DOE and Volvo Extend Fuel-Efficient Truck Partnership for 3 Years
DOE and the Volvo Group announced on Monday that they will work together for an additional 3 years to develop fuel-efficient trucks. DOE and Volvo, the parent company of Mack Trucks, Inc., originally signed an agreement in June 2007 with the goal of demonstrating heavy-duty engine systems with at least 10% higher fuel efficiency than conventional diesel engines.
The new agreement between DOE and Volvo focuses on testing and analyzing the effects of various biofuels on diesel engine performance, developing hybrid vehicle technology for heavy-duty engines, and creating an engine and advanced transmission system that are designed to operate within a narrow range, making them ideally suited for use in a hybrid vehicle.
Under the new agreement, DOE will invest $9 million over the next 3 years, matched by $9 million from the Swedish government. When added to the original commitment of $18 million from Volvo Group and $12 million commitment from the United States, up to $48 million will be invested in this partnership. Both the new and the earlier cooperative efforts support an ongoing agreement between DOE and the Swedish government. See the DOE press release and an overview of the June 2007 Implementing Agreement on the International page of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Web site.
DOE to Guarantee $10 Billion in Loans for Efficiency, Renewables
DOE is offering $10 billion in loan guarantees for projects involving energy efficiency, renewable energy, and advanced transmission and distribution. The agency is seeking projects relating to biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind energy, as well as projects involving hydropower, alternative fuel vehicles, and energy efficiency. In addition to general energy efficiency projects, the solicitation specifically requests projects relating to energy efficient building technologies and efficient electricity transmission, distribution, and storage.
DOE intends to issue loan guarantees for stand-alone projects, as well as projects relating to manufacturing technologies and the large-scale integration of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage technologies into the electrical grid. The agency issued a solicitation on Monday for the loan guarantees, along with two solicitations for nuclear power that increase the total loan guarantee package to $30.5 billion.
DOE’s Loan Guarantee Program was established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and is intended only for projects that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions and employ "new or significantly improved technologies as compared to commercial technologies in service in the United States." A technology is considered to be commercialized if it has been installed in three or more commercial projects in the United States and has been in service for at least 5 years. The solicitation includes an illustrative list of technologies, but does not restrict applications to technologies on that list. The guarantees can be issued for loans of up to 80% of a project’s total cost. Applications are due on December 31. See the DOE press release, the Loan Guarantee Program Web site, and the full solicitation (PDF 542 KB).
New "Freedom Prizes" to Reward Innovative Energy Deployments
DOE and the Freedom Prize Foundation announced last week that more than $4 million will be awarded to efforts that reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil while enhancing the nation’s security, economic prosperity, and health. The new "Freedom Prize" will provide awards of $500,000 to $1 million for the innovative deployment of existing technologies in each of five broad categories: industry, K-12 schools, the military, state and local governments, and communities.
Final guidelines and application instructions for the prize will be released this fall, and applications will be due in January 2009, culminating in the award of the prizes in spring. The Freedom Prize was established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which authorized DOE to support the prize. See the Freedom Prize Foundation Web site and press release (PDF 67 KB).
American Le Mans Race Cars to Compete to be the Greenest
The 10th-anniversary running of the Petit Le Mans endurance race in Braselton, Georgia, will feature an added twist, as the racers will also compete to achieve the smallest environmental impact. The American Le Mans Series announced last week that its signature event will feature the first ever "Green Challenge," a race within a race that will score each car based on its total energy use, the greenhouse gases emitted, and the petroleum fuels displaced during its running of the 1,000-mile, 10-hour race.
The American Le Mans races employ three fuels: sulfur-free diesel fuel, E10 (a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline), and E85 (a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). The E85 used in the races is made from cellulosic ethanol, that is, ethanol derived from non-edible forms of biomass, which in this case is wood waste. Cars that run on the cellulosic E85 will have a distinct advantage, because of its lower life-cycle emissions of greenhouse gases and its high displacement of petroleum fuels.
The American Le Mans Series is the only U.S. and Canadian racing series where you can see a moderately modified Corvette competing with a custom-built race car. It consists of a series of endurance and sprint races, created in the spirit of the original endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is held each year in France. Each race features four classes of vehicles, including two classes of modified production cars (the Grand Touring classes) and two classes of custom-built race cars (the prototype classes).
The Green Challenge will provide separate awards to the winners in the Grand Touring classes and the prototype classes, with the results normalized based on each car’s weight, average speed, and distance covered during the race. The Petit Le Mans will be held on October 4 at Road Atlanta; next year, the Green Challenge will be extended to the entire racing series.
The Green Challenge was developed in association with DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and SAE International, an automotive engineering society. See the American Le Mans Series announcement, the Green Challenge ranking system (PDF 44 KB), and the Road Atlanta Web site.
Meanwhile, two other green races have reached happy conclusions-for the victors, at least. The biodiesel-fueled Earthrace trimaran successfully completed its round-the-world record attempt last Friday, setting a new world speed record for circumnavigation of the globe by a powerboat. The Earthrace reached its starting point in Spain in less than 61 days, beating the previous record by nearly 2 weeks.
Further north, the second running of the Frisian Solar Challenge finished last Saturday in Friesland, a northern province of the Netherlands. The Delta Lloyd Solar Boat Team from the Technische Universiteit Delft took first place with a total running time of just over 12 hours. The solar boat race will return in 2010. See the Earthrace press release (PDF 102 KB) and Web site and the Frisian Solar Challenge Web site.
Florida Energy Bill to Boost Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Florida Governor Charlie Crist approved last week a wide-ranging energy bill that intends to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy within the state while cutting the state’s emissions of greenhouse gases. House Bill 7135 requires the Florida Public Service Commission to establish a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) that will specify a minimum percentage of retail electricity sales that must be supplied by renewable energy, but the bill does not set the minimum standard or a timeline. Instead, the bill requires the commission to prepare a draft rule by February 2009 and present it to the legislature for approval.
