- Dow and GM to Build One-Megawatt Fuel Cell Installation
- Universities and Companies Aim to Convert Biomass to Energy
- Kansas Governor Halts Wind Power in Tallgrass Prairies
- West Coast States Strengthen Greenhouse Gas Reduction Efforts
- FedEx Uses Hybrid Trucks for Holiday Charity Deliveries
- Car-Sharing Company Plans Nationwide Expansion
State Technologies Advancement Collaborative Launches New Site
New Technology Uses Nuclear Power to Produce Hydrogen
News and Events
Dow and GM to Build One-Megawatt Fuel Cell Installation
Dow Chemical Company and the General Motors Corporation launched the second phase of their joint fuel cell demonstration project on Monday. The companies will now build a one-megawatt fuel cell pilot plant and integrate it into Dow’s Texas Operations facility in Freeport, Texas. The system will be fueled with hydrogen that is produced as a byproduct at the chemical plant, and will feed power into the plant’s power distribution grid. According to GM, the new facility will provide valuable experience in “learning to work with real-world hydrogen that has some impurities in it, and not the pure hydrogen you get in a lab setting.” See the Dow press release and Web site.
Another one-megawatt fuel cell installation is in the works for California: FuelCell Energy, Inc. announced in late October that it will team with Chevron Energy Solutions to provide a fuel cell system to the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County. That jail already features a 1.18-megawatt solar power system. See the FuelCell Energy press release.
FuelCell Energy also worked with Caterpillar Inc. to install a 250-kilowatt fuel cell system at an electrical substation in Westerville, Ohio. The companies brought the fuel-cell power plant online in mid-November, fueling it with hydrogen produced from natural gas. Ohio Governor Bob Taft hailed the achievement and used the occasion to announce nearly $3.5 million in grants to five Ohio companies involved in fuel cell development. See the press releases from FuelCell Energy and the Ohio Department of Development.
Universities and Companies Aim to Convert Biomass to Energy
Universities and companies throughout the United States have been pursuing new ways to convert biomass?plant-derived materials?into energy. Researchers at the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) have developed a biomass gasifier that successfully turns wood chips into a gas that fuels a diesel engine. At the University of California at Davis (UC Davis), researchers are preparing to fire up an anaerobic digester to convert three tons of organic waste into about 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity each day. But you don’t need to be a researcher to use biomass energy: the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) notes that two companies in the Northeast are blending biodiesel with their heating oil this year, and the State of Maine is using biodiesel blends to heat several government buildings, including the State House. See the press releases from EERC, UC Davis, and the NBB (PDF 19 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.
On a larger scale, a project in New Jersey will soon convert waste oil and byproducts from a vegetable oil processing plant into heat and electricity. Northern Power Systems won a $1.7 million contract from Aarhus United USA Inc. to develop a system that will meet 12 percent of the heating requirements and 65 percent of the electrical needs at Aarhus United’s facility in Port Newark, New Jersey. The system will produce power using a Stirling engine from STM Power, Inc. See the STM Power press release (PDF 16 KB).
The Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) is carrying out the largest project of all: an effort to convert a coal-fired power plant into a power plant fueled with wood chips. The Northern Wood Power Project will produce 50 megawatts of power, with much lower emissions than the coal plant, when it is complete in 2006. See the PSNH press release.
Kansas Governor Halts Wind Power in Tallgrass Prairies
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius called last week on wind energy developers to hold off on projects in the Flint Hills area in order to preserve the tallgrass prairie ecosystem there. The temporary moratorium is meant to allow counties in the area time to develop local guidelines for wind energy development and to evaluate the role of wind energy development in the Flint Hills. The governor designated a protected area of land called the “Heart of the Flint Hills,” a 60-mile-wide swath of land just east of Wichita, running from the state’s southern border, through Manhattan, and ending about
25 miles south of the Nebraska border. Governor Sebelius also encouraged wind developers to move ahead on projects outside the designated area, and is expected to draw on recommendations from the Kansas Energy Council to establish a package of wind energy incentives within the state. See the governor’s press release and maps of the Heart of the Flint Hills from the Kansas Energy Council.
