*News and Events
- DOE Launches “Energy Hog” Energy Efficiency Campaign
- DOE Offers $6 Million to Advance Solid-State Lighting
- DOE Releases Long-Term Hydrogen Research Plan
- Ford to Employ Toyota’s Hybrid Electric Control Technology
- General Electric Wins Approval to Buy AstroPower Assets
- U.S. Firms to Test Ocean Wave, Current, and Thermal Technologies
*Site News
New FEMP Web Site Reflects the Program’s Energy Expertise
*Energy Connections
Latest U.S. Census Shows More Workers Driving Alone to Work
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DOE has launched a national public service advertising campaign designed to make children and their parents aware of energy efficient behavior. The Energy Efficiency Campaign, launched last week, features a reprehensible new villainthe energy-wasting Energy Hogand includes public service announcements on television, radio, and the Internet. The Energy Efficiency Campaign currently targets children between the ages of eight and 13, but in future phases it will also target parents and teachers. The Advertising Council and Energy Outreach Colorado developed the Energy Hog and the campaign, and sponsors include DOE, The Home Depot, the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, the National Fuel Funds Network, and 20 state energy offices. See the DOE press release.
The centerpiece of the campaign is the new Energy Hog Web site, which is aimed at children, but also includes resources for parents and teachers, as well as Internet versions of the Energy Hog ads. The Web site’s main attractions are the Energy Hog Training Camp and its five training games, where children can train to become Energy Hog Busters and learn fun and simple ways to use energy more efficiently. But we’ll warn you right now: those Energy Hog Buster training games aren’t easy! To become an Energy Hog Buster yourself, visit the Energy Hog Web site.
DOE Offers $6 Million to Advance Solid-State Lighting
DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) issued a solicitation in late February for research projects relating to light emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic LEDs (OLEDs). These so-called solid-state lighting sources could revolutionize the lighting industry by yielding long-lasting, efficient lights with features that today’s light bulbs could never achieve. DOE plans to spread $6 million among three projects that will be carried out over one to three years. Applications are due on April 15th. See the solicitation on the DOE “e-Center” Web site.
DOE’s Solid State Lighting program has already chalked up one success: GE Global Research announced in early March that it has broken two world records with a demonstration OLED device. OLEDs are thin sheets of plastic-like material that emit light when a voltage is applied to them, and GE has managed to build a two-foot-by-two-foot panel that emits 1,200 lumens of light with an efficiency of 15 lumens per watt, on par with an incandescent bulb. That makes it the biggest and most efficient OLED device yet. Under a three-year project funded by DOE and NETL, GE has increased the light output of its OLED by a factor of 600 while boosting efficiency by a factor of four. See the GE press release.
LEDs continued to find new applications in recent months, appearing in the taillights of several new automobiles, such as the Lexus LS 430. The white-light LEDs from Lumileds Lighting are being used as daytime running lights on the Audi A8 6.0, and the BMW 5 Series is using LEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors for a heads-up instrument display. The 2005 Ford Mustang will even use an LED system from Delphi Technology to allow driver-selected custom color backlighting on its instrument panel. Meanwhile, Carmanah Technologies, Inc. has been using its solar-powered LED lights to light up everything from the taxiways at the Truckee Tahoe Airport in California, to Coast Guard aid-to-navigation lights, to pedestrian crossings. See the press releases from Lexus, Lumileds, Osram, Delphi, and Carmanah.
DOE Releases Long-Term Hydrogen Research Plan
DOE released a research plan on March 10th that outlines the agency’s planned activities, milestones, and deliverables needed to support the shift to a hydrogen-based transportation energy system. The “Hydrogen Posture Plan” identifies milestones for technology development over the next decade, leading up to a commercialization decision by industry in 2015. The plan integr
ates the research, development, and demonstration activities of four DOE offices: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); Fossil Energy; Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology; and Science.
An integrated hydrogen program will improve the effectiveness and accountability of DOE’s research activities and increase the probability of success in achieving technical milestones on the road to a hydrogen economy. DOE has also coordinated its work on codes and standards with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other agencies. The plan also points out that the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier can enhance energy security while reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. See the DOE press release, or go directly to the Hydrogen Posture Plan (PDF 2.1 MB). Download Acrobat Reader.
Ford to Employ Toyota’s Hybrid Electric Control Technology
Toyota Motor Corporation announced last week that it has licensed its hybrid control technology to Ford Motor Company for use with Ford’s hybrid electric system. While Ford’s hybrid electric system will be used on the Escape Hybrid, the Toyota technology will provide the electronic controls for the system. Ford is also licensing Toyota’s emission control technology for lean-burning engines. While lean-burning engines are more fuel-efficient, controlling air emissions from the engines is more difficult than in standard engines. Ford currently plans to begin selling the Escape Hybrid in late summer. See the Toyota press release.
According to a report released by ABI Research on Monday, hybrids could make up 10 percent of U.S. midsize passenger vehicle sales by 2006. See the ABI Research press release.
