Category: Energy Efficiency

E.V. Tax Credits Are a Plus, but Flaws Remain, Study Finds

The Inflation Reduction Act was a compromise between competing priorities. Evaluating the law on the effectiveness of the $7,500 tax credit for E.V.s is tricky.
Amazon Says It Reached a Climate Goal Seven Years Early

The company said it effectively got all of the electricity it used last year from sources that did not produce greenhouse gas emissions. Some experts have faulted the company’s calculations.
‘You Can Be a Little Different in Queens’: Why This Home Is Not Like the Others

Instead of a conventional renovation, one New Yorker took a progressive approach. Now he pays almost nothing for energy, and the air is always fresh.
California Will Add a Fixed Charge to Electric Bills and Reduce Rates

Officials said the decision would lower bills and encourage people to use cars and appliances that did not use fossil fuels, but some experts said it would discourage energy efficiency.
Is Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas Cruise Ship Really Sustainable?

The newly christened Icon of the Seas is filled with energy-efficient technology. But some climate experts say the biggest challenge with a ship that can accommodate nearly 8,000 people is its size.
Tesla Drivers in Chicago Confront a Harsh Foe: Cold Weather

In freezing temperatures, the batteries of electric vehicles can be less efficient and have shorter range, a lesson many Tesla drivers in Chicago learned this week.
As Utility Bills Rise, Low-Income Americans Struggle for Access to Clean Energy

The Biden administration has deployed various programs to try to increase access to clean energy. But systems that could help lower bills are still out of reach for many low-income households.
Heat Pump Installations Slow, Impeding Biden’s Climate Goals

The devices can heat and cool homes more efficiently than furnaces and air-conditioners, but their sales have slowed because of higher interest rates and a slow rollout of federal incentives.
How Japan’s Salarymen Embraced Short Sleeves Through ‘Cool Biz’

Under “Cool Biz,” salarymen and government workers don short-sleeved shirts in the summer as offices are kept above 82 degrees Fahrenheit to save energy.
Biden’s Climate Law Is Reshaping Private Investment in the United States

Lucrative tax incentives have fueled a surge in solar panels but failed to boost wind power, data from a new project show.
Incandescent Bulb Ban Renews a Squabble Over the American Home

A ban on most kinds of traditional bulbs renews a cultural squabble between regulatory efforts to curb energy consumption and the very American impulse to do whatever one wants in one’s domicile.
New Energy Efficiency Rules Spell End of Incandescent Era

New efficiency rules, more than a decade in the making, have taken effect, relegating Edison’s glowing orbs to the history books.