DOE Offers $130 Million to Advance Fuel Cell Technology
DOE issued two Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) yesterday that offer up to $130 million over three years for research and development (R&D) of fuel cells for automotive, stationary, and portable power applications. DOE is also seeking proposals to demonstrate fuel cells in distributed energy systems and to launch market transformation efforts that provide real-world operation data.
The agency plans to select up to 50 projects through this competitive funding opportunity, which is open to industry, universities, and national laboratories. With a minimum 20% private-sector cost share for the R&D projects and a minimum 50% cost share for the demonstration projects, the total DOE and private sector investment in fuel cell technologies under the FOAs may exceed $170 million, although the future DOE funding is subject to congressional appropriations. Applications are due by August 27, and separate FOAs were issued for national laboratories and other applicants. See the DOE press release and the FOAs for national laboratories and other applicants.
While DOE is supporting both R&D and real-world demonstrations of fuel cells, the agency is also participating in one of the current real-world demonstrations. Yesterday, General Motors Corporation (GM) delivered one of its Chevrolet Equinox fuel cell vehicles to DOE. For the next six months, DOE employees will use the hydrogen-fueled vehicle to conduct day-to-day business while sharing real-world performance data with GM.
The vehicle loan is as part of Chevrolet’s "Project Driveway," which is placing 100 of the fuel cell vehicles in the hands of a variety of drivers in Southern California, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Project Driveway is open to individuals and organizations located within one of the three test areas, and over the next 2 years, GM will choose more drivers from its list of online volunteers. Each chosen volunteer will drive the fuel cell vehicle for 2-3 months at no cost, providing feedback on the vehicle’s performance, while GM foots the bills for fuel, insurance, and vehicle maintenance. See the GM press release.
Honda to Launch Three New Hybrids and Lease Fuel Cell Vehicles
Honda Motor Company, Ltd. announced last week that it has three hybrid vehicles in the works, including a new small hybrid scheduled for introduction in early 2009. Since Honda discontinued its two-seat Insight hybrid in 2006, the company has been known to be planning a new hybrid vehicle, but until now the details have been scarce.
According to Honda, the new vehicle will be the most affordable hybrid to date and will be offered as a 5-passenger, 5-door hatchback with a design similar to the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle. Honda expects to sell 200,000 of the vehicles each year, with half of those sales in the United States. Honda is also planning to introduce a hybrid version of its Fit, as well as another unique small hybrid vehicle based on the CR-Z sports car concept that it introduced at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show. See the Honda press release, Honda’s gallery of FCX Clarity photos, the Honda Fit Web page, and the article from this newsletter on the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show.
Honda also announced details about its plans to lease the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicles to customers in the United States. The company has begun the process of selecting customers from the more than 50,000 people who expressed interest on the Honda’s Web site, and the company will announce its first customers when the vehicles start rolling off the production line in mid-June. Honda plans to lease several dozen FCX Clarity vehicles each year in the United States and Japan. The U.S. program will be targeted on Southern California, with three-year leases offered for $600 per month. The company expects to be leasing about 200 of the vehicles in the two countries within three years. See the Honda press release.
DOE and Portugal to Cooperate on Wave Energy
Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman and Portuguese Economy Minister Manuel Pinho signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) yesterday that establishes a framework for collaboration on the policy, scientific, and technical aspects of wave energy generation.
The MOU outlines specific areas of cooperation in wave energy technologies, including the exchange of technical personnel; evaluations of demonstration projects; and environmental testing and modeling. DOE also invited representatives of the Portuguese government to visit DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to explore further opportunities for cooperation in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
Pelamis Wave Power, Ltd. (formerly known as Ocean Power Delivery) has built a 2.25-megawatt wave power plant off the northern coast of Portugal and is currently commissioning the facility, which will be the world’s first commercial wave power plant. See the DOE press release and the Pelamis Web site.
New Farm Bill Speeds Commercialization of Advanced Biofuels
Congress passed a new farm bill last week that will accelerate the commercialization of advanced biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol, encourage the production of biomass crops, and expand the current Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program.
