Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: Sept. 24, 2002

*News and Events

Weather Uncertain as Solar Decathlon Competition Gears Up

L.A. Expands Solar Program, Rolls Out 400 Electric Vehicles

Large Wind Plants Planned for the Dakotas and Maryland

Sustainability Mandated for Washington State Government

DOE to Fund up to $70 Million in Fuel Cell Research

HUD, DOE, EPA to Work on Energy Efficient Affordable Housing

“Renewable Energy Atlas of the West” Goes Online

*Site News

Harvesting Clean Energy

*Energy Facts and Tips

Updates on Recent “Energy Facts” Stories

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NEWS AND EVENTS

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Weather Uncertain as Solar Decathlon Competition Gears Up

A scene from the Solar Decathlon

The competition phase of the Solar Decathlon begins on Thursday, and the Solar Village — consisting of the 14 competing solar houses — is steadily taking shape on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The university teams and their partially constructed homes all arrived safely, despite treks from as far away as Texas, Missouri, Colorado, and even Puerto Rico. And as the Solar Village takes shape, so does the Solar Decathlon Web site, which now features daily photos of the competition. During the competition, the site will also feature team diaries, scoring results, and rankings. See the Solar Decathlon Web site: [sorry this link is no longer available]

The competition will be open to the public starting Thursday, but for those of us unable to visit in person, the Web site now provides images and descriptions of each entry. Through these new Web pages, you can see the diversity of approaches used by the teams and gain an appreciation for the creativity and innovation of the entries.

Although every team combines energy efficiency and solar technologies in their homes, the teams are using a variety of strategies to maintain comfortable interior temperatures, including water-filled walls and columns for heat storage, radiant floor heating, heat pumps, natural ventilation, and shutters and awnings. For daylighting, some teams are using high-tech skylights and translucent walls. The Texas A&M team even designed and built its own appliances. And although it isn’t part of the competition, many teams took extra efforts to use sustainable materials in their homes. See the “Follow the Teams” section of the Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]


L.A. Expands Solar Program, Rolls Out 400 Electric Vehicles

Residents of Los Angeles and businesses located there now have even more reasons to install solar power systems, thanks to an expansion and extension of the solar program offered by the L.A. Department of Water (LADWP). The utility’s Board of Commissioners approved the expansion last week. The new program offers significant new opportunities for commercial and industrial customers of the utility, since their maximum incentive payments have been doubled to $2 million. And if they install a system greater than 30 kilowatts in peak capacity, they can benefit from both the LADWP Solar Program and a similar program offered by the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas).

Homeowners will also benefit from a boost in maximum incentive payments, increasing from $50,000 to $60,000. The board also extended the incentive payments through the end of 2003 while allowing the Solar Program to continue until 2010. See the LADWP press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

SoCalGas offers a Self-Generation Incentive Program to businesses in its service area that generate their own power. For those using renewable energy sources, the incentive is $4,500 per kilowatt for up to 50 percent of the project’s cost. See the SoCalGas Web site: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Los Angeles is also home now to the largest fleet of electric vehicles in the country. The U.S. Postal Service rolled out its new 400-vehicle fleet of delivery vehicles last week. The LADWP helped pay for the vehicles, which increase the Postal Service’s total number of electric vehicles to nearly 600 nationwide. See the LADWP press release: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Organizations located throughout California have new incentives to add electric vehicles to their fleets, provided they are located in so-called “environmental justice” areas (typically communities with significant low-income or minority populations). The California Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) program now offers grants of up to $11,000 per qualifying vehicle. The grants are awarded using a competitive process. See the ZEV program Web site: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/fleetzip/fleetzip.htm

Large Wind Plants Planned for the Dakotas and Maryland

Four wind projects are currently planned or proposed that will add a total of 80 megawatts of capacity in the Dakotas and might add as much as 141 megawatts of capacity in Maryland.

