DOE Sets New Energy Star Criteria for Washing Machines and CFLs
DOE announced last week that more stringent requirements are being put in place for all washing machines under the Energy Star label. By July 1, 2009, all qualifying Energy Star washing machines will have to be at least 43% more efficient than the current federal energy efficiency standards and have a maximum water factor (WF) of 7.5; that is, each load will use 7.5 gallons of water per cubic foot of capacity. By January 1, 2011, all Energy Star washing machines will be 59% more efficient than mandated energy standards and will have a maximum WF of 6.0. The 2011 criteria are expected to save consumers $120 million on annual utility bills while saving 11.2 billion gallons of water and 659 million kilowatt hours of electricity. Energy Star is a joint program of DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
DOE also announced more stringent Energy Star requirements for compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs.) As of November 2008, CFLs must be tested by an independent third party, and as of December 2, 2008, all Energy Star CFLs will be required to contain less than 5 milligrams of mercury per bulb and to meet more stringent lamp color requirements. CFLs with reflectors, such as spotlights, will have to meet new high-heat testing requirements. The criteria will also be expanded to include CFLs with a smaller screw-in base, called a "candelabra" base. See the DOE press release and the Energy Star Web pages on the clothes washer and CFL revisions.
USDA Offers $221 Million in Clean Energy Loans and Grants
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that it will accept $220.9 million in loan and grant applications under the agency’s Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program. Loan guarantees and grants are available to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Since 2001, the USDA has invested $674 million in more than 1,763 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, including renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel and renewable energy sources such as methane gas recovery systems and wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass energy systems.
Eligible applicants may seek loan guarantees to cover up to 50% of a project’s cost, not to exceed $10 million. Grants are available for up to 25% of a project’s cost, not to exceed $250,000 for energy efficiency improvements and $500,000 for renewable energy systems. Grants will be awarded through two separate competitions, with the deadline for the first being April 15 and the deadline for the second being June 16. Applications for loans or loan and grant combinations are due by June 16. See the USDA press release and the program Web page.
The USDA also announced its award of more than $4.1 million to help 17 small businesses and community groups find more innovative uses of woody biomass, including renewable energy uses. The grants range from $170,000 to $250,000, while the project participants are providing as little as $65,590 to as much as $1.3 million for each project. The grants will be awarded to organizations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and South Dakota, including the Coquille Tribe of Oregon. See the USDA press release.
Renewable Energy Continues Rapid Global Growth in 2007
The global use of renewable energy sources continued its rapid growth in 2007, with 40 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity added throughout the world, according to a new report. That capacity growth, which includes large hydropower, brings the world’s renewable energy generating capacity to more than a thousand gigawatts. Excluding large hydropower, renewable generating capacity grew by 33 gigawatts to a total of 240 gigawatts, a 16% annual growth rate. At 95 gigawatts, wind power is the largest of the newer renewable energy sources, while grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems increased by 53%, reaching 7.8 gigawatts.
Among other renewable energy sources, ethanol production reached 12 billion gallons, biodiesel production exceeded 2 billion gallons, and there are now enough solar hot water systems to produce 128 gigawatts of thermal energy. The United States now leads the world in new wind capacity added each year and in annual ethanol production, and it also features the largest installed capacities for geothermal and biomass energy power plants. See the press release and report (PDF 480 KB) from the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, or REN21.
While the REN21 report estimates last year’s investments in renewable energy at $71 billion, analysts at New Energy Finance have increased their estimate to $148.4 billion, more than double the REN21 estimate and a significant increase from New Energy Finance’s previous estimate of $117.2 billion, which was released in January. The new figure includes transactions made near the end of the year but not disclosed until more recently, and it reflects a 60% increase over investments in 2006, according to New Energy Finance. See the New Energy Finance press release (PDF 18 KB).
U.S. Ethanol Production Totaled 6.48 Billion Gallons in 2007
U.S. ethanol fuel production averaged 423,000 barrels per day in 2007, an increase of more than 34% over 2006 production, according to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). Ethanol fuel production totaled 6.48 billion gallons in 2007, far above the 4.7 billion gallons of renewable fuel required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Ethanol production will have to continue to increase this year, as the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 includes a new Renewable Fuel Standard that requires 8 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be blended into the country’s fuel supply in 2008.
