=================================================
EREN NETWORK NEWS -- April 10, 2002
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN).
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/>
=================================================
Featuring:
*News and Events
Portland Slated for Wind Turbine Plant to Meet High Demand
Factory Starts Full-Scale Production of Plastics from Corn
Green-e Certifies Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates
DOE's Renewable, Efficiency Office Releases Program Review
High-Tech Firms to Investigate Distributed Energy Resources
DOE Awards $74.7 Million for Home Weatherization
*Site News
EREN Energy Education & Training Site
*Energy Facts and Tips
U.S. Gasoline Prices to be Lower this Summer than Last
*About this Newsletter
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS AND EVENTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Portland Slated for Wind Turbine Plant to Meet High Demand
Vestas Wind Systems A/S, a Danish manufacturer of wind
turbines, announced last week that it will build a new wind
turbine manufacturing facility in Portland, Oregon, to meet its
growing North American market. The new facility will
manufacture wind blades and towers and will assemble
nacelles, the part of the turbine that houses the generator,
drive mechanisms, and controls. Capable of producing
300 utility-scale turbines per year, the facility should start
production in mid-2003 and reach full capacity by early 2004.
See the Vestas press release at:
<http://www.vestas.com/nyheder/presse/2002/UK/fond20020403_UK.html>.
Vestas made the announcement following its receipt of an
order for 175 of its 660-kilowatt wind turbines from FPL
Energy, LLC. The order calls for delivery of the turbines this
year and next and includes an option for an additional
650 turbines. According to Vestas, the order has a value of
about $59 million initially and as much as $272 million if the
option is exercised. FPL Energy plans to build up to
2,000 megawatts of new wind power capacity by the end of
2003. See the FPL Energy press release at:
<http://www.fplenergy.com/newsreleases/2002/02036.html>.
FPL Energy is the developer, owner, and operator of the
263-megawatt Stateline Energy Center, a wind project that
began full operation in December 2001 and was dedicated
last week. See the FPL Energy press release at:
<http://www.fplenergy.com/newsreleases/2002/02035.html>.
The Vestas news may spur some additional interest in the
Second Environmental Summit on the West, to be held in
Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 24-26. Sponsored by the
Western Governor's Association (WGA) and the White
House Council on Environmental Quality, the summit will
include a half-day breakout session on expanding the use of
renewable energy resources in the West. Western governors
will be joined by White House dignitaries at the event. See
the WGA announcement at:
<http://www.westgov.org/wga/press/enlibra_summitII_announce.htm>.
Factory Starts Full-Scale Production of Plastics from Corn
Cargill Dow LLC announced last week the grand opening of
the world's first global-scale manufacturing facility to make
commercial-grade plastic from a renewable resource. Cargill
Dow's new facility in Blair, Nebraska, will use up to 40,000
bushels of corn each day and is capable of producing more
than 300 million pounds of polylactide (PLA) each year. Sold
under the NatureWorks trade name, the PLA will be used as
a fiber for clothing and bedding and as a plastic for food
packaging and other uses. In fact, the properties of the PLA
fiber are exceptional enough to earn a designation from the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission as a new generic fiber,
joining the ranks of polyester and natural fibers such as
cotton.
According to Cargill Dow, the production cycle of PLA
consumes up to 50 percent less fossil fuels than traditional
petroleum-based plastics, and PLA production will produce
from 15 to 60 percent less greenhouse gas than the
materials it will replace. The company intends to invest
$250 million over the next several years for commercial
development and product technology development, as well
as for research into ways to produce PLA from other plants
and even agricultural wastes. See the Cargill Dow press
releases at: <http://www.cargilldow.com/news.asp>.
Green-e Certifies Tradable Renewable Energy Certificates
The Center for Resource Solutions announced in late March
that it is now offering Green-e certification of tradable
renewable energy credits (TRCs), also known as "green
tags." TRCs allow a company to build a renewable energy
facility anywhere and sell the power into the local power
system at the going rate. The company then sells the
environmental attributes of the power through TRCs. Since
renewable energy sources are often more expensive than
traditional power sources, TRC sales may be an essential
extra source of income for the facility owner. People or
companies that buy TRCs can correctly claim that they are
supporting renewable energy projects and can claim that
they are offsetting air emissions that they produce through
their purchase of TRCs.
The problems with TRCs are the large potential for abuse:
companies that are forced to build a renewable facility to
meet local, state, or federal regulations could essentially
"double count" that facility by also selling TRCs for it. Or a
company could sell more TRCs than they can back up with
actual energy sales. The new Green-e certification prohibits
such activities, and as such, the certification provides an
essential tool for consumers and businesses to determine
the validity of any TRCs they may purchase. See the
Green-e TRC announcement at:
<http://www.green-e.org/ipp/trc_announcement.html>.