In the Dakotas, Basin Electric Power Cooperative has reached an agreement with FPL Energy LLC to build two 40-megawatt wind plants, one in each state. The North Dakota facility will be located near Edgeley, about 30 miles south of Jamestown, and the South Dakota wind plant will be near Highmore, located just east of the center of the state. Central Power Electric Cooperative, a member and part owner of Basin Electric, will build an 11-mile transmission line to connect the North Dakota wind plant to an existing substation.

FPL Energy will build, own, and operate the two wind plants, each of which will be the largest in its state. When the plants start producing power in late 2003, Basin Electric will buy all the power and distribute it to its member utilities. The two plants will produce enough electricity to power 25,000 homes in the Dakotas. See the FPL Energy press release: http://www.fplenergy.com/news/2002/contents/dakota_wind_news.shtml

Basin Electric and Central Power are currently building a 2.6-megawatt wind facility near Minot in northwestern North Dakota. The Minot Air Force Base has committed to buy most of the electricity produced by the wind plant. See the Basin Electric press release: [sorry this link is no longer available]

In Maryland, two companies have each filed applications with the Public Service Commission (PSC) to build wind facilities in the state. Clipper Wi
ndpower, Inc. is proposing to build a 101-megawatt wind plant in Garrett County, located in the far-western corner of the state. Savage Mountain Wind Force, LLC is proposing to build a 40-megawatt wind plant that apparently straddles both Garrett County and its easterly neighbor, Allegany County. Both applications were filed in late August. See the filings by entering “wind” in the search box on the Maryland PSC Web site: http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/Intranet/psc/proceedings.cfm

Meanwhile, the proposed Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts is getting a little help from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC). In early September, the MTC unveiled a comprehensive public education and outreach initiative focused on “elevating the public discourse” regarding the project. See the MTC press release: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Sustainability Mandated for Washington State Government

Washington Governor Gary Locke signed an executive order last week that calls for sustainable environmental practices for all state agencies. The order requires that each state agency establish sustainability objectives and prepare a biennial sustainability plan. The order says the agency plans should be guided by a set of long-term goals, including minimizing energy and water use and shifting to “clean energy” for both facilities and vehicles (though the term “clean energy” is left undefined). To help implement the order, it also establishes a Sustainability Coordinator and a Sustainability Advisory Council, which will include representatives from the private sector. See the September 18th press release on the governor’s Web site: [sorry this link is no longer available]

See also the full text of the executive order at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

DOE to Fund up to $70 Million in Fuel Cell Research

DOE announced last week a solicitation for the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of fuel cell technologies. DOE intends to enter into about 15 cooperative agreements — each lasting up to five years — with teams of industry, utility, and university partners as well as end users. DOE plans to award about $7 million in fiscal year 2003, which starts October 1st, and may award as much as $70 million over the lifetime of the agreements.

The solicitation seeks RD&D activities for stationary fuel cell systems and seeks an economic analysis of using polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells in various stationary applications. In addition, the solicitation seeks RD&D activities that address barriers to both stationary and automotive fuel cells, including improved materials for high-temperature membranes, more durable fuel cell components, new approaches for managing the water and heat produced within fuel cell stacks, and advances that reduce the cost and increase the availability of catalysts, such as platinum recycling and non-precious metal catalyst development. DOE will also consider fuel cell demonstrations that have strategic value in terms of energy and environmental benefits.

The solicitation marks the first step in implementing an integrated procurement strategy for the newly formed Hydrogen, Fuel Cell, and Infrastructure Technologies Program within the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Taking advantage of obvious synergies between stationary fuel cells and fuel cells for transportation, the solicitation addresses technologies that apply to both applications. See the DOE press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

See also the Hydrogen, Fuel Cell, and Infrastructure Technologies Program at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

HUD, DOE, EPA to Work on Energy Efficient Affordable Housing

A new partnership among three federal agencies promises to increase the energy efficiency of affordable housing throughout the United States. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) signed onto the formal partnership last week along with DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agreement commits the three agencies to working together to improve the energy efficiency of HUD’s public, assisted and insured housing as well as housing financed through HUD’s formula or competitive grant programs.

