By Kate Zerrenner

Today is World Water Day, an international observance of water’s importance. This year’s theme is “Water and Jobs,” bringing awareness to the fact that nearly half of all workers on Earth (about 1.5 billion people) work in water-related jobs, and virtually all jobs depend on water in some way.

In conjunction with 2016 World Water Day, the nation’s capital is hosting the White House Water Summit. The President has called on organizations from around the country to voluntarily take new, specific, and measurable steps to address key water issues, such as drought or flooding, water availability, water-use efficiency, and water security. EDF heeded that call and made the following commitment:

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is announcing a partnership with Pecan Street, Inc. to gather data and conduct analysis to help 50 households in Houston and Austin understand the connection between their water and energy use. Results of this analysis will help Houston and Austin reduce the water and energy footprint of the more than 3 million utility customers in the two cities. In addition, EDF will work with the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and the University of California, Davis to help water providers of three to five major Texas cities better manage the energy use embedded in their water systems, with an additional one or two states to be announced later this year.

The work laid out here addresses the issue of embedded energy in water systems, or, in other words, the electricity it takes to secure, deliver, treat, distribute, and heat water. (This is part of what’s known as the “energy-water nexus”.)

That amount varies from place to place, and national data is inconsistent. 2012 research by the University of Texas’ Webber Energy Group established a 2010 baseline for estimated water-related energy use of 12.6 percent across the U.S. That’s a huge amount of power, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 40 million Americans. A related study found Texas’ water sector is responsible for about 15 percent of statewide electricity usage. Similarly large numbers have been found for other states that have reported data, such as New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Finally, the best energy-water data is from California, which found that about 20 percent of the state’s electric use was in the water sector – and this figure could be higher now since the analysis was completed in 2005, well before the onset of the current drought.

The problem is, much of this information is based on estimates. That’s why EDF is embarking on work to quantify, at the city level, how much energy water systems actually use – on both the utility and the customer side.

Armed with this data, utilities can develop better water conservation programs that simultaneously reduce energy use and bills, helping them remain financially secure. (Electric costs are often the highest cost water utilities incur other than labor.) More accurate energy-water data will also enable water utilities to prioritize crumbling infrastructure upgrades to address the biggest energy users, such as areas prone to leaks. On the customer side, homeowners will be able to better target their conservation and efficiency measures so they can reduce both energy and water use.

As we gather data from cities, we can also roll that information up to the state level and try to find policy solutions that look at energy and water conservation holistically. In the face of increasing pressure on our electric and water resources, overcoming the silo-ed approach to these two critical resources is an essential step toward more comprehensive solutions. By considering energy and water together, we will begin to see efficiencies that help both sectors, reduce costs, and find opportunities that may not have been apparent otherwise.

On this World Water Day, looking through the lens of the energy-water nexus, we might just find our glass half-full.

The White House Water Summit will be held from 9:00 a.m. EDT to approximately 12:30 p.m. EDT and be livestreamed at www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Photo source: Flickr/Horst Gutmann

By Kate Zerrenner

San Antonio and Austin just called a cease-fire on a taco war over which city invented the breakfast taco. Both make excellent tacos: from the traditional chorizo and egg taco in San Antonio to a free-range egg and organic spinach taco in Austin. But this debate was about more than just tacos – it was about the history and culture of these two neighboring cities.

Only 80 miles apart, San Antonio and Austin have some significant differences. San Antonio is known as “Military City USA” largely due to its huge military bases, but it’s also known for other industries like biotech, military medical centers, and a dynamic business relationship with Mexico. The capital city’s economy, on the other hand, is based on high-tech, entertainment, state government, and the behemoth University of Texas at Austin. San Antonio is one of the largest Hispanic-majority cities in the country (at 63 percent in 2010), while Austin’s diversity comes in large part from people flocking to the Capitol from all over the state and country. As someone with roots in both San Antonio and Austin, I appreciate both – I’m an equal opportunity taco lover.

But both cities share an important commonality: exploding population growth. The population of the 13 counties that make up the Austin-San Antonio corridor is estimated to increase by 77 percent by 2050, to 6.8 million people. Extreme growth brings intense pressure on resources and services, particularly water in this drought-prone region. Both cities are standing up to that challenge through careful water conservation measures and by advancing clean energy.

San Antonio and Austin are taco and water winners in Texas

One thing San Antonians and Austinites could probably agree on is tacos are better here than in other parts of the state – and the same goes for water conservation. San Antonio and Austin are both primarily reliant on one water source: the Edwards Aquifer and Colorado River, respectively. During a drought, cities with one main water source would be in dire straits if they weren’t investing in conservation. Fortunately, these cities are.

The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) instituted a number of tough water conservation measures and began innovative, cross-sectoral collaboration with the local electric utility, CPS Energy, one of its largest users. Consequently, when the most recent drought hit Texas in 2010, San Antonio was more prepared than many other areas. The city was also faster to enact next-stage drought restrictions, reaching a point where households watered their lawns only once every two weeks. As a result of conservation efforts, San Antonio went from 149 gallons of water per person per day (GPCD) in 2008 to 134 GPCD in 2014.

Forget Taco Wars – the Real Competition is Over Who is Using Water More Wisely
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Austin also started to adopt more aggressive conservation goals just prior to the aforementioned drought. Recent efforts by Austin Water have resulted in some impressive water savings: the city’s use decreased from 171 GPCD in 2008 to 125 GPCD in 2014. And, despite an estimated 110 people who move to the city each day, water usage has virtually remained flat while the population has doubled.

Improved data on water usage are closely connected to conservation. Data from Pecan Street, Inc., a research and development organization based at the University of Texas at Austin, has shown that irrigation systems for lawns are a huge water user – in some cases up to around 90 percent of a household’s water use. Armed with that information, and wanting to get the most bang for its buck, SAWS has decided to allocate the bulk of its rebates and incentives to help people reduce their outdoor water use. And both cities’ water utilities also partner with Pecan Street to enable residential customers to get real-time data on water usage through the use of new smart technologies.

Clean energy plans contribute to conservation

It may not be immediately apparent why clean energy progress matters to water conservation. But since traditional energy generation sources like coal and natural gas are very thirsty resources, a faster than business-as-usual transition to cleaner energy means preserving water resources that would otherwise be used for power generation. For example, according to modeling by CNA Corporation’s Institute for Public Research, with a 40 percent carbon cap and a speedy transition from coal to clean energy, Texas could see a 45 percent reduction in water consumption by 2040.

A little friendly competition pushes us to be better stewards of our culture and natural resources.

Fortunately, both CPS Energy and Austin Energy, the cities’ municipal electric utilities, are way ahead of the curve when it comes to transitioning to a clean energy future and cutting emissions from the power sector. With a 20 percent renewable energy by 2020 goal, CPS Energy is fast-tracking the closure of its dirtiest coal plant, purchased a cleaner natural gas plant, and is the largest municipal wind purchaser in the U.S. Plus, its planned solar projects will be among the largest municipal solar projects in the country. Austin Energy has an ambitious goal of 55 percent renewable energy by 2025, which it will achieve largely through wind and solar investments (like its recent deal, declared the “Cheapest Solar Ever”). Both utilities also have robust energy efficiency programs, and Austin established one of the first green building codes in the country back in 1990.

San Antonio and Austin are justifiably proud of both their breakfast tacos and their water conservation. You can get a great, traditional breakfast taco in San Antonio and a great, “weird” taco in Austin. But these cities are better together – as San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor said, “It's no longer 'San Antonio vs. Austin' but 'San Antonio and Austin.’” And just as the history of Texas is in our tacos, it’s also in our water. A little friendly competition pushes us to be better stewards of our culture and natural resources, and it’s worth remembering that water conservation benefits existing and future generations of Texans. So, what do you say we talk about this over some tacos?

Photo source: Wikimedia/Laurette45

By Kate Zerrenner

Symbiosis – in which different species have a cooperative or mutually beneficial relationship – is everywhere in nature: honeybees receive vital nutrients from flowers while delivering pollen (male) directly to the female parts of the flower; pilot fish gain protection from predators, while sharks gain freedom from parasites; and dogs protect their owners, while receiving food and shelter. Cited by some scientists as a major driver of evolution, symbiosis has played an important role in the mutual survival of certain species.

Two elements in nature that are also very symbiotic are energy and water: It takes water to produce and distribute energy, while energy is used to treat, pump, and distribute water. This inextricable link is knowns as the energy-water nexus. Yet, energy and water planners do not treat these important resources as symbiotic “species,” resulting in a lot of waste – something we cannot afford with climate change on the rise.

