Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:February 18, 2004

*News and Events

• Dow Installs a 75-Kilowatt GM Fuel Cell, Earns DOE Kudos
• Engineers Find Economical Way to Make Hydrogen from Ethanol
• New Hampshire Slated to Earn Ethanol Exemption; California Wants In
• Natural-Gas and Hybrid-Electric Cars Top Green List
• Five Power Companies Commit to Clean Energy, Cap Greenhouse Gases
• Florida Power & Light Launches Green Power Program

Dow Installs a 75-Kilowatt GM Fuel Cell, Earns DOE Kudos

Dow Chemical Company began drawing on a 75-kilowatt fuel cell to help power its Texas Operations site in Freeport, Texas, on February 10th. The fuel cell, manufactured by General Motors Corporation (GM), marks the first concrete step in a Dow-GM fuel cell collaboration first announced in May 2003. Dow produces the hydrogen fuel for the fuel cell as a byproduct of its chemical manufacturing process; currently, Dow either burns the hydrogen in its boilers or sells it to industrial gas companies. Although the new installation is a test that will last four to six months, with more fuel cells to be added this summer, Dow and GM plan to eventually install 35 megawatts of fuel cells. That would meet two percent of the power needs for Dow’s Texas Operations site, which is Dow’s largest chemical plant. See the Dow press release and the Dow Fuel Cell Program Web site.

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham was among the dignitaries who flipped the switch on the new fuel cell installation. Secretary Abraham applauded the fuel cell test, which will demonstrate the viability of fuel-cell power generation for chemical manufacturing. “The Dow-GM transaction typifies the type of creative arrangements that will arise from the new hydrogen economy,” said Secretary Abraham. See the DOE press release.

Engineers Find Economical Way to Make Hydrogen from Ethanol

Researchers at the University of Minnesota claimed last week to have discovered a method of producing hydrogen from ethanol that is efficient enough to potentially serve as an economical source of hydrogen. The engineers used an automotive fuel injector to vaporize a mixture of ethanol and water, and then used a catalyst to convert that vapor into a mixture of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and other byproducts. The researchers claim a unit small enough to fit in a person’s hand would be able to generate enough hydrogen to fuel a one-kilowatt fuel cell, capable of powering an average home.

A major advantage of the University of Minnesota invention is its use of a mixture of ethanol and water, eliminating an energy-costly step needed to separate the two for use as a combustion fuel. The efficiency of the conversion process and the fuel cell add to that benefit. “We can potentially capture 50 percent of the energy stored in sugar (in corn), whereas converting the sugar to ethanol and burning the ethanol in a car would harvest only 20 percent of the energy in sugar,” said researcher Lanny Schmidt.

The research was published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science and was partially funded by DOE. See the University of Minnesota press release.

Meanwhile, DOE is funding research to produce ethanol from non-starchy biomass sources such as corn leaves, corn stalks, and other agricultural wastes. These “woody” biomass sources are high in lignin, a glue-like substance that makes fermentation difficult. Last week, Danish company Novozymes A/S announced that it had achieved a 12-fold reduction in the cost of the enzymes needed to convert woody biomass sources into ethanol. Novozymes, the world’s largest manufacturer of enzymes, was able to cut the cost for enzymes by increasing the enzyme activity and fermentation yield. As a result, the company reduced the cost of the enzymes needed to produce one gallon of ethanol from woody biomass from $5 per gallon to less than 50 cents per gallon. The research is being performed under a three-year subcontract from DOE, in collaboration with DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. See the Novozymes press release.

New Hampshire Slated to Earn Ethanol Exemption; California Wants In

Bucking a national trend, the State of New Hampshire has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive its requirement to use an oxygenate such as MTBE or ethanol in its gasoline. Oxygenates are added to gasoline blends as a means of reducing ozone emissions. On January 22nd, EPA proposed to approve the waiver for New Hampshire, allowing the state to stop using MTBE, which has been linked to groundwater contamination, without replacing it with ethanol. New Hampshire argued that it could meet air quality standards without using an oxygenate, and EPA agreed. In contrast, the nearby states of New York and Connecticut banned MTBE and switched to ethanol starting on January 1st of this year. The EPA’s proposed waiver will be open to public comment for 30 days once it is published in the Federal Register. See the EPA press release.

