DOE Offers $100 Million for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research Stronger Air Conditioner Efficiency Standards Go Into Effect DOE and Partners Offer Workshops in Post-Hurricane Home Repair DOE to Conduct Energy Assessments at Dairy and Aluminum Plants IRS Provides Guidance on Tax Credits for Efficient Vehicles Coalition Launches Campaign to Promote Plug-In Hybrids
Energy Connections
EIA: Oil Prices to Exceed $60 per Barrel Through 2007
News and Events
DOE Offers $100 Million for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Research
DOE announced on Tuesday that it will provide up to $100 million over four years for research projects aimed at advancing hydrogen fuel cells. The research projects will seek to improve fuel cell membranes and water transport within the fuel cell stack while minimizing the effects of impurities on fuel cell performance and durability. The research projects will also develop new fuel cell hardware, innovative fuel cell concepts, and advanced cathode catalysts and supports. Through this investment, DOE seeks to improve performance and to lower cost of these technologies by 2010. The research funding is part of the $1.2-billion Hydrogen Fuel Initiative announced by President Bush in the 2003 State of the Union Address. Applications are due by March 30th. See the solicitation on the Grants.gov Web site.
In addition, DOE announced the selection of 12 competitively awarded, cost-shared projects that will receive $19 million in federal funding over the next five years for polymer membrane research. The goal of the research is to increase the durability and shelf life of polymer membranes, while simultaneously bringing down the cost. Polymer electrolyte membranes are an integral part of hydrogen fuel cells. See the DOE press release for the list of awardees, and to learn more, see the description of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell on the DOE Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure Technologies Program Web site.
To identify the research and development (R&D) challenges that remain to be addressed, DOE also unveiled its “Roadmap on Manufacturing R&D for the Hydrogen Economy.” The 80-page document addresses challenges to the manufacturing, storage, and production of fuel cell technologies and proposes R&D solutions to overcome such challenges, focusing primarily on technologies that are near commercialization. The document is open to public comment for 45 days. See the roadmap and public comment form on the “Hydrogen Manufacturing” page of the DOE Hydrogen Program Web site.
Stronger Air Conditioner Efficiency Standards Go Into Effect
DOE’s new energy efficiency standards for residential air conditioners went into effect on Monday. Newly manufactured central air conditioner systems for homes must now achieve a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) of 13 or higher, which is 30 percent more efficient than the previous 10 SEER standard. However, air conditioners manufactured under the old standard may still be sold and installed until the supply is exhausted. The new central air conditioner standard is predicted to save consumers $1 billion in energy costs over the next 25 years. See the DOE press release and a fact sheet for consumers (PDF 50 KB), and for the official rule and related documents, see the DOE Appliance and Commercial Equipment Standards Web site.
DOE and Partners Offer Workshops in Post-Hurricane Home Repair
DOE is working with several partners to offer free home repair workshops in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi in late January and early February. One workshop took place last weekend in Kenner, Louisiana; still to come are workshops in Biloxi, Mississippi, next weekend and in Mobile, Alabama, on February 4th. DOE is working with Entergy New Orleans, The Home Depot, and the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing to offer the free home repair workshops, which will provide hands-on instruction on how to improve home energy efficiency and durability when repairing storm-damaged roofs, ceilings, walls, and floors, and when installing windows, doors, and hurricane shutters. To help homeowners make use of their training right away, The Home Depot is donating 10-percent-off coupons and gift cards valued at $5 to $1,000 for the first 1,000 workshop participants. See the DOE press release and the announcement of upcoming workshops on the “Resources for Consumers” page of the Disaster Recovery and Building Reconstruction Web site, a service of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
DOE to Conduct Energy Assessments at Dairy and Aluminum Plants
DOE has announced two upcoming Industrial E
nergy Saving Assessments: one at the Ohio Valley Aluminum plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and one at the Land O’ Lakes Dairy Foods plant in Tulare, California. The Tulare plant is the nation’s largest dairy processing facility, while the Ohio Valley Aluminum Company (OVACO) is a major producer of aluminum billets, which companies can extrude to form rails and other products. Through its free three-day energy assessments, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is working with major manufacturing facilities to identify opportunities to save energy and money, primarily by focusing on steam and process heating systems. See the OVACO Web site and the DOE press releases on the aluminum plant and the dairy processing plant.
DOE’s Energy Saving Teams are visiting large federal facilities and 200 of the country’s most energy-intensive manufacturing facilities as part of the national “Easy Ways to Save Energy” campaign launched last October. DOE’s first six Industrial Energy Saving Assessments identified a total of $10 million per year in potential energy cost savings. On average, the suggested energy-saving improvements at the six industrial plants would reduce their natural gas consumption by 6.7 percent. See the “Easy Ways to Save Energy” Web site.
According to a recent “EERE Progress Alert,” DOE had selected 65 manufacturing plants for Industrial Energy Saving Assessments as of January 4th. The plants are among the largest energy users in the nation, consuming a total of nearly 527 trillion Btu annually, including 327 trillion Btu from natural gas, which is roughly equivalent to the amount of natural gas used in 4 million U.S. homes. The 65 plants represent many manufacturing sectors, including: aerospace, aluminum, chemicals, electronics, food processing, forest products, glass, metal casting, and steel. For the full list of industrial plants, see the January 4th edition of the “EERE Progress Alerts.”