Floating solar panels atop bodies of water, or the cleverly nicknamed “floatovoltaics,” are a possible solution for both energy and water challenges. The panels help to reduce evaporation of water – critical in hot, dry places like Texas and California – and the water helps to keep the panels cool, increasing their efficiency. Plus, compared to more traditional fuel sources, solar PV requires little to no water to produce electricity. Incorporating more solar energy and relying less on coal or natural gas means greater water savings overall.

Floatovoltaics seem like a win-win solution, but it’s not being deployed on a large scale yet. Some countries and U.S. states have surged ahead in testing this technology. So why isn’t a state like Texas, with big reservoirs, crippling droughts, and lots of solar potential, taking this bull by the horns?

International and domestic floatovoltaic leaders

Several countries are embracing the inventive energy-water solution:

–Japan: The largest floating solar plant in the world is underway at the Yamakura Dam near Tokyo. According to the plant’s developer, it will generate “enough electricity to power approximately 4,970 typical households — while offsetting about 8,170 tons of CO2 emissions annually. This is equal to 19,000 barrels of oil consumed.” That’s an impressive generating capacity, especially considering Japan’s acute energy demand crisis. In 2015, Japan only produced about 10 percent of its own energy and imported the rest. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, Japan has shifted toward the development of more local, renewable energy, but clearly still has a ways to go before becoming energy independent.

Why Isn’t Texas Saving Energy and Water through Solar Floatovoltaics?
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Solar is also much less of a water hog. Islands always need to protect water resources, and space for solar panels is limited, so capitalizing on “unused” space above the reservoir makes sense. Simultaneously powering and quenching an island nation’s thirst in the face of climate change is a very smart move.

–England: Europe’s largest floating solar plant is being constructed in the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir near London, England. In a nice bit of symmetry, the power generated from the panels will provide electricity for the utility’s nearby water treatment facility, helping Thames Water achieve its goal of self-generating one-third of its power by 2020. This is not the first floating solar plant in the U.K., but its size will dwarf the pilot project that was completed previously.

–India: Work is underway for the country’s largest project on Loktak Lake, the biggest freshwater lake in the northeastern state of Manipur. India was actually one of the innovators for floating solar: SunEdison India previously launched the Canal Solar Power Project in Gujarat, using the long network of canals across the state to generate electricity from floating panels. In a country struggling with the freshwater needs of its enormous population base, reducing the evaporation rates of the canal water is critical.

And the idea is gaining steam stateside, as well:

–California: Unsurprisingly, California is a leader in floatovoltaics in the U.S. The state’s clean energy subsidies and incentives, pressure from the drought, and an innovative tech sector have all helped this technology find a foothold. The Wine Country has seen the greatest uptake: Both Napa and Sonoma have floatovoltaic systems underway. In Napa, the Far Niente winery (pictured above) installed a system in 2011 that reduces evaporation from the waterway by 70 percent and generates enough power to completely offset the winery’s annual use. Sonoma County’s installation, due to come online this year, is expected to generate power for 3,000 homes, making it the second largest floatovoltaic system after Japan’s.

We store a lot of water in large reservoirs, which could easily lend themselves to floating solar panels.

–New Jersey: Probably a surprise to those outside the solar industry, New Jersey is one of the leading solar states in the U.S., beating out sunny spots like Texas, New Mexico, and Nevada (that’s down to politics, not potential). Consequently, New Jersey is home to a floatovoltaic project at the Canoe Brook Water Treatment Plant, run by New Jersey American Water. The project generates about two percent of the water treatment plant’s power, saving around $16,000 per year.

Why not Texas?

Why isn’t Texas further ahead in the clean energy game? It’s a question I ask myself every day, especially when I think about the water-saving aspects of solar panels, both the floating and mounted kind. It comes down to political leadership on clean energy, which is still a struggle in an oil and gas state like Texas.

At the same time, we are a state plagued by droughts, and every policymaker knows that. Texas is likely looking down the barrel of another drought – developing our prime potential for floatovoltaics could help alleviate future stress. We store a lot of water in large reservoirs, which could easily lend themselves to floating solar panels. Or, we could use the technology on cooling ponds at traditional power plants. In addition to generating solar power next to a grid-connected traditional power plant, this would reduce the evaporation of those ponds, a particularly critical issue in our hot summers.

It’s worth noting the floatovoltaic projects underway in other countries and states all have some sort of policy incentive behind them. We need political leadership to encourage the transition to cleaner, water-saving energy sources. With just under a year before our legislators come back to Austin, here’s to hoping they begin to see the symbiotic relationship between energy and water. The evolution and survival of our species depends on it.

Photo source: Flickr/Thomas Roche

This post originally appeared on our Texas Clean Air Matters blog.

By Kate Zerrenner

2015 proved to be another weird weather year around the country, especially for Texas. 80 degrees and dry in Austin on Christmas Day, spring wildflowers in bloom, and kids playing outside in shorts – a surprise ending to a wild ride of drought followed by devastating floods followed by drought and then more floods.

Texas is used to drought-flood cycles and extreme weather, but last year the pendulum seemed to swing wildly from one to the next. And climate models predict intense swings for the future as well: After the next flood is another drought, which will likely be more intense and longer than usual due to climate change.

Unfortunately, it seems like during our brief respites from drought, we also take a break from thinking about water scarcity. After the year we’ve just had, this should not be the case – water security should be at the top of Texans’ minds going into 2016. But there are two promising developments for our water future: the Clean Power Plan and examples that cities in other water-stressed Western states are setting.

Good news: The Clean Power Plan will bring water savings

In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever cap on carbon emissions from the power sector. It may not be intuitive to think about water when talking about carbon pollution and energy, but it should be. Coal, natural gas, and nuclear power consume 580 gallons, 310 gallons, and 460 gallons of water to create one megawatt hour of energy, respectively, or the equivalent of powering 330 homes for an hour.

That’s why the Clean Power Plan could be one of Texas’ most effective water planning tools: By prioritizing clean energy, the plan encourages the use of less water-intensive energy resources. For example, negligible quantities of water are required to generate power from wind and solar PV, and virtually no water is required for energy efficiency. These same resources also generate negligible carbon emissions, and would therefore be a sensible solution for meeting the Clean Power Plan’s goals.

Safeguarding energy and water reliability means ensuring Texas continues to grow and draw businesses to our state – and the Clean Power Plan will help us get there. Compared to the state’s 2012 power generation mix (the baseline year used to create the Clean Power Plan’s targets), meeting the plan’s goals would save 124,000 acre-feet of water in 2030 (the year in which the standards will fully be in effect), roughly the equivalent of Caddo Lake in East Texas. Those are savings worth pursuing.

Saving Texas’ water through smart energy choices in 2016
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More good news: Drought-prone western states are standing up for clean energy

For inspiration on embracing renewable energy, Texas could look for examples in other drought-prone Western states and even to cities within the Lone Star State.

• Georgetown, Texas: If state policymakers and regulators in our capital just looked a little north, they’d see the example set by the city of Georgetown, in Williamson County (arguably the most conservative county in the Austin metro area). In 2015, Georgetown’s mayor set in motion a plan that would take the city to 100 percent renewable energy by 2017. The move was spurred mainly by economic considerations but there will be water benefits as well, particularly worth noting since the Austin area was one of the last to recover from the state’s multi-year drought.
• Las Vegas, Nevada: A recently proposed deal would make Las Vegas one of the largest cities in the US to go 100 percent renewable. In a city known for energy-sucking, 24-hour casinos, solar energy and energy efficiency programs could mean huge water savings – especially in the desert. Unfortunately, just like in Texas, state officials are working to undermine the city’s efforts by challenging energy efficiency programs and making the market harder for solar companies. As many Western cities far outstrip their state regulators in terms of progressive clean energy policies, backward steps from state leadership are becoming an unfortunate trend. The news is especially discouraging considering the chronic droughts in states like Nevada.
• San Diego, California: Even in a state with advanced clean energy and climate policies, the intensity of the drought has led to a lot of scrambling to figure out water scarcity. Fortunately, the city of San Diego announced in December 2015 that it would go 100 percent renewable energy by 2035. This goal is bold and commendable – it would make San Diego one of the greenest cities in the world.

But in an incongruous move, the city also opened the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, which came online in November 2015. Although it’s supposed to provide San Diego with a “drought-proof” water supply, desalination is incredibly energy-intensive: Powering the desalination process with traditional energy resources like coal and natural gas means we’re using water to make water. However, one way to make “desal” more of a water-friendly technology is to pair it with renewable energy – which would work well with San Diego’s new goal.

Going into 2016, the best way Texas can create a more reliable water future is to begin crafting a state strategy to comply with the Clean Power Plan. “Business as usual” already gets us nearly 90 percent of the way toward meeting the 2030 goal, but Texas could achieve greater water savings by going much further. Secondly, Texas would do well to follow the example of cities that have gone all-in on renewables. But although renewable energy goals are an excellent water-saving tactic, San Diego’s desalination plant shows we need to think about energy and water holistically to achieve greater efficiencies in both sectors.

