“Every negawatt generated has the potential to increase our wealth and health as few other investments can. Negawatts enable us to do more with less and the opportunities are almost boundless. Energy efficiency is the great new energy resource of our future and a vital key to a sustainable environment.” Amory Lovins.
A negawatt is cheaper and cleaner to produce than a megawatt . It is less expensive to install energy-efficiency equipment and reduce consumption than to build new power plants. PerpetualGreen (www.perpetualgreen.net) is an example of a private company that is currently installing residential energy-efficient systems and capturing the negawatts produced for sale in the energy credit markets as a way to help reduce the initial cost of the equipment to the homeowner.
Reducing energy consumption is the most efficient alternative energy source. With no fuel being burned and no capital being expended for power not used. Negawatts are just as useful to the power utilities for meeting demand as actual megawatts, especially when demand for electricity is high and the supply is low. Many, including the authors of the current cap and trade bill, are suggesting that utilities should be required to purchase these new energy credits from those that can verify reductions in energy use.
In fact, production and sales of negawatts is actually happing now in the renewable energy and carbon offset markets. Many consider an energy credit saved equals an energy credit earned. A renewable energy credit (REC) is equal to 1 megawatt of clean energy produced, and a negawatt is equal to 1 megawatt of energy conserved. Considering that conserved energy (energy that didn’t have to be produced because demand was lowered) it is no wonder it is the cleanest source of energy.
New market opportunities are emerging to produce, manage, aggregate and trade negawatts for sale to the renewable energy, carbon offset, and utility markets.
