Chicago is the nation’s leader in energy-efficient office buildings, according to the 2019 National Green building Adoption Index. Also in the top 5 were San Francisco, Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Los Angeles. The ranking was based on total space in office buildings having either the EPA ENERGY STAR label, USGBC LEED certification, or both. According to the report, in Chicago, 1,411 representing 71.1% of all office buildings, over 167 million sq. ft., are market-certified green.

Renewable electricity will surpass coal soon. The world’s consumption of coal is declining. Global investment in new coal-fired power plants has slowed sharply in recent years, as countries and investors finding that clean energy, such as solar panels and battery storage, are often a cheaper way to produce electricity and because of the major public health effects of the air pollution caused by coal combustion.

Renewable energy is expected to surpass coal as the world’s dominant source of electricity by 2030, growing to 42% of global generation. Natural gas, while emitting less greenhouse gases than coal, but still producing some, is also growing at the expense of coal. However, hundreds of existing coal plants will continue to do so to satisfy investors unless incentives can be implemented to retire these plants early. Carbon capture and sequestration technology remains unreliable. Watchdog agencies are not permitting CCS until it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that CO2 is removed for a long time. Wind is also growing, with expectations of nine-fold growth by 2040. Companies in the US, China, South Korea and Japan are planning major off-shore wind farms, joining several European nations who have already built such farms.

Electric car sales are growing. But so are SUVs. In 2019, consumers worldwide bought about 2 million electric cars, spurred by a combination of declining costs and generous vehicle incentives. Sales of electric cars are expected to continue to grow. As a result, global gasoline and diesel use for cars might peak by the mid-2020’s.

But despite this good news, sales of larger SUVs, which consume more gasoline than conventional cars, is expected to grow, too. In 2000, just 18% of passenger cars sold worldwide were SUVs. Last year, it was 42%, negating the gains in greenhouse gas emission reductions from the transportation sector from hybrid and electric car sales. Can a carmaker successfully manufacture and market an electric (battery-powered) version of an SUV?

Energy efficiency efforts are slowing. Energy intensity of the global economy (the amount of energy used to result in revenue), a measure of efficiency, made major gains in the first half of the last decade, but then slowed down. In 2018, the energy intensity improved by only 1.2%, a very slow rate. This may be due to many countries weakening their policies, such as US, which plans to roll back the standards that would have encouraged more efficient lights.

Another disappointment is the lack of inclusion of energy efficiency in building codes. According to one report, 2/3 of new buildings worldwide are being built without having to meet any type of energy efficiency codes and standards. Since a new building now will be functioning and, presumably, wasting some energy for the next 60 or more years, this is a concern.

Development in Africa is crucial. Africa is expected to grow economically and urbanize starting this decade. Will it do so powered by coal or another fossil fuel or will it do so primarily with renewable power, as sun and wind are plentiful in most of Africa? One report states that Africa has about 40% of the world’s potential for solar energy but is generating less than 1% of the world’s solar power.

CCES has the experts to help you plan your own energy plan to be more efficient, save costs, and have a demonstrably greener entity. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.