Regardless of what kind of crazy weather 2016 brings Texas (and the whole country), now is the time to start thinking about smart water-saving energy solutions.

Photo source: Edward Jackson

By Kate Zerrenner

Originally published on CleanTechnica.

I was a little kid when the first Star Wars movie came out, and it’s not an understatement to say that it remains a huge influence on me. For those of my generation, growing up in the 1980s, it was a powerful “force” in our lives. The Star Wars films have arguably left a legacy like no other: in the 2011 census, nearly 200,000 residents of England and Wales identified themselves as Jedi Knights, the largest single category after the traditional, mainstream religions. And now, with the new film promising to restore fans’ faith in the franchise, a new generation can be inspired.

But aside from its devoted fan base, Star Wars and other sci-fi mega-blockbusters have a much greater role to play in our society. Science fiction both reflects the times we are in and inspires future technologies – not to mention the innovators that create them. This is true of most science fiction: think about Jules Verne (arguably the father of Science Fiction) and the influence 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had on submarines, or the original Star Trek series and communicators (flip phones), or 2001: A Space Odyssey and interactive computers (hello, Siri!).

Science and technology is at the forefront of the Star Wars movies as well, and the energy and water technologies featured in the films have influenced research and development today. As the effects of climate change alter our planetary conditions more and more, innovative technology that helps us take better command over our resources will be invaluable. And who wouldn’t be inspired by Star Wars when one of the units for measuring electrical, mechanical, and thermal energy is called a Yottajoule (pronounced like “Yoda-joule”)?

One could argue that energy is a major theme of Star Wars, in the Force itself. As Obi-Wan Kenobi explains it:

“Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.”

In a sense, the Star Wars universe shows us a place and time where power and materials are not really an issue. From landspeeders, Luke’s main mode of transportation (in the original, Luke has a hard time unloading his X-34 because the newer model, the XP-38, makes his nearly obsolete – and his still looks cool to our eyes), to the power generator on the planet Hoth (probably some sort of fusion reactor), to a plug-in droid like R2D2 (most likely very energy-intensive), the unspoken premise relies on the management of available energy resources.

Star Wars awakens much-needed energy-water innovation. #cleanenergynow
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So, as we face a future with harsher climate conditions, how do we better utilize the resources we have in the environment we’re in? That’s essentially what building a smarter electric grid is all about, which will allow homes and businesses to use, as well as produce and sell, electricity in a more technologically advanced, clean, and efficient way.

And more specific to Star Wars, researchers today are creating technologies to make smaller, more efficient space craft, nuclear power similar to that of Hoth’s generator (for space travel and other uses), and droids like R2D2 and C3PO. For example, the landspeeder could be said to be an inspiration for the Japanese maglev train, which runs on a track using electrically-charged magnets rather than power lines, “floating” and cutting travel time in half. But, in my opinion, the most exciting influence of Star Wars can be seen in up-and-coming water technology.

When you think about Star Wars and water, the first thing that comes to mind is how Luke Skywalker and his Uncle Owen are “moisture farmers” on the desert planet of Tattoine. They extract water from the air with a technology known as a “moisture vaporator.”

Technology that captures water from the air is actually being developed today, along with other advanced water technologies that address the energy-water nexus, or the inextricable link between energy and water. Specifically, scientists today are trying to figure out if we would be able to farm water on Mars with a similar technology, and scientists in the Atacama Desert in Chile (the driest in the world) are testing fog catchers as a way to farm the water in the air. Another innovative solution to quenching thirst in the desert comes in the form of the WaterDrop, a handheld solar-powered device that uses the sun and an atmospheric water condenser to create condensation for drinking.

Undoubtedly, we will live in a future world where water is even more valuable than it is now. According to the World Resources Institute, 33 countries are expected to face extreme water stress by 2040. These technologies, inspired by the Star Wars universe, could help us figure out how to survive in increasingly dry conditions as climate change advances.

Star Wars is of course science fiction, but it, and its genre cohorts, inspires innovators and philosophers to find solutions and new ways of doing things in our world. These movies are the ultimate space cowboy epics—they appeal to that frontier, can-do spirit that is also part of the culture in places like Texas and California, where we see many of these technologies being developed. That spirit is essential to tackling the great climate obstacles we currently are facing.

In the end, these stories and myths matter to us. Luke is a classic mythical hero, and his story resonates with us on a very human level. They are speculative, inspiring, and push us to think about our world in a different way. Star Wars and its cohorts help us come up with solutions to current and future problems, and this kind of inventive thinking will increasingly be needed as we face the impacts of climate change.

May the Force be with us, always.

By Kate Zerrenner

2015 Climate Corps fellow Phoebe Romero and her supervisor sitting near a solar-powered phone charging station on the Huston-Tillotson campus.

We are nearing the end of another successful season of EDF Climate Corps, the 8-year-old program run by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) that “embeds” grad students inside companies to find ways to save energy and money and lower carbon emissions.

Over the course of its history, EDF Climate Corps has developed into something of powerhouse from both sides of the energy sector: enterprising students (called “fellows”) discover a passion for sustainability through the act of finding efficiencies in the energy systems of their host organizations, and the hosts benefit from these energy savings while jumpstarting or contributing to their sustainability goals.

This year, 12 Texas companies and public sector entities hosted fellows, and this got us to thinking, what kind of evolution and impact has the Climate Corps program had in Texas over the years? We decided it was worth a closer look and turns out, fellows have been saving Texas schools, businesses, and other organizations a lot of energy – and a lot of money.

Who, What, Where has Climate Corps been in Texas?

EDF Climate Corps fellows have engaged in a wide variety of projects in Texas since 2009, including with cities, public housing authorities, and energy companies, among others. And several of these organizations have hosted a fellow for more than one year after seeing the incredible benefit of the work.

Let’s look at a few examples:

• The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school district in Texas, and the seventh largest in the country, enrolling over 204,000 students. A few summers back, an EDF Climate Corps fellow worked with HISD on projects in behavioral change, lighting, air conditioning, water use, and more. The fellow identified savings from upgrading lighting and air conditioning that could save the school district over $2 million and 27 million kilowatt hours (kWh) annually, the equivalent to powering over 2,500 homes for one year. That’s real savings — money that could be spent on essentials like books, teachers’ supplies, and technology.
• Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), has developed an ambitious target of a 50 percent reduction in campus carbon emissions by 2030, aiming to be one of the most sustainable HBCUs in the country. EDF Climate Corps is helping them reach that goal. Last summer’s fellow found savings of 250 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually by uncovering energy and resource efficiency opportunities within individual buildings as well as campus-wide systems. The University was so happy with the results they signed on another fellow for this summer who is currently looking into additional potential energy and water savings across campus.

Real #energy and cost savings. Right now. Here, in Texas.
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• PepsiCo engaged an EDF Climate Corps fellow in 2010 to analyze its Plano facility’s energy performance while charting a roadmap for LEED certification, an accreditation related to the construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings. The findings revealed attractive energy efficiency opportunities that would enable the company to achieve a return on its LEED certification investment. In total, the projects identified could amount to 1.9 million kWh saved annually along with $1.2 million over the project lifetimes, equivalent to over 3.1 million miles driven by the average American driver.
• At the El Paso Housing Authority in 2012, the EDF Climate Corps fellow proposed three air conditioning and chiller projects that could save 1 million kWh every year, enough to power 95 average homes for a year.
• The University of Texas Medical Center in Dallas hosted a fellow in 2014 who focused on identifying water savings along with energy. She quantified water usage and identifying water efficiency savings in research labs, thermal energy plants, and through water reuse projects. In addition to the estimated 36,625,000 gallons of water that could be saved annually, 3 million kWh and more than $300,000 would also be saved due to the high energy needs of water.

Why does this matter?

For these EDF Climate Corps hosts, saving money is a large factor, but they are also cleaning up their energy, water, and carbon act. Private companies who support climate initiatives outside their walls can now walk the walk. Cities can focus on providing essential services with money they would have otherwise spent on utility bills, simultaneously improving their energy and water footprints. School districts, community colleges, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions and HBCUs can concentrate on educating future leaders, while contributing to sustainability goals.

EDF’s motto is “Finding the Ways that Work” and, in that context, it is imperative that we are inclusive of all levels of our society—from the most vulnerable to the most successful heads of business, and everyone in between. EDF Climate Corps are our boots on the ground, allowing fellows from different educational backgrounds to see the impact sustainability has on people and institutions through practical applications of knowledge. In doing so, we’re already seeing that the program is shaping the minds of future political and business leaders who will bring Texas – and the entire U.S. – into a more sustainable future.

