Weekly Clean Energy Roundup:October 25, 2006

News and Events

• DOE and EPA Release the 2007 Fuel Economy Guide
• Honda Takes Fuel Economy Sky High with New Light Jet
• Transit Administration Awards $49 Million for Fuel Cell Buses
• Ford and BP Open Hydrogen Fueling Station in Michigan
• Google and Fort Bliss Launch Record-Setting Solar Power Projects
• FPL Energy Dedicates the World’s Largest Wind Power Plant

Energy Connections

• Federal Regulators Propose to Approve 83 Reliability Standards

News and Events

DOE and EPA Release the 2007 Fuel Economy Guide

DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have released the 2007 Fuel Economy Guide, which provides listings of the 2007 model year vehicles that are fuel economy leaders, both overall and by vehicle class. Hybrid vehicles lead the way for overall fuel economy with the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, and the front-wheel-drive version of the Ford Escape Hybrid topping the list, and the four-wheel-drive version of the Ford Escape Hybrid tying with the new Mercury Mariner Hybrid in tenth place. And while the 2006 list included three diesel vehicles from Volkswagen, on the 2007 list those vehicles have been replaced by the new generation of small cars, including the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, and Kia Rio. An old standard, the Toyota Corolla, has moved up from tenth to seventh place, but missing from the list is the Honda Insight hybrid, which has been discontinued. Since its introduction in model year 2000, the Insight led the fuel economy list for all seven years of its production. See the DOE press release and the EPA listings of mileage leaders for this year and the past four years.

The 2007 Fuel Economy Guide also includes a long list of flex-fuel vehicles that can burn either gasoline or E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The list includes select models of Chevrolet vans; the Chevrolet Avalanche, Impala, Monte Carlo, Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe; the Chrysler Aspen and Sebring; the Dodge Ram and Durango; the Ford Crown Victoria and F150 Pickup; the GMC Savana, Sierra, and Yukon; the Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee; the Lincoln Town Car; the Mercury Grand Marquis; the Mercedes-Benz C230; and the Nissan Armada and Titan. See the list on the Fuel Economy Web site.

Manufacturers and EPA both test vehicles based on EPA specifications to determine fuel economy estimates prior to sale. In February, EPA recommended updating the test specifications to be more reliable and reflect driver experiences. The updates to the fuel economy tests are expected in time for the 2008 model year vehicles. The EPA also provides the Green Vehicle Guide Web site, which allows consumers to locate the cleanest running and most fuel-efficient vehicles. See the 2007 Fuel Economy Guide and the EPA Green Vehicle Guide.

Honda Takes Fuel Economy Sky High with New Light Jet

Honda has begun selling its newest fuel-efficient vehicle at a much higher price than the rest of its lineup: a whopping $3.65 million. Although the HondaJet is not scheduled for production until 2010, the Honda Aircraft Company, Inc. set product specifications and started taking orders last week for the advanced light jet, which will be able to cruise at 420 knots and fly 1,180 nautical miles on a tank of jet fuel. Thanks to fuel-efficient jet engines and an aerodynamic, lightweight design, the HondaJet is expected to achieve an increase in fuel efficiency of 30 to 35 percent compared to similar light jets. Honda plans to build the jet in the United States, gradually ramping up to a production speed of 70 jets per year. And like most fuel-efficient vehicles, it looks like there may be a waiting list: as of October 19th, after three days of sales, the company had already received more than 100 customer orders and deposits. See the HondaJet Web site and the Honda press releases on the HondaJet and its early sales.

The new HondaJet features the HF120 jet engine from GE Honda Aero Engines, a joint venture of Honda and the General Electric Company. The engine is also expected to boost the fuel economy of a new mid-size business jet from Spectrum Aerodynamics. Called the Spectrum Freedom S-40, the new jet will cruise at 435 knots and fly as far as 2,200 nautical miles while using “significantly less” fuel than comparable aircraft, according to Spectrum. The company achieves its fuel efficiency in part by using lightweight composite materials made of carbon fiber and epoxy. Like the HondaJet, the Spectrum Freedom S-40 is expected to be available in 2010. See the press releases from Honda and Spectrum (PDF 482 KB) and see the “Freedom” link on the Spectrum Web site.

Transit Administration Awards $49 Million for Fuel Cell Buses

The Federal Transit Administr
ation (FTA) announced in mid-October its award of $49 million in grants to develop buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The FTA, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, is awarding the funds to three non-profit organizations: the Center for Transportation and the Environment in Atlanta, Georgia; the Northeast Advanced Vehicle Consortium in Boston, Massachusetts; and WestStart-CALSTART of Pasadena, California. The funding will support 14 separate projects, including efforts to build a 35-foot plug-in hybrid fuel cell bus; to develop a lightweight fuel cell bus using ultracapacitors or lithium-ion batteries for energy storage; and to develop a 40-foot bus that couples a diesel engine with a fuel cell auxiliary power unit. The projects will employ fuel cells from Ballard Power Systems, Hydrogenics Corporation, Nuvera Fuel Cells, and UTC Power. Various fuel cell buses will be field tested in Alabama, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina. See the FTA press release and a related FTA Web page, which includes photos and the full list of projects.

