Welcome to Summer Study! When ACEEE hosted the first Summer Study in 1980 at the University of California, Santa Cruz, we were a brand new organization of volunteers. Since then, we’ve grown into a professional organization of 40 full-time staff while the Summer Study has grown from about 100 participants in 1980 to a sell-out crowd of over 1,000 this year. During the past 30 years, we’ve had many accomplishments, but many more challenges lie ahead.

Among notable accomplishments, energy use per unit GDP is down 46% in 2009 from 1980 levels. Major contributing factors to this achievement are appliance and vehicle efficiency standards; utility-sector energy efficiency programs; and myriad policy and program actions at the state level. ACEEE has worked in all of these areas; we’ve led work on appliance efficiency standards and been a major player on utility energy efficiency programs and policies. Interestingly, energy prices do not appear to be a driver, as average energy prices are slightly lower today, in inflation-adjusted terms, than they were in 1980.

But more challenges await us. Climate scientists tell us that we need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 80-90% by 2050 in order to keep global climate change to manageable levels. World oil reserves may be peaking, to be followed by decline, driven in part by growing vehicle use in countries such as China and India. The result will drive energy prices higher and hurt our economy unless we can reduce energy use significantly. 

ACEEE’s various studies done at the state level show that we can reduce energy use by 25-30% by 2030 using existing, cost-effective technologies. But there are new technologies and practices on the horizon whose development is driven by interest in sustainable development and expected future pricing of greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency is a “hot” area for venture capital investment. LED lighting is climbing in efficiency and declining in price, leading many to believe that LEDs could account for the majority of our lighting by 2020.  Smart manufacturing, intelligent buildings, and other information technologies may be able to provide energy savings of 20% or more. And, behavioral strategies can help consumers manage their energy use. ACEEE’s preliminary estimates are that altogether, existing and new technologies and practices may be able to reduce U.S. energy use by about 60% by 2050 from currently predicted levels, providing a major contribution to meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals and helping to strengthen our economy.

In order to achieve this level of energy savings, major efforts will be required from government, businesses, and consumers. Government can enact policies such as stronger building codes and equipment efficiency standards, utility energy savings targets, expanded  energy efficiency R&D efforts, and grants and loans for major energy-saving retrofits to our homes, commercial buildings, and factories  Businesses can develop new energy-saving products and services, and can invest in cost-effective efficiency improvements to their facilities. And consumers can improve their homes and better manage their energy use.   

ACEEE plans to work in all of these areas. We will continue to work on federal energy policy, but given the current gridlock in Washington, we are expanding our work on policies and programs at the state level, and have recently hired someone to work on  local programs. 

As a result of these efforts, and the efforts of the many other companies and organizations represented here at Asilomar, we look forward to celebrating large energy-efficiency improvements when we gather to celebrate ACEEE’s 60^th anniversary, 30 years from now. We salute you, our friends, supporters, and colleagues, and invite you to share in our celebration throughout this week of three decades of collaborative progress in achieving greater economic productivity, energy security, and environmental protection.