as president obama famously said in 2014, “this generation is the first that will feel the effects of climate change and the last that can do anything about it.”

as a result, many countries, cities, and states from around the globe have vowed to enact policies to curb carbon emissions. according to the american council for an energy-efficient economy, the u.s. currently spends $60 billion to $115 billion on energy efficiency improvements each year. although these investments are being driven by government policies, energy consulting firms are on the front lines, ensuring smart, strategic, and sustainable investments are being made.

one such company is lilker emo energy solutions. based out of falls church, virginia, lilker is a small energy consulting firm that specializes in providing sustainable solutions to their clients. although lilker has fewer than 10 full time employees, it has become a major player at helping organizations, business, and consumers reduce their carbon footprints throughout the dmv (d.c./maryland/virginia) area.

steve hearn, a project manager at lilker who leads their residential team sees his job as one that “is on the cutting edge of the modern economy.” clients reach out to lilker when they are looking to make energy improvements to both existing buildings and newly designed ones. through preforming energy audits, energy modeling, and commissioning consultants at lilker are able to identify effective ways to reduce energy output and gain certifications like leed, well, energy star, and egc. 

as one of the leading energy consulting companies in the dmv area, lilker has had the opportunity to take on projects for their clients all across the country. one project that stood out to justin baker, managing director at lilker, was one he completed 8 years ago for the alice ferguson foundation. in this project, he had the opportunity to oversee work on a living building. living buildings are hard to find and even harder to build.

by definition, they are buildings that are net positive energy, water, and waste. baker found this project to be “exceptionally challenging because of all the different requirements that go into a building like that.” currently, there are only 9 certified living buildings in the dmv area and baker sees them as “a major step in the right direction. if people understand that its possible for a building to do more good than harm to the environment, then that’s a great mindset to have for the future.”

hearn also has had the opportunity to oversee eye-opening projects over his tenure at lilker. in 2010, the national park service contacted lilker about wanting to make energy improvements at some of their remote sites in alaska. for two weeks, hearn performed energy audits in buildings all across the tongass national forest, often taking “puddle jumper flights” to travel from site to site.

for hearn “it was a really cool experience to work in such an incredible region, and it really put it into perspective how important it is to preserve places like that.”

according to the alaskan center for climate assessment and policy (accap), the tongass national forest is vulnerable to climate change, noting that “the future will likely be different than both what we see now, and what we have seen in the past.” the work that both baker and hearn do is, and will continue to be, instrumental in ensuring that great environmental treasures are not lost to the impacts of climate change. 

lilker emo energy solutions was first founded in 1998 and since then, the industry has changed greatly. baker has been working with lilker since 2008 and has been encouraged by recent trends. “back when i first started, energy efficiency standards were fringe topics that often were looked at as a premium. now, people are much more knowledgeable about all the certifications and instead of them being a premium we are now seeing them as the norm.”

this should continue with the passage of the dc omnibus act of 2018. going into effect in last month, it mandates that d.c. transitions to 100% renewable energy by 2032. “i give d.c. a lot of credit for being progressive on this,” baker says. “hopefully people now understand that building owners have a responsibility to protect the environment.”

this bill will open up many opportunities for firms like lilker but also many challenges.

according to hearn, “the dc omnibus bill sets a goal in place but doesn’t solve all the logistical problems that go along with making this transitioning so quickly.”

this is one reason why both hearn and baker have begun attending local state energy commissions such as the dmv net zero coalition. this is a coalition of energy experts, policy makers, and academics who just recently starting meeting and are working to discover and drive solutions to achieving a net carbon future. for lilker, “efficiency is always the first piece of the puzzle,” says hearn, “but from attending these meetings it is clear that it isn’t the only piece.”

as is common in an industry of high forecasted growth, it is important to cultivate the next generation of energy professions. lilker understands this and has had an ongoing intern program for the past 5 years.

nathaniel waldman, a senior at george washington university has been an intern at lilker for the last 8 months. waldman has had the opportunity to see projects through from beginning to end over his time at lilker, describing his experience thus far as “eye opening.” one, that contributed most to his growth, was the preservation partners project. through this, he says he gained “a greater appreciation for the construction process and the major effort it takes on the part of green building specialists to ensure that the builders meet requirements.”

with the passage of the dc omnibus act, this challenge will surely grow for lilker. but hearn knows that “it’s an exciting time to be in this industry, there is so much opportunity on the horizon and it’s important to take full advantage of it.” the question now is, will they? 

washington—blockchain technology could make the u.s. more energy efficient in the long run, but right now the cryptocurrency miners using blockchain actually are consuming large amounts electricity to power their computers and other devices, experts told a senate committee on tuesday.

in the central and eastern area of washington state, the inexpensive hydropower has attracted many cryptocurrency miners, which has driven up electricity fees in the area, said washington sen. maria cantwell, the top democrat on the energy and natural resources committee. 

the worldwide energy usage for bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency, is estimated to be around 2 billion to 3 billion watts of power, which is the equivalent amount of energy used by 2 million homes, said tomas golden, program manager at the electric power research institute. 

cryptocurrency is an application that uses blockchain technology, which is open to anyone but requires volunteers to consistently solve complex digital puzzles to support new blocks added to the chain. the process is called “mining,” and the volunteers are called “miners.” the volunteers are rewarded with small amounts of cryptocurrency.

miners require an increasing amount of computing power and energy to compete with each other, said paul skare, chief cybersecurity manager at pacific northwest national laboratory.