Meanwhile, both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army unveiled prototype vehicles last week that use a hydraulic energy-storage system rather than an electric system. The hydraulic systems provide a “launch assist” for heavy vehicles as they accelerate. The EPA unveiled a hybrid hydraulic sport utility vehicle (SUV) that it claims can achieve a 55 percent improvement in fuel economy over other SUVs, and the U.S. Army’s National Automotive Center introduced a hybrid hydraulic military truck, called the SmarTruck III. Both vehicles were on display at the Society of Automotive Engineers’ 2004 World Congress. See the EPA and U.S. Army announcements.
General Electric Wins Approval to Buy AstroPower Assets
AstroPower, Inc. announced last week that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court presiding over the company’s Chapter 11 proceedings has approved the sale of most of AstroPower’s assets to Heritage Power LLC, which is representing the General Electric Company (GE). The sale price was $15 million cash, and AstroPower expects the sale to close by the end of this month. Although GE has yet to comment on the sale, the company has a good track record of reviving renewable energy businesses, having bought the Enron Wind Corporation in May 2002 and developed it into a thriving business offering new multi-megawatt wind turbines. If the AstroPower purchase goes through, GE will be a U.S. leader in both wind and solar energy technologies. AstroPower filed for bankruptcy in February after months of financial difficulties. See the AstroPower press release and the GE Wind Energy Web site.
While AstroPower is changing hands, another U.S. solar power company is preparing to expand. Ohio’s First Solar Corporation expects to produce 6 megawatts of solar cells this year and is currently expanding its production four-fold, allowing the company to produce 25 megawatts of solar cells in 2005. The State of Ohio is providing a $5-million low-interest loan to aid in the expansion. See the First Solar press release (PDF 102 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.
U.S. Firms to Test Ocean Wave, Current, and Thermal Technologies
In recent years, several European companies have led the way in developing new ocean energy technologies, but that may be changing: U.S. firms are heading up three new ocean energy projects. The project developers claim that all three of the projects will provide power to electrical grids.
New Jersey’s Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (OPT) has signed an agreement with Spanish utility Iberdola S.A. to build a 1.25-megawatt wave energy plant that will provide power to the Spanish power grid. OPT’s device uses a buoy to capture wave energy and convert it into electricity in an ocean-floor-mounted generator. See the OPT announcement and Web site.
Closer to home, the U.S. Navy is working with Florida Hydro Power and Light (FHPL) to test an innovative turbine that captures the energy of ocean currents. The open-centered turbine will be deployed in the Gulf Stream, and the Navy intends to connect it to the Florida power grid. See the announcement from the Naval Surface Division’s Carderock Division and visit the FHPL Web site.
But perhaps the biggest surprise comes from U.S. engineering company R.W. Beck, which intends to work with Baltim
ore’s Solar Sea Power International (SSP) to build a 10-megawatt ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plant on a Caribbean island by 2007. OTEC plants use the temperature difference between the sun-warmed surface of the ocean and the cold ocean depths to produce power, and can also produce desalinated water as a byproduct. DOE research in OTEC technology culminated in a 50-kilowatt OTEC plant in Hawaii in the early 1990s. R.W. Beck and SSP will detail their plans at the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Power conference in Baltimore in late March. See the R.W. Beck announcement, the SSP Web site, and the ASME Power Web site.
Archived information about DOE’s OTEC research program is available on the Web site of DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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New FEMP Web Site Reflects the Program’s Energy Expertise
The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), one of 11 energy programs in the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), has captured its energy expertise in a newly revised Web site that provides simple, intuitive access to information about the program. FEMP helps the nation’s largest energy consumerthe federal governmentsave energy, conserve water, and use more renewable and distributed energy. Reflecting that role, the FEMP Web site is packed full of energy-efficiency recommendations, energy cost calculators, information about a wide variety of energy technologies, and financing information. The program’s new Web site has an updated look and feel to reflect the look of the EERE Web site, and provides the latest news from the program. See the new FEMP Web site.
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More than three-quarters of U.S. workers drove to work alone in 2000, according to a newly released brief from the U.S. Census Bureau. Of the remaining workers, 12 percent carpooled, 4.7 percent used public transportation, 3.3 percent worked at home, 2.9 percent walked to work, and 1.2 percent used other means, such as a motorcycle or bicycle. Of all modes of travel to work, driving by car increased the most between the 1990 and 2000 U.S. censuses, and the number of people walking and taking public transportation to work actually dropped. Over the same time period, the average travel time to work increased by 3.1 minutes to 25.5 minutes, a 14 percent increase. See the Census 2000 Brief, “Journey to Work: 2000” (PDF 503 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.
What makes regional transportation systems successful? According to a new report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), metropolitan areas with “smart growth” transportation systemsthose that feature extensive transit services, shorter block sizes, and a relatively dense and well-connected network of streetsexperience more efficient vehicle travel and modest improvements in traffic congestion. In contrast, the study found that lane additions and decreased population densities (two common characteristics of urban sprawl) do not prevent worsening congestion. For example, congestion delays in Detroit, Michigan, nearly quadrupled between 1982 and 2000, although the number of miles of road available, counting all the lanes, increased 13 percent and the population increased only 5.5 percent. But that population has spread out over a larger area, as Detroit’s urbanized land area expanded by 21 percent. See the EPA report, “Characteristics and Performance of Regional Transportation Systems.”
++++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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