*News and Events
DOE Provides $12.3 Million for Crosscutting Energy Projects DOE Releases New Test for “Smart” Dishwashers NIST Awards $24 Million for Fuel Cells, Efficiency, Solar Road Rally to Feature a Wide Range of Vehicle Technologies Washington and Ohio Pursuing New Wind Power Additions Advances in Solar Power Aim for a Touchdown
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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DOE Provides $12.3 Million for Crosscutting Energy Projects
DOE announced on September 10th that it will award $12.3 million to 21 projects that will advance both energy efficiency and fossil energy technologies. The projects, managed by universities and companies in 13 states, will run from one to three years and include research on materials, fuels and chemicals, sensors and controls, and energy conversions. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham said the crosscutting research will advance “key technology areas, such as solid-state lighting, membranes that produce hydrogen, advanced fuels and chemicals, solid oxide fuel cells, as well as process sensors and controls.” For a list of participating research partners and their projects, please see DOE’s September 10th press release at:
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DOE Releases New Test for “Smart” Dishwashers
Consumers will get more accurate energy efficiency labeling on new dishwashers thanks to a new test procedure released by DOE on September 9th. The test, which measures the energy consumption in “smart” dishwashers — those with soil sensors — uses three different specified loads of food-soiled dishes to approximate realistic home
use. Previous tests used clean dishes that did not trigger the sensors, and therefore did not report dishwasher energy use as accurately as the new test can.
Manufacturers use DOE’s test procedures for residential appliances such as dishwashers to calculate the annual energy use and energy cost of every model sold. This energy information provides the core data for the Federal Trade Commission’s EnergyGuide labels, which allow consumers to compare the energy efficiency of new appliances. See the September 9th press release on the DOE Web site at:
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“Smart” dishwashers aren’t the only energy-saving innovation available for your kitchen: according to recent tests by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), new magnetic-induction ranges also hold a significant potential for saving energy. The ranges use a high frequency, alternating magnetic field to induce heating in the bottom of iron-based cookware placed on the range. Because energy is transferred directly to the cookware, the ceramic surface of the range stays cool. According to EPRI, the range achieves an efficiency of 92 percent (losing only 8 percent of its energy as waste heat), compared to 72 percent for a standard radiant electric range, 47 percent for a residential gas range, and 30 percent for a commercial gas range. In field tests, commercial kitchens using the range were also cooler, which suggests that they could save on air conditioning costs. See the EPRI press release at:
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NIST Awards $24 Million for Fuel Cells, Efficiency, Solar
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, announced 44 new awards through its Advanced Technology Program on Monday. Among the new awards, eight will go toward advancing fuel cell, solar power, and energy efficiency technologies. Those eight projects comprise a total investment of nearly $51 million, including nearly $24 million in NIST funds.
Four of the projects will focus on fuel cell technologies, including a high-volume manufacturing process for proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells, a miniature direct-methanol fuel cell, a low-cost process for manufacturing gas diffusion layers, and a variety of approaches to reduce the cost of power from fuel cells. In addition, Astronautics
Corporation of America will design, build, and test an energy-efficient refrigerator that uses a magnetic refrigerant; General Electric Company and Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. will advance their roll-to-roll technology for manufacturing solid-state lighting devices; and the Ohio Aerospace Institute will lead a joint venture to develop enhanced thin-film capacitors for use in electric vehicles and in power converters for fuel cells. Finally, AstroPower, Inc. will lead a joint venture to produce low-cost, high-purity silicon for use in the solar power industry. See the NIST press release: [sorry this link is no longer available]
The award is certainly good news for AstroPower, which continues to struggle financially after its July delisting from the NASDAQ stock exchange. In early August, AstroPower laid off 55 employees, reducing its workforce by about 10 percent. See the AstroPower press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Road Rally to Feature a Wide Range of Vehicle Technologies
The Challenge Bibendum, a three-day road rally sponsored by the Michelin Group, comes to Sonoma, California, on September 23rd, ending in San Francisco on the 25th. Promoted as a “sustainable mobility event,” the eclectic road show includes a wide variety of advanced vehicles, each of which is subjected to an emissions test and a variety of performance tests. The event draws its “Bibendum” name from the company’s symbol, also known as the Michelin Man.
