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DOE and Oil Companies Search for Methane Hydrates in the Gulf
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U.S. Air Force Leads the Nation in Green Power Purchases
The members of the organization buying the most green power in the United States often wear green themselves?camouflage green, that is. In 2004, the largest U.S. buyer of green power was the U.S. Air Force, which bought more than 321,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy, with bases in California, Texas, New Mexico, Washington, and North and South Dakota leading the way. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of the top 25 buyers of green power participating in its Green Power Partnership, released last week, also includes the U.S. Navy, the EPA, DOE, the U.S. General Services Administration, and the World Bank. The top companies on the list include Johnson & Johnson, Whole Foods Market, and WhiteWave Foods. Together, the top 25 EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 1.6 million megawatt-hours of renewable power each year. See the U.S. Air Force press release, the EPA press release, and the EPA’s top 25 list.
The Air Force’s green power purchases are hardly a fluke, in fact, a report released in March by the Department of Defense (DoD) concluded that green power purchases can provide its largest source of renewable energy, although the DoD prefers the energy security benefits of on-site production of renewable energy. The study found the potential for 70 average megawatts of wind power at 109 DoD facilities as well as three or four possible sites for geothermal power plants, six to eight possible sites for geothermal heating systems, and 430 locations where some form of solar energy use is practical. See the “DoD Renewable Energy Assessment” (PDF 168 KB) and for background information, see the DoD Renewables Assessment Web site.
District of Columbia Adopts a Renewable Energy Requirement
The seat of power in the United States will draw increasingly on renewable energy in the years to come, thanks to a new bill signed by District of Columbia Mayor Anthony Williams in January. Following a congressional review period, the bill, the “Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard Act of 2004,” officially became law on April 12th. The new law requires electricity suppliers in the district to draw on renewable energy for 4.5 percent of their electrical supply in 2007, increasing gradually to 11 percent in 2022. Power suppliers must also draw on solar power for 0.005 percent of their electrical supply in 2007, increasing to 0.386 percent in 2008. The law differentiates between “Tier 1” renewable sources – defined as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and ocean energy, or fuel cells powered by biomass energy – and “Tier 2” renewable sources, which include hydropower and waste-to-energy plants. Although Tier 2 sources are allowed to provide more than 60 percent of the renewable energy requirement in 2007, their contribution is phased out by 2020. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the new law will result in 32 megawatts of solar power in the district by 2022. See the text of the law (PDF 22 KB), its official status, and the SEIA press release.
Renewable energy requirements, often referred to as renewable portfolio standards (RPS), are being adopted by an increasing number of U.S. states. The New York Public Service Commission (PSC), for instance, approved an implementation plan for the state’s RPS in mid-April. However, some states are falling behind on their requirements. In Massachusetts, for example, utilities fell short of a 1.5-percent-renewable requirement in 2004, resulting in $15 million in alternative compliance payments that will be invested in new renewable energy projects. Despite such shortcomings, a new report from Global Energy Decisions projects that 52,000 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity will be needed to meet RPS requirements over the next 15 years, with wind power providing more than 40,000 megawatts of the needed capacity. See the press releases from the New York PSC (PDF 26 KB), the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources, and Global Energy Decisions.
Iowa Governor Orders Greater Use of Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack chose to celebrate Earth Day by directing Iowa state agencies to conserve energy while increasing their use of renewable energy. Governor Vilsack issued Executive Order Number 41, which directs state agencies to obtain at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources, to buy energy-efficient equipment, and to reduce their energy use in buildings by 15 percent by 2010, relative to their energy use in 2000. It also requires the state’s light-duty vehicle fleets (the vehicles other than heavy trucks) to consist of either hybrid-electric vehicles or vehicles running on alternative fuels by 2010, with the exception of law-enforcement vehicles. The order requires bulk diesel fuel purchased by the state to contain 5 percent renewable fuel (such as biodiesel), by 2007, increasing to 20 percent renewable fuel by 2010. All Iowa agencies will be required to submit quarterly reports on their progress toward the goals of the new executive order. See the governor’s press release and the full text of the executive order (PDF 970 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.
North Dakota Adopts Incentives for Wind, Hydrogen, Alternative Fuels
North Dakota Governor John Hoeven signed several bills into law on Earth Day to accelerate wind power, hydrogen, and alternative fuel technologies in the state. The wind energy provisions reduce the siting application fees, lessen the regulatory burden for siting wind plants, allow the sale of renewable energy credits to other states, and promote new investments in transmission lines. A pending bill will also cut in half the assessed value of a wind plant for tax purposes. One bill also creates a sales tax exemption on hydrogen used to power either an internal combustion engine or a fuel cell.
