrne is currently working to secure financing for residential, commercial and industrial sectors equally as robust as the Delaware SEU Bond for public and non-profit buildings.
The announcement made by the White House on Friday "builds on" a commitment made by 14 partners at the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in June to make energy upgrades across 300 million square feet, and to invest $500 million in private sector financing in energy efficiency projects.
The Center for Energy and Environmental Policy’s efforts are well-aligned with the College of Engineering’s goal of training a new generation of leaders and problem-solvers, according to Interim Dean Babatunde A. Ogunnaike.
“The world-class program brings to the college a component missing in many other engineering colleges -- training that goes beyond the fundamentals of science and engineering to include elements of entrepreneurship, leadership, globalization and policy,” Ogunnaike says.
About CEEP
Established in 1980 at the University of Delaware, the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP) is a leading institution for interdisciplinary graduate education, research and advocacy in energy and environmental policy.
CEEP is led by John Byrne, Distinguished Professor of Energy and Climate Policy at the University. For his contributions to Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1992, he shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the panel's authors and review editors.
Article by Karen B. Roberts
Photo by Ambre Alexander