Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:July 7, 2004

*News and Events

• Honda Unveils the Hybrid-Electric Accord
• Rhode Island Sets Renewable Energy Requirements
• L.A. Aims to Meet California’s Renewable Energy Requirements
• USDA Awards Grants for Wind and Solar Energy Projects
• New York State Awards $15 Million for Clean Energy Projects
• Construction Starts on Grid-Connected Superconducting Cable

*Site News

UMass Lowell Solar Energy Engineering Program

*Energy Connections

U.S. Greenhouse Emissions Increased Moderately in 2003

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News and Events

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Honda Unveils the Hybrid-Electric Accord

American Honda released the first images of its 2005 Accord V6 Hybrid last week, and although it may not look much different, the new vehicle packs a lot of technology under its hood. Using what Honda is calling a “next-generation hybrid powertrain,” the new vehicle delivers more than 240 horsepower. It also takes advantage of the electric motor’s high torque at low speeds, delivering “near-peak torque” across the engine’s entire operating range, according to Honda. The Accord Hybrid will be Honda’s first vehicle to incorporate Variable Cylinder Management technology, which deactivates three of the six cylinders during cruising and deceleration. Honda claims the Accord Hybrid will deliver more power and performance than the current Accord V6, while achieving the fuel economy of a four-cylinder Civic. The new Accord Hybrid goes on sale this fall. See the Honda press release.

Automakers are introducing a number of hybrid vehicles this fall, and the market for them appears ripe. Honda has sold more than 14,000 Civic Hybrids in the first half of this year, a 24.8 percent increase over sales in the first half of 2003. Better yet, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. has sold 21,783 Prius hybrids, an increase of 119.4 percent over last year. And that doesn’t tell the whole story: Toyota announced in late June that its current U.S. order backlog is at 22,000 vehicles, and the company is trying to increase its U.S. allocations from the factory in Japan. Only the Honda Insight is lagging, with weak sales: Honda sold only 485 Insights in the first half of this year, a drop of 39 percent compared to the first half of 2003. See the Honda press release and the June 22nd and July 1st press releases from Toyota.

Rhode Island Sets Renewable Energy Requirements

Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri signed a bill last week requiring utilities to draw on renewable energy for a specific percentage of the electricity they sell. The Renewable Energy Standard bill requires utilities to use renewable energy for 3 percent of the electricity that they sell in 2007, increasing to 16 percent by 2019, with not more than 2 percent of sales coming from currently existing renewable energy projects. For purposes of the bill, renewable energy includes solar, wind, ocean, and geothermal energy, certain biomass resources, and run-of-river hydropower plants not larger than 30 megawatts in capacity. Utilities falling short of the requirement must pay $50 per megawatt-hour of shortfall into a Renewable Energy Development Fund. See the text of the bill (PDF 34 KB) and confirm its status by entering “7375” in the “Bills” category on the Rhode Island General Assembly Bills Status System Web site. Download Acrobat Reader.

L.A. Aims to Meet California’s Renewable Energy Requirements

The Los Angeles Department of Power and Water (LADWP) announced last week that it is developing its own renewable energy requirements and is seeking to draw on renewable energy for 20 percent of its energy needs by 2017. The goal is in line with a state requirement for renewable energy, and although that state law doesn’t apply to LADWP, the Los Angeles Mayor, City Council, and Board of Water and Power Commissioners have directed LADWP to match the requirement. To start down that path, LADWP is now requesting proposals for renewable energy projects, and seeks to acquire up to 330 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy in 2005, increasing to as much as 1,320 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy in 2010. As a comparison, a 100-megawatt wind plant operating at an average annual capacity of 30 percent would produce about 263 gigawatt-hours per year. Proposals are due on August 13th. See the LADWP request for proposals.

USDA Awards Grants for Wind and Solar Energy Projects

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in mid-June its award of $11.3 million to six projects that will attempt to alleviate high energy costs in rural areas. The High Energy Cost Grants will fund four projects in Alaska, one in the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, and one on the Hualapai Reservation in Arizona. One grant will go toward a wind turbine in Hoop
er Bay, Alaska, which has excellent wind resources and an average electricity cost in excess of 45 cents per kilowatt-hour. The Hualapai project will include a solar photovoltaic power system, and the Navajo Nation project will install hybrid solar and wind power systems as well as energy efficiency improvements in at least 50 remote homes that currently pay 75 cents per kilowatt-hour for their electricity, on average. See the announcement on the High Energy Cost Grant Program Web site.