Under the agreement, the agencies will coordinate resources and approaches to expand the use of Energy Star-labeled products in HUD- financed housing, expand the number of Energy Star-labeled new homes financed by HUD, and promote energy efficiency improvements in both new and existing HUD-financed housing.

HUD programs assist more than five million renters and homeowners each year, representing about five percent of all housing. HUD spends an estimated $4 billion each year on energy on behalf of these renters and homeowners, an amount that could be significantly reduced through the use of energy efficiency. See the HUD press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

The DOE/EPA Energy Star Program is one of many “Stars of Energy Efficiency” named last week by the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE). Among the other awardees are energy guru Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Consumer Reports/Consumers Union, CertainTeed Corporation, and Sears, Roebuck and Company. The awards will be presented on October 9th as a prelude to the ASE Summit on Energy Efficiency on October 10th. See the ASE press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

See also the Summit on Energy Efficiency Web page at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

“Renewable Energy Atlas of the West” Goes Online

The “Renewable Atlas of the West,” released last month in hardcopy, is now available online. The atlas covers wind, solar, biomass and geothermal resources in the 11-state western region. Existing facilities and policy overlays are included to show areas where incentives and other standards have been effective in driving renewable development, and highlighting areas with strong resources but limited development. The atlas also identifies areas of transmission congestion and provides updated power potential estimates for the various resources.

The newly revamped Web site enhances and complements the hardcopy version by allowing users to “zoom-in” on the maps and select from a wide variety of overlays. The site also includes PDF versions of the atlas for free download. And you can still order the hardcopy version, available in a softbound edition for $35 per copy.

Sponsored by the Hewlett Foundation and The Energy Foundation, the atlas was created by the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, Northwest Sustainable Energy for Economic Development, and GreenInfo Network.
See the Atlas online at: http://www.energyatlas.org

DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) is also working on a series of renewable energy resource maps for each region of the United States. The maps are being adapted from an earlier series of
maps that were removed from the EIA Web site because of security concerns — they showed the location renewable power plants and photovoltaic manufacturing facilities. Thus far, the EIA has produced a reworked map for the West South Central Census division. See the “Renewable Potential Maps” page on the EIA Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Finally, for those looking for detailed information on geothermal resources, new high-resolution maps are available from DOE’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Maps for Idaho and New Mexico are currently available; maps for other western states are under development.
See the INEEL Geothermal Energy Research Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

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SITE NEWS

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Harvesting Clean Energy:
http://www.harvestcleanenergy.org/

This Web site aims to build awareness of the benefits of renewable energy technologies for rural landowners and communities in Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho. Developed by Climate Works — a non-profit organization in Olympia, Washington — the site features news and basic information on the use of bioenergy, geothermal energy, photovoltaics, and wind energy.

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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS

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Updates on Recent “Energy Facts” Stories

This issue marks the last issue for this federal fiscal year (which ends on September 30th), so it seems appropriate to provide some updates on recent stories presented in this section.

In our May 1st edition, we strayed from the renewable energy field to ask if there will be a resurgence of nuclear power in the United States. More recent news suggests that there will be: in June, DOE announced that it will work with three U.S. utilities to evaluate and obtain Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for sites where new nuclear plants could be built. The utilities are proposing new nuclear plants at three existing nuclear plant sites: the North Anna site in Virginia, the Grand Gulf site in Mississippi, and the Clinton site in Illinois. Old nuclear plants are also coming back to life: in mid-May, the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) approved a plan to upgrade and restart Alabama’s Browns Ferry 1 plant, which was shutdown in 1985. The project will cost up to $1.8 billion and require five years to complete. See the DOE and TVA press releases at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
[sorry this link is no longer available]

On July 17th, we noted that at the halfway point, the global temperatures for 2002 were the second warmest on record. According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), that trend continued in July. High temperatures and drought also continued to plague much of the United States in July. See the NCDC Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]