IRS Provides Guidance on Tax Credits for Efficient Vehicles
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice on January 13th that provides initial guidance on claiming a federal tax credit for the purchase of a hybrid vehicle or a vehicle with an advanced lean-burn engine. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows a tax credit of as much as $3,400 for buyers of the most fuel-efficient vehicles. The new IRS guidance describes how manufacturers can certify to the purchasers of these vehicles that the vehicles are indeed eligible for the tax credit and what size tax credit they will earn. This certification removes most of the burden from the purchaser: if you have the manufacturer’s certification in hand, you can claim the tax credit. The only exception is if the IRS finds that a manufacturer’s claim is incorrect, in which case the IRS will announce that the manufacturer’s right to issue certifications has been withdrawn. Even in that case, certifications received before the IRS announcement will still be accepted for a tax credit.
For each manufacturer, the new tax credit stops after it sells 60,000 eligible vehicles, with the count starting at the beginning of this year. As noted by the IRS, buyers can claim the tax credit until the end of the first calendar quarter after the quarter in which the manufacturer reaches 60,000 sales. So for manufacturers that are selling high volumes of eligible vehicles, such as Toyota and Honda, people seeking to earn the credit should act quickly.
“Advanced lean-burn technology,” by the way, is a clean-burning diesel engine that operates with more air than is necessary for the complete combustion of the fuel. According to the Diesel Technology Forum, the emissions requirements included in the tax credit means that eligible vehicles will probably not be available until the 2007 model year. The Energy Policy Act also provides tax credits for fuel cell vehicles, alternative fuel vehicles, and hybrid heavy trucks. The IRS will issue guidance on certification procedures for these vehicles in the near future. See the IRS press release, the IRS guidance (PDF 35 KB), and the Diesel Technology Forum fact sheet (PDF 24 KB).
Coalition Launches Campaign to Promote Plug-In Hybrids
A broad-based national coalition launched a yearlong campaign on Tuesday to build grassroots demand for the production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The Plug-In Partners coalition includes the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, and Baltimore; national security and environmental groups; businesses; and electric utilities. Plug-in hybrids combine today’s gas-electric hybrid technology with a larger battery that can be recharged by plugging into a standard wall socket. The larger batteries allow vehicles to travel 25 to 35 miles before requiring recharging or the use of gasoline, allowing U.S. consumers to significantly reduce their gasoline consumption and costs, as well as their vehicle emissions. See the press release (PDF 64 KB) and the Plug-In Partners Web site.
Plug-in hybrids have been gaining momentum in recent months. In October 2005, Electro Energy Inc. announced it will be developing a battery pack for a plug-in hybrid prototype using a modified Toyota Prius. Called the PRIUS+, the prototype is being developed by the California Cars Initiative (CalCars), a non-profit startup formed by entrepreneurs, engineers, environmentalists, and consumers interested in plug-in hybrids. And in December, Raser Technologies?a developer of electric motors and controllers?helped launch the Plug-In Hybrid Development Consortium, which is made up of hybrid component suppliers working together to accelerate the commercial production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. But as noted by ABI Research, plug-in hybrids face daunting technical challenges: their battery packs are more expensive than those in typical hyb
rid cars, and the batteries will be more likely to fail quickly. See the CalCars Web site, the Raser Technologies press release, the Plug-In Hybrid Development Consortium Web site, and the ABI Research press release.
Energy Connections
EIA: Oil Prices to Exceed $60 per Barrel Through 2007
Prices for oil, petroleum products, and natural gas are expected to remain high through 2007, according to DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA’s latest “Short-Term Energy Outlook,” released on January 10th, expects crude oil to average $63 per barrel this year and $60 per barrel in 2007. Retail regular gasoline prices, which averaged $2.27 per gallon in 2005, are projected to average $2.41 in 2006 and $2.33 in 2007. Regular gasoline currently averages about $2.33 per gallon, so the EIA projection calls for increasing prices. And while spot prices for natural gas averaged $9 per thousand cubic feet (mcf) in 2005, the EIA expects them to average $9.80 per mcf in 2006 before dropping back to $8.84 per mcf in 2007. True to the forecast, crude oil spot prices have been hovering around $64 per barrel in recent weeks, according to EIA’s “This Week in Petroleum” report. See the EIA’s “Short Term Energy Outlook” and “This Week in Petroleum,” and for the latest prices at the pump, see the American Automobile Association’s “Fuel Gage Report.”
Meanwhile, oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico continues its slow recovery from hurricanes Katrina and Ivan. As of January 11th, about 26 percent of the oil production and 18 percent of the natural gas production in the Gulf remains unavailable, which is only about an 8 to 9 percent improvement since early December. With the slow progress, the Department of Interior’s Mineral Management Service (MMS) is now only updating its statistics every two weeks; the latest report is due out today. Last week, the MMS also issued a report on the impact of the hurricanes, which were the greatest natural disasters to oil and gas development in the history of the Gulf of Mexico. The report notes that in addition to the previously reported damage to platforms and rigs, 64 large-diameter pipelines were damaged, of which only 22 have returned to service. Looking ahead, the report expects 17 percent of oil production and 4 percent of natural gas production to still be offline when this year’s hurricane season begins on June 1st. See the hurricane impact report, and for the latest production statistics, see the MMS home page.
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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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