Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:February 2, 2005

News and Events

• Samuel Bodman Sworn in as Secretary of Energy
• Solar Power Industry Roadmap Looks to a Brighter Solar Future
• AWEA Expects Record Wind Growth in 2005 after Slow 2004
• U.S. Companies Turn Landfill Gas, Plants, and Manure into Power
• Shell and GM to Establish a Fuel-Cell Fleet in New York City
• More Than 1,700 New U.S. Buildings Pursue LEED Green Building Ratings

Energy Connections

News and Events

Samuel Bodman Sworn in as Secretary of Energy

Dr. Samuel Bodman was sworn in as the 11th Secretary of Energy yesterday. The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Secretary Bodman on Monday, allowing him to replace Spencer Abraham, who resigned on November 15th. President George W. Bush nominated Dr. Bodman in December, describing him as a “problem solver.” Secretary Bodman has worked as a professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as the president of an investment firm, and as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Cabot Corporation, a global chemical company. Over the past four years, he has served the Bush administration as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. At the Department of Commerce, he had oversight of three important science and technology agencies: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Patent and Trademark Office, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. See the DOE press release and the White House press release from Secretary Bodman’s nomination in December.

Solar Power Industry Roadmap Looks to a Brighter Solar Future

The U.S. solar energy industry released a report last week that looks to the future of solar power in the United States. The report, titled “Our Solar Power Future: The U.S. Photovoltaic Industry Roadmap for 2030 and beyond,” was unveiled by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) at a Capitol Hill briefing in Washington, D.C. Noting that the United States has lagged behind Europe and Japan in solar industry manufacturing and deployment, the Roadmap report calls for sustained, annually declining tax credits for solar deployment on homes and business. It also proposes modifying the Production Tax Credit to include solar power, establishing uniform net metering and interconnection standards, boosting federal procurement of solar power to $100 million per year, and supporting state initiatives that promote solar power. In addition, the report calls for increasing the U.S. investment in solar power research and development to $250 million per year by 2010 while supporting higher-risk, longer-term research.

According to SEIA, the proposed actions would lower retail solar electricity prices from the current rate of 18 to 25 cents per kilowatt-hour to 5.7 cents per kilowatt-hour in 10 years, making solar the least-cost retail option. Solar would provide half of all new electricity generation by 2025 under this scenario, creating 60,000 solar industry jobs in the United States and drawing more than $34 billion in new manufacturing investments over the next 10 years. SEIA claims the U.S. solar industry could employ 260,000 people by 2030. See the SEIA news release or go directly to the roadmap report (PDF 2.3 MB).

The new solar energy report is sure to be a hot topic of discussion at the Power-Gen Renewable Energy conference, to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from March 1st to 3rd. Presented by Power Engineering magazine and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), the conference has been endorsed by nine renewable energy trade organizations. See the Power-Gen Renewable Energy conference Web site and the ACORE endorsement letter (PDF 47 KB).

AWEA Expects Record Wind Growth in 2005 after Slow 2004

The growth of wind power in the United States is expected to accelerate this year, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). AWEA currently projects more than 2,000 megawatts of new wind power capacity in 2005, as wind developers rush to complete their projects before the Production Tax Credit expires again at year end. That growth rate will easily beat the records set in 2001 and 2003, when just under 1,700 megawatts of wind power were installed. It will also be a significant improvement over 2004, when only 389 megawatts of wind power were installed. See the AWEA press release.

Wind power may grow even more rapidly in the future, thanks to a new rule proposed in late January by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The proposed FERC rules for connecting wind plants to the grid aims to remove barriers to wind-generated electricity while helping to ensure continued reliability of the power grid. To ease concerns about the effect of wind plants on the grid, FERC proposes to require wind plants to demonstrate the ability to continue operating when the grid experiences a low-voltage condition. Wind facilities would also be required to have supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) capability to ensure real-time communication with the operators of the transmission grid. See the FERC press release and the proposed rule (PDF 75 KB).

