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EERE NETWORK NEWS -- August 13, 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
Italy to Join DOE's International Hydrogen Partnership
DOE to Award $2.9 Million to 16 Tribal Clean Energy Projects
Minnesota Utility to Build a 100-Megawatt Wind Power Plant
New Jersey Agencies Buy 11 Megawatts of Wind Power
California, DOE to Support Electric Energy Storage Projects
Boeing to Lead Fuel-Cell-Powered Airplane Demonstration
*Energy Connections
Growing U.S. Stores of Natural Gas Show Promise for Winter
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Italy to Join DOE's International Hydrogen Partnership
DOE announced on August 5th that Italy intends to join its
International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy. Italy has a well-
developed research and development program that addresses hydrogen and
fuel cell applications in vehicles and for electric power. The Italian
government plans to cooperate with the United States on investigations
of hydrogen production, storage, and transport, as well as end-use
technologies and codes and standards. Italy and the United States
currently cooperate under a bilateral science and technology agreement
and under the implementing agreements of the International Energy
Agency (IEA).
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham proposed the new partnership during a
speech to the IEA ministers in April, and encouraged the European
Commission to participate in June. Italy will be the first country to
join the partnership, although several other countries have expressed
their interest. Secretary Abraham made the announcement after a
meeting with Antonio Marzano, Italy's Minister of Productive
Activities. During his visit to Europe, Secretary Abraham also toured
a Daimler Chrysler fuel cell research facility in Germany. See the
August 5th and 12th press releases from DOE at:
<http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES>.
DOE to Award $2.9 Million to 16 Tribal Clean Energy Projects
DOE announced on August 8th that it will award Native American tribes
a total of $2.9 million for 16 clean energy projects. Of the total,
DOE is awarding nearly $2.2 million for seven projects to help develop
renewable energy technologies on tribal lands. In addition, more than
$700,000 will go to nine tribal groups to support the initial steps to
develop renewable energy and energy efficiency on their lands.
Among the seven renewable energy projects, the Assiniboine and Sioux
tribes plan to buy, install, and operate a 660-kilowatt wind turbine
on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. Three other tribes -- the
Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in
Montana, and the Makah Indian Nation in Washington -- will begin
developing 30-megawatt wind energy projects on their lands. The Native
Village of Venetie Tribal Government, located in northeast Alaska,
will study the feasibility of powering an entire village during the
summer using solar energy. The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians,
located in Minnesota, will investigate using biomass resources to
create a sustainable business that produces and sells bioproducts.
And finally, the Fort Mojave Tribe in Arizona will investigate power
production from a variety of renewable energy sources.
The nine tribal groups taking the initial steps toward clean energy
development include the Hopi Tribe in Arizona; the Yurok Tribe, Smith
River Rancheria, and Cabazon Band of Mission Indians in California;
the tribes of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota; the Seneca
Nation of Indians in New York; the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Fort
Sill Apache Tribe in Oklahoma; and the Samish Indian Nation in
Washington. These initial steps include strategic planning within each
tribe, analyzing the tribe's energy options, figuring out what
organizational structures are needed to develop energy projects, and
building the capabilities needed within the tribe to support the
projects. Particularly noteworthy is the Yurok Tribe's approach to
energy development: the tribe is studying the feasibility of forming
its own electric power utility. See the August 8th press releases from
DOE at:
<http://www.energy.gov/engine/content.do?BT_CODE=PR_PRESSRELEASES>.
Minnesota Utility to Build a 100-Megawatt Wind Power Plant
Great River Energy, a cooperative power supplier in Minnesota,
announced last week that it is negotiating with Trimont Area Wind
Farm, LLC to develop a 100-megawatt wind power project in southwestern
Minnesota. As noted by Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy
(ME3), Trimont Area Wind Farm, LLC is a corporation formed by farmers
who plan to develop the wind project on their own land. As such, the
project will be the largest landowner-owned wind energy project to
date. As the name implies, the wind project will be located near the
town of Trimont in Martin and Jackson counties, near the southern
border of Minnesota. See the Great River Energy and ME3 press releases
at: <http://www.greatriverenergy.com/HTML/press/pre.html>
and <http://www.me3.org/news/080603nr.html>.
New Jersey Agencies Buy 11 Megawatts of Wind Power
Nearly 180 public agencies in New Jersey have banded together to buy
11 megawatts of wind power from Pepco Energy Services. Starting in
July, such notable entities as Rutgers University, the New Jersey
Highway Authority, New Jersey Transit, and the New Jersey Turnpike
Authority began drawing on wind energy for half of the electricity
they use. Starting in December, Pepco expects to draw on a new 20-
megawatt wind farm in Pennsylvania for its wind power supply. Called
the Bear Creek Wind Energy Project, the new facility is currently
under development by Community Energy, Inc. (CEI) and PPL Corporation.
See the press releases from Pepco Energy Services and CEI at:
<http://www.pepcoenergy.com/news/pr07_21_03.htm> and
<http://www.communityenergy.biz/cei_pr_bearcreek.html>.
