DOE to Award $30 Million for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Demonstrations
DOE has selected three cost-shared projects to develop and demonstrate cost-competitive plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) that are capable of traveling up to 40 miles without recharging. DOE announced last week that General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and the General Electric Company (in a team with Chrysler LLC) will receive up to $30 million in funding over the next 3 years, subject to congressional appropriations.
PHEVs are hybrid vehicles that can be driven in electric-only or hybrid modes and recharged from a standard electric outlet, and a 40-mile all-electric range would encompass most daily roundtrip commutes, satisfying 70% of the average daily travel in the United States without the use of gasoline.
The three projects will aim to develop PHEVs that can be mass produced, compete effectively in the marketplace, and substantially reduce petroleum consumption by offering fuel flexibility to U.S. consumers. Each awardee must develop and demonstrate at least 80 PHEVs over the next three years, starting with 10 vehicles the first year, 20 vehicles the second year, and culminating in 50 vehicles in the third year.
The projects mark the first round of selections under a funding opportunity announcement that DOE released in December 2007 as part of its PHEV Technology Acceleration and Deployment Activity. Applications for the second round of funding are due today. See the DOE press release, the DOE Vehicle Technologies Program, and the solicitation on the Grants.gov Web site.
In addition to selecting the three PHEV projects, DOE has added a Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid Fuel-Flex Vehicle to its own fleet of alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. The vehicle is equipped with a 10-kilowatt lithium-ion battery supplied by Johnson Controls-Saft that stores enough electric energy to drive up to 30 miles at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.
The Ford Escape is capable of running on E85 fuel, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. If the vehicle is fueled exclusively with E85 and electricity, it is capable of consuming less than 75 gallons of gasoline per year. The new Ford Escape will be used to transport DOE employees to official events and meetings in the Washington, D.C., area. See press release from Ford Motor Company.
Chrysler to Begin Delivering Hybrid SUVs in August
Chrysler LLC announced yesterday that it will deliver its first hybrid vehicles to showrooms this August. The two hybrid sport utility vehicles (SUVs)-the 2009 Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid and the 2009 Chrysler Aspen HEMI Hybrid-will achieve fuel economies of up to 20 miles per gallon, marking a 40% improvement in fuel economy in city driving and a 25% improvement overall.
Both vehicles couple a two-mode hybrid system with Chrysler’s 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine to produce 385 horsepower and 380 foot-pounds of torque. The two-mode hybrid system was developed in partnership with General Motors Corporation (GM), Mercedes Benz, and the BMW Group, and has already been deployed in several GM vehicles. Chrysler’s engine also includes technology to deactivate up to four cylinders when the engine is at low load.
According to Chrysler, the new hybrid SUVs will be priced nearly $8,000 below the competition, with the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the Durango Hybrid set at $45,350, while the Aspen Hybrid is set at $45,570. See the Chrysler press release.
Honda Begins Production of the FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Vehicle
Honda Motor Company started production of its new FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle in Japan on Monday. The new vehicle was designed from scratch as a fuel cell vehicle and is being produced at a dedicated fuel cell vehicle assembly line at the Honda Automobile New Model Center. The 100-kilowatt fuel cell stack is manufactured at Honda Engineering Company, where the several hundred cells required for the fuel cell stack are being mass produced. The vehicle features a lithium-ion battery pack, so Honda is not only the first major automaker to manufacture a fuel cell vehicle, but also the first to manufacture a vehicle with a lithium-ion battery pack. See the Honda press release and the specifications and features for the vehicle.
Honda intends to produce "a few dozen" of the vehicles within the next year and a total of 200 vehicles in the next 3 years. In the United States, the vehicle will be first be leased to the Hollywood elite, starting with film producer Ron Yerxa and followed by actress Laura Harris and actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her husband, filmmaker Christopher Guest. Business owner and car enthusiast Jim Solomon will also lease one of the vehicles, as well as Jon Spallino, who has been leasing the previous version of the FCX vehicle since 2005. See the Honda press release.
As the FCX Clarity rolls off the production line, a number of lithium-ion battery manufacturers are gearing up to meet automakers’ future plans. Toyota Motor Corporation announced last week that Panasonic EV Energy Company, Ltd., Toyota’s joint venture with the Matsushita Group, will start limited production of lithium-ion batteries next year and full production in 2010, in support of Toyota’s planned launch date for a plug-in hybrid vehicle. Toyota is also establishing a new battery research department to develop an innovative next-generation battery that can outperform a lithium-ion battery.
Meanwhile, Sanyo Electric Company, Ltd. is launching the mass production of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles next year and plans to begin producing lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrids in 2011. The company has teamed up with the Volkswagen Group on hybrid vehicle batteries. In addition, Hitachi, Ltd. announced in March that it received an order from General Motors Corporation for its lithium-ion battery systems, which it claims will be installed in more than 100,000 hybrid vehicles annually, starting in 2010. See the press releases from Toyota and Hitachi, and the Sanyo press releases on its battery production and alliance with Volkswagen.
BLM and Forest Service Consider Large-Scale Geothermal Leasing
In an effort to encourage appropriate geothermal energy development on public lands, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service have prepared a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for geothermal leasing in the West, including Alaska. The draft PEIS considers all public lands and national forests with geothermal resources to be available for leasing, with the exception of those lands that are withdrawn or administratively closed to geothermal leasing. That option includes 117 million acres of public lands and 75 million acres of national forests, while an alternative option would limit geothermal leasing for power plants to areas near transmission lines.