While a number of projects are cu
rrently underway, utilities are increasingly seeking to add wind power to their energy supply portfolios. For instance, Idaho Power issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in mid-January for up to 200 megawatts of wind power. A notice of intent to bid must be submitted to the utility by February 10th. Alliant Energy also issued an RFP for up to 100 megawatts of wind power for its customers in Iowa and Minnesota; proposals are due on Friday. Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OG&E) issued an RFP for 80 megawatts of wind power in late December; bids were due last week. And lest you think utilities fail to follow through on these RFPs, Xcel Energy announced last week that it has begun negotiations with three wind power developers to add 400 megawatts of wind power in Colorado. The utility hopes to complete negotiations by March and begin buying power from the new facilities by year’s end. See the press release and RFP from Idaho Power; the press release and RFP (PDF 97 KB) from Alliant Energy; the press release and RFP from OG&E; and the Xcel Energy press release.

U.S. Companies Turn Landfill Gas, Plants, and Manure into Power

Companies throughout the United States are pursing new projects to convert landfill gases, plants, and animal wastes into power.

Methane-rich landfill gas is a growing source of power, as landfills seek to reduce both their greenhouse gas emissions and the odors associated with the emissions. Ameresco, Inc. announced in late December that it is working with Santa Cruz County in California to generate 3.2 megawatts of power from the county’s landfill in Watsonville. In late January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored Ameresco as its 2004 “Industry Partner of the Year” for its work to complete five new landfill gas projects totaling 81 megawatts in capacity. The EPA also named Dairyland Power Cooperative its “Energy Partner of the Year” for participating in a 3-megawatt landfill gas project in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Ameresco also participated in that project. See the Ameresco press releases from December 28th and January 19th.

Companies are also working to convert forest thinnings and biomass-derived sugars into power. In Colorado, the Governor’s Office of Energy Management and Conservation (OEMC) and DOE announced last week that the coal-fired W.N. Clark Generating Station?owned by Aquila, Inc. and located in Canon City?is replacing part of its coal supply with biomass from local forest thinning operations. The plant plans to sell the environmental benefits achieved by this project by issuing Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), marking the first time that forest-derived biomass is used to create RECs. In Wisconsin, Virent Energy Systems is developing a demonstration project to convert sugars directly into hydrogen, which will help fuel a 5-kilowatt generator. The project will be the first to use Virent’s patented Aqueous-Phase Reforming process. See the press releases from OEMC (PDF 31 KB) and Virent.

Companies are also continuing to convert animal wastes into energy, relying primarily on anaerobic digesters, which convert the wastes into methane. Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) supplies its entire green power program with anaerobic digesters, selling the resultant power as CVPS Cow Power. In mid-January, the 1,500-head Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport (west of Middlebury in west-central Vermont) began supplying power to the CVPS program, and is expected to produce 1.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. The anaerobic digester technology is growing in importance, and in December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to advance the technology. See the press releases from CVPS (PDF 111 KB) and the USDA.

Shell and GM to Establish a Fuel-Cell Fleet in New York City

Shell Hydrogen and General Motors Corporation (GM) announced last week that they will build a hydrogen fueling station and a fleet of 13 fuel-cell vehicles in New York City next year. Shell already has a hydrogen-fueling station in Washington, D.C., and plans to build another fueling station between the two cities to establish an “East Coast Corridor” for hydrogen fueling. The effort is part of DOE’s Infrastructure Validation and Demonstration Project, which is managed by DOE’s Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program. See the Shell press release.

New York may eventually have an east-west corridor for hydrogen fueling as well, thanks to two projects funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Hydrogen fueling stations will be built in Buffalo and Albany as part of the state’s efforts to develop a sustainable hydrogen economy. The Buffalo installation will fuel several light-duty vehicles with internal combustion engines modified to run on hydrogen. The Albany site will fuel two Honda FCX fuel-cell vehicles, provided by American Honda Motor Company, Inc. The two projects, worth a total of $5.2 million, were announced by Governor George Pataki in late December. See the governor’s press release and the press release from Honda.

