Americas Energy and Climate Symposium is the first major energy event after the Summit of the Americas in April 2009, where U.S. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
announced the formation of the
Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
(ECPA). ECPA is a voluntary and flexible framework for advancing
energy security
Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to (relatively) cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven ...
and combating climate change.www.whitehouse.gov /ref> The president invited all Western Hemisphere countries to be part of a united effort under the ECPA, and since then, the regional response has been overwhelmingly positive across the elements of the ECPA:
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
energy development
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reus ...
and solidarity to help alleviate poverty.
Energy efficiency and renewable energy are the major focus for the Americas Energy and Climate Symposium. The first Americas Energy and Climate Symposium took place on June 15 and 16 2009 and was hosted by the
government of Peru
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.
Low Carbon Communities Program
At the symposium,
U.S. Energy Secretary
The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when Pr ...
Steven Chu
Steven ChuLow Carbon Communities Program, which will assist countries in developing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that will reduce the
carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carb ...
of their urban communities. Through the initiative, USDOE will partner with participating countries to develop building energy standards and to adopt modern urban planning strategies, including
transit-oriented development
In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship betw ...
. DOE will provide technical assistance and limited funding to help achieve those goals.
Regional centers
Energy leaders also announced the development of a Regional Energy Efficiency Center, supported by Peru, and a Regional Wind Center, supported by
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
.
See also
*
Sustainability
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
*
IRENA
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organi ...
Plug-in hybrid
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...
References
* Original text from http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/news_detail.cfm/news_id=12593
The White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...