Section 9003 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 provides for grants covering up to 30% of the cost of developing and building demonstration-scale biorefineries for producing "advanced biofuels," which essentially includes all fuels that are not produced from corn kernel starch. It also allows for loan guarantees of up to $250 million for building commercial-scale biorefineries to produce advanced biofuels. The bill funds the biorefinery program by drawing $75 million in funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) for fiscal year (FY) 2009, increasing to $245 million by FY 2010. It also authorizes $150 million per year in discretionary funds for the program.
Section 15321 of the bill establishes a new tax credit for producers of cellulosic biofuels, that is, biofuels produced from wood, grasses, or the non-edible parts of plants. The new cellulosic biofuel producer credit is set at $1.01 per gallon and applies only to fuel produced and used as fuel in the United States. In addition, Section 9005 of the bill provides $55 million in CCC funds in FY 2009 to support advanced biofuel production, increasing to $105 million by FY 2012. It also authorizes up to $25 million per year in discretionary funding. The more crop-oriented measures include Section 9010 of the bill, which allows the CCC to buy sugar from U.S. producers and sell it to bioenergy producers, and Section 9011, which creates the Biomass Crop Assistance Program to support the establishment and production of biomass crops.
Section 9007 of the bill renames the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s current Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program as the "Rural Energy for America Program," providing $55 million in CCC funds for FY 2009, increasing to $70 million for FY 2011 and 2012, while authorizing another $25 million in discretionary funds. The program will provide grants of up to 25% of the cost of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements for agricultural producers and rural small businesses, as well as guarantees for loans as large as $25 million. Section 9009 of the bill creates a new "Rural Energy Self-Sufficiency Initiative," which will support efforts to develop community-wide renewable energy systems. The bill provides no firm funding for the initiative but authorizes up to $5 million per year in discretionary funds. Likewise, Section 9013 authorizes up to $5 million per year to support community-wide wood-fueled energy systems.
The bill also provides $35 million in CCC funds to encourage existing biorefineries to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. It continues the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a joint effort of DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture that focuses on biofuels and bioproducts. The bill provides $20 million in CCC funds to support the initiative in FY 2009, increasing to $40 million by FY 2012, while authorizing up to $35 million per year in discretionary funds. See the new farm bill (PDF 1.4 MB).
Americans Driving Less, Says Federal Highway Administration
Americans have been driving less and less since November 2007, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and vehicle miles traveled on all U.S. public roads fell by 4.3% in March compared to a year ago. That marks the first time that U.S. travel has fallen in March since 1979, and it also stands as the sharpest yearly drop for any month in the history of the FHWA.
The agency estimates that cumulative vehicle travel on U.S. public roads has fallen by 17.3 billion miles since November 2006. Vehicle travel on U.S. public roads topped 3 trillion miles in 2006 but is likely to fall short of that this year if current trends continue. That’s good news for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, which decreased by 9 million metric tons for the first quarter of this year, according to FHWA estimates. However, it’s bad news for the viability of the Highway Trust Fund, which depends on revenues from the federal gasoline excise tax. See the FHWA press release and "Traffic Volume Trends" reports, and for a hint at the cause, see the latest "Fuel Gauge Report" from the American Automobile Association.
EIA: U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions Increased 1.6% in 2007
A growing U.S. economy, less-moderate weather conditions, and a drop in hydropower production pushed up U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from energy use by 1.6% in 2007, according to preliminary estimates by DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency notes that the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 2.2% in 2007, while more energy was needed for both heating and cooling relative to 2006.
In addition, electricity generation increased by 2.5%, and carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector increased even more, at 3%, indicating that U.S. utilities shifted towards energy sources that emitted more carbon. That shift was partially caused by a 40 billion kilowatt-hour decrease in hydropower production, causing a greater reliance on natural gas and coal. Carbon dioxide emissions from power plants fueled with natural gas increased by 10.5%, while coal-burning power plants increased their emissions by 1.8%. See the EIA’s "flash estimate" of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.
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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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