This post originally appeared on our Texas Clean Air Matters blog.

By Kate Zerrenner

If you drive around the Lone Star State, you’re sure to see bumper stickers that say, “Texas: Bigger than France.” It references an ongoing debate about which “country” is bigger (something Texans feel very strongly about), but a closer look (aka, a quick Google search) reveals Texas and France are roughly equivalent in size. This, however, is where the similarities end – at least until recently.

Earlier this summer, France and the rest of Western Europe were in the grips of a record-breaking heatwave. Texans are certainly no strangers to crippling heat, even if we have been enjoying a relatively mild summer (so far) with regular spring and summer rains. But one year of El Nino climate patterns does not mean Texas is in the clear. Nor does it mean one abnormally hot summer in France is the last one they’ll see.

Global climate change predictions show that extreme heat and drought are on the rise, meaning both Texas and France increasingly need to consider water in their energy decisions. Why? Because as temperatures increase, so will our energy demand, which means an increase in demand for water, too.

Both France and Texas are facing some tough times ahead based on climate models, but their responses are very different.

Texas vs. France: A Look at Who’s Bigger, Hotter, and More Prepared for Climate Change
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France relies on thirsty nuclear

France currently generates about 76 percent of its electricity from nuclear. The country made a deliberate choice to increase its nuclear energy load in reaction to the oil shock of the 1970s—a move aimed at making France more energy independent. As climate change has advanced, nuclear energy has helped curb carbon emissions from the country’s power sector by reducing the need for coal and natural gas imports from other parts of Europe.

But, besides the well-known waste issues, nuclear energy also has a dark side: it is very water-intensive. In fact, nuclear is one of the most water-intensive electricity sources, which is evident in the makeup of France’s overall water use. In France, the power sector withdraws about 65 percent of all water in the country – withdrawal being the amount of water taken from the source, much of which is returned. And it consumes about ten percent – consumption being the portion of that water used and not returned to the original source for reuse. For comparison, the U.S. withdraws about 40 percent and consumes three percent. (For more on these terms, seehere.)

Texas’s generation mix is also very thirsty, but not quite as much as France’s. Texas generates about 57 percent of its electricity from natural gas, 23 percent from coal, and 11 percent from nuclear, all thirsty resources.

Weather events heating up

France has been suffering from heatwaves and droughts just as Texas has, creating problems for the country’s electric reliability and economy. This latest heatwave caused several power cuts in France, just as heat caused problems for the power sector in 2003. In 2003, the equivalent of four nuclear power plants went offlinebecause the water was too hot to cool the reactors and fires broke out. France’s electric exports fell by half. In 2009, drought conditions on top of a power sector workers strike took so much power offline that France became a net importer of electricity for the first time in nearly 30 years. This year’s heatwave took out power to as many as one million homes.

Texas has managed to fend off a lot of power cuts throughout the drought, but electricity demand, especially during the hottest and driest times, has also meant an increase in demand for water from the power sector. In other words, Texas’ hot and dry conditions have created a vicious cycle of fossil-fueled power plants needing more water – water that we don’t have – to complete cooling operations.

For both Texas and France, climate models predict more heatwaves, which exacerbate droughts. This should concern the power sector in both countries, but France is already taking direct action while Texas leadership continues to bury its head in the sand.

Actions on climate: France vs. Texas

France has actively worked to address climate change. As part of the European Union (EU), the country has long participated in the EU Emission Trading System and has a carbon reduction target. Nuclear has served as a key low-carbon power source in France’s energy policy. Recently though, France has set a target to reduce its electric generation from nuclear to 50 percent by 2025, mainly due to cost factors and some safety concerns following the Fukushima disaster, not because of water considerations.

What’s more, the falling costs of renewable energy, such as solar and wind, has made their increased deployment more attractive for Europe. France already generates about 14 percent of its electricity annually from renewable energy sources, although that is still well below its 2020 target of 23 percent – and behind many other fellow EU countries. Denmark, for example, recently generated 140 percent of its demand from wind energy during one day earlier this year. And Germany broke a record with over 50 percent of demand met through solar power on a sunny day in 2014.

More importantly though, France renewed its commitment to renewables by passing a law that both quadruples France’s carbon tax, and will require 40 percent of France’s power to come from renewable energy by 2030. Compare that with Texas, which only generates about 7 percent of its electricity from renewable energy, most of which is wind (Texas’ solar potential has barely begun to be tapped).

France, as part of the EU, benefits from being part of a market that imports and exports energy relatively easily across country borders, and sets region-wide climate change targets as well as country-specific clean energy goals—along with the leadership to support those goals. In the run-up to the international climate negotiations in Paris this December, French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently called for all members of the Group of 7 major advanced countries to reduce emissions up to 70 percent below 2010 levels by 2050.Unfortunately, much of Texas is in the ERCOT market, which makes regional trading, import and export programs more complicated.

While Texas has modest statewide energy efficiency and renewable energy goals, they are not tied to the long-term issue of climate change. This short-sighted view means priority is not placed on the development of low-carbon energy resources, many of which are also water-conserving energy resources.

Although the driving force behind reducing nuclear power in France is not high water usage, the severe heatwaves and droughts plaguing the country are shifting the issue to the front lines. The switch to more renewable energy will help the country meet its climate goals – but it will also help strengthen France’s resilience to drought and heat.

Texas leadership could take a page out of France’s book when it comes to planning for the future. By formally recognizing the need for climate change solutions and considering energy resources holistically – looking at both its emissions and water usage – Texas stands a better chance at mitigating some of the worst effects of what is coming down the road…even if that road leads to Paris, Texas instead of Paris, France.

Photo source: Wikimedia/H Zell

By EDF Blogs

By: Jorge Madrid, Coordinator, Partnerships and Alliances, and Kate Zerrenner, Clean Energy Project Manager

School’s out for summer! It’s time to check those report cards and figure out if we made the energy efficiency grade or if we’re stuck trying to catch up.

For Los Angeles, the marks are pretty consistent: “Not great yet, but getting there…”

According to the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE), who just released their 2015 City Energy Efficiency Score Card, Los Angeles is the most improved city in the country – rising the fastest of all cities and finally breaking the top 15 rankings (up to #12 from #28 last year). ACEEE cites “a strong new suite of climate goals and high marks in energy and water utilities” as key factors in the city’s improved score.

For a city the size and scale of Los Angeles (second largest U.S. city in total population, a regional economy larger than most countries, and the largest manufacturing sectors and ports in the U.S.) these are impressive accolades. The city has consistently kept water demand  relatively flat despite a booming population and desert-like climate. L.A. also has a gold star from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for being ranked second on a list of the top 25 U.S. cities with the most energy efficient buildings in the nation.

But L.A. can’t party too hard because the once carefree days of summer are now likely going to be its hardest. Record-breaking heat and worsened drought due to climate change are projected to be the new normal for Los Angeles and many cities like it; the population is expected to grow by 10 percent to nearly 20 million people by 2030 and resources will continue to be stretched even thinner. In fact, several studies have cited Los Angeles as one of the cities most in danger of running out of water in the near- to medium-term. Further, buildings are the second largest source of climate-pollution in the city and the largest users of energy and water.

The city needs to prepare now. Taking bold steps to increase energy and water efficiency is more important than ever.

Good news:  L.A.’s on top of it

We’re pleased to see the mayor is responding with an ambitious plan to boost energy efficiency, calling for the city to shave 15 percent of its total energy demand by 2020 and reduce energy use in all buildings by 30 percent per square foot by 2035. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the city’s municipal utility, is already leading one of the most forward-thinking energy efficiency programs in the country.

These programs are good for the environment and also boosted the local economy to the tune of $260 million in 2014 alone. And, the city’s energy efficiency programs are expected to create over 17,000 jobs by 2020. Because buildings are responsible for about 40 percent of energy use nationwide, we’ve got to continue to squeeze as much energy out of buildings as possible. Doing so will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water use.

And then there’s the water thing…

The continuing California drought is putting pressure on every resident and industry in the state, but it may not be obvious to many that these energy goals are also water-saving strategies. And it even works in reverse: water goals are energy-saving strategies.

Energy and water are inextricably linked. Energy is used to secure, deliver, treat, and distribute water, while water is used to develop, process, and deliver energy. This is a particularly tough problem in Southern California. Water that is moved to Southern California is nearly three times as energy-intensive as water moved in Northern California. All those Los Angeles hills mean water moved to hilltop homes is using more energy than those in the valleys.

The mayor also has a water plan: reduce imported water by 50 percent by 2025, and source 50 percent of its water locally by 2035.