In related news, GM is joining with DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories to develop advanced hydrogen-storage technologies for vehicles. Under a four-year, $10-million program, GM and Sandia will develop and test fuel tanks that store hydrogen in a solid form, as sodium aluminum hydride. See the Sandia press release.

More Than 1,700 New U.S. Buildings Pursue LEED Green Building Ratings

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is gaining increasing attention from architects and builders. The LEED New Construction Rating System, or LEED-NC, which has been in place since 2000, has now certified 140 projects in all but 10 states and the District of Columbia, plus 27 projects in other countries. But a massive growth in LEED-certified projects is looming, as 1,717 projects throughout the country (plus 110 in other countries) have registered for certification, including projects in every state. Ohio, for instance, has only one certified project but has 45 projects that have registered for certification. The U.S. Green Building Council, which manages the LEED certification process, has also launched new LEED ratings for existing buildings (LEED-EB) and commercial interiors (LEED-CI) and is pilot-testing a LEED rating for core and shell construction (LEED-CS) while developing new rating systems for homes (LEED-H) and entire neighborhood developments (LEED-ND). See the LEED project statistics and LEED home page on the U.S. Green Building Council Web site.

Among recent buildings that have either earned or applied for LEED certification is the California Environmental Protection Agency’s new 25-story headquarters building in Sacramento, which became the first high-rise building to earn the Platinum LEED rating (the highest rating) in December. The building, developed by Thomas Properties Group, Inc., will save the agency roughly $1 million per year through lower operating costs. In the country’s heartland, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, located in Little Rock, Arkansas, earned a Silver LEED rating (the third highest), thanks in part to a high-efficiency heating and cooling system that reduces energy use by more than 40 percent. Steven Winters Associates, Inc. consulted on the project, which also features solar panels on its roof. And on the East Coast, the University of Southern Carolina (USC) opened a new dorm in November that aims to also achieve LEED certification. The “West Quad” building uses 45 percent less energy than similarly sized traditional residence halls, combining daylighting with solar water preheating, a five-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell, and a turf-covered roof. See the press releases from Thomas Properties Group, Steven Winters Associates (PDF 146 KB), and USC.

Why are so many builders going green? According to a recent study by Steven Winter Associates, it may be in part because the cost impacts are minimal. The study, performed for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), found that a 2.5 percent increase in the GSA construction budget should ensure that most projects would be LEED certified; with a 4 percent increase, many Silver and occasional Gold ratings (the second-highest rating) would also be possible. See the Steven Winter Associates press release (PDF 107 KB) or go directly to the full 578-page report (PDF 3.8 MB).

Energy Connections

NRC to Accept Public Comments on Three Nuclear Plant Permits

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is advancing the “Early Site Permit” process for new nuclear plants at three existing nuclear plants sites: Exelon Generation Company’s Clinton Power Station in Clinton, Illinois; Entergy Corporation’s Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Station near Port Gibson, Mississippi; and Dominion’s North Anna Power Station in central Virginia. The North Anna permitting process is the furthest along, with both the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the draft Safety Evaluation Report complete. A public meeting to discuss the draft EIS, originally scheduled for January 26th, has been rescheduled to February 17th because of inclement weather. The NRC is also accepting written comments through March 1st. This is the only public comment period listed in the process, which aims for an NRC decision on the permit in June 2006. The public comment period for the Clinton plant is scheduled for March through May, with a public meeting on April 19th, to support an NRC decision by August 2006. The public comment period for the Grand Gulf site is scheduled for May through mid-July, with a public meeting on June 14th, to support an NRC decision by October 2006.

An Early Site Permit is a partial construction permit, good for 10 to 20 years with an option to be renewed for up to 20 years. Currently, none of the companies have definite plans to build new nuclear plants. See the NRC Early Site Permit Web page and the NRC public meeting schedule.

Meanwhile, one nuclear plant is actually under construction: the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is revamping its Browns Ferry Unit 1, a project scheduled for completion in 2007. The 1,200-megawatt plant in northern Alabama has been idle since 1985. See TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Web page.

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