Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:February 23, 2005

News and Events

• DOE Project Leads to New Hydrogen Fueling Station in California
• DOE Awards $87.5 Million to 12 Vehicle Efficiency Projects
• EPA Launches Clean Energy Partnerships with 12 States and D.C.
• Massachusetts Offers $25 Million for Renewable Energy Credits
• First Hybrid SUV Makes List of Top Twelve Green Vehicles
• DOE Offers $1 Million to Help Industries Save Energy

Energy Connections

DOE Project Leads to New Hydrogen Fueling Station in California

ChevronTexaco opened its first hydrogen fueling station in Chino, California, last week, joined by Assistant Secretary of Energy David Garman and representatives of Hyundai-Kia and UTC Fuel Cells. The station is a major part of the DOE’s Hydrogen “Learning Demonstration,” which brings together automobile makers and energy companies to test fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen fueling systems in real-world conditions. Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage SUVs, powered by fuel cells manufactured by UTC Fuel Cells, will operate throughout Southern California and refuel at the ChevronTexaco hydrogen station. The hydrogen is produced on-site from natural gas, but the station will also have the future capability to convert other renewable fuel sources, such as ethanol, into hydrogen for refueling fuel cell vehicles.

“On a day-to-day basis, [these projects] will give our researchers and scientists on-the-road experience with hydrogen fuel vehicles and demonstrate what we need to do to make these technologies even better,” said Assistant Secretary Garman. “By doing so, it is our hope that these clean, zero-emission vehicles will become as common as the cars we know today.” See the press releases from DOE, ChevronTexaco, and Hyundai.

While the Chino project is part of President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, his brother – Florida Governor Jeb Bush – has his own hydrogen energy initiative, called “H2 Florida.” Last week, Governor Bush attended the groundbreaking in Orlando for another ChevronTexaco hydrogen fueling station, which will be Florida’s first, and announced plans for new legislation to move the H2 Florida initiative forward. Under the proposed Hydrogen Energy Technologies Act, Florida will set aside $12.9 million to test and demonstrate the cutting-edge hydrogen technology and provide $2.1 million in new tax incentives for businesses that invest in hydrogen technologies. Participants in the groundbreaking included Ford Motor Company and Progress Energy. See the press releases from the Florida Energy Office and Progress Energy.

DOE Awards $87.5 Million to 12 Vehicle Efficiency Projects

DOE announced last week that it will award $87.5 million to 12 projects that will develop more fuel-efficient passenger and commercial vehicles. Seven of the 12 projects will involve research in advanced combustion technologies, and three of those seven relate to homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI). In HCCI engines, fuel is pre-mixed with air, as in spark-ignition engines, but the engine combusts the mixture using compression, like a diesel engine. HCCI engines burn with high efficiency and low emissions, but the combustion process is difficult to control. The seven advanced-combustion projects will also explore such technologies as premixed charge compression ignition (like HCCI, but with a non-homogeneous mixture of fuel and air), variable valve timing, variable compression ratios, variable nozzle turbocharging, and low-pressure loop-cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). In addition, Mack Trucks, Inc will develop and demonstrate an air-power-assist system that works with a commercial diesel engine.

The remaining five projects relate to technologies that convert waste heat from engines into useful electrical or mechanical energy. One promising technology?under examination by three of the five projects?is “turbocompounding,” in which exhaust gas from a conventional turbocharger is passed through a second turbocharger to provide more torque and energy to the engine’s crankshaft.

DOE’s FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program is providing funding for the 12 projects. See the DOE press release, and for more information about HCCI engines, see Sandia National Laboratories’ Combustion Research Facility Web site. A detailed diagram of a turbocompound system is also available on the Web site from Scania, a Swedish manufacturer of heavy vehicles and engines.

EPA Launches Clean Energy Partnerships with 12 States and D.C.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched two new clean energy partnerships with states last week. EPA and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners announced their formation of the EPA-State Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects on February 16th. Utility commissioners from five states – Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota and New Mexico – plus the District of Columbia are participating in the projects, which will explore cost-effective energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean distribu
ted generation. See the EPA press release and fact sheet (PDF 42 KB).

On Friday, EPA launched the new Clean Energy-Environment State Partnership Program with 10 states: California, Connecticut, Georgia, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas (three states, Connecticut, Minnesota, and New Mexico, are participating in both partnerships). Under the voluntary program, the EPA will assist states as they develop and implement action plans to improve air quality, decrease energy use, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance economic development. See the EPA press release and Clean Energy-Environment State Partnership Program Web site.