The Timberland Company provides a recent example of
such a TRC purchase. Timberland is paying for enough
TRCs from a wind farm in South Dakota to offset the carbon
emissions caused by the electricity used in all of its U.S.
retail stores. To demonstrate how confusing these things can
be, a New England non-profit, Clean Air-Cool Planet, will
serve as a middleman in the deal: Timberland will make a
donation to the non-profit, and the non-profit will buy the
TRCs from yet another company, called NativeEnergy. See
the NativeEnergy press release at:
<http://www.nativeenergy.com/news021102.html>.
Green-e has been involved in the green power market since
its inception, through certification of green power products
sold in competitive power markets. Recently, the town of
Westport, Connecticut, chose to buy green power for the
town hall and most of the town's recreation buildings. Green
Mountain Energy Company also started selling Green-e
certified green power in Texas. See the Green-e press
releases at:
<http://www.green-e.org/media_ed/press_releases_index.html>.
Green Mountain Energy Company's green power product in
Texas will be supported, in part, by a new 43-kilowatt solar
power array now under construction in Houston. The
company is also offering green power through two Oregon
utilities, Portland General Electric and Pacific Power. And
the company has expanded its territory in Ohio, offering
green power to the cities of Alliance, Sandusky, and London,
and the village of Lagrange. See the company's press
releases at: <http://www.prnewswire.com/micro/greenm>.
Utilities are achieving success with their green power
products as well. Puget Sound Energy (PSE) in Washington,
Pepco Energy Services in Maryland, and El Paso Electric in
Texas have all reported successful green power marketing
efforts in recent months, and a new product from Wisconsin
Public Service has earned the Green-e certification. See the
March 4th press release from El Paso Electric by selecting
"New Release - General" at:
<http://www.epelectric.com/internetsite/www_news.nsf/News?OpenView>.
See also the PSE, Pepco, and Wisconsin Public Service
press releases at:
<http://www.pse.com/news/2002/pr20020219a.html>,
<http://www.pepcoenergy.com/news/pr01_23_02.htm>, and
<http://www.wpsr.com/cfm/nrrdt.cfm?&reckey=00448>.
DOE's Renewable, Efficiency Office Releases Program Review
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
(EERE) released the results of its Strategic Program Review
late last month. The review of DOE's energy efficiency and
renewable energy programs was called for in the President's
National Energy Policy. The review concluded that EERE
generates significant public benefits and often exhibits
scientific excellence in its research. However, the review
also found that 20 EERE projects should be terminated,
including research in natural gas vehicle engines,
concentrating solar power troughs, and residential
refrigerators. It also suggested redirecting six initiatives and
processes, including the Partnership for a New Generation
of Vehicles, which has already been redirected into the
FutureCAR program. The review established a "watch list" of
programs and projects that require close monitoring,
specifically calling out projects designated by Congress.
Such Congressional "earmarks" currently comprise nearly
one fourth of the appropriations for renewable energy.
As noted in the report, EERE's historic performance includes
being among the top recipients worldwide of the prestigious
R&D100 Award and earning returns of 20 to 1 on its
research investment, as determined by the National
Academy of Sciences' National Research Council (NRC).
In the past five years, EERE's partnership activities have
involved more than 2,000 individuals in technology
roadmapping alone, and EERE has nearly 3,000 current
contracts with industry, universities, national laboratories,
and others. Indicators of EERE's performance-based
management include roughly two-thirds of its research and
development funding currently going through competitive
solicitations, and undergoing more than 20 external peer
reviews by the NRC alone. The report recommends that
EERE continue such "best practices" and apply them evenly
across all the programs.
As part of the Strategic Program Review, EERE solicited
public comments through town meetings in seven cities.
These meetings, along with e-mail and postal mail
responses, resulted in 4,279 public comments, of which
more than 99 percent expressed strong support for EERE
programs. Many of the supportive comments were based on
the rationale that EERE's programs would enable the nation
to meet its energy needs through clean power technologies.
The broad topic area that received the most attention in the
public comments was the environment, followed by
economic, budget, and energy security issues. Of the
recommendations directed at EERE in the public comments,
the most prevalent, identified in more than 90 percent of the
comments, was the recommendation to increase EERE's
funding level.
This newsletter and the EREN Web site are among the
many projects funded by EERE. Thanks to any readers who
participated in the town meetings or provided comments.
See the full report on the EERE Web site on EREN at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/ee.html>.
