Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:November 9, 2005

News and Events

• U.S. Government Exceeds its Goal for Renewable Energy Use
• Renewable Energy Markets Showed Strong Growth in 2004
• U.S. Wind Power Grows at Record Pace in 2005
• California Approves Contract for 500-Megawatt Solar Facility
• University of Delaware to Lead $54 Million Solar Cell Project
• VeraSun and Ford to Convert Gasoline Pumps to Ethanol

U.S. Government Exceeds its Goal for Renewable Energy Use

The federal government exceeded its goal of obtaining 2.5 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by the end of September, according to figures released last week by DOE. As the largest energy consumer in the nation, the federal government now uses 2,375 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy per year. That represents a nearly 14-fold increase in renewable energy use since 1999, when an Executive Order set the goal. Today, the federal government’s annual use of biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind power is enough to power 225,000 homes or a city the size of El Paso, Texas. See the DOE press release.

The federal government now has a new goal to meet, as the Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires the government to obtain 7.5 percent of its electrical power from renewable sources of energy by 2013. A key facilitator for that goal is the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), a part of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy that helps federal agencies employ renewable energy by purchasing green power or deploying renewable technologies. As a result, solar panels, wind turbines, and thousands of geothermal heat pumps have been installed at federal facilities across the nation. See the FEMP Web site.

Renewable Energy Markets Showed Strong Growth in 2004

Global investment in renewable energy reached $30 billion in 2004, equal to 20 to 25 percent of the global investment in the power sector, according to a report released on Sunday by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21). According to the report, global investment in renewable energy has grown steadily since 1995, when it was at about $7 billion. As a result, wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and small hydropower technologies now supply 160 gigawatts of generating capacity, about 4 percent of the world total. The fastest growing technologies are grid-connected solar power, at 60 percent per year, and wind power, which grew 28 percent in 2004. REN21 is a global policy network aimed at providing a forum for international leadership on renewable energy. The report was authored and published by the Worldwatch Institute. See the Worldwatch Institute press release and the full report (PDF 904 KB).

The rising global investments in renewable energy have also had a positive effect on clean energy stock prices, according to New Energy Finance. The company has created a stock index of 50 clean energy companies, called the Global Energy Innovation Index (GEIX). The index finished the third quarter up 32.5 percent on the year and nearly 20 percent on the quarter. New Energy Finance claims that stocks for clean energy companies in countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases have outperformed their competitors by 66.6 percent, a trend the company refers to as the “Kyoto Effect.” See the New Energy Finance press release (PDF 18 KB).

Meanwhile, a report released last week by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) finds few barriers to international trade in renewable energy technologies. The report credits growth in renewable energy to government incentives, including those that stem from international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol. It also credits technological advances that have improved the cost-competitiveness of renewable energy technologies, as well as concerns regarding the environment and energy security. According to the report, the United States is the world’s largest market for biomass and geothermal power, while Germany leads the market for wind power, Japan for solar power, and France for ocean power. See the ITC press release and the full report (PDF 2.3 MB).

U.S. Wind Power Grows at Record Pace in 2005

The U.S. wind power industry will set new growth records this year, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The trade group’s latest projections, released last week, anticipate the installation of 2,500 megawatts of new wind power capacity this year, a record growth of more than 35 percent. AWEA’s list of wind projects to be completed this year includes projects in 25 states. According to AWEA, the total U.S. wind power capacity will exceed 9,200 megawatts by the end of this year and should displace more than a half billion cubic feet of natural gas per day in 2006, or about 5 percent of the natural gas used for power production. See the AWEA press release and the full list of projects (PDF 22 KB).

Since the production tax credit for wind power projects does not expire until the end of 2007, wind power growth is expected to stay strong for at least the next two years, according to AWEA. That future growth is already evident, as PPM Energy just started building the 200-megawatt Big Horn Wind Project in northeast Klickitat County in Washington, with plans to complete it by next summer. In addition, Orion Energy LLC has submitted an application to the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council to build the 450-megawatt Biglow Canyon Wind Farm in north-central Oregon,
near the Washington border, about 50 miles southwest of the Big Horn project. The company plans to begin construction in early 2007. See the PPM Energy press release and the Biglow Canyon application announcement and related documents on the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Web site.