Significant untapped potential for energy savings exists in programs focused on water use efficiency — the California Energy Commission estimates that, statewide, water efficiency programs could achieve nearly all of the energy savings of utility energy efficiency programs at half the cost.

But L.A.’s on the right track…

Los Angeles has made great strides in recent years by coming to terms with its air quality problems. Now its leadership is tackling energy and water use. We’re looking forward to the day when L.A. moves from “most improved” to “best in class,”  when it comes to creating a sustainable, resilient city.

This post originally appeared on our California Dream 2.0 blog.

By EDF Blogs

Every year, SXSW Eco – one of the most high-profile environmental conferences – selects its programming based on votes from the public. This means anyone, regardless of whether you submitted a panel, can cast a vote.

This year, seven experts from Environmental Defense Fund are featured on dynamic panels that cover everything from solar equity and new utility business models to innovative building efficiency programs and the threat of methane pollution. To make sure EDF and energy-related programming is represented at the conference in Austin, TX this October, we are asking our readers to please vote for your favorite EDF panels and presentations.

How to vote

To vote, you will need to login or create a PanelPicker account here: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com. The voting is simple, just give a session a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down,” leave some comments, and move on. This whole process will take you all of one minute.

Voting ends this Friday, May 22nd, so please help us spread the word by sharing this post with your friends via email and social media (you can also retweet us from @EDFEnergyEX)!

EDF panel and presentation submissions

The Revolution Will Be Solarized

The solar revolution is here, but will it truly empower all people? The U.S. now has enough installed solar to power more than four million homes, and has added more solar capacity in the past two years than in the previous 30 years combined. But who is really benefiting from this boom? What about renters, low-income communities, and communities of color, who disproportionately bare the pollution burden from today's electricity system? Recent misinformation campaigns from the utility and fossil fuel industries would have us believe solar energy is hurting low-income communities and communities of color. This panel will explore tough question about equity, affordability, and access to solar power – and highlight real-world examples of policy solutions and pilot programs attempting to bring solar power to the people.

 Speakers

• Jorge Madrid, Environmental Defense Fund
• Brentin Mock, The Atlantic
• Anya Schoolman, Community Power Network
• Jaqui Patterson, NAACP
• Michael Kadish, GRID Alternatives

Back to the Future: Power Grid Edition

Illinois is proving electric utilities don’t need time travel to move its power grid light-years into the future. Since 2011, Illinois’ largest utilities, Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois, have started rolling out some five million smart meters and making more than $2 billion of smart grid investments. EDF and Citizen’s Utility Board are working with ComEd and Ameren to ensure customers not only get meters, but also a cheaper and cleaner grid, with ground-breaking initiatives, such as community solar farms, easy access to energy data, a suite of alternative electricity pricing plans, microgrid development, voltage optimization, and greenhouse gas reductions. Discover for yourself how Illinois’ model of using information and data from meters and other equipment creates new business models and benefits to residents, small businesses, manufacturers, and commercial real estate. Illinois is setting a standard for a smarter, cleaner, and healthier energy.

Speakers

• Dick Munson, Environmental Defense Fund
• Andrew Barbeau, Accelerate Group
• David Kolata, Citizens Utility Board

Innovating to Fight the Other Big Climate Threat

Natural gas use across the United States has jumped– but leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and the main component in natural gas, can undermine gas’ potential climate benefits over coal. To help the oil and gas industry faster detect, and ultimately reduce, methane emissions, Environmental Defense Fund and a diverse set of partners drew on innovation competitions to develop the Methane Detectors Challenge, an initiative to commercialize next-generation detection sensor systems equipped with big data capabilities. Attendees will learn how the Challenge has marshaled the expertise and buying power of seven leading oil and gas companies and the talent of a diverse international set of technology development teams. The goal is to not only help find and fix leaks with the speed we expect in the digital age – improving air quality, and keeping companies’ supply in the pipeline and out of the atmosphere – but also to catalyze a new market for detection equipment.

 Speakers

• Ben Ratner, Environmental Defense Fund
• Dirk Richter, Quanta3
• Roy Hartstein, Southwestern Energy
• Jason Gu, SenSevere

Water Management 2.0 – Policy, Tech and Education

The 21st century has ushered an era where city planners in New York, Sacramento and Singapore must consider the implications of rising sea levels, extended droughts and 100-year storms in their long-term development. With California in the throes of a fierce drought and the pain of Australia’s 'Big Dry' still lingering in recent memory, Texas and the City of Austin are taking aggressive measures to prepare for extended periods of drought. This panel will explore the political, technical and educational investments Texas has and must take to prevent similar consequences. Veteran environmental columnist Todd Woody will return to SXSW as moderator and lead the conversation among panelists Mark Jordan from Austin Water, Kate Zerrener from the Environmental Defense Fund, Pete Brostrum from California’s Department of Water Resources and Joe Ball from Itron Technologies.

 Speakers

• Kate Zerrener, Environmental Defense Fund
• Mark Jordan, Austin Water
• Peter Brostrom, California Department of Water Resources
• Joe Ball, Itron

Innovative Building Operators Help Chicago

In June 2012, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that the City of Chicago would join the Obama Administration’s Better Buildings Challenge, and called on local business owners to help reduce energy use by 20 percent across nearly 24 million square feet of public and private building space by 2017. JLL, owner of 77 West Wacker Street, a Class A building, and Urban Innovations, operator of 11 Chicago Class B buildings, stepped up to the Mayor’s call, and together reduced their energy usage by nearly 3 million kilowatt hours. And, both saved considerable money in the process. Environmental Defense Fund helped guide those results by embedding EDF Climate Corps fellows in each organization to help identify, plan and implement those energy reduction programs. In this session, attendees will hear directly from JLL and Urban Innovations about their journeys to innovate and lead the field in energy management, and how EDF Climate Corps is scaling their solutions across the U.S.

 Speakers

• Victoria Mills, Environmental Defense Fund
• Myrna Coronado-Brookover, JLL
• Alrieda Green, Urban Innovations

The New Utility Business Model

The business model for electric utilities is rapidly changing. Historically, utilities earned revenues based on how much money they spent. The more money they spent on power plants and other infrastructure, the more money they earned for their shareholders. This business model is now changing in several states, where utilities will earn revenues by meeting performance objectives. These objectives will be tied to basic goals such as providing reliable service and customer satisfaction, but will also include clean energy objectives – such as adding more wind and solar to the grid and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This session will review the latest developments in this area.

Speakers

• John Finnigan, Environmental Defense Fund

Solar Energy is On the Rise

Solar energy is making great strides in the U.S. There are two basic forms – large scale solar power plants covering several acres, and the solar panels you can install on your roof. This session will discuss the current state of affairs with both forms of solar – how does the cost compare with other forms of energy? What are the benefits? Why are customers turning to solar energy? What parts of the country have been most successful in adopting solar energy? What changes do we need to add more solar energy?

 Speakers

• John Finnigan, Environmental Defense Fund

Image source: Flickr, Alan Cleaver

By Kate Zerrenner

Source: flickr/carolee

Earlier this week, I testified at a hearing of the Texas House Committee on Environmental Regulation, specifically on how Texas will respond to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP), the nation’s first-ever limit on carbon pollution from existing power plants. But before I went to the Capitol, my three-year-old daughter asked me where I was going. I told her I was going to work, and she asked me, “Mommy, what are you going to save?” I replied that I was going to save water, and she said, “Good job, Mommy.”

That’s exactly what the CPP could do for Texas: save millions of gallons of water each year by encouraging the state to switch from polluting power sources (like coal plants) to non-polluting sources (such as wind and solar farms) and increase no-water solutions like energy efficiency.

Virtuous cycle

It’s no secret that Texas is currently in the midst of a multi-year drought – yet the vast majority of our electricity comes from sources that contribute to this prolonged drought, namely coal, nuclear, and natural gas. All of these energy sources require copious amounts of water to produce electricity.

New Blog from @KateZerrenner: A Promise to Our Children to Save Water in Texas #TXlege
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Wind and solar energy, however, consume little to no water and generate negligible carbon emissions. Texas is already an international wind power leader and has the greatest solar potential in the country, much of which is still untapped. In fact, we’re falling behind states like New Jersey and New York.

But the cheapest, cleanest, most water-free energy is the kind we don’t use at all. Texas was the first state to adopt an energy efficiency target, yet it has since fallen in national rankings. Again, there is a lot of untapped potential.

By shifting from water-intensive coal plants to water-free wind and solar farms, Texas can free up more water for other needs, such as cities and agriculture, and reduce the need for new, energy-intensive water supply projects, like traditional desalination plants.