Among the vehicles entered in this year’s Challenge Bibendum — the second to be held in the United States — are a number of fuel-cell-powered vehicles: a Mercedes-Benz A Class compact car, a Mercedes-Benz bus, two Ford Focus FCVs, a Toyota FCHV SUV, and a Honda FCX. Ford is also showcasing two vehicles that burn hydrogen in internal combustion engines: a Ford Focus H2ICE and a prototype hybrid-electric Ford Focus wagon. Volvo is concentrating on alternative fuels, with two compressed-natural-gas (CNG) bi-fuel vehicles:
an S80 sedan and a V70 wagon. Honda is providing its CNG-fueled Civic GX as well as its two hybrid-electric cars: the Insight and the Civic Hybrid. And Toyota is contributing both its 2003 hybrid-electric Prius and a model sure to draw attention, its new 2004 Prius, which goes on sale in October. See the Challenge Bibendum Web site (especially the Press section) at: http://www.challengebibendum.com/
an S80 sedan and a V70 wagon. Honda is providing its CNG-fueled Civic GX as well as its two hybrid-electric cars: the Insight and the Civic Hybrid. And Toyota is contributing both its 2003 hybrid-electric Prius and a model sure to draw attention, its new 2004 Prius, which goes on sale in October. See the Challenge Bibendum Web site (especially the Press section) at: http://www.challengebibendum.com/
Washington and Ohio Pursuing New Wind Power Additions
A utility and a group led by a non-profit organization are planning to bring more wind power to Washington State. Puget Sound Energy, a utility serving 1.4 million customers in the state, issued a draft request for proposals (RFP) last week for 150 megawatts of wind power. The draft RFP is the utility’s first step toward achieving its goal of drawing on renewable energy for 10 percent of its power supply by 2013. The company held a public meeting on the draft RFP on Monday and expects to issue a final RFP in early December; the draft RFP sets January 9th as the due date for proposals. See the Puget Sound Energy press release and RFP at:
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Meanwhile, the non-profit Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) is leading a group that has secured wind-power development rights on about 20,000 acres of land in Klickitat County, in central Washington near the Oregon border. BEF has joined with the members of the Last Mile Electric Cooperative to secure the rights to the windy site,
which could host up to 200 megawatts of wind turbines. The participants hope to obtain permits and build a wind project on the site within the next two years. See the BEF press release at:
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While big wind power plans are underway in Washington, a wind project under construction in Ohio is small in comparison but large in significance. The state’s first utility-scale wind plant, consisting of two 1.8-megawatt wind turbines, is now being built near Bowling Green, just south of Toledo. The 3.6-megawatt wind facility should be
operating by the end of this year. See the press release from Green Mountain Energy Company at:
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Advances in Solar Power Aim for a Touchdown
Solar power technologies advance, in many ways, much like a football team marching down the field: while everyone hopes for that big touchdown pass, most progress is actually achieved gradually, through the combined efforts of many people pushing ahead in every way they can. Three recent news items demonstrate the diversity of approaches that are advancing solar power technologies.
Electrical engineers at Princeton University are trying an end-run around conventional techniques that could yield huge yardage. While most solar cells are built from silicon and other inorganic materials, the Princeton engineers are developing organic solar cells — solar cells built around thin films of organic chemicals. Using a new processing technique, with support in part from DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the engineers boosted the efficiency of two-layer organic solar cells by 50 percent. Although organic solar cells currently convert only about 3 percent of the sunlight that hits them into electricity, the Princeton researchers are confident of
combining new materials and processing techniques to achieve at least 5 percent efficiency, and possibly as high as 10 percent. Although that would be low compared to silicon solar cells, the low cost of the organic solar cells could make them cost-competitive. See the Princeton press release at:
Another way to advance solar power is to get more value out of each solar cell, an approach that might be compared to finding a way to make your football passes go farther. A promising technique is to integrate the solar cells into buildings, allowing them to serve a function for the building while also producing power. The latest attempt at such building-integrated solar cells comes from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), which has built solar cells
into pyramid-shaped devices incorporated between the panes of a window. The devices help shade the interior from the sun’s harshest rays, while allowing soft daylight into the building. At the same time, the solar cells in the devices generate power. RPI is currently testing two working prototypes of the window system. See the RPI press release at:
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But real football fans know that a good passing game is best matched by the ability to move the ball on the ground. It’s not as glamorous, but the game often hinges on those able to inch the ball ahead with sheer muscle. The solar power equivalent may be the process of growing silicon ingots. Crystalline-silicon solar cells still dominate the
solar power market, and arguably the hardest part of making them is the process of growing crystalline silicon ingots, which are then cut up into wafers to create solar cells. Shell Solar has been working with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance to improve the energy efficiency of its crystal-growing furnaces, with considerable success. According to Shell Solar, the company has cut the power use of its furnaces by 30 percent while reducing the time needed to grow a crystal by up to 40 percent. The company has also increased its crystal yield while greatly lowering its use of argon gas. See the September 12th press release from Shell Solar at:
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| Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). |
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