EERE isn't resting on its laurels -- the office continues to
examine national priorities for energy efficiency in the
upcoming E-Vision 2002 conference, building on the
success of the previous E-Vision 2000 conference. In
mid-May, EERE will gather together industry executives,
senior government officials, leading analysts and
researchers, and public decision makers to help establish a
national priority for energy efficiency. The conference will
take place in Arlington, Virginia on May 14-16. See the
conference announcement at:
<http://www.e-vision2002.com/about.html>.
High-Tech Firms to Investigate Distributed Energy Resources
DOE announced last week its award of $9 million to five
industry teams to conduct research, development, and
testing of distributed energy resources in the data
processing and telecommunications industries. Among the
data center projects, the Durst Organization will combine gas
turbine generators and steam-driven absorption chillers to
provide highly reliable electricity and cooling for a new data
center in Manhattan. (Located on West 57th Street, it was
the first major commercial real estate project to get
underway in New York since the events of September 11th.)
Honeywell will also use an absorption chiller in a data center
at the University of Miami, but will combine it with five
microturbines. And Sure Power Corporation will develop its
own approach for highly reliable data center energy needs
and install it at an Exodus Internet data center near Seattle,
Washington. Meanwhile, the Electric Power Research
Institute's Power Electronics Applications Center
(EPRI-PEAC) will develop a methodology to help end users,
such as these data centers, compare the value of DER
technologies with traditional power management options.
See the DOE press release at:
<http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases02/aprpr/pr02056.htm>.
But let's not forget Verizon Communications Inc., which will
represent the telecommunications industry with a project to
install multiple fuel cells and reciprocating engine generators
at a critical call-routing center in New York. The project was
mentioned in the Energy Star article in last week's EREN
Network News:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/newsletter/archives/2002/apr03_02.html>.
DOE Awards $74.7 Million for Home Weatherization
DOE announced last week its award of nearly $74.7 million
in weatherization assistance funds to 24 states plus the
Navajo Nation. The funds will be used to improve the energy
efficiency of the homes of low-income families in the states
and within the Navajo Nation. The program provides energy
audits to identify the most cost-effective measures for each
home, which typically include adding insulation, reducing air
infiltration, servicing the heating and cooling systems, and
providing health and safety diagnostic services. For every
dollar spent, DOE's Weatherization Assistance
Program returns $1.80 in energy savings over the life of the
weatherized home, based on recent energy prices. Since
theprogram's inception, more than five million homes have
been weatherized. See the DOE press release at:
<http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases02/aprpr/pr02057.htm>.
The Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized Indian
tribe in the United States. It includes roughly a quarter million
people, of which an estimated 180,000 live in Navajoland, or
"Dine Bikeyah," which covers more than 27,000 square
miles in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. See the full profile
on the Navajo Nation Washington Office Web site at:
<http://www.nnwo.org/nnprofile.htm>.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SITE NEWS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EREN Energy Education & Training Site
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/education/>
EREN's newly redesigned Energy Education & Training site
features substantially more links to educational and training
resources on energy, particularly energy efficiency and
renewable energy. Resources include lesson plans for
teachers, science projects, student competitions, continuing
adult education opportunities, information on energy careers
and jobs, and much more.
For this and other recent additions to the EREN Web site,
see: <http://www.eren.doe.gov/new/whats-new.html>.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Gasoline Prices to be Lower this Summer than Last
Gasoline prices are going up in the United States, but DOE's
Energy Information Administration (EIA) anticipates that they
will stay lower overall than they were last summer. EIA
announced Monday that U.S. gasoline prices for the spring
and summer should average $1.46 per gallon, about 8 cents
lower than last year's average. Still, that makes it the
third-highest average price on record, behind 2000 and 2001.
The announcement also holds good news for the power
industry: electricity demand this summer is expected to be
roughly equal to last summer's electrical demand. See the
EIA press release at:
<http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/press/press192.html>.
EIA's projection does not include any anticipated impacts
from Iraq's decision to cut oil exports for the next month,
which was also announced Monday. For the latest energy
analysis from EIA, see the Energy Situation Analysis Report
on the EIA Web site at:
<http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/security/esar/esar.html>.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can subscribe to this newsletter using the online form at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/newsletter/subscribe/>.
This Web page also allows you to update your email address
or unsubscribe to this newsletter.
The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN)
home page is located at <http://www.eren.doe.gov/>.
If you have questions or comments about this
newsletter, please contact the editor, Kevin Eber, at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Stock for $4
and no minimums.
FREE Money 2002.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/k6cvND/n97DAA/ySSFAA/9bTolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Biofuels at Journey to Forever
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
Biofuel at WebConX
http://www.webconx.com/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
