- USDA Offers $22.8 Million for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
- Company to Build Largest U.S. Biodiesel Plant in North Dakota
- Lexus to Start Selling Hybrid Sedan in Spring 2006
- California Wine Co-op to Install Two Large Solar Power Systems
- Ongoing Drought in Northwest Threatens Hydropower Production
- Clean Air Act Settlement to Yield Solar and Wind or Biomass Projects
Wind Industry Launches Global Wind Energy Council
Energy Connections
DOE Releases Revised Greenhouse Gas Reporting Guidance
USDA Offers $22.8 Million for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Monday the availability of $22.8 million to support new renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements by agricultural producers and rural small businesses. The funds will support the use of renewable energy technologies such as biomass (including anaerobic digesters), geothermal, hydrogen, solar, and wind energy.
The new funds will be made available in two stages. One half, or $11.4 million, is available immediately for competitive grants of up to $500,000 for renewable energy projects and up to $250,000 for energy efficiency projects. The grant request may not exceed 25 percent of the eligible project cost, and applications must be submitted by June 27th. The remaining $11.4 million will be set aside for guaranteed loans for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects through a process to be announced later this year. See the USDA press release.
Section 9006 of the 2002 Farm Bill established the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program to encourage agricultural producers and rural small businesses to increase their energy efficiency and use more renewable energy. To date, the USDA has invested $45 million in 32 states through this program. For complete information about the program, including the official Federal Register notice about the latest funds, see the USDA Web site.
Company to Build Largest U.S. Biodiesel Plant in North Dakota
North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad announced last week that North Dakota Biodiesel Inc. plans to construct a $50 million biodiesel manufacturing plant in Minot, North Dakota, drawing on local canola crops as a source. The facility will be the largest biodiesel refinery in North America, able to produce 100,000 tons of premium biodiesel annually from more than 355,000 acres of canola. Construction on the plant is expected to begin in August, with the first sale of biodiesel products likely in December 2006. According to Senator Conrad, the new facility will pump millions of dollars into the local economy and produce hundreds of jobs. See the senator’s press release.
Currently produced mainly from soybeans, biodiesel is gaining ground on a number of fronts. According to the National Biodiesel Board, the U.S. Department of the Navy is requiring all Navy and Marine non-tactical diesel vehicles to operate on B20?a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel fuel?by June 1st. Volkswagen AG just extended warranty protection to U.S. vehicles for the use of blends containing up to 5 percent biodiesel, and is testing engines using B20. And John Deere committed in February to filling all its new U.S.-made diesel vehicles with B2, a blend containing 2 percent biodiesel. The company’s first B2-filled tractors rolled out of its Waterloo, Iowa, assembly plant in early March. See the press releases from the National Biodiesel Board.
Lexus to Start Selling Hybrid Sedan in Spring 2006
Lexus unveiled the world’s first rear-wheel-drive hybrid-electric sedan last week at the New York International Auto Show. The 2007 Lexus GS 450h features a new hybrid system that combines a 3.5-liter V6 engine with a high-output electric motor, yielding a combined power output “well in excess of 300 horsepower,” according to Lexus. The result is a luxury sedan that outperforms the V8-powered GS 430, while achieving a fuel economy “in the high twenties,” according to the company. See the Lexus press release.
California Wine Co-op to Install Two Large Solar Power Systems
PowerLight Corporation announced last week that it will install 424 kilowatts of solar power at the Northern California facilities of the Wine Service Co-Operative, a leading wine storage and distribution center. The project will consist of a 195-kilowatt system and a 229-kilowatt system installed atop the Wine Co-op’s St. Helena and South Napa facilities in the Napa Valley. The solar arrays, combined with energy efficiency measures, should provide nearly 100 percent of the facilities’ annual energy needs, substantially reducing operating costs. The project is scheduled for completion this summer. See the PowerLight press release.
Meanwhile in Southern California, a long-running dispute over a much smaller solar power system was finally resolved in early March. Akeena Solar has been trying to install a solar electric system on its roof since 2002, but the Town of Los Gatos, where the company is located, would not approve the system because of concerns about the visual impacts of some of the solar modules. While a lawsuit was pending, Akeena worked to update the state’s Solar Rights Act so that it would apply to municipali
ties, and the updated act was signed into law in September 2004. With the new law in place, the company applied for a permit to build an expanded 6-kilowatt system in January, won building approval in February, built the system, and earned final approval from the town in early March. See Akeena Solar’s press release and its related Web page.
