- Oil Companies, U.K. Utility to Fuel Power Plant with Hydrogen
- Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicle Achieves 12,665 MPG on Test Track
- Honda is First to Lease Fuel-Cell Vehicle to Private Family
- U.S. Automakers and EPA to Cut Energy Use in Assembly Plants
- Maine Governor Approves Rebates for Solar Energy Systems
- New University Centers Focus on Energy Challenges
Site News
“Our Wind Co-Op” Brings Small Wind Turbines to the Northwest
France to Host International Fusion Research Reactor
Oil Companies, U.K. Utility to Fuel Power Plant with Hydrogen
BP, ConocoPhillips, Shell, and the largest utility in the United Kingdom announced last week their plan to develop an industrial-scale “carbon free” power plant fueled with hydrogen. Under the plan, up to 70 million cubic feet of natural gas will be converted into hydrogen each day to fuel a new 350-megawatt power station near Peterhead in northeast Scotland. The hydrogen production process will generate carbon dioxide, which will be captured and shipped via existing pipelines to an oil field in the North Sea, 150 miles off the coast, where it will be injected into the oil reservoir. Compared to a power plant fueled directly with natural gas, the proposed plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 90 percent, storing about 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. Along with the reduced emissions, the carbon dioxide will yield a side benefit for the oil companies: It will increase oil production and extend the useful life of their oil field by up to 20 years.
The companies have already carried out their initial engineering feasibility studies for the $600-million project, and are now starting detailed engineering design studies to confirm that the project is economically feasible. With those studies in hand by mid-2006, the companies will make their final investment decision, which could lead to the plant starting operations in 2009. The utility partner, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), currently operates a natural gas-fired power plant at the planned location. See the SSE press release and the BP Web site.
Hydrogen-Fueled Vehicle Achieves 12,665 MPG on Test Track
Remember a couple weeks ago, when we made a big deal about a vehicle achieving 1,836 miles per gallon (mpg)? Silly us. That achievement, a laudable effort using a four-cycle engine, falls far short of the new world record: 12,665 mpg (5,385 kilometers per liter), set last week by students from the Federal Polytechnical School of Zurich. The team set the new world record in a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle on a track in France as part of the Shell Eco-marathon. Called the PAC-Car II, the diminutive vehicle weighs only 66 pounds and carries one driver in a prone position. To qualify for the record, the car had to travel just under 13 miles on a test track while maintaining an average speed of at least 18.6 miles per hour (30 kilometers per hour), a feat that the Swiss team achieved while using only 1.02 grams of hydrogen. The record 12,665 mpg is based on converting that hydrogen to its equivalent in 95-octane gasoline. As pointed out by the Swiss team, with that fuel efficiency a car would need only 2 gallons of gasoline to travel around the globe. See the press release from the Federal Polytechnical School of Zurich, as well as the school’s PAC-Car II Web site.
According to Shell, the first Shell Eco-marathon was held in France in 1985, setting a record of 1,600 mpg. The fuel economy record rapidly improved, and in 2003, a French team achieved 10,705 mpg, a record that stood until last week. But the Swiss team’s new record could be under challenge already today, as another round of the Shell Eco-marathon is underway at Britain’s Rockingham Motor Speedway. See the Shell Eco-marathon Web site.
Of course, there is one type of vehicle that can travel an indefinite distance without using any fuel at all: a solar car. Across North America, students are currently loading their solar cars onto trailers and hitting the road, as solar car teams from 28 colleges and universities will soon converge in Austin, Texas. Next weekend is the start of the final qualifying event for the North American Solar Challenge, a 2500-mile solar race that will run from Austin due north into Canada, then will head west to Calgary, Alberta. The staged race starts in Austin on July 17th and ends in Calgary on July 27th. See the 2005 North American Solar Challenge Web site.
Honda is First to Lease Fuel-Cell Vehicle to Private Family
Jon and Sandy Spallino of Redondo Beach, California, are now the first private individuals in the world to lease a fuel-cell vehicle. Though it’s usually a rare privilege to drive a fuel-cell vehicle, American Honda Motor Company, Inc. is leasing a 2005 Honda FCX to the Spallino family for two years of everyday use, including commuting to work and daily errands such as dropping the kids off at school. The vehicle requires hydrogen fuel, so the Spallinos will also be the first private citizens to take advantage of fueling stations built under California’s Hydrogen Highway initiative. The 2005 FCX has a range of 190 miles and carries a fuel economy rating of 62 miles per
gallon (mpg) in the city and 51 mpg on the highway. Honda didn’t make public the terms of the lease. See the Honda press release.
Converting all the vehicles in the United States to fuel-cell vehicles could save up to 6,000 lives each year, according to an article published last week in the journal Science. The study compared the impacts on pollution of today’s gasoline and hybrid electric vehicles with fuel cell vehicles fueled with hydrogen, and found the greatest pollution decrease and health benefit for fuel cell vehicles using hydrogen derived from wind power. The study also compared fuel costs. See the Stanford press release.
