*News and Events
- PowerLight Installs Large Solar Arrays in California
- World Wind Power Development Figures Show Continued Growth
- Coalition Works to Protect Bats from Turbines
- States Offer Renewable Energy Funding
- California Orders 30 Hydrogen-Fueled Cars
*Energy Connections
Sustainable Design Reaches Lower Manhattan
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Two Sonoma County vineyards are now relying on sunshine for more than its propensity to ripen grapes. A 766-kilowatt system built by PowerLight Corporation and covering 60,000 square feet of roof space atop Rodney Strong Vineyard’s barrelhouse recently began providing a significant portion of the winery’s power needs. The system went online earlier this year, and PowerLight is in the process of installing a 457-kilowatt system for St. Francis Winery in Santa Rosa to be completed in May. Vineyards may be particularly appropriate for solar power applications due to their customary flat-roofed storage areas and sunny locations. See PowerLight’s press releases on the installations.
PowerLight is also responsible for installing the largest city-owned solar installation in the country, a similar 60,000 square-foot flatroof installation on San Francisico’s Moscone Center. Mayor Gavin Newsome dedicated the 675-kilowatt system on March 18. In addition to the array, the Moscone Center installed new building controls and energy efficient lighting. According to PowerLight, the solar power and the energy-efficiency measures together will make available more than five million kilowatt-hours annually. See the press release.
World Wind Power Development Figures Show Continued Growth
The world saw 8,133 new megawatts of wind power installed in 2003, according to figures released last week by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), bringing the world’s total wind power generating capacity to 39,294 megawatts.
With an annual growth rate of more than 35% over the last five years, Europe leads the world in wind energy development, according to the report. The country with the most wind capacity is Germany, followed by the United States, Spain, India, and Austria. Global cumulative capacity increased by 26% in 2003. For a closer look at the figures, see the press release on the report.
To bring investors up to date on wind technology’s progress and potential, the global wind industry will focus on financing issues at the Global WINDPOWER 2004 Conference and Exhibition in Chicago next week. To find out more about the conference, see the press release.
Coalition Works to Protect Bats from Turbines
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) joined with government and wildlife conservation organizations recently to address a newly discovered problem of bats hitting wind turbines. Wind power providers found bats fatally collided with turbines in West Virginia, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Wyoming last year. Bats play an important role as primary predators of night flying insects, including many major agricultural pests and they pollinate plants and disperse seeds.
AWEA is working with a coalition of scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, wildlife biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and conservationists from Bats Conservation International to research ways to prevent bat deaths from wind turbines in the future. Several wind energy companies (FPL Energy, GE Wind Energy, NEG Micon, Clipper Windpower, Atlantic Renewable Energy Corporation, U.S. Wind Force, Vestas-American Wind Technology, and Zilhha Renewable Energy) are providing matching funds for the cooperative effort to save bats. See the joint press release from the coalition.
States Offer Renewable Energy Funding
Several states around the country are offering up money this year to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Homeowners and businesses in Wisconsin can receive cash-back rewards of up to $35,000 to help them install, expand, or repair commercially available solar and wind systems. Homeowners may also access up to $30,000 to install or expand commercially available solar hot water systems. The money is being offered through the Focus on Energy program, Wisconsin’s energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative. Focus on Energy is also offering grants of up to $70,000 to businesses for installing commercially available bioenergy systems that produce electricity and use thermal energy. Low interest loans are also available for some renewables projects.
Focus on Energy claims that nearly 3,000 Wisconsin businesses have reduced their annual energy expenses by a total of nearly $15 million since July of 2001 due to energy efficiency improvements. Over their lifetime, these improvements will save state businesses $120.6 million. For e
xample, McCain Foods USA will save more than $49,000 annually in electricity costs after upgrading the compressed air systems at its potato processing plant in Plover, WI. By reducing annual electricity consumption by more than 1.4 million kilowatt-hours, the improvement will pay for itself in two years. For more information on Wisconsin’s grants and efficiency programs, see the Focus on Energy Web site.
In Connecticut, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund is offering funding through a new three-year program for photovoltaic installations on commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings. The fund seeks proposals over the next three years and will provide funding to projects that demonstrate solar as a viable clean energy resource in Connecticut. See the Clean Energy Fund’s press release on the program.
In Hawaii, the Hawaiian Electric Company is partnering with investors in order to finance renewable energy projects connected to the electrical grid. With initial approval to invest up to $10 million in renewable energy generation projects, the Company is seeking projects that have a capacity of at least 1 megawatt and a planned commercial date of operation no later than December 31, 2008. Proposals are due by April 22, 2004. For more information, see the Company’s Web site.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has a announced that $12 million is available to support demonstration, feasibility study, and product development of distributed generation or combined heat and power systems. The deadline for proposals is April 29, 2004. For more information see NYSERDA’s Web site.
The State of Pennsylvania’s Energy Harvest Initiative recently completed its first year by granting $5 million in funds to 32 recipients. The grants are designed to promote advanced energy technologies. The largest grant, of $54,182 went to Pennsylvania State Cooperative Extension of Westmoreland County to install and demonstrate a hybrid wind and solar energy generation system at the Donohoe Center Complex in Greensburg. The system offers a source of green power and will be used to develop educational programs for farmers and rural residents. Governor Edward G. Rendell has announced plans to expand the Energy Harvest Initiative by $80 million over four years. For more information on Energy Harvest see the Web site.
California Orders 30 Hydrogen-Fueled Cars
California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has approved $2.3 million for Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., to provide engineering, design, and development of advanced hydrogen fuel systems for a fleet of 30 Toyota Prius hybrid electric vehicles. The test fleet will also meet Super Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (SULEV) emissions levels and will be demonstrated at sites such as the SCAQMD headquarters and the cities of Burbank, Ontario, Riverside, Santa Ana, and Santa Monica.
In addition to commissioning the vehicles, the SCAQMD has initiated an effort to establish a network of hydrogen fueling stations. This program is part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Hydrogen Highway Initiative, which proposes to install hydrogen fueling stations approximately every 20 miles along major freeways throughout California. See Quantum’s press release.
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Sustainable Design Reaches Lower Manhattan
Large cities offer unique challenges and opportunities for sustainability. New York City is known for inventive uses of its limited space, such as rooftop green spaces, and in recent years has experimented with some of the first green designs for high-rise buildings and mixed-use buildings. Several notable guidelines for high performance building”New York City’s High Performance Building Guidelines” and, from the evolving lower Manhattan, Battery Park City’s “Green Guidelines”have emerged from New York’s experiments in green design.
Following the example of fellow lower downtown developers, the developers of the World Trade Center site are compiling their own sustainable design guides specific to the site. The guidelines exist in preliminary form as part of the recently released environmental impact statement for the site. In addition to calling for 20% of the building’s energy to be generated by renewable resources, the guidelines call for developers to incorporate local and recycled materials as well as products made from renewable agricultural resources for interior and insulating materials. The guidelines integrate energy, water, land, and construction issues, and will evolve as a result of the public review process currently underway.
To view the World Trade Center environmental impact statement, and other environmental documents related to the World Trade Center site, see the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Web site.
To view the current draft of the sustainable design guide for the World Trade Center site, see Appendix A of the environmental impact statement. (PDF 267 KB) Download Acrobat Reader.
See Battery Park City’s Green Guidelines.
For New York City’s High Performance Building Guidelines, see the New York City Office of Sustainable Design Web site.
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| < FONT face=Arial size=3>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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