The role of natural gas

Switching to more natural gas is another way Texas can meet the CPP requirements while cleaning our air and reducing our water consumption. Natural gas produces about half the amount of carbon pollution than coal when burned, although methane leakage must be addressed to ensure it is providing carbon mitigation. Plus, efficient natural gas uses, on average, one-third as much water as coal power plants do.

According to an analysis by University of Texas, replacing Texas coal-fired power plants with cleaner natural gas plants could reduce annual freshwater consumption by 53 billion gallons per year, or 60 percent of Texas coal power’s entire water footprint.

Savings add up

According to EDF’s own calculations, by transitioning away from business-as-usual toward cleaner energy, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages roughly 90 percent of Texas’ power grid, could save more than 60,000 acre-feet (or nearly 21 billion gallons) of water per year by 2030.

To think of this another way, ERCOT would save the equivalent of Lady Bird Lake in a little over a month; Lake Bastrop in three months; Lake Worth in six months; Lake Houston in a year-and-a-half; and the entire body of the San Antonio River (which is currently less than four percent full) in four years.

Benefit to communities of color

Overall air quality and public health benefits will also be realized as Texas transitions to clean energy to comply with the CPP because these resources produce zero or negligible emissions to generate electricity and can displace dirty power plants. This is particularly important given that approximately 68 percent of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant (with similarly large numbers for Latinos) and a recent study claims that nearly 40 percent of communities of color breathe polluted air.

Further, three of the top 11 U.S. cities in severe water-stressed areas are in Texas: El Paso, San Antonio, and Houston – all of which are relying more and more on clean energy to power their local economies. El Paso, at 82 percent Hispanic, is the most Latino major city in the country and is retiring its coal plants to make way for the new clean energy economy. San Antonio and Houston, with Hispanic populations of 63 percent and 44 percent, respectively, have also put a greater emphasis on clean energy to help improve air quality and protect against water scarcity.

A transition to clean energy would not only help offset health costs in Texas by keeping more money in the wallets of hard-working Americans, but it could also improve water availability for our growing cities.

Vote for energy and water reliability

Safeguarding energy and water reliability means we are ensuring Texas continues to grow and draw businesses to our state. That’s why it’s critical Texas officials take advantage of the flexibility to create a Texas-made plan to comply with the CPP. The state has much more to gain by taking steps early to develop potential components to a state plan than if the state does nothing until a final rule is released this summer. Doing nothing will cost Texas the ability to develop a plan that reflects Texas’s policy preferences, maximizes cost-effectiveness, and provides regulatory certainty for power companies and businesses.

Currently making its way through the Texas legislative session is competing regulation regarding whether Texas will develop a path to comply with the CPP. While one bill would prohibit Texas from complying, another bill, sponsored by Vice Chair Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin), supports compliance and calls for state officials to act.

Promise to protect

If Texas officials do not take meaningful, thoughtful action during this session, we will likely be left with a plan devised by EPA, one that will not be tailored to Texas’ preferences, which is a shame, because the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has some smart people, who understand Texas’ resources inside and out.

As state Representatives and Senators go to cast their vote, I ask them to take a stance and develop a “for-Texas, by-Texas” approach to complying with the Clean Power Plan.

I’ll keep my promise to my daughter, and our leaders will keep their promise to protect all of Texas’ children.

This post originally appeared on EDF’s Texas Clean Air Matters blog.

By Kate Zerrenner

Cowboys, frontier grit, accented English, and wild, wide open spaces are just a few of the similarities shared by Texas and Australia. Both places also have an energy-water problem. But, the good news for Texas is that it’s not too late for us to learn from Australia’s mistakes – and a few successes, too.

In July 2014, Australia abandoned its carbon price, which gave Australia, a country with one of the highest per capita emissions of any developed country in the world and uses even more coal than the United States, the largest carbon-price system in the world outside of the European Union. (That is, until California’s program took effect in January 2013—California has the first-ever economy-wide carbon market in North America, potentially linking to other sub-national, national and regional markets around the world.) Since then, the Australian government has been in talks to significantly scale back its renewable energy target (RET), and the months-long squabbling without resolution is threatening the country’s renewable energy sector.

Texas, whose drought started in October 2010, is now in its worst drought on record. And some Texas leaders are taking a similar, short-sighted path as Australia when it comes to rolling back successful clean energy initiatives – ones that could also save scarce water supplies. Currently in the midst of its biennial legislative session, Texas is considering bills that would scrap the state’s successful wind renewable portfolio standard and prevent the state from complying with the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP), which establishes the nation’s first-ever limits on carbon pollution.

Facing extreme #drought, Australia (and possibly TX) undoes best strategy for water conservation:…
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Energy efficiency and clean energy are critical to preserving health and economic stability, especially in the face of a changing climate, because they require little to no water. Without environmental regulations and clean energy goals in place, Australia and Texas are due to experience a surge in both carbon emissions and water use.

Connection between energy and water

As in Texas, Australia’s energy makeup is heavily dominated by fossil fuels: 75 percent of electricity generation comes from coal, 16 percent from gas, and 7 percent renewables (mainly hydropower and wind). Of all these, coal is the most water-intensive, meaning it requires the greatest amount of water to produce electricity. Although some power generation in Australia uses seawater for cooling, 90 percent of its coal power is the most inefficient, polluting, water-intensive kind. Water intensity poses significant risk for grid reliability and investment, especially during times of drought.

Demonstrating policy can drive innovation, the RET has incentivized Australia to be creative in thinking about how to combine energy and water use. For example, a project off the coast of Western Australia uses wave energy to both desalinate water for and power a naval base. This project and others like it advance clean energy technologies and knowledge. Texas could expect the same level of innovation and benefits, if it rolls up its sleeves and crafts a framework for the CPP that takes into account Texas’ abundance of carbon-free, zero-water clean energy.

Texas is still coming to terms with its dwindling water supplies, but the current State Water Plan does not connect the dots between clean energy and water savings. That simple connection could be a powerful weapon in the arsenal to protect the state’s critical resources.

Conservation and human behavior

Australia’s nine-year drought – aptly called the Big Dry – led to policy changes, including water reuse systems and strong urban water restrictions, which, in turn, led to a cultural shift in the way people use water. Changing water-use patterns is absolutely necessary, and evidence shows the water conservation culture has since become the norm in Australia.

Due to some impressive behavioral changes, the entire country of Australia now averages 54 gallons of water per person per day (gpcd) – almost half what it once was. Some areas like Victoria (the state that contains Melbourne) are even as low as 40 gpcd. Compare that to drought-ridden California, where average statewide usage is 125 gpcd, or Texas, which averages a whopping 153 gpcd statewide. Clearly, there is a lot we can still do to encourage a culture of conserving water in the Lone Star State.

Loss of economic development

Aside from the water implications, scrapping the carbon price and potentially rolling back the RET has been bad news for Australia’s economy. By the end of 2014 investment in renewables was at a 13-year low, dropping the country from 11th to 39th place in global standings and resulting in jobs and investment dollars going elsewhere. Some areas, like the financial hub of Melbourne, have already seen a nine percent drop in renewable energy jobs due to the uncertain future of the RET.

Texas clean energy proponents are therefore understandably concerned that pulling back on renewable energy goals could threaten the 100,000 jobs that have been created in the state so far. Further, many state policymakers are resisting compliance with the CPP, which would incentivize energy efficiency and renewable energy over polluting coal power plants.

Instead, we should be looking to the success of Australia’s RET, which built up the country’s solar and wind industry – requiring negligible amounts of water – at relatively low cost and even exceeded the 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources target by eight percentage points.

Politicians should not be so short-sighted to undo successful efforts to protect their citizens and critical resources for the sake of a dying, polluting industry. The people down under in Australia and deep in the heart of Texas deserve better.

Photo source: Flickr/katsrcool

This post originally appeared on our Texas Clean Air Matters blog.

By Kate Zerrenner

We’ve almost made it to the midway point of the 84th Session of the Texas Legislature. As many already know, the Texas Legislature only meets from January to May every other year, so a lot has to get done in these few months.

This midway point is critical because it marks the deadline for Representatives and Senators to file bills, and it signals the rush to the finish line. Once we pass this point, the speed picks up substantially, as do the working hours and pressure.

Most bills that are filed will not make it to the Governor’s desk – for any number of reasons. But it is a good time to check in to see which climate, clean energy, and energy-water nexus bills have been filed this Session. Here’s a look at a few that are likely to rise to the top, and ones we hope will cross the finish line by June 1st.

A Roundup of #Energy, Water, and Climate Bills in the 84th #TXlege Session from @KateZerrenner
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Climate Bills

As highlighted in another post, two climate bills, House Bill (HB) 2078 and HB 2080, filed by Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas), have the backing of our military advisors because they are related to the implications of climate change on our national security .

