Save Energy at Work

Last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new standards for cars and gasoline which will not only improve their efficiency, but also reduce harmful pollution and prevent thousands of premature deaths and illnesses. Considering input from auto manufacturers, refiners, and states, these cleaner fuels and cars standards are an important component of the administration's national program for clean cars and trucks.

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy consumption in the United States during 2012 fell to the lowest level since 1994, finds a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a branch of the Department of Energy. The assessment concludes that some 5.3 billion metric tons of CO2 were emitted from coal, natural gas, and oil consumption during the year, a 3.7 percent decline relative to 2011 and 12.1 percent below the peak of 6 billion tons hit in 2007. The EIA cited increased use of natural gas and falling consumption of coal as the primary reason for the drop in emissions of the greenhouse gas.

The amount of energy we use to manufacture the products we use every day is a significant part of the energy needed to support out lifestyle. As the planet gets more and more populated, can we continue to make manufacturing more efficient, or are thee limits to this? A new report by researchers at MIT and elsewhere finds that the global manufacturing sector has made great strides in energy efficiency: The manufacturing of materials such as steel, cement, paper and aluminum has become increasingly streamlined, requiring far less energy than when these processes were first invented. However, despite more energy-efficient manufacturing, the researchers found that such processes may be approaching their thermodynamic limits: There are increasingly limited options available to make them significantly more efficient. The result, the team observed, is that energy efficiency for many important processes in manufacturing is approaching a plateau.

Sellers of upcycled wares say this is one of the No. 1 queries they hear from customers, who wonder why the cost of clothing, accessories, home decor items and other household products always seems to be higher when picks are made from recycled...