Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:November 24, 2004

News and Events

• United States and 13 Other Countries Form Methane Energy Partnership
• Solar “Utilities” and Credit Trades Boost Solar Water Heating
• Study: Worldwide Use of Solar Thermal Energy Underestimated
• Wind Power Brings Jobs to Nevada, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin
• Ethanol Fuel Industry on Building Spree in the Midwest
• American Chemistry Council Honors Energy Efficiency Efforts

News and Events

United States and 13 Other Countries Form Methane Energy Partnership

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week that 13 countries have joined the Methane to Markets Partnership, an international effort to capture methane emissions and convert them into energy. In the United States, the major source of methane emissions is landfill gas, but the partnership also focuses on recovering methane from coal mines and from natural gas and oil systems. Methane to Markets has the potential to reduce net methane emissions by up to 50 million metric tons of carbon equivalent annually by 2015, equivalent to eliminating the carbon emissions from 50 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants. Representatives from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom joined the United States in signing a document to formally create the Methane to Markets Partnership. See the EPA press release and the EPA’s Methane to Markets Web site.

Globally, landfill gas is the third-largest human-caused source of methane. The United States is the world’s largest source of landfill methane emissions, producing 26 percent of global emissions, followed by China at 11 percent, and Russia at 5 percent. Thanks in part to voluntary efforts led by the EPA, total U.S. methane emissions in 2001 were 5 percent below 1990 levels. See the EPA fact sheets on landfill gas emissions (PDF 150 KB) and on the significance of methane and U.S. efforts to reduce methane emissions (PDF 71 KB).

A new study by researchers at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Earth Institute at Columbia University finds that reducing emissions of methane and other trace gases could stabilize global warming even with significant levels of carbon dioxide emissions. If measures are taken to reduce these other greenhouse gases, the authors argue that “acceptable (carbon dioxide) emissions in coming decades may be greater than commonly assumed.” The study (PDF 711 KB) was published in last week’s “Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.”

Solar “Utilities” and Credit Trades Boost Solar Water Heating

Most Americans may not think about using solar energy to meet their hot water needs, but a number of innovative companies and utilities are working to change that. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, for instance, the Solar Mining Company installs solar hot water systems at commercial, industrial, and non-profit facilities for free, and then bills the customer for the hot water at rates lower than competing fossil-fueled options. The company, which received startup funding from Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy, will also build and install customer-owned systems. See the Focus on Energy press release (PDF 39 KB).

Florida’s Lakeland Electric went a step further: it recently sold renewable energy credits from its solar hot water systems. Lakeland Electric sold 50 megawatt-hours of solar heating credits for $2000 in September, using Sterling Planet as a broker. After paying commission fees, the utility earned 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour on the deal, which marks the first time that solar thermal credits have been traded. The funds will help support solar water heating in Lakeland, located about 25 miles east of Tampa. See the Lakeland Electric press release.

The South Carolina Energy Office (SCEO) is also promoting solar hot water systems. The office’s new Public Building Solar Initiative is offering grants to cover three-quarters of the cost of installing solar hot water systems on public buildings throughout the state. The SCEO expects to award at least $80,000 to eligible projects. Applications are due on December 10th. See the SCEO announcement.

Study: Worldwide Use of Solar Thermal Energy Underestimated

Estimates of the world’s use of solar energy for heating water and buildings have long been hampered by a technical issue: the difficulty of converting the size of the installed solar energy collectors into an energy capacity that could be easily compared to other capacity figures. Last week, however, the International Energy Agency’s Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (IEA-SHC) and the world’s major solar energy trade associations announced that they had agreed on a simple conversion factor for all types of solar thermal collectors: each square meter of solar collector, regardless of type, has the capacity to generate about 0.7 kilowatts of thermal heat. Applying that to worldwide estimates of installed so
lar collectors, the organizations found the world capacity to be nearly 70 gigawatts of thermal heat. That compares favorably with wind power, which has a global installed capacity of 23 gigawatts of electric power. See the joint press release on the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation Web site, and for more information, see the IEA-SHC Web site.

Wind Power Brings Jobs to Nevada, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin

With companies like GE Energy reporting $1.3 billion in orders for wind turbines, some may assume that all the benefits from wind projects go toward large corporations, but that’s far from the case. In fact, the current flurry of wind power projects is yielding job and economic benefits across the country.

