April 16, 2015 Based on data from the National Household Travel Survey , households with more vehicles not only travel more, but often put more miles on their most-used vehicle compared to households with fewer vehicles. Households with just one vehicle drove an average of 10,600 miles per year, while households with six or more vehicles traveled a total of 57,700 miles. Sixty-eight percent of households have either one or two cars. Households with more vehicles also tend to drive their primary (most-used) vehicle more than households with fewer vehicles. While a two-vehicle household travels almost 16,000 miles annually with the most-used vehicle, a six- (or more) vehicle household travels more than 22,000 miles annually with the most-used vehicle. The average use per vehicle within a household is greatest in a two-vehicle home, where the average vehicle travels about 11,800 miles. This average declines as the households gain more vehicles so...

More people are tinkering with personal devices to measure pollution, but experts caution that the technology is not always reliable or user-friendly. Original link Original author: KATE

As part of the Administration’s effort to cut energy waste in the nation’s buildings, the Energy Department will recognize San Antonio area partners today for their leadership in advancing energy efficiency. Through the Better Buildings Challenge, the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) and Macy’s have committed to reducing their energy use by 20 percent across their entire respective building portfolios by 2020. By making energy efficiency upgrades to facilities across the city and demonstrating practices that can be replicated in the future, these partners are helping to save money and energy while also making San Antonio more sustainable for future generations. “Better Buildings Challenge partners are improving their communities by cutting energy waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Through their leadership and ingenuity, these partners are moving American businesses and communities forward, saving money by saving energy while also...

April 15, 2015 Projections in EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015), released April 14, show the potential to eliminate net U.S. energy imports sometime between 2020 and 2030. This reflects changes in both supply and demand, as continued growth in oil and natural gas production and the use of renewables combine with demand-side efficiencies to moderate demand growth. The United States has been a net importer of energy since the 1950s. The United States is currently an exporter of petroleum products and coal, but an importer of natural gas and crude oil. When the energy content of these fuels is combined, the United States in 2014 imported 23.3 quadrillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy and exported 12.2 quadrillion Btu. Projections in EIA's recently released AEO2015 show that, on an energy content basis, U.S. energy imports and exports could come into balance in coming years. The timing of the projected end...

The Energy Department today announced more than $1.75 million for five projects that will develop and demonstrate technologies to reduce the potential impacts of wind farms on sensitive bat species. A current challenge facing wind energy developers in the United States is how to protect wildlife while responsibly deploying and operating this reliable source of clean energy. As wind energy continues to grow as a major supplier of renewable electricity in communities throughout America, new mitigation techniques and technologies could help minimize its environmental impacts to bats and other sensitive wildlife. This funding will support projects in two research categories. Projects in the first category will focus on innovative early-stage technology development—advancing proof-of-concept designs, and developing and testing technology prototypes. Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas— Texas Christian University will develop and test coatings that alter the surface texture of wind turbine towers to potentially deter bats from approaching them.Frontier Wind,...

As part of the Administration’s effort to cut energy waste in the nation’s buildings, the Energy Department will acknowledge the city of Fort Worth today for its leadership in advancing energy efficiency. Through the Better Buildings Challenge, Fort Worth has achieved eight percent energy savings across 19 million square feet of public and private sector buildings since 2009. The city is on-track to meet a ten year goal to improve energy use by 20 percent by 2020. “Better Buildings Challenge partners are improving their communities by cutting energy waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dr. David Danielson, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Through their leadership and ingenuity, these partners are moving American businesses and communities forward, saving money by saving energy while also demonstrating environmental responsibility.” Fort Worth launched its own citywide Better Buildings Challenge, which encourages city businesses and communities to save energy in their buildings....

April 14, 2015 Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration At 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, EIA will release the Annual Energy Outlook 2015 (AEO2015), which presents long-term projections of energy supply, demand, and prices through 2040. The analysis in AEO2015 focuses on six cases: Reference, Low and High Economic Growth, Low and High Oil Price, and High Oil and Gas Resource. For the first time, the Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) is presented as a shorter edition under a newly adopted two-year release cycle. With this approach, full editions and shorter editions of the AEO will be produced in alternating years. This approach will allow EIA to focus more resources on rapidly changing energy markets both in the United States and internationally, and to consider how they might evolve over the next few years. The shorter edition of the AEO includes a limited number of model updates, predominantly to reflect historical data...

The state’s drought is by many measures the worst since record-keeping began, but scientists say that in the more ancient past California had droughts that lasted decades. Original link Original author: HENRY

April 13, 2015 Households in different regions of the United States have similar average combined spending on gasoline and public transit, but the composition of that spending varies significantly across regions. In 2013, the most recent year of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) , the average household spent $3,148 annually on gasoline and public transit, with only about a $200 difference between geographic regions with the highest and lowest travel expenditures. Differences across income levels are much greater, as households in the highest-income brackets spent almost four times as much on recurring travel expenditures as those in the lowest-income bracket. Regional differences in gasoline expenditures are almost the reverse of regional spending on public transit. The South, which stretches along the Atlantic Coast from Delaware to Florida, and west to Texas and Oklahoma, tends to spend more than any other region on gasoline each...

Sustainability at home relates to all things in and around your home.  The things you do to prevent waste, such as turning out the lights when you leave a room, taking advantage of a local recycling program, or taking a shorter shower , help you achieve sustainability in your home. Lately, however, I’ve been thinking a lot about sustainability around my home.  Especially after the last of the snow melted away and revealed the amount of yard work that needs to be done. So I went in search of ways to fix up my lawn in the most sustainable way possible. Did you know that on average, well-designed landscaping saves enough energy to pay for itself in less than eight years?  Choosing the right landscaping for your climate will lower maintenance costs, cut your heating and cooling bill, protect your home from cold wind and hot sun, lower noise and air...