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EREN NETWORK NEWS -- May 29, 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/>
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Featuring:
*News and Events
Ohio Governor Announces Fuel Cell Initiative
Report: Distributed Generation to Grow 15-Fold by 2011
Companies Developing Alternative Home Power Technologies
DOE Publishes Final Air Conditioning, Heat Pump Standards
300-Kilowatt Solar Power System Installed in Arizona
California Renews its 20/20 Energy Conservation Program
NREL Develops Low-Emissions Natural Gas Engine
*Energy Facts and Tips
Gas Prices Holding Steady Through Memorial Day Weekend
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Ohio Governor Announces Fuel Cell Initiative
Ohio Governor Bob Taft announced in early May a new
$100 million, three-year initiative to help Ohio take a
leadership position in the fuel cell industry. The Ohio Fuel
Cell Initiative will expand the state's research capabilities,
invest in expanding Ohio's fuel cell industry, and allow the
state to participate in hydrogen infrastructure demonstration
projects. See the governor's press release at:
<http://www.state.oh.us/gov/releases/050902fuelcell.htm>.
New fuel cell technologies were advanced last week when
Fuel Cell Technologies Corporation (FCT) announced the
successful testing of its 5-kilowatt fuel cell prototype. The
prototype uses a solid oxide fuel cell provided by Siemens
Westinghouse Power Corporation. According to FCT, the
prototype produces electricity from natural gas at conversion
efficiencies of greater than 40 percent -- that is, more than
40 percent of the energy in the natural gas is converted to
electricity. FCT also won a contract in early May from
California's South Coast Air Quality Management District for
the demonstration of its fuel cell system in ten California
homes. See the FCT press releases at:
<http://www.fct.ca/press.html>.
The FCT announcement is sure to be one topic of
conversation at the 14th World Hydrogen Energy
Conference (WHEC), to be held in Montreal, Canada, from
June 9th to 13th. The conference addresses all aspects of
hydrogen and fuel cell developments. The Canadian
Hydrogen Association and the National Hydrogen Association
in the United States are jointly organizing this year's
conference. See the WHEC Web site at:
<http://www.hydrogen2002.com/>.
Report: Distributed Generation to Grow 15-Fold by 2011
The global electric capacity of distributed generation sources
will grow to 300,000 megawatts by 2011, according to a new
report. Distributed generation includes modular forms of
generating or storing electricity that can be located near the
point of use -- for instance, fuel cells or solar electric
systems. An upcoming report from Allied Business
Intelligence (ABI) projects a 15-fold increase in the use of
distributed generation from today's 20,000 megawatts.
According to ABI, reciprocating engines and small gas
turbines should dominate the market until about 2005, when
fuel cells are expected to grow in prominence. The full report
is due out in late June. See the ABI press release, in Adobe
PDF format only, at:
<http://www.alliedworld.com/pdfs/DGN02pr.pdf>.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
(NRECA) has recognized the growing distributed generation
market and the challenges that it faces. Because one of the
major challenges is the interconnection of any generation
system with the power grid, NRECA has created a
"Distributed Generation Toolkit" to help its members address
the legal, economic and technical issues raised by
consumer-owned generation. The toolkit, which was rolled
out in April, may also be helpful to others investigating
distributed generation. See the toolkit on the NRECA Web
site at: <http://www.nreca.org/leg_reg/DGToolKit/>.
Ballard Power Systems Inc., a leading fuel-cell
manufacturer, also appears to be anticipating the growing
distributed generation market. The company has just
produced a new power converter for microturbines and has
opened an "Alternative Energy Laboratory" in Dearborn,
Michigan, for the testing of generation systems using power
sources such as fuel cells, microturbines, and internal
combustion engines. See the Ballard press release, in
Adobe PDF format only, at:
<http://www.ballard.com/pdfs/EDP_May_21_02.PDF>.
Companies Developing Alternative Home Power Technologies
Two new technologies for distributed generation -- Stirling
engines and liquid-injected cogeneration -- have recently
appeared on the horizon, although commercial plans for both
technologies remain several years in the future.
Ocean Power Corporation claims to have developed a home
energy system that uses a Stirling engine to generate up to
3 kilowatts of electricity while also providing hot water, space
heating, and air conditioning. The company claims to have
established the conditions for the sale of 10,000 units to a
private real estate management company. Upon completion
of performance and code compliance certifications, Ocean
Power intends to install the units in late 2005, at a cost of
about $3,800 per unit. Ocean Power currently has a unit
being tested in Norway and plans to have tests performed by
EPRISolutions, a subsidiary of the Electric Power Research
Institute. See the press release, unit description, and
frequently asked questions on the Ocean Power Web site at:
<http://www.powerco.com/>.
Stirling engines are a form of external combustion engine.
Since they can be driven by a wide range of external heat
sources, they are also known as heat engines. For more
information, see the California Energy Commission's
Distributed Energy Resource Guide at:
<http://www.energy.ca.gov/distgen/equipment/equipment.html>.
The second technology, liquid-injected cogeneration, is
being developed by the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center
and Yankee Scientific, Inc. It involves pumping water to a
high pressure, heating it with a conventional oil or gas
burner, and then expanding it to steam, which is used to
drive a turbine. The exhaust steam from the turbine provides
the energy for space heating and hot water. Although the
Army developed the system for its field kitchens, a spin-off
company plans to invest $5 million over the next three years
to develop a residential version of the system. See the
U.S. Army press release at:
<http://www.natick.army.mil/pao/2001/01-35.htm>.