Massachusetts Offers $25 Million for Renewable Energy Credits

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) announced in late January that its Renewable Energy Trust is offering $25 million to support renewable energy projects that will generate up to 50 megawatts of clean power for the New England electric grid. The trust’s Massachusetts Green Power Partnership provides long-term funding commitments to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) and other price supports for clean energy projects. The new request for proposals (RFP) starts the second round of awards; the first round led to $32 million in funding commitments for six projects that will generate close to 100 megawatts of clean energy, including two large wind power plants (covered in last week’s newsletter), a 50-megawatt biomass power plant, and small installations of landfill gas, hydropower, and solar energy systems. Proposals for the new RFP are due on March 18th. See the press release and RFP from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

Although most of MTC’s commitments to purchase RECs are for future projects, the agency is already buying RECs from a landfill gas project. MTC buys the RECs and then auctions them off to electricity providers, which can either use them to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) or to meet the needs of any voluntary green power program. In early February, MTC had Evolution Markets LLC auction off 5,011 RECs, which sold to two successful bidders at an average price of $51.12. Some companies are also bypassing the MTC, selling RECs directly into the Massachusetts power market, as Conservation Resources Group did for a New York landfill project in 2004. See the press releases from Evolution Markets and the Conservation Resources Group (PDF 53 KB).

RECs represent the attributes of electricity generated from renewable energy sources, and are usually sold separately from the actual electricity. According to a new DOE report, an estimated 3 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of RECs were sold in 2003. Fourteen of the 18 states with RPS policies use RECs, creating an annual potential market of about 13 million MWh. According to the report, the REC market could reach 65 million MWh by 2010. See the report, “Emerging Markets for Renewable Energy Certificates: Opportunities and Challenges” (PDF 2.0 MB).

First Hybrid SUV Makes List of Top Twelve Green Vehicles

The world’s first hybrid-electric sport utility vehicle (SUV), the Ford Escape Hybrid, is also the first gasoline-powered SUV to make the list of 12 “greenest” vehicles. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) issued its eighth annual environmental guide to cars and trucks, “ACEEE’s Green Book Online,” last week, including its list of the greenest vehicles of 2005. The Honda Insight, Toyota Prius, and Honda Civic Hybrid again hold top spots on the list, although the number one green vehicle is still the natural-gas-powered Honda Civic GX. But your car doesn’t have to be a hybrid or alternative-fuel model to make the list: other top green cars include the Toyota Corolla and Echo; the Toyota Matrix and its twin, the Pontiac Vibe; the Nissan Sentra; the Mazda 3; and the Ford Focus and Ford Focus Wagon. ACEEE ranks vehicles based on their levels of noxious emissions, fuel economy, and greenhouse gas emissions. See the ACEEE press release and list of the top twelve greenest vehicles.

Hyundai may be the next car company to join the ranks of hybrid vehicle producers: at the Chicago Car Show in early February, the company unveiled its “Portico” concept vehicle, a six-seat vehicle that it bills as “designed to accept Hyundai’s hybrid drive system.” The hybrid Portico would feature two electric motors: a 100-kilowatt motor driving the front wheels and a 60-kilowatt motor driving the rear wheels, providing efficient all-wheel-drive capability. According to Hyundai, a lithium-ion battery would power the motors. See the Hyundai press release.

DOE Offers $1 Million to Help Industries Save Energy

DOE announced last week that $1 million in new funds are available to help industrial plants find ways to save energy. The new solicitation offers up to $100,000 per facility to carry out a “Plant-Wide Assessment” to examine energy-intensive processes, determine which plant systems offer the greatest energy savings potential, and identify specific actions to achieve those savings. Proposals are due by May 3rd. See the solicitation and the Plant-Wide Assessment Web page on DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program Web site.

One company that may be interested in carrying out some plant-wide assessments is Modine Manufacturing Company, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of heating and cooling equipment. In late January, the company launched an initiative to cut energy use at its 35 worldwide manufacturing facilities by 12 percent. See the press release from Modine.

Energy Connections

LNG Terminals Move Ahead in the Gulf of Mexico

Companies continue to make progress developing new terminals for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the United States. Shell announced last week that it has received regulatory approval to build an offshore LNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, 38 miles from Cameron, Louisiana. The Shell terminal will have the ability to gasify one billion cubic feet per day of natural gas for use in the United States. ConocoPhilips has also proposed building an LNG terminal in the Gulf, about 56 miles south of Louisiana, with a capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Another project in the Gulf, under design by Tidelands Oil and Gas Corporation, will be located off the coast of Mexico to supply natural gas to Mexico. See the press releases from Shell, ConocoPhilips, and Tidelands.

In terms of on-shore LNG terminals in the Gulf area, Cheniere Energy, Inc. is now spearheading four LNG projects. Its proposed LNG terminal in Freeport, Texas, won approval in early January and is now under construction. In late January, the company applied to build a second LNG terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, called “Creole Trail”; the company has already earned approval to build the “Sabine Pass” LNG terminal there, and plans to start construction in late March. The company has also applied to build an LNG terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas. See the Cheniere Energy press releases from January 11th and January 26th.

Other plans for North American LNG terminals include a ChevronTexaco proposal for a terminal eight miles off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, which earned approval in early January; a planned expansion of the Dominion Cove Point LNG terminal in Maryland; and a proposed LNG terminal off the coast of Massachusetts. Tractebel LNG North American LLC is proposing to build the Massachusetts LNG terminal about 10 miles south of Gloucester. See the ChevronTexaco press release, the Dominion Cove Point Web site, and the Tractebel press release (PDF 33 KB).

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