Among the projects affected by the governor’s request is the Munkers Creek wind project, a proposed 100- to 200-megawatt wind power project that would have been located southeast of Manhattan. The project was being developed by JW Prairie Windpower LLC, a subsidiary of juwi international. See the juwi Web site.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has extended the public comment period for another controversial wind energy project, the proposed Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, to February 24th, 2005. See the Corps press release.
West Coast States Strengthen Greenhouse Gas Reduction Efforts
The governors of the three West Coast states?California, Oregon, and Washington?announced in mid-November that they had approved 36 actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The actions were jointly developed by the three states, and include setting new targets for annual greenhouse gas emissions from state-owned fleets of vehicles; collaborating on the purchase of hybrid vehicles; establishing a plan for truck stop electrification (to avoid unnecessary truck idling) along Interstate 5, on the outskirts of major urban areas, and on other major interstate routes; setting goals and implementing strategies and incentives to increase green power sales by one percent or more per year in each state through 2015; adopting energy efficiency standards for up to 14 products not regulated by the federal government; and incorporating aggressive energy efficiency measures into state building energy codes, with a goal of achieving at least 15 percent cumulative energy savings by 2015 in each state. The new actions are part of the West Coast Governors’ Global Warming Initiative, launched by the governors in September 2003. See the press release on the Oregon Department of Energy Web site.
FedEx Uses Hybrid Trucks for Holiday Charity Deliveries
The holiday season is undeniably underway, and that means not only personal efforts to bring joy to others, but also corporate efforts. FedEx Corporation is pitching in this year with an added environmental message: two hybrid-electric trucks are traveling around the country, helping local charities along the way. The “FedEx Special Delivery” trucks are helping in drives to collect toys, food, and clothing that will be distributed by local agencies and charitable organizations. See the FedEx press release and the FedEx Special Delivery Web site.
Car-Sharing Company Plans Nationwide Expansion
Zipcar, a car-sharing company located in seven states and 21 cities, announced plans in mid-November to become the first nationwide car-sharing service in the United States. Car-sharing services allow their members to use a variety of vehicles at hourly or daily rates. Although the main intent is to help people get by without owning a vehicle, car-sharing services also encourage greater use of transit services and provide alternatives to owning a large fuel-guzzling vehicle that may rarely be used for hauling large items. Zipcar offers 20 different makes and models, including the Toyota Prius. See the Zipcar press release.
Another car-sharing service that has seen rapid expansion recently is Flexcar. In the past year, the company has offered new car-sharing services in Denver and Vancouver while expanding its services in Los Angeles, Seattle, and the Washington, D.C., area. See the Flexcar press releases.
A number of communities are also running their own car-sharing services. To learn more about car sharing, and to find services in your area, see the Car Sharing Network.
Site News
State Technologies Advancement Collaborative Launches New Site
The State Technologies Advancement Collaborative (STAC), a five-year pilot program funded by DOE, has launched a new Web site. Formed in late 2002 by DOE, the National Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO), and the Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions, STAC is meant to allow states and territories and the federal government to collaborate better on energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects. Since its inception, STAC has issued two solicitations, and expects to announce awards from the second round of solicitations sometime this month. The former STAC Web site was part of the NASEO Web site; see the new STAC Web site.
Energy Connections
New Technology Uses Nuclear Power to Produce Hydrogen
Will nuclear power fuel a future “hydrogen economy”? Researchers at DOE’s Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) think so, as they have demonstrated how nuclear power could be used to efficiently produce large quantities of hydrogen. The INEEL researchers have teamed with Ceramatec, Inc. to produce hydrogen using high-temperature electrolysis.
While conventional electrolysis involves running an electrical current through water to produce hydrogen and oxygen?typically at conversion efficiencies of about 30 percent?high-temperature electrolysis is able to achieve substantially higher conversion efficiencies. INEEL researchers announced on Monday that they
‘ve been able to convert 45 to 50 percent of the input energy into hydrogen using their high-temperature electrolysis process, which produces 50 liters of hydrogen per hour. Since the process requires both electricity and a high-temperature heat source, nuclear reactors are ideal for the task. See the INEEL press release.
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| 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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