The bill also requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to create a cap-and-trade regulatory program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from major emitters. Again, the bill sets no specific limits and requires any program to be ratified by the legislature. The RPS and greenhouse gas program will presumably follow the targets included in executive orders issued by Governor Crist last year. See the article from this newsletter on those executive orders.
The bill does have more specifics in other areas. To coordinate’s the state’s efforts on energy and climate change, the bill establishes the Florida Energy and Climate Commission. Regarding fuels, the bill requires all gasoline sold in the state (with some exceptions) to contain 10% ethanol by the end of 2010. The bill establishes a telecommuting program for state agencies and requires those agencies to buy or lease fuel-efficient vehicles and to use ethanol or biodiesel fuel blends when available. It also allows hybrids and other low-emission and energy efficient vehicles to use the high-occupancy-vehicle lanes without paying a toll, regardless of the number of passengers in the car.
The bill requires the Florida Public Service Commission to set goals for the use of customer-located renewable energy systems and to help meet those goals, it requires each public utility to develop a standardized interconnection agreement and net metering program for such systems by the beginning of next year. It also requires the same of municipal and rural electric utilities by July 1, 2009. For customers with anaerobic digesters, the bill requires utilities to offer net metering for multiple electric meters.
The bill also authorizes the commission to allow utilities to earn greater profits for saving energy. In addition, the bill expands the state’s Innovation Incentive Program to include renewable energy projects, creates a new grant program to help local governments achieve green standards, and expands the state’s Renewable Energy Technology Grants Program to include energy efficiency technologies for vehicles and commercial buildings.
Regarding buildings, the bill requires the Florida Building Commission to prepare a 2010 edition of the Florida Energy Efficiency Code for Building Construction that increases the energy performance of new buildings by at least 20% relative to the 2007 Florida Building Code, increasing to a 50% performance improvement by the 2019 edition.
The bill also requires new buildings constructed and financed by the state to be designed and built to meet nationally recognized green building standards, and it requires the same standards for all buildings used by the state’s counties, cities, school districts, water management districts, state universities, community colleges, and state courts. The same standards apply to renovations of existing state buildings. The bill also requires state agencies to lease Energy Star-rated buildings and to employ energy saving performance contracts to upgrade existing facilities. It also encourages state agencies to buy climate-friendly products and to use "green" hotels and conference facilities. See a staff analysis of the bill (PDF 356 KB) or go directly to the full 237-page text (PDF 595 KB).
California Proposes a Path to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a draft plan last week that charts a course to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% over the next 12 years. Central to the Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan is a cap-and-trade program for major emitters that will cover 85% of the state’s emissions. The program will be developed in conjunction with the Western Climate Initiative, which includes seven Western states and three Canadian provinces.
The plan proposes that utilities produce a third of their energy from renewable energy resources while expanding and strengthening their energy efficiency programs. The draft plan also calls for full implementation of the California Clean Car law and the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Other measures in the plan include sustainable development, full deployment of the governor’s Million Solar Roofs initiative, high-speed rail, water-related energy efficiency measures, and a range of regulations to reduce emissions from trucks and ships in California ports. The plan also calls for Californians to take personal actions to reduce their carbon footprint. See the CARB press release and the full plan (PDF 690 KB).
While California and other Western states are pursuing ways to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, a similar effort is underway in the Northeast under the auspices of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, pronounced "Reggie"). The initiative is meant to cap greenhouse gas emissions starting next year, but before it can launch, the participating states must all adopt the program. New Hampshire is the latest state to officially adopt the RGGI program under House Bill 1434, which was signed by Governor John Lynch on June 11. See the governor’s press release, the full text of the bill, and the RGGI Web site.
EIA: World Energy Use to Grow 50% by 2030
Robust economic growth and expanding populations in the world’s developing countries will fuel a 50% increase in world energy use between 2005 and 2030, according to DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The EIA admits that its "International Energy Outlook 2008" does not account for the recent surge in oil prices, and it projects a 26% increase in the use of petroleum over the next 22 years. It also foresees an expanded use of renewable fuels, increasing from 0.5 million barrels per day in 2005 to 2.7 million barrels per day in 2030, primarily in response to high prices for oil and natural gas.
Worldwide, the consumption of hydropower and other renewable energy sources increase by 2.1% per year in the reference case, which results in a 58% increase over the next 22 years. The reference case doesn’t include policies to limit greenhouse gas emissions, which are projected to increase by 51% between 2005 and 2030.
The report also includes a "high price" case that appears to more closely resemble today’s trajectory of oil prices. In this scenario, world energy use grows by 44% between 2005 and 2030, but petroleum use declines by 2%. Meanwhile, renewable energy use grows by nearly 73%, and biofuels production increases to 4.2 million barrels per day by 2030. And although high oil prices will also encourage the development of unconventional resources, such as oil sands, the high price case yields a lower increase in greenhouse gas emissions, rising by 43% between 2005 and 2030. See the EIA press release and the "International Energy Outlook 2008."
The EIA also released its "Annual Energy Outlook 2008," which includes the same scenarios but focuses on the United States. Under the reference scenario, U.S. energy use grows by 19% between 2005 and 2030, while petroleum use increase by only 9% and ethanol use increases by a factor of 6. Hydropower increases by only 11%, but biomass energy, excluding biofuels, more than doubles, while other renewable energy sources more than triple. In the high price case, petroleum use drops by 2.1%, the growth in ethanol use and hydropower production stay essentially the same, biomass energy nearly triples, and the growth in other renewable energy sources stays the same. See the "Annual Energy Outlook 2008."
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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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