“the energy used in cryptocurrency mining has been compared to the total energy usage of states, and even countries,” skare said.

recognizing that the mining process is unlikely to be abandoned, princeton university associate professor arvind narayanan said that energy experts and computer scientists should work together to create efficient energy solutions. 

claire henly, managing director at the energy web foundation, said the government should develop an incentive policy to discourage miners to mine during peak times to relieve the supply-demand tension. 

but blockchain technology also has the potential to help the clean energy industry. cantwell said peer-to-peer energy transactions in blockchain allow customers to purchase and sell electricity, driving down the cost by allowing people to use their distributed energy. 

henly said energy web foundation had assembled a group of 80 energy companies to develop and deploy an open-source blockchain, which is less energy demanding.

a recent report by the energy future initiative estimates global investment in digital power sector infrastructure has increased 20 percent since 2014, reaching $47 billion, according to sen. lisa murkowski, r-alaska, the chairwoman of the senate energy committee.

key words:  green house gas emissions (ghg),  environmental defense fund (edf), temperature set points, climate action plan (cap),  energy consumption,  sustainability, carbon neutrality, maricopa community colleges

but it does take one to help understand why we should adjust the ways we stay warm this winter.

since 1970, global surface temperatures have risen at a trend of 0.28°f per decade. scientific models illustrate that the 2000s were hotter than the 1990s, which were hotter than the 1980s, and so on.

some days happen to be colder than others, which make it hard to feel slow changes in climate. but looking at temperature data from recent decades shows that new record highs occur about twice as often as new record lows. this all largely caused by human greenhouse gas emissions over time.  

that’s where you come in.

household space heating makes up more than 40 percent of all energy consumption and heating costs are projected to climb higher than usual this winter in response to forecasted, low-digit temperatures. 

while heating is a high priority, there are steps you can take to stay warm, limit greenhouse gas emissions and save a buck or two on energy bills.

one option could be to invest in a programmable central thermostat. according to a recent survey, only 37 percent of households use a programmable thermostat to heat their homes. these systems can save an average person about 20 percent of costs on their original heating bill.

if your household is already one of the 48 percent that contains a non-programmable central thermostat, you can still minimize heating costs by setting the thermostat to a maximum of 70°f when occupied and 61°f when unoccupied.

and, of course, you can always wear a sweater.

heat responsibly!

we each use more gasoline in our cars than people in france, germany, the uk, brazil, russia, india and china combined. however, it doesn’t take much to cut down, and make a big difference.  here are five simple ways to save gasoline and pay less at the pump. 

1. carpool.  fewer cars on the road = fewer emissions and fewer trips to the gas station.  use an app for your smartphone to schedule carpools and find rideshares. 
2. drive greener.  limiting the amount of time your foot presses on the gas pedal, keeping excess weight out of your car, and using cruise control will all save you gallons when it comes time to fill the tank. 
3. buy efficient.  need a new car?  take gas mileage into consideration.  cars with better mileage, hybrids, or electric cars will save you when you’re filling the tank. 
4. check your tires.  make sure your tires are properly inflated to save on fuel efficiency and keep them lasting longer. 
5. take alternative transportation.  walking, biking, and public transportation all cut out your gasoline needs.  try one of these alternative forms of transportation one day a week or just during your lunch hour.  use a nifty app to plan your trip. 

check out what the epa recommends to save gas.  will you try one of these tips?  what are some other ways you plan to save gasoline?  watch the video to find out how even a small change makes a big difference. how will you start your gasoline diet?

asthaa chaturvedi is a senior majoring in international affairs at the george washington university. jenny rabago is a senior majoring in journalism and biological anthropology at the george washington university.

after the nuclear disaster in japan, thorium’s gained more exposure as a cleaner, safer alternative to uranium. if this technology exists, do we have to wait for the planet to melt-down (pardon the way too realistic pun) before we go to it?

photo credit to paul j. everett.

carleton college has installed two wind turbines in order to reduce our carbon footprint. our second turbine, which is connected directly our the campus power grid, will supply 25-30% of our electricity needs and reduce our carbon footprint by 10%. in addition, we are trying to make our buildings more energy efficient by performing energy audits with our local energy company. these two projects are just the beginning for carleton college’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2050 as outlined by our carbon action plan.

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