The Greening of Government: Getting To Net-Zero
Summer 2010 • Volume 2 • Number 3

Helping chronicle energy efficiency and renewable energy is longtime EERE Network News editor Kevin Eber. His mission is to track what is happening across the federal government in terms of clean energy.

Way, way back in 1999, Kevin Eber struggled to find renewable energy news to cover.

“We would cover any wind plant, cover most small solar installations; we had to dig and sometimes cover some pretty obscure news, Kevin Eber, editor of EERE Network News told On The FrontLines in a recent interview.

Those Days Are Over

“Now we can barely touch on the quarterly reports on wind power,” Eber declared. “Now there is so much going on in terms of what the industry has been doing; it has been so amazing.”

As EERE Network News editor, Eber says his mission is to track what is happening across the federal government in terms of clean energy.

“When when we started this, it was rare that even DOE was doing stuff, but nowadays not only is DOE putting out PR on renewable energy all the time, there is quite a bit of involvement from other agencies.”

Eber described how USDA has renewable energy programs for farmers and rural areas that have really grown over the years and how Interior has stepped up its efforts on the federal lands it is responsible for. Then there is the military where bases are becoming more energy efficient and more energy independent from the power grid.

“We are trying to gather as much information as we can telling the federal story and putting it all together in one place so people can see what everyone is doing,” explained Eber.

A Nuclear Beginning

Eber began his career as a “nuke”; OK, actually as an engineer at a northeast Connecticut utility working on nuclear plants. Looking for change, he traveled west to the University of Colorado earning a Masters in Journalism. When given the opportunity to work at the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), he said candidly he “jumped at it.”

That was 19 years ago. “I have actually had the fortune of going from producing documents that 1,000 to 2,000 might see, to see the Internet come to life and reach much larger audiences,” Eber said.

EERE Network News started 11 years ago. From an initial 500 subscribers, it took about 7 years to build grow to 10,000; then 3 years to reach 20,000; and 1 1/2 years to reach 30,000.

Now it is emailed weekly to around 36,000 and there is an RSS feed. And now Eber is no longer a one-person operation with writer Ernie Tucker handling most of the writing assignments.

“While we still try to gather all the news that comes up, we filter it now,” said Eber. “Figuring out the news nowadays is a different sort of a decision, not like the old days, a scant 10 years ago.” n

 
Green Views

Kevin Eber told On The FrontLines some of what he sees in the future.

Transportation

In transportation, Eber sees the shift to electrified vehicles and plug-in hybrids continue to offer a huge opportunity to reduce dependence on oil. Additionally, “there is all kinds of potential to connect all this with the SmartGrid and provide energy storage solutions for utilities that could help with integration of various renewable sources under the grid,” said Eber.

Further in the future, Eber sees a potential convergence between transportation and the SmartGrid that could be a game changer.

Biofuels

In terms of biofuels, people are developing “drop in” biofuels; this is something that behaves like gasoline and you can put it in car just like gas. “The more we do that the more we can take advantage of existing infrastructure and use it for biofuels and help shift towards cleaner technologies,” Eber noted.

Renewable Power

In the renewable power business, the big question is developing the SmartGrid and new transmission systems that can handle the amounts of renewable power we want to generate said Eber.

“In order to meet our climate change goals, we have to pursue every type of technology we have available and that includes carbon capture and storage and nuclear power.”

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Challenge Yourself

Don’t sit on the sidelines, participate and challenge yourself and your organization to be more energy efficient. That's what GSA Administrator Martha Johnson is doing when with the goal of a net-zero environmental footprint for GSA, which she calls "GSA's moonshot".  

Diagnosis Green

DOE's Paul Scheihing and Will Linter provide agencies with Data Center assessment tools and help guide them to use funding more effectively in meeting their energy management objectives. 

Green Chronicles

Helping chronicle energy efficiency and renewable energy is longtime EERE Network News editor Kevin Eber. Read what Eber says is trending Green in the near future. 

The Lean Green Data Center Machine

Chuck Powers, IT Operations Director at NREL RSF shows how the new Data Center is consuming and providing energy as a part of the lab’s new net-zero sustainable green building. 

Green Proving Ground—Interview with GSA’s Kevin Kampschroer

In an On The FrontLines interview, the High Performance Buildings director describes why the renovation of the GSA HQ in DC will be a test bed for net-zero design and workplace flexibility. 

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