The first fuel: the cheapest and cleanest energy is the energy you don't consume.

• Author: Andersen, Glen

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

A limitless source of energy lies waiting to be discovered in homes, buildings and factories across the nation. It produces zero emissions, creates huge savings for consumers and industry, and is far less expensive and quicker to employ than any type of new power generation.

This invisible resource is energy efficiency, or "the first fuel." And it is usually the best approach to meeting energy demand--the logical first step before building expensive power plants or laying transmission lines. Energy efficiency is also the quickest and easiest approach to reducing greenhouse gases.

"Most official energy forecasts assume massive growth rates in energy demand," says Hunter Lovins, president of Natural Capitalism Solutions, a firm that provides sustainable energy solutions to numerous corporations and government entities worldwide. "This growth cannot be met cost effectively without energy efficiency, our least-cost energy resource," she says.

These issues are a primary concern for economists and policymakers, who know the strength of the U.S. economy depends on stable, affordable energy supplies. The energy choices we make now will affect the economy and environment far into the future.

"We must get energy demand down to a sustainable range, or it's not going to make much difference whether we bring renewables into the supply chain," says Bill Prindie, deputy director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. A proposal considered by Congress, which requires utilities to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, would not satisfy the projected growth in energy demand. This means that more coal- or gas-fired power plants would have to be built and greenhouse gas emissions would continue to rise--unless energy efficiency is implemented in tandem with renewable energy requirements.

"Renewables won't succeed unless we do efficiency first and in parallel," says Prindle.

"Energy efficiency is simply the wisest business choice," says Lovins. Adopting energy efficiency programs lowers business operating costs, freeing up funds for capital investments, expanding the workforce and pleasing shareholders.

"In general, investing in energy efficiency generates three times as many jobs as investment in supply-side projects such as power plants," says Prindle. "Energy efficiency is more labor intensive while plant construction is more capital intensive."

THE RESULTS ARE IN

States and corporations are already seeing enormous returns on their investments in energy efficiency. Connecticut's Clean Energy Fund helps utilities pay for programs that reduce natural gas and electricity consumption. Lifetime savings have been phenomenal-$4 for every $1 spent in 2006, $60 million a year in avoided energy costs. Air quality benefits are just as dramatic. Carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 181,000 tons in 2006, the equivalent of removing 31,200 cars from the road. There was also a 442-ton reduction in N[O.sub.x] and S[O.sub.x] (pollutants that cause smog and acid rain) that year.

Today's technology is helping states and businesses decrease the amount of energy needed to live or work comfortably at home, in the office or at the factory. A new building with energy efficient design features can use 50 percent less energy, drastically cutting the size and cost of heating and cooling systems, and the energy system needed to power the building. The result is a building that may cost the same to build as a typical one, but offers tremendous energy savings and environmental benefits.

Washington state passed a law in 2005 to improve energy efficiency in publicly owned buildings by using certified contractors to perform upgrades, which...