California Approves Contract for 500-Megawatt Solar Facility

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced its approval in late October of a contract for Southern California Edison to buy power from a large solar thermal plant. Southern California Edison (SCE) and Stirling Energy Systems signed a 20-year power purchase agreement on August 9th that calls for a 4,500-acre solar generating station to be built 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles. According to the CPUC, the solar power plant would start power production in January 2009, but would not reach its planned 500-megawatt capacity until December 2012. The plant could eventually be expanded to a capacity of 850 megawatts. It will consist of large sun-tracking solar dishes, which will use Stirling engines to convert the sun’s heat into electricity. See the CPUC press release.

Meanwhile, Solargenix Energy earned approval in late September to proceed with a 64-megawatt solar thermal plant near Boulder City, Nevada. Called Nevada Solar One, the facility will be the largest solar electric power plant built in the past 14 years and the third largest solar power plant in the world. The plant will use a series of trough-shaped solar mirrors to heat a liquid that is passed through glass tubes called “receivers,” which are located along the line of focus for the mirrors. The hot liquid then boils water into steam to turn a turbine, generating power. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) worked with Solargenix to perfect its solar collectors, and in early October, Schott North America received an order to supply the receivers for the plant. Nevada Solar One is scheduled to begin producing power in early 2007. See the press releases from Solargenix, Schott, and NREL.

University of Delaware to Lead $54 Million Solar Cell Project

The University of Delaware (UD) announced last week that it will lead a project to double the efficiency of terrestrial solar cells over the next four years. The university’s Consortium for Very High Efficiency Solar Cells?consisting of 15 universities, corporations, and laboratories?could receive up to $33.6 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), if all options are awarded, plus another $19.3 million from UD and corporate team members. Those corporate members may include DuPont, BP Solar, Corning Inc., LightSpin Technologies, and Blue Square Energy. The consortium’s goal is to develop commercial solar cells that convert 50 percent of the sunlight hitting them into electricity. Currently, high-end solar cells operate at a peak efficiency of 24.7 percent, and solar cells off the production line operate at 15 to 20 percent efficiency. See the UD press release.

New innovations in solar cells continue to crop up. In October alone, UCLA announced it has developed a plastic solar cell with a 4.4 percent efficiency, and Wake Forest and New Mexico State universities announced their development of a plastic solar cell with a 5.2 percent efficiency. The Wake Forest development hinges on engineering materials on the scale of a billionth of a meter (a nanometer), a field called nanotechnology. Nanotechnology yielded several solar power advances in October: DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) developed a solar cell made from a solution containing nanoscale crystals of semiconductors, as did XsunX, Inc. HelioVolt announced that similar nanostructures may form spontaneously in some thin-film solar cells, causing their observed high efficiency. Taking a different route, the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has earned a patent for a solar cell that converts water directly into hydrogen, and Stellaris Corporation has developed a concentrating solar glazing. The Stellaris invention incorporates 6-millimeter lenses that focus sunlight onto thin strips of solar cell material. See the press releases from UCLA, Wake Forest, XsunX, LBNL, HelioVolt, and GTI, and the October 6th press release from Stellaris.

VeraSun and Ford to Convert Gasoline Pumps to Ethanol

VeraSun Energy Corporation, the nation’s second largest ethanol producer, announced last week that it will work with Ford Motor Company in 2006 to convert gasoline pumps in the Midwest to E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol with 15 percent gasoline. The companies will also launch a consumer awareness campaign to promote the benefits and use of E85, and Ford will ask local dealerships to participate in the campaign. Currently, of the more than 180,000 fuel stations in the United States, only about 500 offer E85. Flexible fuel vehicles can run on either E85 or gasoline, and Ford is offering four new models with the flexible fuel technology option for 2006: the Ford F-150, Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car. See the VeraSun press release.

The ethanol fuel industry continues to grow rapidly. In the first week of November alone, construction started on four new ethanol plants in Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska, and a new plant in Iowa started production. Currently, 92 ethanol plants nationwide have the capacity to produce more than four billion gallons annually. Another 23 ethanol plants and seven expansions are under construction, and will add more than a billion gallons in annual production capacity. Meanwhile, Panda Energy, which made news in May by announcing plans to build an ethanol plant in Texas powered by cow manure, has since announced plans to build similar plants in Colorado and Kansas. See the recent press releases from the Renewable Fuels Association and Panda Energy.

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