DOE Publishes Final Air Conditioning, Heat Pump Standards
DOE last week published a final rule that raises the minimum
energy efficiency levels for most air conditioners and heat
pumps by 20 percent. The new rule establishes a minimum
Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER) of 12 for most
central air conditioners (including central air conditioning
heat pumps) and a minimum Heating Systems Performance
Factor (HSFR) of 7.4 for heat pumps. The rule goes into
effect on August 6th.
The new rule also withdraws a previous rule, published
January 21, 2001, that would have established an SEER of
13 for most central air conditioners. DOE determined that the
higher SEER standards were not economically justified. The
rule was published in the May 23rd Federal Register and is
posted on EREN at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings/codes_standards/rules/index.htm>.
300-Kilowatt Solar Power System Installed in Arizona
APS, Arizona's largest electric utility, dedicated a new
300-kilowatt solar electric system in Scottsdale, Arizona, last
week. The new facility is supported in part by APS
customers through the APS Solar Partners program. APS
plans to reach 3 megawatts of installed solar power capacity
by the end of 2003. See the May 20th press release on the
APS Web site at:
<http://www.aps.com/general_info/newsrelease/default.html?year=2002>.
A new solar power system was also added in South Jersey
in mid-May. A 52-kilowatt solar electric system was installed
on the roof of BJ's Wholesale Club in Deptford, New Jersey.
The New Jersey Clean Energy Fund provided financial
support for the facility. See the May 16th press release from
Green Mountain Energy Company at:
<http://www.prnewswire.com/micro/greenm>.
California Renews its 20/20 Energy Conservation Program
California Governor Gray Davis signed an executive order
last week that renewed the state's 20/20 energy
conservation program, which offers an additional 20 percent
discount on electric bills for California consumers that
manage to reduce their electricity use by 20 percent. A
similar program last year is credited with helping to achieve
a peak demand reduction of 2,600 megawatts during the
critical summer months.
This year's program is somewhat revised: it applies only to
residential customers and is in effect one month later, from
July 1st to October 31st. To avoid penalizing those
households that saved energy last summer, this year's
program is again based on a comparison with electricity use
in 2000. See the Governor's May 23rd press release on the
California Energy Commission Web site at:
<http://www.energy.ca.gov/releases/index.html>.
NREL Develops Low-Emissions Natural Gas Engine
A prototype medium-duty natural gas engine that uses an
innovative fuel injection technology shows promise for
achieving high fuel efficiency with low emissions, according
to a new report from DOE's National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL). In tests conducted by Southwest
Research Institute, an 8.1-liter compressed natural gas
engine was equipped with fuel-injection pre-chamber (FIPC)
technology and achieved a 17 percent boost in fuel
efficiency with low emissions. The tests show promise for
developing natural gas engines for trucks that will compete
with diesel engines in terms of fuel efficiency and emissions.
See the April 25th press release, with a link to the full report,
on the NREL Web site at:
<http://www.nrel.gov/hot-stuff/press/news.html>.
Commercial interest in alternatives to diesel fuel may
increase under regulations that will go into effect with model
year 2007. At that time, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) will require reduced emissions from diesel
trucks and buses and lower levels of sulfur in diesel fuel. The
D.C. District Court of Appeals upheld the EPA rule in early
May. See the May 3rd press release by selecting "Press
Releases" on the EPA Web site at:
<http://www.epa.gov/epahome/newsroom.htm>.
Diesel engine manufacturers are already facing an October
deadline for improved emissions. Thus far, only Cummins
Inc. has had an engine certified by the EPA to meet the new
standards. According to Cummins, its new engines achieve
slightly better fuel economy and are 80 percent quieter than
their predecessors. See the Cummins "Toughest Standards"
Web site at: <http://www.tougheststandards.cummins.com/>.
NREL's latest natural gas engine report is one of a series
issued by the laboratory to provide information about
promising alternative transportation technologies. In fact, as
a lead DOE laboratory for research and development of
renewable energy and energy efficiency, NREL produces
hundreds of publications on these topics each year. How to
keep up? Try subscribing to NREL's Electronic Outreach
Network (NEON). The new service sends out a weekly email
listing of the latest additions to the NREL publications
database. This week's issue includes energy design
guidelines for schools in hot and dry climates, as well as
several publications on energy saving improvements at a
newsprint company in Augusta, Georgia. See the NEON
page on the NREL Web site at:
<http://www.nrel.gov/publications/neon/>.
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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
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Gas Prices Holding Steady Through Memorial Day Weekend
With Memorial Day weekend marking the start of the
summer tourist season in the United States, a check on the
latest gasoline trends shows that regular unleaded gasoline
prices are holding steady at an average of about $1.40.
Although prices often increase during the Memorial Day
weekend, prices actually dropped slightly over the past
week in most of the country . See the Weekly U.S. Retail
Gasoline Prices on DOE's Energy Information Administration
Web site at: <http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/fwd/wrgp.html>.
If you're looking to save on gasoline, be warned that the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating
deceptive marketing of energy-saving products on the
Internet. The FTC sent letters to 50 companies in April
warning of potential future law enforcement actions against
companies that make deceptive claims. While some of the
products are aimed at home energy savings, most are aimed
at consumers wishing to save gasoline, including "implausible
claims for various aftermarket automotive devices (fuel-line
magnets, air bleed devices, and other retrofit gadgets) and
additives that supposedly increase gas mileage." According
to the FTC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has
evaluated or tested more than 100 purported gas-saving
devices and additives, and has not found any product that
significantly improves gas mileage. See the FTC press
release at: <http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/04/energysurf2002.htm>.
Want to know how to REALLY save gasoline? See the "Gas
Mileage Tips" on the DOE/EPA Fuel Economy Web site at:
<http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml>.
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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If you have questions or comments about this
newsletter, please contact the editor, Kevin Eber, at
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