California Approves Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a plan last week to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
The climate change "scoping plan" is a central requirement of AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which was signed into law in September of that year. The plan addresses roughly 85% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions with a cap-and-trade program, which will be developed in conjunction with the Western Climate Initiative (WCI).
The WCI comprises seven Western states and four Canadian provinces that have committed to cap their emissions and create a regional carbon market. The plan also includes a variety of measures that will help that cap-and-trade program succeed, while also addressing emissions not included in the program. The CARB now faces the task of developing detailed strategies to implement all of the recommended measures that must be in place by 2012.
Most of those measures relate to energy efficiency and renewable energy, including strategies to enhance and expand the state’s efficiency programs; implement the state’s clean cars standards; increase the state’s use of renewable energy; and implement a low-carbon fuel standard to reduce the impacts on climate change from the fuels used in the state.
The plan also proposes full deployment of the California Solar Initiative, high-speed rail, water-related energy efficiency measures, and a range of regulations to reduce emissions from trucks and from ships docked in California ports. There are also measures designed to safely reduce or recover a range of very potent greenhouse gases, such as refrigerants and other industrial gases. See the CARB press release and the scoping plan.
Federal Regulators Approve In-Stream Hydrokinetic Project
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued its first full license last week for an in-stream hydrokinetic power project. The project will be located on the Mississippi River, in the output channel of a hydropower dam operated by the City of Hastings, Minnesota.
FERC has previously issued only preliminary permits for in-stream, wave, and tidal energy projects, and its only full hydrokinetic license was for a wave energy project. For the Hastings project, Hydro Green Energy will provide two underwater turbines, each carrying a nameplate capacity of 100 kilowatts and an expected power output of about 35 kilowatts. So the project is expected to provide a 70-kilowatt boost in output to the 4.4-megawatt hydropower facility, and the FERC order is technically an amendment to the existing license for the facility.
The turbines will be suspended from a barge, and each turbine will drive a generator that is mounted atop the barge. The barge-mounted power plant is meant to be permanent, but it could easily be removed if any problems are found with the system. The barge will be anchored to the riverbed and tethered about 50 feet downstream from the hydropower dam, the Army Corps of Engineer’s Mississippi Lock and Dam No. 2.
Recognizing that there is very little operating experience from in-stream hydrokinetic project, FERC is requiring the city to immediately modify turbine operation or to remove the turbines or the barge if any adverse effects on water quality, fish, or diving birds are found. See the press releases from FERC and Hydro Green Energy (PDF 304 KB), the official FERC order (PDF 173 KB), the FERC Hydrokinetics Projects Web page, and Hydro Green Energy’s description of its technology.
Dow Corning to Invest Billions in Solar Materials Manufacturing
Dow Corning Corporation announced on Monday that it will invest several billion dollars in industrial facilities to produce monosilane and polysilicon, materials that are used in many of today’s solar cells.
Dow Corning already produces polysilicon at a Hemlock, Michigan, manufacturing facility run by its joint venture, Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation. A new investment of $2.2-$3 billion will fund the expansion of that facility and the construction of a new manufacturing plant in Clarksville, Tennessee, which will be run by a new joint venture, Hemlock Semiconductor LLC.
In addition, Dow Corning will build a new manufacturing plant next to its Hemlock facility for the production of monosilane, which is used to manufacture both thin-film solar cells and liquid crystal displays. Construction on the plant expansion and the new manufacturing plants will begin immediately. See the press releases from Dow Corning and its Hemlock Semiconductor group.
Dow Corning’s expansion comes when polysilicon prices are expected to drop, starting in 2009. A recent report from iSuppli Corporation notes the demand for polysilicon has exceeded supply for several years, driving the spot price up from a low of $200 in 2007 to a high of $500 in 2008. With supply catching up to demand in 2009, the average spot market price for polysilicon is expected to drop, possibly as low as $200 per kilogram. In 2010, iSuppli expects the polysilicon supply to exceed the demand, causing spot prices to drop as low as $100 per kilogram. See the iSupply press release.
Meanwhile, the first solar cell factory in the Southeast opened last week in Atlanta, Georgia. Suniva officially opened its manufacturing facility for crystalline silicon solar cells just one month after it started production at its first manufacturing line, which has the capacity to produce 32 megawatts of solar cells each year. A second, larger production line will increase the plant’s annual capacity to 96 megawatts by mid-2009. The technology for the Suniva facility was developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s University Center of Excellence in Photovoltaics, a DOE Center of Excellence since 1992. See the Suniva press releases.
U.S. Driving Decreases for the Twelfth Straight Month
People in the U.S. drove 3.5% fewer miles in October 2008 than they did in October 2007, making October the 12th consecutive month of year-to-year declines in U.S. vehicle miles traveled, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
From November 2007 to October 2008, U.S. residents drove 100 billion fewer miles than the year before, marking the largest ever continuous decline in U.S. driving. October alone saw a year-to-year drop of 8.9 billion vehicle miles, the largest October decline since 1971.
While the DOT report doesn’t explain the reasons for the drop in driving, an October report from HNTB Companies says it’s partly due to a shift toward public transportation. A nationwide poll showed that more than 24 million U.S. residents -11% of the adult population – are using public transportation more than they did last year, and 16% say they expect to increase their ridership in the coming year. Although many were motivated by high gasoline prices, they also discovered the convenience, traffic avoidance, and environmental benefits of public transit. See the press releases from the DOT and HNTB.
That explanation is backed up by American Public Transportation Association (APTA), which reports a year-to-year increase in public transportation trips of 6.5% for the third quarter of 2008. That’s the largest quarterly increase in public transportation ridership in 25 years, and it occurred even as gasoline prices were declining.
Light rail had the highest increase in ridership, followed by bus, commuter rail, and heavy rail travel (subways and elevated trains). Intercity travel by heavy rail is also on the uptick, as Amtrak experienced an 11.1% increase in ridership for its 2008 fiscal year, which ended on September 30. The number of rides taken on Amtrak trains increased by 28.7 million for the year, marking the sixth straight year of ridership gains. See the press releases from the APTA and Amtrak.
Travel within the U.S. is expected to drop even more this holiday season, according to HNTB. The company’s most recent nationwide survey found that 45% of U.S. residents plan to stay home for the holidays. Of those that do travel more than 50 miles, 75% expect to drive, while only 17% plan to fly, 4% will take the train, and 2% will travel by bus, all of which suggests that the shift to mass transit is greater for work commuters than for people taking vacations.
The travel plans are also bad news for the airline industry, which saw a year-to-year decline in travelers of 8.4% for the month of September, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). That’s the seventh consecutive month of year-to-year declines for the U.S. airline industry. But thanks to the weak dollar, international travelers are helping to prop up the U.S. airlines. Compared to 2007, U.S. airlines carried 2.8% fewer domestic passengers in the first nine months of 2008, but 3.2% more international passengers. See the press releases from HNTB and BTS.
EIA: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Increased by 1.4% in 2007
Total emissions of greenhouse gases in the U.S. increased 1.4% in 2007, according to DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The report, released on December 3, found that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions reached the equivalent of 7.282 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2007, with the increase mainly attributed to greater weather extremes and a decrease in hydropower production.
Other greenhouse gases increased at a faster rate, including a 3.3% increase in emissions of the most powerful greenhouse gases, such as refrigerants. Since 1990, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have risen by nearly 17%. See the EIA press release and the full report.
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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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