California Governo
r Arnold Schwarzenegger was quick to respond, requesting on January 28th that California also be granted a waiver from the oxygenate requirement. California officially switched to ethanol on January 1st, but the state has been seeking a waiver for years. See Governor Schwarzenegger’s press release, and for background on California’s effort to gain an ethanol waiver, see the article from the July 23rd, 2003, edition of this newsletter.

According to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), ethanol fuel production increased more than 32 percent in 2003, in part because of the new markets in California, New York, and Connecticut. Using data from DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, RFA estimates that the equivalent to about 5.7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions were avoided in 2003 through the use of ethanol. See the RFA press releases from January 22nd and February 5th.

Natural-Gas and Hybrid-Electric Cars Top Green List

Honda’s natural-gas-powered Civic GX is the greenest vehicle of model year 2004, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), followed closely by the three hybrid-electric models: the Honda Insight, the Toyota Prius, and the Honda Civic Hybrid. The ACEEE released its latest environmental scorings of cars and trucks last week, ranking all U.S. vehicles based on their tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption, and emissions of greenhouse gases. See the ACEEE press release and the online version of the ACEEE Green Book.

While a number of automakers are preparing to release hybrid-electric vehicles, Mazda Motor Corporation is the latest to unveil a hybrid electric concept vehicle. Mazda’s Ibuki concept vehicle, which the company describes as “one future approach for a future MX-5 Miata model,” is a two-seat sports car that combines a 1.6-liter, four cylinder engine with an integrated electric motor. The motor provides an assist while accelerating and also enables the engine to automatically shut off when the car is stopped. See the Mazda press release.

The Mazda Ibuki made its North American debut at the 2004 Chicago Auto Show, which ended on Sunday. To see more images of the vehicle, see the Chicago Auto Show Web site.

Five Power Companies Commit to Clean Energy, Cap Greenhouse Gases

Five U.S. power companies have committed to use clean energy sources and to cap their carbon dioxide emissions, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced last week. The five companies include Austin Energy of Texas; Burlington Electric Department of Vermont; the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) of California; Waverly Light and Power of Iowa; and FPL Group, Inc., which operates Florida Power and Light. The five companies joined the “WWF PowerSwitch! Challenge,” which calls for power companies to support binding limits on national carbon dioxide emissions and requires them to undertake one or more of the following action targets: using renewable energy as the source for 20 percent of their electricity sold by 2020, increasing their energy efficiency by 15 percent by 2020, or retiring the least efficient half of coal generation by 2020. SMUD committed to the renewable energy goal, FPL Group and Waverly Light and Power committed to the energy efficiency goal, and Austin Energy and Burlington Electric committed to both of those goals. See the WWF press release.

Florida Power & Light Launches Green Power Program

Florida’s largest utility began offering green power to its 8 million customers last week. Florida Power & Light (FPL)a subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc.will generate power from wind, solar, and bioenergy through its new Sunshine Energy program. Customers will pay a premium of $9.75 per month for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of green power. FPL has also committed to add 150 kilowatts of solar energy capacity for every 10,000 customers who sign up for the program. See the FPL press release and the Sunshine Energy program Web page.

Green power continues to progress in the United States, as the Green-e certification program, administered by the Center for Resource Solution (CRS), continues to expand. CRS announced in late January that it has set Green-e standards for the Pacific Northwest, and it has also crossed the border to certify its first Canadian “green tags” product for sale in the United States. “Green tags” provide a mechanism for people and companies to support and take credit for renewable energy projects, even if they are located far from the projects. CRS also recently released its audit report for 2002, which showed a two-fold increase in Green-e-certified green power sales over 2001. More than 1.2 million megawatt-hours of certified green power were sold in 2002. See the CRS press releases on the Green-e Web site.

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