One recipient of last year’s High Energy Cost Grant is using it to finance solar power installations in Washington State. The Public Utility District (PUD) of Ferry County will fund either line extensions or solar power installations for remote customers whose cost of electricity exceeds 23 cents per kilowatt-hour. The utility will install solar power systems for these customers, allowing them to repay the cost over 20 years, and will also maintain the systems. See the Ferry County PUD announcement.

The USDA offers a variety of grants and loans that relate to energy use on farms and in rural areas, several of which were recently summarized by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman in a speech before the USDA Conference on Agriculture as a Producer and Consumer of Energy. See Secretary Veneman’s speech.

New York State Awards $15 Million for Clean Energy Projects

New York Governor George E. Pataki announced in late June the award of $15 million to support 52 distributed generation and combined heat and power (CHP) projects throughout the state. The 52 projects represent a total investment of $66 million, and include anaerobic digesters at a Kraft Foods cheese plant, two 200-kilowatt fuel cells at Grand Central Terminal, and in general a wide selection of microturbine, fuel cell, CHP, and biomass energy projects. The state is also funding eight product development projects that include fuel cells, a battery storage system, a variable-speed hydropower turbine, and a project that aims to install as much as 150 kilowatts of tidal energy turbines in New York City’s East River. See the governor’s press release.

One project highlighted in the governor’s press release is a natural- gas-fired combined heat and power system for the new Times Square headquarters of the New York Times Company. The 52-story building is expected to feature a number of innovative energy features, including a daylight-responsive shading system and a “green roof,” a rooftop garden that helps insulate and cool the building. DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) has been assisting with the daylighting design, as described in an article in LBL’s Science Beat Magazine. Information on the building is also available from the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (the architecture firm that collaborated with Fox & Fowle Architects on the project) and the developer, Forest City Radner Companies.

Green buildings are becoming more common in New York City, as witnessed by last week’s winners of the city’s first green buildings design competition. Among the five winners is the Queens Botanical Garden, which is planning to build a new reception and administration building that will include a solar power system, a geothermal heat pump, natural ventilation, daylighting, and a green roof. The building is designed to earn a platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system. Two transit projects also won: a transportation hub that will use daylighting and natural ventilation, and a subway line that will incorporate a fuel cell and a geothermal heat pump system. And one of the winners is actually complete: the Brooklyn Ice House is an industrial building that has been converted into six residential units and uses radiant floor heating. The building is designed to earn a silver LEED rating. See the press release from the City of New York’s Department of Environmental Protection.

Construction Starts on Grid-Connected Superconducting Cable

Superpower, Inc. announced last week that it has begun building a 350-meter power cable in New York that will use high-temperature superconductor (HTS) materials. HTS cables have low energy losses as power passes through them, so they are able to carry more power, in less space, more efficiently. The HTS cable now under construction will run underneath Interstate 90 to connect two substations in Albany. DOE is providing partial funding for the project, and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham lauded the project, noting that the project is “an example of technologies we are investing in that will dramatically improve our ability to move electricity and help us to modernize our ailing grid system.” See the announcement and video of the groundbreaking on the Superpower Web site.

Governor Pataki attended the event, and the next day he announced that another important grid project has been completed in New York. The world’s first grid-installed convertible static compensator (CSC) provides the capability of instantaneously shifting power from a heavily loaded transmission line to one with spare capacity. The CSC and the HTS cable are both technologies that are envisioned for a future “smart grid,” which would allow greater control of the flow of power through the electrical grid. See the governor’s press release.

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Site News

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UMass Lowell Solar Energy Engineering Program

The Solar Energy Engineering Program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell offers solar energy coursework and hosts the Center for Sustainable Energy. The program offers cou
rses for a master of science in energy engineering, a doctor of engineering in mechanical engineering, and a doctor of philosophy in applied physics, as well as a graduate certificate in energy conservation.

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Energy Connections

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U.S. Greenhouse Emissions Increased Moderately in 2003

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels increased by 0.9 percent in 2003, according to preliminary estimates released last week by DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). Since emissions actually declined in 2001 and grew at moderate rates in both 2002 and 2003, the emissions still remain below 2000 levels, but they are about 16 percent higher than 1990 emissions. EIA attributes the growth in 2003 to a number of factors, including increased heating demand during a cold winter, an increase in the number of U.S. homes, increased energy use in the commercial sector, and a shift in electric generation from natural gas to coal and oil, which emit more carbon. Carbon dioxide emissions account for more than 80 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and are a good indicator of trends in total emissions. In October, the EIA will release a full inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in 2003. See the EIA press release.

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