Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions

Seminar Series: Gabrielle Dreyfus

Date and Time
Friday, March 9, 2012 - 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Location
LSRC A148

About

Back to top

Gabrielle Dreyfus, Climate Change Policy and Technology Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy, will present a talk titled "The Energy Efficiency Gap: Questions, Unknowns and Research Opportunities."

Adopting smarter energy efficiency policies for residential and commercial appliances and equipment globally could save 3860 terrawatthours (TWh) of electricity (1300 Rosenfelds) per year by 2030 and reduce cumulative CO2 emissions from 2010 to 2030 by 21.3 gigatons. The Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative, one of eleven initiatives of the Clean Energy Ministerial, is seeking to tap this large potential by engaging governments and the private sector in accelerating market transformation for energy efficient products. In addition to providing an overview of SEAD's activities, this seminar will highlight many gaps that persist in our understanding of energy efficiency policy and evaluation: How do minimum energy performance standards affect product price? How can we predict future trends in rates of improvement in energy efficiency in the market? What factors affect consumer choice when making purchasing decisions for energy-using equipment? What types of incentive generate the most energy savings at the least cost? What is the magnitude and extent of "dumping" of low efficiency products in developing countries? This seminar will explore some of these questions with the intent of raising your intellectual curiosity to recruit more brainpower to finding the answers and closing the gap on this large potential for energy savings and emissions reductions.