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EERE NETWORK NEWS -- May 21, 2003
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/>
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Featuring:
*News and Events
Eighteen Veterans Hospitals Earn the Energy Star Label
UPS to Test Fuel-Cell-Powered Delivery Vehicles in Michigan
Ethanol Industry Growing as States Consider New MTBE Bans
Cal State Hayward to Install One Megawatt of Solar Power
U.S. Wind Industry to Grow 25 Percent in 2003
Pennsylvania Launches a $5-Million Clean Energy Initiative
*Site News
Interfaith Coalition on Energy
*Energy Connections
New York and Connecticut May Face Power Problems this Summer
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Eighteen Veterans Hospitals Earn the Energy Star Label
DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the
Energy Star to 18 Veterans Affairs medical centers on May 14th. The
winning medical centers were identified and qualified through a joint
effort of EPA, DOE's Federal Energy Management Program, DOE's Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The
energy-efficient medical centers are located in 16 states: Arizona,
Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana,
Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington State. See the
DOE press release at:
<http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases03/maypr/pr03102.htm>.
The joint EPA/DOE Energy Star program for rating and labeling building
energy performance, now in its fourth year, has recognized more than
1,000 U.S. buildings as models of energy efficiency. The program
recognizes buildings that are within the top 25 percent in the nation
in energy efficiency, as compared to similar buildings (such as
medical centers). The Energy Star Web site links to a database of
Energy-Star-labeled buildings, which in turn links to detailed
information on 15 of the 18 Veterans Affairs medical centers. Select
"Find Labeled Buildings" on the Energy Star Web site at:
<http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus_index>.
UPS to Test Fuel-Cell-Powered Delivery Vehicles in Michigan
UPS will soon be testing a fuel-cell-powered delivery vehicle in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, thanks to a newly announced partnership with the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the DaimlerChrysler
Corporation. UPS will start this year by using an F-Cell vehicle -- a
Mercedes Benz A-Class passenger vehicle powered by a Ballard fuel cell
-- for express delivery service. In 2004, DaimlerChrysler will provide
one or more fuel-cell-powered Dodge Sprinter delivery vans for use by
UPS.
To support the UPS trial, EPA is providing a hydrogen fueling station
at its National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor.
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will design and build the station,
which will store up to 1,500 gallons of liquid hydrogen and convert it
to compressed hydrogen gas for fueling the vehicles. See the EPA Web
page and press release at: <http://www.epa.gov/fuelcell/>
and <http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/headline_051903a.htm>.
In addition to supporting the UPS trial, DaimlerChrysler recently
delivered its first fuel-cell-powered bus to the city of Madrid,
Spain. The company will deliver 30 fuel-cell-powered Mercedes Benz
Citaro city buses to 10 European cities by the end of this year, one
year later than the company had originally planned. The 40-foot buses
will carry 70 passengers up to 125 miles per refueling. The roof of
the bus holds a tank of hydrogen compressed to 5,000 pounds per square
inch, powering a 200-kilowatt fuel cell that allows the bus to reach a
maximum speed of 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour. See the
DaimlerChrysler press release at:
<http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/news/top/2003/t30505a_e.htm>.
Ethanol Industry Growing as States Consider New MTBE Bans
With a ban on MTBE looming in California, and new legislation banning
MTBE under consideration in Connecticut and New York, the U.S. ethanol
fuel industry continued to grow in recent months. Since the beginning
of March, two plants in Iowa and two in South Dakota began operations,
increasing the U.S. production capacity by 125 million gallons per
year. Construction also began on new plants in Illinois and Kansas
that will add another 115 million gallons per year in production
capacity. All of the new ethanol plants are farmer-owned. Currently,
72 ethanol plants are operating in the United States, providing a
combined production capacity of more than 2.85 billion gallons per
year. Ten plants are currently under construction. See the Renewable
Fuels Association press releases at:
<http://www.ethanolrfa.org/press.shtml>.
Gas prices spiked in California earlier this year, and many people
were concerned that the switch to ethanol was to blame. However,
recent reports from DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) and
the California Energy Commission (CEC) found that unexpected refinery
outages and high crude oil prices were mainly to blame. Although the
complexity of the transition to ethanol -- creating two markets, one
for ethanol blends and one for MTBE blends -- contributed slightly to
the price increase, the actual ethanol supply was not constrained and
did not contribute to the price increase. However, the use of ethanol
does require more gasoline in each gallon of blended fuel, and the
long-term impact of that on the California market remains unclear.
See the CEC report and the EIA report (a 729-KB PDF file) at:
<http://www.energy.ca.gov/2003_price_spikes/> and
<http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/FTPROOT/service/cagasoline.pdf>.
While the current ethanol industry draws on corn and other grains for
the carbohydrates that are fermented into ethanol, a Canadian company
is aiming to convert wheat straw -- the non-edible stalk of the wheat
plant -- into ethanol. The company, Iogen Corporation, announced in
late April that it was processing 50 tons of wheat straw into
fermentable sugar each week. Iogen plans to produce about 185,000
gallons of ethanol per year at its pre-commercial facility. See the
Iogen press release at: <http://www.iogen.ca/news/28_03_2003.html>.
