PNNL estimates potential HVAC energy savings for U.S. commercial buildings

PNNL researchers found commercial buildings could substantially cut their power bills if they retrofitted their packaged rooftop heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units, such as those shown here in the Seattle area.

So much energy is wasted by technology these days, and a ton of it is wasted in the form of heat (a whopping 58% in the U.S.). The good news is, that means there’s a lot of potential to tap/capture that wasted energy and use it for better purposes. Researchers at Purdue University are working on that. Here’s more from the Purdue University News Service:

This image shows glass fibers coated with a thermoelectric material that generates electrical current when exposed to heat. The technology might be used to harvest energy from hot pipes or engine components, possibly representing a way to recover energy wasted in factories, power plants and cars. (Purdue University photo/Scott W. Finefrock)

Vestas, one of the world’s leading wind turbine companies, has reached a major milestone this year. 50 GW of its wind turbines, over 46,000 of them, have been installed around the world. That’s about 1/5 of global wind power capacity and would be enough to power 19 million European homes.

The U.S. has just launched a five-year, $125 million alternative energy research project with India, aimed partly at developing biofuels from non-food crops. The biofuel project, funded by the Department of Energy and led by the University of Florida, has the goal of managing climate change and reducing U.S. dependence on petroleum products — and that adds an intriguing element of geopolitics and petrodollars to the mix.

Many cooks in the alternative energy kitchen

The new endeavor, somewhat cumbersomely tagged the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center, (JCERDC), also includes solar and energy efficiency components led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.