The U.S. public embraces advances in automotive technology, according to a new poll, and many are expecting success from hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The poll, sponsored by General Motors Corporation (GM), found that reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil is a much higher priority for Americans than other environmental or economic considerations. Unfortunately for GM, when it comes to meeting that challenge, the poll found that domestic automakers are given much less credit than Japanese automakers. See the GM press release, or go directly to a summary of the report (PDF 60 KB).
U.S. Automakers and EPA to Cut Energy Use in Assembly Plants
While vehicle fuel economy ratings provide a clear standard of comparison for U.S. automakers, historically they’ve had no simple way to compare the energy efficiency of their assembly plants, where they collectively spend $700 million per year for energy. That all changed in late June, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled a new rating system that compares the energy efficiency of a U.S. assembly plant producing any type of vehicle to that of the entire industry. With support from DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, the EPA and U.S. automakers developed the Energy Star Automobile Assembly Plant Energy Performance Indicator, which is now available on the Energy Star Web site. The Web site also includes a report from DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that examines opportunities for saving energy in assembly plants. See the EPA press release and the “Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Focus” page of the Energy Star Web site.
Ford Motor Company has found one way to save energy in its assembly plants: the company recovers the fumes from its paint shops and converts them into electricity. Ford’s “fumes to fuel” technology, developed in partnership with Detroit Edison, concentrates the exhaust fumes and burns them in a combustion engine, which drives a generator. In the past, Ford has also worked with Fuel Cell Technologies, Inc. (FCT) to fuel a solid-oxide fuel cell with the fumes. See the Ford press release and the July 2003 press release from FCT.
Maine Governor Approves Rebates for Solar Energy Systems
Maine Governor John Baldacci approved a bill last week that creates rebates for homeowners and businesses that install solar energy systems. The rebates apply to both solar photovoltaic power systems and solar thermal systems used to heat water or air. Solar photovoltaic systems installed before 2007 will earn a rebate of $3 per watt for the first 2,000 watts and $1 per watt for the next 1,000 watts, for a maximum rebate of $7,000. Solar thermal systems will earn a rebate of 25 percent of the system cost, including installation, up to a maximum rebate of $1,250. The rebates will be funded through an assessment of the state’s utilities. See the text and status of the bill on the State of Maine Legislature Web site.
New University Centers Focus on Energy Challenges
If universities are truly the seats of knowledge, it’s well worth noting what trends universities are following: Lately, a number of universities are beefing up their involvement in energy issues. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), for example, opened the Center for Future Energy Studies on its campus in Troy, New York, in early June. RPI created the new $20 million research center in partnership with Cornell University and DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, with a goal of meeting this century’s energy challenges through energy conservation and renewable energy. In late June, RPI also launched a new $4.8 million interdisciplinary program to train doctoral students in fuel cell science and engineering. See the RPI press releases from June 7th and June 21st.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is also preparing to take on the world’s energy challenges, and has formed the Energy Research Council to help it do so. MIT Provost Robert Brown appointed the Energy Research Council to lead MIT’s planning for an initiative in energy-related research and education. The new council will develop a picture of the current state of MIT energy-related research and expertise, create a list of promising science and engineering research areas that match global needs and MIT capabilities, and recommend an organizational structure that would facilitate work in these areas. See the MIT press release.
The California Clean Energy Fund is hoping to find a university in northern California with a similar vision toward the future. The fund?formed earlier this year with settlement money from the bankruptcy of Pacific Gas and Electric?intends to award a grant of $1 million to help establish and maintain a leading university center for energy efficiency. See the fund’s request for proposals (MS Word 90 KB).
Site News
“Our Wind Co-Op” Brings Small Wind Turbines to the Northwest
Our Wind Co-Op is a cooperative that invests in small-scale (10-kilowatt) wind turbines for farms, ranches, and public and private facilities in the Northwest. Initially supported by grants from DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program, Our Wind Co-Op is creating low-risk opportunities to explore on-farm green power production, distribution, ownership, and marketing models to meet local energy needs. See the Our Wind Co-Op Web site.
Energy Connections
France to Host International Fusion Research Reactor
An international project to build an experimental fusion reactor took a critical step forward last week, as the project participants chose a site in Cadarache, France, for the project. Called ITER, the fusion reactor is meant to be the mid-way step between research experiments and the first commercial fusion reactor. ITER will use a reactor design called a tokomak, in which magnetic fields contain a hot plasma that re-creates conditions within the sun. The $5-billion facility will be capable of producing 500 megawatts of thermal energy from fusion power for periods of at least 400 seconds. ITER is designed to maintain a controlled plasma in which fusion is occurring (“a controlled burn”) and may even be able to achieve a self-sustaining fusion reaction, referred to as “ignition.” See the ITER and “ITER at Cadarache” Web sites.
ITER is an international project involving the United States (represented by DOE), The People’s Republic of China, the European Union (represented by Euratom), Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation. It is technically ready to start construction, and the first plasma operation is expected in 2016. According to DOE, the United States supports the decision to locate ITER in France and looks forward to getting ITER construction underway there as soon as practical. The United States had previously supported an alternate site in Japan on technical grounds. See the last week’s joint declaration on ITER and the DOE 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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