Several bills relate to ethanol and biodiesel production. The ethanol-related bills provide $3.25 million in incentives for new and existing ethanol plants in the state, $1.35 million in incentives to expand existing ethanol plants, and a 20-cent-per-gallon tax incentive for retail sales of E85 (a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline), an incentive that must be passed on to the consumer. The biodiesel provisions include $1.2 million to buy down interest on new biodiesel production plants, income tax credits for fuel suppliers and retailers, and a sales tax exemption for equipment that allows a facility to sell biodiesel blends. New ethanol and biodiesel production plants will also earn a 30 percent investment tax credit.
In addition, the new legislation creates an Office of Renewable Energy within the Division of Community Services at the North Dakota Commerce Department. The new office will assist in the development of renewable energy within the state and promote the conservation of energy and the wise use of energy resources in both the public and private sectors. See the governor’s press release.
Idaho Provides Financing, Tax Rebates for Renewable Projects
Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne signed two laws in April that will promote renewable energy development in the state. Senate Bill 1192, signed into law on April 6th, allows independent developers of renewable energy projects in the state to request financing from the Idaho Energy Resources Authority, a new state bonding authority that was created by a separate bill, House Bill 106. That bill, signed by the governor in March, aimed primarily at creating a bonding authority that would work with utilities to develop new electric generation and transmission projects. See Senate Bill 1192 and House Bill 106.
On April 12th, Governor Kempthorne signed House Bill 110, which provides a rebate of sales or use taxes to purchasers of machinery and equipment used to generate power from clean energy sources. The rebate applies to facilities at least 25 kilowatts in capacity and using as their principal source of power either fuel cells, low-impact hydropower, cogeneration, or wind, geothermal, solar, or biomass energy sources. See House Bill 110.
U.N. Finds Huge Solar and Wind Potential in Developing Countries
Thirteen developing countries hold the potential for thousands of megawatts (MW) of solar and wind power, according to the preliminary results of a study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The UNEP announced in mid-April that its Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) project has found the potential for 26,000 MW of wind power in Sri Lanka, as well as 7,000 MW of potential wind power in Guatemala and 2,000 MW of potential wind power along Ghana’s border with Togo. The project has also carried out studies in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Cuba, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Kenya, Nepal, and Nicaragua. The $9.3-million project, largely supported by the Global Environment Facility, started in 2001.
One specific result of the project was the finding of significant wind power potential in Nicaragua, prompting the Nicaraguan National Assembly to pass a decree that gives wind-generated electricity priority over other options when fed into electricity grids. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency and Inter-American Development Bank have subsequently launched wind energy feasibility studies in Nicaragua, and two wind projects totaling 40 MW are now moving ahead. See the UNEP press release and the SWERA Web site.
DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is contributing to the project, which uses satellite data, ground-based instruments, and computer models to assess wind and solar energy resources in the 13 countries. Results from six of the countries are available on the NREL Web site.
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Ex-Im Bank’s Environmental Exports Program Aids Clean Energy Exports
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) provides support to U.S. exporters of renewable energy and environmentally beneficial goods and services and exporters participating in foreign environmental projects. Through its Environmental Exports Program, the bank provides insurance, guarantees, and loans for energy efficiency and renewable energy exports and projects. Applicable technologies include photovoltaic, wind, biomass, fuel cell, waste-to-energy, hydroelectric, and geothermal projects, as well as hybrid systems and energy efficiency products.
The Ex-Im Bank recently named GT Equipment Technologies?a U.S. manufacturer of equipment to produce solar wafers, cells, and modules?as its 2005 Small Business Environmental Exporter of the Year. The company saw a 150 percent surge in revenues in 2004, which it credits to the bank’s working capital guarantees. See the Ex-Im Bank press release.
Energy Connections
DOE and Oil Companies Search for Methane Hydrates in the Gulf
While DOE continues to develop energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, the hunt is also on for new sources of conventional fossil fuels such as natural gas. Literally, the hunt is on: Last week, DOE launched a semi-submersible drilling vessel in the Gulf of Mexico to seek out deep-water deposits of methane hydrate, an ice-like compound thought to exist in large quantities on deep ocean floors. Since the hydrates decompose readily to water and methane, the primary component of natural gas, these methane hydrate deposits are thought to hold potential as an immense energy source. In the near-term, however, the hydrates also pose a hazard to oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The current 35-day expedition will study and characterize methane hydrates at two deep-water sites on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf. A pair of wells, each 1,000 feet deep, will be drilled at each location, both of which are about 4,300 feet under the water. ChevronTexaco is leading the expedition in partnership with six other energy companies and DOE. See the DOE’s National Methane Hydrate R&D Program Web site.
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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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