Senate Bill (SB) 77 by Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) would require state agencies to create an adaptation plan for climate change impacts. Senator Ellis has filed this bill in the past, and it is important that he continues leading the charge. State agencies that are not developing future resiliency plans to mitigate climate impacts, such as prolonged drought and intensified hurricanes, could face a real struggle when those effects start piling up.

In a similar vein, HB 2571 by Eric Johnson (D-Dallas) would require state agencies to include projections about weather, water availability, and climate variability in their strategic plans, and Rep. Johnson’s HB 2570 would require the state water plan to include the potential effects of climate change and rainfall changes in its analysis. This is a rational approach to protecting the state’s scarce water supply in the face of climate change and prolonged drought.

Clean Energy Bills

A few bad bills have cropped up in this space, including HB 857 by Scott Sanford (R-McKinney), and SB 931 by Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) which would repeal Texas’ successful renewable portfolio standard for wind, and SB 635 by Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels), which would cripple the state’s wind policy. Also, HB 1736 by Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) and its companion bill, SB 929 by Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay), would hamper energy efficiency in Texas by prohibiting cities from adopting stronger building codes. Considering that all major Texas cities have adopted stronger codes than the state, these bills do far more harm than good. Texas is home to four energy efficiency powerhouse cities which have initiated green building programs, installed new transportation infrastructure, and created jobs, all thanks to their energy efficiency goals.

But there are some good bills, too.

HB 2392 by Rep. Anchia would set up an energy efficiency loan program for existing homes through the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), which currently only offers low-interest loans for public buildings and non-profit organizations. This program, called Warehouse for Energy Efficiency Loans (WHEEL), is a national program that, at the state level, would enable homeowners to tap into low-cost, large-scale funding for upgrades. Further, this program would allow energy and pollution savings to be counted toward any state implementation plan for a federal emissions reduction program, such as EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP), which will limit – for the first time ever – carbon pollution from existing coal power plants. Similarly, HB 3363 by Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) would enable local governments to adopt residential Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) districts, basically low-interest loans for energy and water upgrades to homes that are paid back on an assessment attached to the property itself. PACE and WHEEL are complementary programs that aim to address the large, untapped market for residential energy and water efficiency upgrades.

Speaking of EPA’s CPP, the agency is expected to propose its final requirements this summer, so this session is the only chance for the Texas Legislature to move before it becomes law (absent a special session). To that end, HB 3069 by Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) and its companion SB 1954 by Senator Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen) would direct the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to take advantage of the rule’s expected flexibility and draft a compliance plan for Texas by Texas. On the flip side, HB 3590 by Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) would prohibit the state from complying with the CPP—an unwise move, considering EPA allows states to craft their own plans in order to maximize flexibility, rather than have the Federal Government do it for them.

SB 1284 by Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and its companion HB 3343 by Sylvester Turner (D-Houston) would direct the PUC to promote the development of demand response, an innovative energy management program that rewards individuals and businesses for energy conservation. Further, this bill would task the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages roughly 90 percent of the Texas power grid, to study the impact of this people-centric program and report on its growth. EDF supports this bill because the benefits of demand response are abundant: it gives Texans greater control of their electricity use, provides a pollution-free means to increase reliability on the power grid during times of high electricity demand, reduces the need to use inefficient, polluting power plants, and increases competition in the Texas electric sector.

Water and Energy-Water Bills

Texas is in the midst of a multi-year drought, in some areas the most severe on record, so it’s no surprise that dozens of water bills have been filed. The bills run the gamut—looking at water related to oil and gas production, groundwater conservation districts, drought response, agriculture, and more. The related issues are varied and complex, so I’ll highlight a couple that are directly relevant to clean energy.

SB 78 by Sen. Ellis would involve the state water plan, which is on a five-year planning cycle, including the best science on trends affecting future water availability and use. While it doesn’t say so explicitly, the intent is to ensure that the state water plan includes climate models of water availability, something that has been too political to do in the past, but is critical to truly understanding our future water supply as the climate changes.

HB 3298 by Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) and its companion SB 1907 by Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) would task the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) to conduct a study on how to establish a more intelligent, statewide water grid, much like an electric grid, to more effectively manage Texas’ tight water supply.

HB 1088 by Marisa Marquez (D-El Paso) would establishe a joint technical center at the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at San Antonio for studying energy-efficient and technologically-sound desalination, a water-producing technology. Developers in Texas are already pursuing desalination of brackish groundwater at about 100 sites across the state, and seawater desalination is also a state-approved technology, although no plants are up and running yet. This center would be an innovation hub for cutting-edge technologies to produce more potable water.

However, traditional desalination is highly energy-intensive, and, since 90 percent of our energy in Texas comes from fossil-fueled power plants which consume vast amounts of water, desalination is, in turn, highly water-intensive. But, SB 991 by Jose Rodriguez (D-El Paso) aims to address that by requiring the General Land Office and the TWDB to study the economic and geophysical potential of using wind and solar PV energy to desalinate brackish groundwater, with a plan to add additional renewable technologies for seawater desalination in the study. This is the first step to understanding how low-water-use renewable energy can help alleviate some of the state’s water pressure.

And, another ‘big bang for our buck’ energy-water bill is SB 992 by Sen. Rodriguez, which would authorize electric transmission-and-distribution utilities to partner with a water provider to study the embedded energy in water projects. Nationally, about 4 percent of energy is used for treating and moving water. This study would fill in the lack of data on the true value of the energy-intensity of water and enable these two interconnected sectors to see – in real numbers – how much energy is used by the water sector. The intent is for electric and water utilities to begin planning together and be more efficient with both resources.

We’re Halfway There

As with every legislative session, there is a mix of good and bad, and most bills don’t cross the finish line. The bills highlighted here reflect the biggest opportunities for good and bad policy in the clean energy and climate space in Texas. EDF will be keeping a close eye on all of these bills.

Photo source: flickr/Paul Woolrich

This post originally appeared on our Texas Clean Air Matters blog.

By Larissa Koehler

Ask most people what the Beatles and California have in common and they might very well be at a loss. However, the answer is pretty simple: they are both unabashed trendsetters in the face of resistance – the former in their musical style and the latter in its clean energy policies.

Not content with setting a Renewable Portfolio Standard that ends at 2020, Governor Jerry Brown and state legislators are pushing for the Golden State to get 50 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2030.

To meet this ambitious target, California must build a system that is largely based on renewable electricity, like wind and solar. This is not an easy task. The primary reason? Sunshine and wind are only available at certain times of the day and can be variable during those times.

Traditionally, managers of the electricity grid have relied upon dirty “peaker” power plants – usually fossil fuel-fired and only needed a couple of days a year – to balance the grid during periods of variability or when electricity demand exceeds supply. But, in a world where 50 percent of our energy comes from renewable sources as a means to achieving a clean energy economy, we can’t rely on these dirty peaker plants to balance the variability of wind and solar.

Luckily, technology is available today that can help fill the gap of these peaker plants – and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is starting to embrace it.

This technology, also known as demand-side resources, is defined by the CPUC as:

• Energy efficiency
• Demand response, an energy conservation tool that pays customers to save energy when the grid is stressed
• Distributed generation, like rooftop solar PV
• Energy storage, including electric vehicle batteries
• Smart grid, which utilizes technologies like two way programmable thermostats, to gather energy use information to improve efficiency and enable other resources like demand response
• Water-energy measures, which address the inextricable effect of water use on energy use, and vice-versa
• Strategic electricity rate design, such as time-of-use pricing, a voluntary program that enables people to choose when they power up appliances based on electricity prices and make decisions that can both save them money and reduce harmful pollution

By encouraging customers to use energy more wisely through demand-side resources like these, utility companies can avoid the need to produce more energy as the state’s population increases. This will also cut down on infrastructure costs, as fewer power plants and transmission lines will need to be built, and those savings can be passed on to customers. Further, by leveraging the ability of electric vehicles to charge at times when there is an abundance of clean power available, as well as distributed generation, California will be able to use increasing amounts of renewable energy.

Currently, there are a number of these innovative, demand-side solutions available in California. In order to bring them together, the CPUC, under the direction of Commissioner Michel Florio, initiated a new proceeding to, “create a consistent regulatory framework for the guidance, planning, and evaluation of integrated demand side resource programs.”

