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Efficiency Group Lists “Greenest” Vehicles for 2006
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Energy Outlook Forecasts Minimal Clean Energy Impact by 2030
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Denver Plans to Build One- to Two-Megawatt Solar Power Plant
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced last week that the city plans to build a large solar power plant on the site of the former Stapleton Airport. The solar plant will have a capacity between one and two megawatts, and will provide power for the Denver County Jail. The city will be responsible for the overall management of the solar plant but will contract out its construction and operation. The city hopes to break ground on the plant later this year and complete it in 2007. Responses to the city’s request for proposals are due in March. See the Mayor’s press release.
California to Set Cap on Utility Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced last week that it will develop a cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the state’s investor-owned utilities and the companies from which those utilities buy their power. The CPUC plans to set the cap based on the customer load served by each utility, treating power equally whether it is imported into the state or generated in California. According to the CPUC, the cap will encompass all of the GHG emissions produced in the course of generating the electricity, eventually including six major GHGs by setting the cap in terms of the equivalent tons of carbon dioxide emitted. In addition, the CPUC will continue to work with the Governor’s Climate Action Team to ensure that municipal utilities are also subject to a GHG emissions reduction regime.
In setting the cap and developing compliance mechanisms, the CPUC plans to minimize costs to ratepayers, while providing appropriate incentives to utility managers and shareholders. The CPUC intends to give utilities some flexibility in how they achieve the GHG cap, possibly including the banking and trading of GHG credits and the use of offsets, which allow utilities to take credit for GHG-reducing projects that don’t directly impact their GHG emissions from power generation. In current GHG reduction schemes?including the system under development in the Northeast?such offsets generally include energy efficiency measures for energy sources other than electricity, landfill gas energy projects (which reduce landfill methane emissions), and non-electrical clean energy projects funded by the utility. See the CPUC press release.
California is also moving ahead on its regulations to control GHGs from vehicles. In December, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, requesting that the state be allowed to set tighter air emission requirements than those specified in the federal Clean Air Act. See the CARB letter (PDF 422 KB).
Building Groups to Set Minimum Standard for Green Building
More new building projects will be declared “green” under a new minimum standard for green building, if the current efforts of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and two engineering societies are successful. USGBC is working with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) to develop the new standard, which aims to bring green building into the mainstream. The standard will apply to new commercial buildings and major renovation projects and will address water use efficiency, energy efficiency, and other factors. The three groups hope to complete the standard next year. See the USGBC press release.
ASHRAE may be helping to develop the minimum standard, but the society is shooting for a Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating from the USGBC as it prepares to renovate its Atlanta headquarters. ASHRAE has a strong commitment to sustainability, and recently published a “Sustainability Roadmap.” The society has also joined with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) to issue a joint statement on climate change, in which the two groups pledge their support for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. See the ASHRAE press releases on its new headquarters, the Sustainability Roadmap, and climate change, or go directly to the Sustainability Roadmap (PDF 373 KB) and the ASHRAE Engineering for Sustainability Web site.
Of course, there is another green building standard, at least in terms of energy efficiency: the Energy Star. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in early February that the Energy Star was awarded to 2,500 buildings last year, including 1,007 office buildings, 501 public schools, 834 grocery stores, and more than 200 hotels, hospitals, medical offices, and other buildings. Buildings that qualify for the Energy Star generally use up to 40 percent less energy than typical buildings. The Energy Star program is a joint effort of DOE and the EPA. See the EPA press release and the list of Energy Star buildings (PDF 2.4 MB).
USDA Offers Grants and Loans for Efficiency, Renewable Energy
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week the availability of $11.385 million in funding for competitive grants and $176.5 million for guaranteed loans to purchase renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements. The funds are available for agricultural producers and rural small businesses under the USDA’s Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program. For renewable energy systems, the minimum grant request is $2,500 and the maximum is $500,000. For energy efficiency improvements, the minimum acceptable grant request is $1,500 and the maximum is $250,000. Grant applications are due by May 12th, and loan applications are due by July 3rd. See the notice on the program Web site, or go directly to the full announcement as published in the Federal Register.
Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative Wins DOE Wind Award
DOE announced last week that the Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative has won the 2005 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award. The cooperative is a member-owned utility serving ten counties in west-central Illinois and is the first co-op in the state to install a wind power project. Its 1.65-megawatt wind turbine in Pike County was partially financed through federal and state funds and was installed in May 2005. The wind turbine may be the first of many, since a recent wind resource assessment indicated that Pike County could support as many as 100 such projects. The award is sponsored by DOE’s Wind Powering America effort in conjunction with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and its Cooperative Research Network. See the DOE press release, the co-op’s brochure about the wind turbine (PDF 417 KB), a live Web cam of the turbine, and the Wind Powering America Web site.
Site News
Efficiency Group Lists “Greenest” Vehicles for 2006
The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has updated its list of the “greenest” vehicles for 2006, and an ultra-clean version of the Honda Insight has stolen the lead from its constant competitor, the natural-gas-powered Honda Civic GX. Honda and Toyota still hold the top five spots, while clean-burning versions of the Pontiac Vibe, Chevrolet Cobalt, and Saturn Ion also made the top-twelve list. But as noted in the “Market Trends” section of the Web site, the real news is that the vast majority of this year’s greenest vehicles are widely available coast-to-coast. While previous years saw the list dominated by vehicles for sale only in California, today about three-quarters of the greenest vehicles can be purchased in any state. The ACEEE Green Book Online analyzes vehicles on the basis of their “Green Score,” a measure that incorporates unhealthy tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption, and the emissions of greenhouse gases. Full access is available by subscription, but many highlights are available for free. See the ACEEE press release and the highlights section of the ACEEE Green Book Online Web site.
Energy Connections
Energy Outlook Forecasts Minimal Clean Energy Impact by 2030
The latest long-term outlook for U.S. energy use foresees a 34 percent increase in energy use by 2030, accompanied by a 37.5 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions. But what’s the best-case scenario? According to DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), a “high technology” scenario still results in U.S. energy use increasing 26 percent by 2030, with a 26 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions. The scenario assumes a 22 percent increase in residential building shell efficiencies, a 10.4 percent increase in new commercial building efficiencies, an 8.9 percent increase in existing commercial building efficiencies, greater industrial efficiency with more use of biomass, and greater fuel economy improvements for transportation. See PDF page 58 and pages 74 to 78 of the “Appendices” section (PDF 2.0 MB).
What’s the most promising forecast for renewable power? In the EIA reference forecast, renewable energy capacity other than hydropower increases from about 25 gigawatts today to about 45 gigawatts in 2030, at which time it will produce about 256 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. In the “high renewables” case, which assumes a 10 percent cost reduction for most renewable technologies, renewable power generation increases to about 350 billion kilowatt-hours. For comparison, the EIA’s reference case projects total electricity use increasing to 5,341 billion kilowatt-hours by 2030. See the renewable energy reference case (PDF 234 KB) and PDF pages 1 and 8 of the “Electricity Forecast” section (PDF 313 KB).
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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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