Nevada is the latest to gain from the current wind rush, as Energy Nevada, LLC has announced an agreement with Sweden’s Nordic Windpower to establish Nordic’s U.S. manufacturing activity in the northern part of the state. The agreement provides for Nordic Windpower to start manufacturing wind turbines in Nevada as soon as a wind developer commits to building a Nevada wind energy project of sufficient size. From the Nevada plant, Nordic and Energy Nevada plan to ship wind turbines throughout North America. See the Energy Nevada press release (PDF 254 KB). .

A fabrication plant in Provo, Utah, is already benefiting from the wind rush, having just earned a contract to build 150 tubular steel towers for wind turbines to be installed in the West. The 14-month project will require more than 18,000 tons of steel. The plant is owned by CB&I, a leading engineering, procurement, and construction company. See the CB&I press release.

Wind power’s fabrication needs have also yielded benefits for Wisconsin, as a new company called Global Energy Systems has been established in Stevens Point. The new plant will fabricate wind turbine components such as towers, flanges, gearboxes, bedplates, and hubs, and will employ about 100 people, including 75 skilled laborers. The company was started with the help of a Wisconsin Focus on Energy grant. See the Focus on Energy press release (PDF 21 KB).

Last but not least, Vermont’s Northern Power Systems is expanding its manufacturing facilities, having leased a 35,000-square-foot plant in Barre. The company plans to hire at least 35 new employees, including technicians, drafters, and engineers. The facility will first be used to build NorthWind 100 wind turbines for shipment to Alaska, and will also serve to fabricate industrial power systems. See the Northern Power press release.

Ethanol Fuel Industry on Building Spree in the Midwest

A growth in demand and favorable new tax credits appear to have accelerated the U.S. ethanol fuel industry. Since October, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has announced the start of construction on new ethanol plants in Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas, plus two plants under construction in Minnesota. In addition, Texas will soon host its first ethanol plant, as Panhandle Energies is building a plant in Dumas (in far northern Texas) capable of producing 30 million gallons per year. Ethanol plants are also expanding, as a plant in Wisconsin is doubling its capacity and another in Iowa is nearly doubling its capacity as well. With construction recently completed on a plant in Iowa, the industry now has 82 operating plants capable of producing nearly 3.5 billion gallons of ethanol each year. The 16 plants now under construction will be able to produce another 750 million gallons of ethanol each year. Given the growth in the industry, its no surprise that ethanol production in September set another record, and total ethanol production in 2004 is expected to top 3.35 billion gallons, a 19 percent growth over 2003. See the RFA press releases.

The ethanol industry may receive another boost from the Broin Companies, an ethanol producer that claims to have developed a new process for producing ethanol. The “Broin Project X” (BPX) process eliminates a cooking step, saving energy while significantly decreasing plant emissions, according to the company. Novozymes, a developer of starch conversion enzymes for the ethanol industry, helped Broin develop the process, which Broin is now using at three of its ethanol plants. The company has applied for a patent and intends to license the process to other ethanol plants. See the Broin press release (PDF 68 KB).

While the ethanol fuel industry is looking to increase ethanol’s use in gasoline blends, the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is already looking at how ethanol might power tomorrow’s fuel cell vehicles. GTI recently announced that it was able to convert ethanol into hydrogen using its two-step steam-reforming process. See the GTI press release.

American Chemistry Council Honors Energy Efficiency Efforts

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) recently honored eight chemical companies for energy efficiency improvements made in 2003. The eight companies?BASF Corporation; BP; Dow Corning Corporation; Eastman Chemical Company; ExxonMobil Chemical Company; Merck & Company, Inc.; Monsanto Company; and Sasol North America, Inc.?earned a total of 19 awards for their company-wide or plant-specific progress. According to ACC, the total annual energy savings represented by the 19 awards amounts to 4.9 trillion Btu, equal to the energy needs of about 26,000 households. See the ACC press release (PDF 121 KB), and for more information on the individual awards, see the press releases from ExxonMobil Chemical and BASF.

Have you ever wondered how much energy each industry uses, and where that energy goes? The Industrial Energy Footprints, recently prepared by DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program, spell it all out in graphic detail. The footprints summarize 16 manufacturing industries and also include an overview of all manufacturing industries. For instance, it’s easy to find out that the chemical industries consume a total of 5 quadrillion Btu (5 quads) each year, equal to about 5 percent of the energy consumed in the United States. See the Industrial Energy Footprints.

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