Ford and BP Open Hydrogen Fueling Station in Michigan

Ford Motor Company, BP, and the City of Taylor, Michigan, opened the city’s first hydrogen fueling station last week with support from DOE. According to the National Hydrogen Association’s online database of fueling stations, the new station is the eighth in Michigan. The new station will provide fuel for four Ford Focus fuel cell vehicles that the city will use as official vehicles, serving as part of a 30-car Ford Focus fuel cell demonstration fleet now on the road in the United States, Canada, and Germany. Ford and BP are working with DOE and other automotive partners to build hydrogen fuel stations in Michigan, Florida, and California. BP is also developing refueling infrastructure to support fuel cell buses and cars in a number of cities across the world. See the Ford press release and the National Hydrogen Association database.

Google and Fort Bliss Launch Record-Setting Solar Power Projects

Could it be that one day to “Google” a building will mean to add solar panels to it? Perhaps not, but the ubiquitous search engine company is about to embark on a record-setting solar electricity project, installing 1.6 megawatts (MW) of solar power on several buildings and on new parking lot shade structures at its headquarters campus in Mountain View, California. When complete, it will be the largest solar power system installed on a single corporate campus. According to EI Solutions, which developed the project, the system will save Google more than $393,000 per year in electricity costs and will pay for itself in about 7.5 years. See the EI Solutions Web site.

While Google shoots for a corporate record, Fort Bliss plans to set a world record in solar power production. The U.S. Army base, located near El Paso, Texas, launched a project last week to build a 1.5-MW solar photovoltaic power plant using technology developed by Atira Technology and studied extensively by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). While that project is impressive enough, Fort Bliss plans to start a second phase in the fall of 2007 that will generate 20 MW of solar power, a record size for the United States. But that’s not all: phase three in 2008 will generate 40 MW, and phase four in 2009 will generate 1,000 MW of power. If the Fort Bliss project goes that far, it will shatter all current records for power production from solar photovoltaic systems. Called “Power the Army!,” the Fort Bliss project aims to cut solar power costs in half using new Atira technologies that have passed field tests conducted by both the Army and Navy. According to NPS, the Atira solar cells and power inverters both operate more efficiently than today’s technologies. See the “Power the Army!” Web page and the NPS news article.

FPL Energy Dedicates the World’s Largest Wind Power Plant

The thing about wind power plants is that you can just keep adding to them. Take the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, located near Abilene, Texas: the American Wind Energy Association listed it as the largest wind project built in 2005, at 210 megawatts (MW), then credited it in July for growing to about 500 MW, helping Texas overtake California in total installed wind power capacity. Last week, FPL Energy held a dedication ceremony for the final expansion of the project, which has boosted its total generating capacity to 735 MW, making it the largest wind power facility in the world. The wind plant now consists of 291 1.5-MW wind turbines from General Electric and 130 2.3-MW wind turbines from Siemens and is spread across about 47,000 acres in Taylor and Nolan counties in central Texas. FPL Energy is currently the largest owner and operator of wind turbines in the world, operating more than 1,600 megawatts of wind power in Texas alone. See the FPL Energy press release.

While Texas rules the roost, Illinois plans to provide its own contribution to large-scale wind power plants. In early October, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced $2.2 million in funding to Horizon Wind Energy, LLC for the construction of a 198-MW wind project in eastern McLean County. The facility is the first phase of a planned 400-MW wind power project, which is expected to be completed in late 2007. The project will create an estimated 250 construction jobs and up to 40 permanent jobs, and it will generate $1.2 million in county tax revenue while providing another $1.2 million in revenue for local farmers. The grant is being provided through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s (DCEO) Renewable Energy Resource Program. See the governor’s press release.

Other large wind projects that have been completed lately include the 231-MW Maple Wind Ridge Farm in New York, a project partly owned by PPM Energy, and the 100.5-MW Spearville Wind Energy Facility, owned by Kansas City Power and Light (a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy) and located northeast of Dodge City, Kansas. See the press releases from PPM Energy and Great Plains Energy (PDF 18 KB).

Energy Connections

Federal Regulators Propose to Approve 83 Reliability Standards

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a proposed rulemaking last week that will approve 83 new reliability standards for the U.S. power grid. The rulemaking is part of an effort to create mandatory and enforceable reliability standards for the nation’s electrical transmission system prior to next summer. Back in July, FERC named the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the nation’s official Electric Reliability Organization. In its new role, NERC proposed 107 new standards to FERC, which accepted 83 of them. However, FERC notes that many of those 83 standards require additional work or clarification. Regarding the other 24 standards, FERC says they require regional reliability organizations to first develop regional standards before FERC can fully evaluate them. The reliability effort is mainly a response to the 2003 power outage, for which DOE and Natural Resources Canada just issued a final report. See the FERC press release, the Notice of the Proposed Rulemaking (PDF 1.3 MB), the DOE press release, and the final outage report (PDF 853 KB). Download Adobe Reader.

In late September, FERC took another action to ensure electric reliability: it approved an agreement among the nation’s electric utilities to share spare electric transformers in the event of a terrorist strike on the transmission system. FERC lauded the agreement and encouraged utilities to expand it to include natural disasters. See the FERC press release and the full decision (PDF 80 KB).

While reliability standards are expected to help avoid power outages, NERC’s first power assessment in its role of the Electric Reliability Organization sees a long-term threat from a lack of new generating capacity. According to the NERC report, U.S. electrical demand is expected to increase by 19 percent over the next decade, but currently confirmed power projects will increase the nation’s generating capacity by only 6 percent. NERC warns that dropping capacity margins could threaten power reliability in many parts of the United States. However, it remains open to debate if the NERC report adequately assesses the potential for energy efficiency and renewable and distributed generation sources, which can often be installed with short lead times. See the NERC press release (PDF 110 KB) and the full report (PDF 1.1 MB).

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