By 2015, the lands could potentially host 110 new geothermal plants producing 5,500 megawatts of power, and by 2025, an additional 132 geothermal plants could produce another 6,600 megawatts of power. In addition, 270 communities could potentially draw on geothermal resources as a heating source.
The draft PEIS was opened for public comment on June 13, and it will remain open until 90 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice in the Federal Register, an event expected to occur on June 20. The BLM will also hold public meetings in 13 cities throughout the region in July. Approval of the PEIS will allow the BLM to modify its land use plans and to issue decisions on geothermal lease applications that are now pending. It will also help the Forest Service decide when to approve leases in national forests, although the Forest Service will require a separate environmental review process to amend its land use plans. See the BLM press release and the BLM’s Geothermal PEIS Web site.
San Francisco Launches Nation’s Largest Municipal Solar Incentive
San Francisco, California, passed legislation last week to implement a 10-year solar incentive program that will be the largest municipal solar program in the United States. People and organizations that install solar photovoltaic power systems on their properties will earn taxable solar incentives of $3,000-$6,000 for residences, up to $10,000 for businesses and non-profits, and up to $30,000 for nonprofit affordable housing.
Residents and businesses can earn the highest incentives by employing a solar installer that hires graduates of the city’s workforce development program. One sponsor of the legislation claims that the new incentives will significantly expand the use of solar energy in San Francisco, which currently has less than 1,000 solar rooftops. See the press release from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
According to the city’s assessor’s office, the Solar Energy Incentive Program is expected to launch in the near future with a budget of $3 million, enough to provide incentives for 1.5 megawatts of solar power on residential and business properties. In addition, a one-year pilot program with a budget of $1.5 million will provide incentives to nonprofit organizations and residences for low-income families.
The incentives will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis and are assignable to the building owner, the installer, or a third party. They apply only to new installations at existing buildings. See the assessor’s press release (PDF 28 KB) and details about the subsidy on the Web site for supporters of the measure. Download Adobe Reader.
More Studies Say Biofuels Have a Minor Impact on Food Costs
A new report from New Energy Finance concludes that biofuels are responsible for at most 8% out of the 168% rise in grain prices since 2004, and for at most 17% out of the 136% rise in global food prices. As a proportion of the total rise in prices, biofuels can take the blame for less than 5% of the rise in grain prices and at most 12.5% of the rise in global food prices.
The report concludes that population growth placed the greatest pressure on grain prices, and that growth was not matched by increases in yields. The increasing price of fossil fuels also caused 35.2% of the increase in grain prices. See the New Energy Finance press release (PDF 16 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
Meanwhile, DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate that the United States would use an additional 7.2 billion gallons of gasoline in 2008 if there were no biofuels available. Ethanol production alone has moderated U.S. gasoline prices by an estimated 20-35 cents per gallon, saving a typical U.S. household as much as $300 per year. In addition, the price of food commodities has a limited impact on retail grocery costs in the United States, so ethanol and biodiesel consumption account for only about 3%-5% of the increase in U.S. retail grocery prices over the past year and a half. These statistics were included in a letter sent to Senator Jeff Bingaman by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer. See the DOE fact sheet and the full letter (PDF 922 KB).
Alexander Karsner, the head of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), recently seconded that conclusion, while also noting the benefits of ethanol production. In testimony last week before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Assistant Secretary Karsner reported that corn ethanol delivers 25% more energy than the fossil energy used to produce it, while resulting in 20% lower greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline. He also noted that more efficient ethanol biorefineries fueled with biomass resources can cut life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 52% relative to gasoline. The next generation of ethanol, produced from "cellulosic" non-edible plants and trees, will reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 86% relative to gasoline. See a summary of Assistant Secretary Karsner’s testimony on the EERE Web site, and see the full testimony on the committee’s Web site.
Global Oil Production Fell by 0.2% in 2007, Says BP
Global oil production fell by 126 thousand barrels per day in 2007, dropping to 81.5 million barrels per day, according to a new report from BP. The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2008, released on June 11, also notes that global oil consumption grew by 1 million barrels per day in 2007, a 1.1% increase that brought total petroleum consumption to 85.2 million barrels per day.
In other words, oil demand exceeded the supply by 3.7 million barrels per day, a difference made up by drawing from stocks and by substituting biofuels for petroleum products. In fact, according to the BP statistics, oil demand has been exceeding the supply since at least 1997, when the difference was 1.4 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, the world’s proved oil reserves fell by 1.6 billion barrels in 2007 due to declines in Mexico, Norway, Qatar, and Syria that were only partially offset by gains in Brazil, Egypt, and Russia. But that’s a drop of only 0.115%, because global proved oil reserves are at 1.39 trillion barrels. According to BP, oil production declines are caused by political issues, not geological factors, as oil companies are having trouble gaining access to oil reserves. See the BP press release and the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
The online version of the statistical review also includes a section on renewable energy, and BP notes that the global renewable energy industry continued to expand rapidly in 2007. According to the company, geothermal, wind, and solar power accounted for 1.5% of global electricity generation in 2007, but among developed countries, these renewable resources have provided 16% of the electricity generation growth for the past 3 years.
While geothermal capacity grew by only 1.5% in 2007, wind power capacity grew by 26.5%, marking the fourth consecutive year of accelerating growth. Lacking current data on solar power, BP reports that solar generating capacity grew by 33% in 2006. BP also notes that solar generating capacity has nearly doubled every 2 years since 1996, when the company first started tracking the industry. Regarding biofuels, BP reports that global ethanol production increased by 27.8% in 2007, to 920 thousand barrels per day. That’s an increase of about 200 thousand barrels per day, an amount that’s greater than the drop in global oil production. See the renewable energy section of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy Web site.
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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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