NPGA hails DOE move to full-fuel-cycle analyses

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to adopt full-fuel-cycle (FFC) analyses into its Energy Conservation Standards Program – a decision that NPGA called a major milestone. DOE intends to use FFC measures of energy use and emissions, rather than the primary (or site) energy measures it currently uses. FFC measures site energy, primary energy and the energy consumed in the extraction, processing and transport of primary fuels. In addition, DOE intends to work collaboratively with the Federal Trade Commission to make readily available to consumers information on the FFC energy and greenhouse gas emissions impact of specific products to enable consumers to make “cross-class comparisons of product energy use and emissions.” NPGA said it has strongly pushed the agency to take this action, particularly since the 2009 publication of the National Academy of Sciences study recommended that DOE move to a FFC approach.