EDF would like to make sure the CPUC advances the following outcomes, as stated in our formal comments:

1. Ensure Californians are an integral part of the solution. Resources on the customer side of the meter should be given due consideration and incentivized by properly structured rates and ensuring these customer-side resources are properly valued.
2. Target demand-side resources geographically. The CPUC should focus on the placement of demand-side resources where they will have the most benefit – i.e., in those areas hit hardest by air pollution. This will ensure communities historically and disproportionately burdened by dirty air benefit from these improvements.
3. Consider how to link utility revenues to the outcomes California wants. Rather than allowing cost recovery as a matter of course, the CPUC should develop principles for a utility business model that rewards utilities and Californians for integrating cost-saving, well-targeted demand-side measures on both sides of the meter. Successful resources will be those that contribute to the reliable operation of the grid and advance state environmental goals, such as AB 32 (California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, a landmark piece of legislation that set an absolute, state-wide limit on greenhouse gas emissions) and the Renewable Portfolio Standard.
4. Link closely with distribution and reliability planning. By requiring the consideration of demand-side resources in utility planning, the CPUC can help to defer or avoid the need for more costly or environmentally damaging investments.

This new effort by the CPUC is a terrific opportunity for more coordinated, cost-effective deployment of demand-side resources that can better address California’s energy needs, improve customer choice, and reduce carbon pollution from our energy system. It’s a chance to make real, lasting change in California. Similar to the transformative effect “Beatlemania” had on music and popular culture, California’s clean energy policies can transform how we make, move, and use electricity.

This post originally appeared on EDF's California Dream 2.0 blog.

Photo credit: Activ Solar

By Kate Zerrenner

Each year, the nation wastes an estimated two trillion gallons, or about 14 to 18 percent, of its treated water through leaks alone. That’s a lot of water – enough to fill over three million Olympic-size swimming pools.

We know smart water meters are a critical component to better understanding our water use, but smart meters are only one part of the equation. What we really need is a smart water system.

A more intelligent system could not only help water providers and people better understand their use and how to adjust their behavior accordingly, but it could make the entire treatment and delivery of water more efficient. Plus, system-wide data could make daily water use and associated cost accessible – not an end-of-the-month billing surprise – enabling residents to make more informed decisions and utilities to waste less water.

Energy and water are connected, but they may need different solutions

The energy sector has learned a lot about the smart grid, and put a great deal of its research into practice. And, compared to the water sector, the electricity sector is pretty far along with its smart meter roll-out and understanding of all the information points across the system. For instance, in Texas, more than 3.5 million smart water meters have been installed, compared with approximately 17 million electric smart meters. But, while much of the smart electric grid findings are valuable in relation to the water sector, there are clear differences. 

What the water sector could learn from the electric side from @KateZerrenner @PecanStreetInc
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Primarily, there seems to be a lack of urgency when it comes to saving energy at the residential level. But, that may not prove to be the case with water. Hearing about an “energy crunch” for electricity is not the same thing as seeing and feeling the effects of drought. Water, by its nature, is a more emotional issue for people than electricity is. We can survive without electricity, but not without water. So, will giving people more control over their use of this precious resource drive them to be more proactive conservationists? That is one thing Pecan Street, Inc. aims to find out.

Learning by doing

Located in Austin, Pecan Street, Inc. manages the nation’s largest energy research network. It’s unique in that it is one of the only so-called “smart grid” organizations that includes water. This test bed represents an incredible opportunity to examine different smart water technologies and behaviors.

In addition to the electric piece, which monitors energy use down to the electric socket for more than 1,200 homes in Texas, California, and Colorado (and energy generation for residents with solar panels), Pecan Street created the University Municipal Water Consortium, consisting of member universities and cities around Texas, to test different water technologies and behavioral tools.

In January, the Consortium held its first conference to gather members, talk about the research so far, share stories from the trenches, and communicate the direction of future research. As Pecan Street’s partner, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) participated in this insightful conversation.

What came as a surprise was how much water residents use outside of the home. One experiment they will work on together is to test whether residents will react to immediate notifications about the water use of their sprinklers – either small, persistent measurements that may signal a leak or large, frequent measurements.

The emotional connection

People have emotional connections to their homes and yards, but they also have an emotional connection to water, and linking those two can result in powerful behavioral change. Many cities in the Consortium noted outdoor water use as the place with the most room for improvement, because sprinkler systems are often programmed to run at night and are then forgotten about. A more responsive metering structure could give the appropriate signals to easily control the sprinkler system based on the current weather.

Cities are tapping into this connection as well. San Antonio Water System (SAWS), one of the nation’s leaders in water conservation, has teamed up with the San Antonio Botanical Garden to offer trainings and information in converting landscaping to more drought-tolerant gardens. Additionally, the Austin Homebuilders Association is working with homebuilders on the front-end to ensure that landscapes are designed with water use in mind, in lieu of the expensive, water-intensive yards of the past.

There are many facets to understanding water use and its connection to homes and businesses. But, a smart water system is the first step. The good news is that with smarter water use, we also reduce our energy use because of their inextricable link. EDF is glad to see Pecan Street jumping in with both feet to better understand what technologies and research can motivate us to understand our water use and be proactive in protecting its future.

Photo source: Flickr/Hammer365

By Kate Zerrenner

As the Texas legislative session begins ramping up, I am reminded of smart policies from sessions past that holistically benefit Texas, had bipartisan support, and brought unlikely allies together. As we head into the session, it’s important to remember that no matter which side of the aisle you are on, clean energy solutions make sense for Texas – economically and environmentally.

This week, Environmental Defense Fund and R Street Institute, with support from Google, hosted a breakfast roundtable at the Texas Capitol to highlight one of those bills. The panel highlighted the potential for Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) and other commonsense, market-driven financing policies to be game-changers for accelerating the deployment and adoption of clean energy resources and water conservation practices across the state of Texas.

PACE, an innovative financing tool that allows people to repay loans for clean energy projects (like rooftop solar and energy efficiency upgrades) through their property tax bill, has the potential to unlock a considerable amount of private funding for clean energy projects in the state. This agreement simultaneously offers building owners cheaper financing options and lenders secure repayment terms. With benefits for all, it’s no wonder the PACE bill passed last legislative session with support from both sides of the aisle, environmental groups, and industry alike.

One thing that makes PACE unique is that it also funds water conservation projects. What many people don’t realize is that power plants require water to produce electricity and electricity is needed to clean, treat, and transport water, a relationship known as the energy-water nexus. In reality, we get some of the best water savings through energy efficiency projects. So by taking into account energy and water savings, PACE can help policymakers, utilities, advocates, and building owners begin to really comprehend the water dependency of energy resources.

Knowledge is power

If you are looking to take advantage of Texas’ unique, voluntary PACE program, you can find more information here: www.KeepingPACEinTexas.org  

We already have the power to understand and estimate water savings from energy efficiency and clean energy projects, like a rooftop solar PV installation. In Texas, however, we have not comprehensively measured what those water savings are. Some of that could be the electric utilities’ reluctance to venture down the water-savings path for fear that, in addition to an energy efficiency or renewable energy goal, they would be required to meet a water-savings goal. But I’m not advocating for an additional goal, rather a useful measurement tool for formulating better energy policy.

PACE not only enables utilities and building owners to choose energy resources that don’t require water to operate, but also provides the right data to better inform policymakers. At the end of the day, utilities can harness more water-smart, cost-effective clean energy resources and decision makers will better understand the energy-water nexus.

Revitalizing Texas business and industry

There are some projects that are first and foremost water conservation projects, such as greywater systems, high-efficiency toilets, and waterless urinals. Commercial properties, in particular, have a lot to gain from reducing water use in their buildings, but these projects can have high upfront costs. PACE aims to help property owners minimize those steep costs while adding value to their properties through efficiency and conservation measures. It can also be a great economic development tool for Texas.

As an example, a five-star hotel in Austin looked at a suite of water and energy efficiency upgrades which amounted to $1.8 million. Taking into account the local jobs for contractors, lighting specialists, mechanics, water efficiency companies, and more, as well as the revenue and growth for those companies, the total economic impact for the state economy from this hotel revamp totaled roughly $9 million. With numbers like these, PACE is a no-brainer. Plus, the water efficiency technologies will result in energy savings that can be measured for better understanding about the energy-water nexus.

As fellow panelist Steve Minick, Vice President for the Texas Association of Business, said, “This is a win-win-win. PACE addresses reducing energy and water usage in a commonsense, free market, voluntary way. It doesn’t involve mandates, doesn’t involve the government telling you have to do this, because it’s in your own best interest. This is gravy!”

It’s a power drill, not a silver bullet

PACE, however, is not a silver bullet that can solve all the energy efficiency and water conservation problems for business and industry, but it is a critical tool in the toolbox. Further, just as when you go to buy a car, there are several options for how to pay for it: upfront, lease, or loan. Businesses and industries want the same kind of choices in the marketplace, much like they want different tools for different projects. PACE can be the power drill that really makes a difference for Texas industries’ energy and water efficiency needs. It’s just a matter of making that choice.

Photo source: flickr/thegaventas

This post originally appeared on our Texas Clean Air Matters blog.