Ongoing Drought in Northwest Threatens Hydropower Production
The Northwest experienced its third dry winter in a row this year, leading the Bonneville Power Administration, regional utilities, and public interest groups to call last week on Northwest consumers to conserve energy. Barring unscheduled plant outages or other unforeseen circumstances, the region’s utilities expect to have enough electrical generating capability to meet demand, but the hydropower shortage could drive up electricity rates, the groups warned. See the BPA press release.
The low water conditions should provide an interesting test of a “fish friendly” hydropower turbine, now producing power for the Grant County Public Utility District (PUD) at the Wanapum Dam, on the Columbia River in Washington State. The state-of-the-art turbine is designed to increase the survival rate of migratory fish while increasing efficiency and power output. The DOE-funded test is already showing promise: In early February, testing showed a 14 percent increase in power output and a 3 percent increase in efficiency. Fish passage data are not available yet. See the Grant County PUD press release (PDF 109 KB).
One company is working to bring new hydropower capacity to the Northwest, through low-impact installations primarily located at existing federal dams. Symbiotics, LLC was established in 2001 and has filed 250 applications for preliminary hydropower permits with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Of those, 22 projects are currently active, and 4 have reached the stage of applying for a final license. Those projects include a 10-megawatt installation near Medford, Oregon; an 8.3-megawatt system east of Cottage Grove, Oregon; a 6.8-megawatt system near Prineville, Oregon; and a 3.3-megawatt system northeast of St. Anthony, Idaho. See the Symbiotics Web site.
Clean Air Act Settlement to Yield Solar and Wind or Biomass Projects
When FirstEnergy Corporation settled a federal lawsuit in mid-March for violations of the Clean Air Act by its subsidiary, Ohio Edison, the result was not only a significant cleanup of the utility’s coal-plant emissions, but also a significant commitment to wind power within the next three and a half years. Ohio Edison is required to enter into 20-year contracts to buy power from wind projects with a total capacity of at least 93 megawatts. However, if the wind energy production tax credit is not in force or not applicable to any of the projects, Ohio Edison need only contract for 23 megawatts of wind power. The wind projects must be located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or western New York. With pre-approval from the plaintiffs, Ohio Edison can also substitute landfill gas projects in Connecticut, New Jersey, or New York for some or all of the wind power requirement. Ohio Edison must also provide $400,000 to fund a 52-kilowatt solar power system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. See document pages 37 and 38 (PDF pages 40 and 41) plus Appendix A (PDF pages 73 and 74) of the “Ohio Edison Consent Decree” (PDF 278 KB).
The FirstEnergy settlement was the result of Clean Air Act violations at the W.H. Sammis Station, a coal-fired power plant in Stratton, Ohio. The states of Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York were co-plaintiffs and joined in the settlement. See the press release, fact sheet, and other information on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Compliance and Enforcement Web site.
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Wind Industry Launches Global Wind Energy Council
The Global Wind Energy Council, launched on March 10th, promotes the development of wind energy around the world through policy development, business leadership, global outreach, and information and education. Its membership includes more than 1,500 companies and organizations from more than 50 countries. See the Global Wind Energy Council Web site.
Energy Connections
DOE Releases Revised Greenhouse Gas Reporting Guidance
DOE released revised guidelines for voluntary reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, sequestration, and emission reductions on March 22nd. Under the revised guidelines, utilities, manufacturers, and other businesses that emit greenhouse gases will be able to register their emission reductions achieved after 2002 if they also provide entity-wide emissions inventory data. The new guidelines also allow reporting greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in the forest and agriculture sectors, using information provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Small entities, such as farms and small businesses, will be encouraged to participate through simplified reporting and registration provisions. See the press releases from DOE and the USDA.
The guidelines were published in the Federal Register on March 24th for a 60-day public comment period and are expected to become effective in late September. Two public workshops on the revised guidelines will take place in April and May. For more information on the workshops and guidelines, see the DOE Office of Policy and International Affairs Web site.
The new guidelines coincide with a commitment by six U.S. oil and gas companies to increase their actions regarding climate cha
nge. According to the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES)?a coalition of investment funds, environmental organizations, and public interest groups?the six companies will take a range of actions, including disclosing their operational greenhouse gas emissions; disclosing the greenhouse gas emissions from the use of their products; setting absolute greenhouse gas emission goals and reduction targets; increasing investments in low- and no-carbon energy technologies, including renewable energy and carbon sequestration; integrating climate risk into core business strategies, including factoring carbon costs into capital allocation decision-making; and assigning their boards the direct responsibility to oversee corporate strategies regarding climate change. The six companies include Andarko Petroleum, Apache Corporation, ChevronTexaco, Marathon Oil, Tesoro Corporation, and Unocal. For a list of specific actions to be taken by each company, see the CERES 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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