Cal State Hayward to Install One Megawatt of Solar Power
The title of "world leader in university-owned solar power systems"
will go to California State University, Hayward by this summer. Cal
State Hayward announced in early May that it plans to install solar
power modules in fixed locations on the roofs of three of the largest
buildings on campus, in addition to a sun-tracking solar power system
that will be located in an unused field. PowerLight Corporation will
build the systems, which will have a combined peak generating capacity
of 1.05 megawatts. Thanks to state rebates, the university will pay
only half the cost of the $7.11-million project, which should cut the
university's electric bill by $200,000 per year. See the press release
on the Cal State Hayward Web site at:
<http://www.csuhayward.edu/alumni_friends/public_affairs/index.html>.
Solar power rebates are just one of the factors that earned California
an A-minus grade in a recent report from the Union of Concerned
Scientist on state support for renewable energy. Only California and
Nevada earned A-minuses, while 34 states received failing grades of D
or F. See the UCS press release, with a link to the full report, at:
<http://www.ucsusa.org/news.cfm?newsID=343>.
U.S. Wind Industry to Grow 25 Percent in 2003
The installed capacity of wind generators in the United States is
expected to grow by about 25 percent in 2003, according to the
American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The industry group expects
from 1,100 to 1,400 megawatts of new wind turbines to be installed
this year, a lower number than the 1,500 to 1,800 megawatts projected
by the association back in January. AWEA says financing difficulties
that are plaguing the entire electrical generating market are also
creating roadblocks for some wind energy projects. See the AWEA press
release at: <http://www.awea.org/news/news030508gro.html>.
Despite the difficulties in the power market, the wind turbine
industry appears to be booming as turbine manufacturers increasingly
concentrate on larger turbines while racking up new orders. In fact,
GE Wind Energy announced on Monday that it has received more than
$2 billion in orders and commitments since it entered the wind
industry in May 2002. Between now and 2005, the company has
commitments for 3,000 megawatts of new wind turbines, with half in the
United States and the remainder in Europe and Asia. The company has
also introduced a new series of turbines exceeding 2 megawatts in
capacity, and unveiled on Sunday a new system that allows turbines to
stay connected to the grid during low-voltage events. Meanwhile,
NEG Micon North America, another leading wind turbine supplier,
announced on Monday that it will supply 45 of its 1.65-megawatt wind
turbines for the Blue Canyon Wind Farm, under development by Zilkha
Renewable Energy in southwest Oklahoma. See the press releases from
GE Wind Power and NEG Micon at:
<http://www.gepower.com/dhtml/wind/en_us/newsroom/pr.jsp>
and <http://www.neg-micon.com/cm305.asp?d=1&NewsID=287>.
Pennsylvania Launches a $5-Million Clean Energy Initiative
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
announced on May 8th a new $5-million initiative to fund renewable
energy projects throughout the state. A DOE grant helped kick off the
new initiative, called "Pennsylvania Energy Harvest," which will
provide funds for wind installations, small-scale solar power systems,
and biomass projects. The initiative was unveiled at the Rocky Knoll
Farm, a 4,500-head hog farm that uses an anaerobic digester to
generate power from hog manure. The farm earns about $3,500 per month
from its manure-to-energy facility. See the DEP press release and the
online registration form at:
<http://www.dep.state.pa.us/newsletter/default.asp?ID=423> and
<http://www.dep.state.pa.us/oppca_apps/energyharvest/asp/register.asp>
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), about
250 million dry tons of animal manure are produced each year in the
United States. With new federal regulations governing animal feedlot
operations, owners of those facilities have an increased incentive to
investigate anaerobic digestion for energy production. With that in
mind, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is hosting a national
summit on anaerobic digester technology applications in animal
agriculture, June 2nd through the 4th in Raleigh, North Carolina. The
new USDA technical standards for anaerobic digestion will be released
at this conference. See the WEF Web site at:
<http://www.wef.org/Conferences/>.
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SITE NEWS
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Interfaith Coalition on Energy
<http://www.interfaithenergy.com/>
The Interfaith Coalition on Energy (ICE) works to inspire
congregations to reduce energy costs in the operation of their
facilities. Even though the coalition is based in Philadelphia, ICE's
Web site features publications, articles, and energy saving tips that
any congregation can use to become more energy efficient.
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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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New York and Connecticut May Face Power Problems this Summer
Most of the United States should have adequate supplies of electricity
this summer, according to the North American Electric Reliability
Council (NERC), which released its 2003 Summer Assessment on May 15th.
As it does each year, NERC examined the anticipated electric demand
through North America and compared that to the generating and
transmission resources needed to meet that demand. Due to a sluggish
economy, NERC anticipates a summer peak demand only 1 percent greater
than last year's peak. That small increase in demand, combined with a
projected 4.5-percent increase in generating capacity, suggests that
the continent will have sufficient generating capacity to meet its
needs this summer. However, transmission constraints remain a concern,
particularly in southwest Connecticut, New York City, and Long Island.
The report specifically notes that any delays in repairing a cable
that runs from Norwalk, Connecticut to Northport, Long Island, could
cause power reliability problems on Long Island. See the NERC report,
a 395-KB PDF file, at:
<ftp://www.nerc.com/pub/sys/all_updl/docs/pubs/summer2003.pdf>.
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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