Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

Country / jurisdiction: United States · Year: 2008 · Status: In force · Level: National · Type: Voluntary

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was signed into law in December 2007. The legislation seeks to expand the production of renewable fuels, reduce US dependence on oil, increase energy security and address climate change. Key provisions include:

1) Increasing the supply of alternative fuel sources by setting a mandatory Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requiring fuel producers to use at least 36 billion gallons of biofuel in 2022, and by providing for further incentives for the development of renewable energy technologies; Measures supporting renewable energy include:

- The cost-shared Renewable Energy Innovation Manufacturing Partnership Program, which will make awards to support R&D, demonstration, and deployment of advanced manufacturing processes, materials, and infrastructure for renewable energy technologies. Eligible technologies include those for solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, energy storage, and fuel cell systems.

- Providing up to a 50% matching grant for the construction of small renewable energy projects that will have commercial electrical generation capacity of less than 15 megawatts. Types of renewable energy sources include solar, wind, geothermal, ocean, biomass, or landfill gas.

2) Reducing US demand for oil by setting a national fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. The act also allows the Transportation Department to issue "attribute-based standards".

3) provisions to improve energy efficiency in lighting:

- phase out the use of incandescent light bulbs by 2014, and improve lighting efficiency by more than 70% by 2020;

- requiring all general purpose lighting in federal buildings to use Energy Star products or products designated under the Energy Departments Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) by the end of Fiscal Year 2013;

- setting an energy efficiency standard for general service incandescent lamps, incandescent reflector lamps, fluorescent lamps, and metal halide lamp fixtures designed to be operated with lamps rated between 150 watts and 500 watts;

- providing for consumer education and lamp labeling, and requiring market assessments and the establishment of a consumer awareness programme;

-initiating a "Bright tomorrow" lighting prize: USD 10 million for a LED replacement lamp (for 60W incandescent); USD 5 million for a LED replacement of PAR 38 halogen lamp; USD 5 million for a "Twenty-First Century Lamp", a solid state product meeting certain requirements.

4) provisions to improve energy efficiency in appliances:

- updating the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to set new appliance efficiency standards for heating and cooling products, consumer electronic products, residential boiler efficiency, electric motor efficiency, and home appliances;

- the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is directed to set energy efficiency labeling requirements for consumer electronic products;

- several procedural changes have been put in place to expedite the DOE rulemaking process, with the DOE directed to issue a final rule that sets efficiency standards for battery chargers and to complete a rulemaking process for furnace fans by 2013. DOE has also been given the ability to establish regional variations in standards for heating and air conditioning equipment.

- Federal agencies are further directed to purchase devices that limit standby power use.

5) provisions to improve energy efficiency in buildings:

- establishing an Office of High-Performance Green Buildings (OHPGB) in the US General Services Administration to promote green building technology implementation in Federal buildings;

- DOE will establish energy efficiency standards for manufactured housing via the Energy Code Improvements Applicable to Manufactured Housing requirement;

- reducing the energy consumption of federal government facilities by 30% by 2015, and to ensure that all new federal buildings are carbon neutral by 2030;

- new standards to be established

Official source: https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-energy-independence-and-security-act