That’s an annual growth rate of more than 23%, but the industry appears ready to meet that challenge. According to the RFA, there are currently 143 ethanol biorefineries with the combined capacity to produce 13.4 billion gallons per year of ethanol fuel, well above that required by the new standard. The industry is also building another 57 biorefineries and expanding seven existing biorefineries, an effort that will boost ethanol production capacity by another 5.2 billion gallons. And those capacity additions are yielding economic benefits, too, as a new report concludes that the ethanol fuel industry created nearly 240,000 new jobs in 2007 and added $47.6 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product. See the press release (PDF 80 KB), the industry statistics, and the economic report (PDF 183 KB) on the RFA Web site, and for background on the Renewable Fuel Standard, see the article from the January 2 edition of this newsletter.
With U.S. gasoline consumption at about 9 million barrels per day, it’s fair to ask how the U.S. fuel infrastructure will absorb a steadily increasing supply of ethanol. One answer is a greater use of flex-fuel vehicles, which can burn E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, but most cars are currently burning at most 10% ethanol blends, or E10. Fueling the entire nation with E10 would allow for a doubling of ethanol production from the 2007 production level, but the new fuel standard calls for ethanol consumption to more than double by 2012. The answer may come from Minnesota, which has found that current vehicles and fuel dispensing equipment can handle ethanol blends as high as 20%. The year-long research effort will lead the state and its partners to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow E20 to be used for all of the state’s gasoline. If approved, such a change could nearly double the ethanol demand in Minnesota, a state where much of the nation’s ethanol is produced, and could serve as a model for other states. See the RFA press release (PDF 178 KB).
Report Places Even Odds on Hoover Dam Running Dry by 2017
A new study warns that the 2,080-megawatt Hoover Dam could have too little water to produce power within the next decade. The study by researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography concludes that the growing demand for water in the West, combined with reduced runoff due to climate change, are causing a net deficit of nearly 1 million acre-feet of water per year in the Colorado River system, which includes Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Lake Mead feeds the Hoover Dam, and the researchers estimate a 50% chance that Lake Mead could drop too low for power production by 2017. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Hoover Dam is one of the largest hydropower facilities in the nation, producing enough power to serve 1.3 million people in Arizona, California, and Nevada.
With recent droughts in the West, the Colorado River system is currently operating at only half of its capacity, and the researchers estimate that the system is already operating at a deficit. They find a 50% chance that Lake Mead could run completely dry by 2021 if the climate changes as expected and if future water demand is not curtailed. The research paper has been accepted for publication in "Water Resources Research," a publication of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). See the AGU press release and the description of Hoover Dam on the Bureau of Reclamation Web site.
EIA: Record Oil Prices to Cause a Gasoline Price Spike
Crude oil prices are at record highs and are being felt at the pump, with the national average price of regular gasoline expected to peak at $3.50 per gallon this spring, according to a new report from DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA’s "Short-Term Energy Outlook," released yesterday, notes that the spot price of crude oil closed at nearly $108 per barrel on Monday and is expected to average $102 per barrel for the month of March, up from an average of $95 per barrel in February. As a result, some areas of the country may experience short-term peaks in regular gasoline prices exceeding $4 per gallon, while the price of gasoline for the year as a whole is expected to average $3.21 per gallon. Diesel fuel prices will be even higher, averaging $3.70 per gallon for March and April and $3.45 per gallon for the full year. And according to the American Automobile Association’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report, motor fuels have already hit record prices, with regular gasoline averaging $3.23 per gallon and diesel fuel averaging $3.85 per gallon as of yesterday. See the EIA’s "Short-Term Energy Outlook," the Daily Fuel Gauge Report, and the latest crude oil spot prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange Web site.
The EIA expects the higher prices to have a direct impact on petroleum consumption in the United States. The total U.S. consumption of liquid fuels and petroleum products averaged 20.7 million barrels per day in 2007, but is projected to increase by only 40,000 barrels per day in 2008. With the rapid increase in ethanol production to meet the new national Renewable Fuel Standard, the growth in liquid fuel consumption will be exceeded by the growth in ethanol production, causing U.S. petroleum consumption to drop by 90,000 barrels per day. For the world as a whole, however, petroleum consumption is projected to increase by 1.3 million barrels per day by the end of 2008. The EIA expects industrialized countries to increase their demand by only 200,000 barrels per day this year, while the bulk of the demand growth will occur in China, India, the Middle East oil-producing countries, and other Asian countries.
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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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