Among other recent "big spenders" in the green power world are the
Audubon Society of Portland and the Austin Grill -- a restaurant with
six locations in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland area --
both of which are buying 100 percent green power (provided,
respectively, by Green Mountain Energy Company and CEI). Luzenac
America, Inc. demonstrated a similar level of commitment, offsetting
all the greenhouse gas emissions produced through electricity use at
its Yellowstone Talc Mine by buying green tags from the Bonneville
Environmental Foundation (BEF). And the American Psychological
Association (APA) and its property manager, Trammel Crow Company,
purchased more than 20 million kilowatt-hours of green power for APA's
two office buildings in Washington, D.C. -- a move brokered and
applauded by one of APA's tenants, the World Resources Institute (WRI)
See the press releases from Green Mountain Energy Company, CEI, BEF,
and WRI at:
<http://www.greenmountain.com/about/press_events/2003_07_02.jsp>,
<http://www.communityenergy.biz/cei_pr_austin_grill.html>,
<http://www.b-e-f.org/news/releases/070703_b.shtm>, and
<http://newsroom.wri.org/newsrelease_text.cfm?NewsReleaseID=257>.
Green power continues to advance throughout the country. Georgia
Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, began offering a Green Energy
Rate in July, with service to begin in January 2004. Georgia Power
expects to draw on landfill gas projects for 83 percent of its green
power supply, with another 16 percent coming from wind power and solar
power providing about 1 percent. In North Carolina, the NC GreenPower
program began offering green power to the state's residents in late
July. The program is also seeking green power providers, with
responses due by the end of August. In Montana, NorthWestern Energy is
selling green power through green tags purchased from BEF. And in
Maine, 1,000 customers and 750 state agencies have signed up for green
power. Maine Renewable Energy, the in-state supplier for the program,
is now delivering one million kilowatt-hours of renewable power each
month. See the announcements from Southern Company, NC GreenPower,
NorthWestern Energy, and (in PDF format) Maine Interfaith Power and
Light at:
<http://newsinfo.southernco.com/article.asp?id=1397&mnuOpco=gpc>,
<http://www.ncgreenpower.org/index.html>,
<http://www.northwesternenergy.com/green/default.asp>, and
<http://www.meipl.org/news/release-2003-06-25.pdf>.
California, DOE to Support Electric Energy Storage Projects
The California Energy Commission (CEC) announced in late July that it
will work in partnership with DOE to sponsor research and development
projects related to electric energy storage. The CEC expects proposals
to include such technologies as flywheels, advanced batteries, and
mini- or micro-pumped hydropower systems. CEC's Public Interest Energy
Research program will provide up to $5 million for the projects, and
DOE's Energy Storage Systems program will offer consultation and in-
kind services. Each project is expected to cost about $2 million.
Proposals are due September 30th. See the July 31st press release
from CEC and the full request for proposals at:
<http://www.energy.ca.gov/releases/index.html> and
<http://www.energy.ca.gov/contracts/#energystorage>.
Recent news on electrical energy storage technologies has come mainly
from the lithium battery developers, as the batteries continue to
advance commercially. Lithium Technology Corporation, which calls
itself "an early production stage rechargeable lithium battery
manufacturer," has racked up a number of recent orders, including an
order from the United Kingdom military for ten 46-volt batteries, each
containing 11 60-amp-hour cells. The company also claims to have
orders from an electric vehicle developer, a large car company, and
from Penn State University, which is preparing for the 2004 Future
Truck Competition. Meanwhile, ZAP, a marketer of electric vehicles,
has agreed to distribute lithium-ion polymer rechargeable batteries
that can power portable computers for up to 10 hours. ZAP claims the
batteries, from Valence Technology Corporation, also have potential in
larger-scale applications. See the press releases from Lithium
Technology Corporation and ZAP at:
<http://www.lithiumtech.com/press.htm>
and <http://www.zapworld.com/news/zaptop.htm>.
Boeing to Lead Fuel-Cell-Powered Airplane Demonstration
The Boeing Company announced in July that its research and technology
center in Madrid, Spain, would lead a project to explore the use of
fuel cells for commercial airplanes. As part of the project, which
involves five partner companies, the companies will develop, build,
and fly an electric-motor-driven airplane powered by fuel cells.
See the Boeing press release at:
<http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2003/q3/nr_030711p.html>.
The other U.S. partner in the project, Advanced Technology Products
(ATP), has already developed an electric plane that runs on the power
of lithium batteries, provided by Lithium Technology Corporation, and
using a motor and controller from UQM Technologies, Inc. The plane is
a retrofit of an American Ghana Aircraft model that features a carbon-
fiber fuselage. ATP hopes to eventually outfit the plane with a fuel
cell, and is on its way toward that goal with a recent $400,000 grant
from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The plane was
exhibited at the annual air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last week. See
the ATP Web site and the UQM Technologies press release at:
<http://www.aviationtomorrow.com/>
and <http://www.uqm.com/press/news/04-12.html>.
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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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Growing U.S. Stores of Natural Gas Show Promise for Winter
DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted last week that the
amount of natural gas in storage in the United States has increased at
historically high rates over the past two months. Relatively mild
weather across much of the United States has reduced the need to use
natural gas for electricity production, allowing much of it to be
injected into underground storage instead. By the end of July, the
amount of usable natural gas in storage was estimated to be about
17 percent below last year's level and about 9 percent below the five-
year average for July. According to EIA, such a "solid gain" in
natural gas storage levels "bolsters the chance that natural gas
inventories may return to normal by the start of the heating season."
Based on this inventory, the EIA projects that prices at the wellhead
will stay just under $5 per thousand cubic feet for the remainder of
2003 and then will drop another 16 percent in 2004. See the EIA's
Short-Term Energy Outlook at:
<http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/contents.html>.
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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