DOE, Treasury Accept Applications for Renewable Energy Project Payments
DOE and the U.S. Department of the Treasury are now accepting applications from renewable energy project developers that wish to receive direct federal payments in lieu of tax credits. The direct-payment program is meant to address a lull in demand for federal tax credits, which has hampered the financing of renewable energy projects.
To help remedy this situation, DOE and the Treasury Department estimate they will distribute at least $3 billion in direct payments to about 5,000 facilities using biomass energy, solar energy, wind power, and other types of renewable energy. The funding for this effort is made available through the Recovery Act (ARRA).
The ARRA authorized the Treasury Department to make direct payments to companies that create and place in service renewable energy facilities beginning January 1, 2009. Previously, these companies could file for a tax credit to cover a portion of the renewable energy project’s cost; under the new program, applicants forgo future tax credits in favor of an immediate reimbursement of a portion of the property expense.
DOE will assist the Treasury Department in implementing this program by reviewing the technical merits of the applications. The agencies expect many businesses to apply for the direct cash payment in lieu of the tax credit, providing an immediate stimulus to local economies. See the DOE press release, and to apply for the program, visit the program Web site.
DOE Offers $30 Billion in Loan Guarantees for Renewable Energy Projects
DOE announced last week that it will offer an estimated $30 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects. The actual value of the loan guarantees depends on the specific applications and market conditions, both of which determine how much funding is needed to subsidize the loan.
DOE’s lending authority includes up to $8.5 billion in loan guarantees supported by 2009 annual appropriations, as well as $2 billion in loan subsidies from the ARRA, which can support billions in loans for renewable energy and electric power transmission projects. The Recovery Act also provides up to $500 million in loan subsidies to support loans for cutting-edge biofuel projects. See the DOE press release and the Web site for the DOE Loan Guarantee Program. As of Tuesday, the loan guarantee solicitations were not yet posted on the Web site.
DOE Awards $11.8 Million for Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems
DOE awarded $11.8 million last week to five projects designed to advance the next stage of development of solar energy grid integration systems (SEGIS). Located in Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, and Oregon, the five projects are part of DOE’s continuing work to help assure the nation’s electrical grid reliability is maintained and improved as solar energy technologies reach cost competitiveness and are increasingly integrated with the grid. Of the total funds, some $5 million came from the ARRA.
Initiated in 2008, SEGIS is a partnership among DOE, Sandia National Laboratories, industry, utilities, and universities and emphasizes the development of complete systems for integrating solar power with the electrical grid. The selected projects focus on grid interconnections that work optimally with the full range of emerging solar modules, achieve reliability and resiliency, reduce costs, integrate controls for energy storage systems (such as batteries), and allow two-way "smart" communications between the solar power systems and the electric utilities.
Awardees include Apollo Solar, the Florida Solar Energy Center, Petra Solar, Princeton Power, and PVPowered. The projects ultimately seek to maintain or improve power quality and reliability, as well as return economic value, while increasing the integration of solar technologies into the U.S. electrical grid. See the DOE press release.
DOE Awards $28 Million to National Laboratories for Bioenergy, Smart Grids
DOE announced on Tuesday that it will award over $28 million to four DOE national laboratories to support R&D of bioenergy technologies and to support analytical studies of Smart Grid technologies.
The awards are part of $327 million in funds from the ARRA for scientific research, instrumentation, and infrastructure improvements, including $107.5 million that’s slated to go to universities, nonprofits, and private firms, and $220 million that will go to 10 DOE national labs. Of that $220 million, $164.7 million is allocated to specific projects, with most of the funds going toward research in high-energy physics and fusion energy.
Of the funds going toward bioenergy, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) will receive $13.1 million to upgrade equipment at the DOE Joint Genome Institute and $4 million for new instrumentation at the DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute, one of three DOE Bioenergy Research Centers. Oak Ridge National Lab will receive $5.4 million for equipment at the DOE BioEnergy Science Center-another DOE Bioenergy Research Center-as well as $3.2 million to develop a computerized knowledge base that integrates data from DOE-supported research in genomics and systems biology. In addition, LBNL, Pacific Northwest National Lab, and Sandia National Lab will receive $2.43 million for mathematical analyses related to the development of the Smart Grid. See the DOE press release.
EPA Names Top 20 Organizations Using On-Site Renewable Energy
The U.S. EPA named the top 20 partners in its Green Power Partnership that generate renewable energy on-site. Combined, the top 20 partners generate over 736 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy on-site each year, enough to power more than 61,000 average U.S. homes.
Leading the list are Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, the City of San Diego, the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant, and CalPortland, a cement company. Like many paper companies, Kimberly-Clark produces electricity from biomass waste generated by the pulp manufacturing process. Cities and sanitation districts tend to generate methane at their wastewater treatment plants and can convert that methane to energy, accounting for much of the green power generated by the California cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, while CalPortland has its own wind power facility. The top 20 partners also draw on other biomass energy sources, solar power, and small hydropower to meet their energy needs. See the EPA press release, the top-20 list, and pages 20-21 of Kimberly-Clark’s 2008 Sustainability Report (PDF 4.3 MB).
NASA Offers a $1.5 Million Prize for a Fast and Fuel-Efficient Aircraft
NASA has teamed up with a non-profit foundation to offer a $1.5 million prize for a highly fuel-efficient aircraft. The Green Flight Challenge, unveiled last week, calls for teams to create an aircraft that can average at least 100 miles per hour on a 200-mile flight, while achieving greater than 200 passenger-miles per gallon. Passenger-miles per gallon are defined as the fuel economy of the aircraft in miles per gallon divided by the number of passengers, including the pilots in this case, and the Green Flight Challenge could include aircraft carrying a single pilot or any number of passengers.
The aircraft that can achieve the best combination of speed and fuel efficiency will win the grand prize, while an additional prize of $150,000 will go to the team that achieves the best performance while running on at least 99% biofuel. If no teams achieve the minimum performance requirements, an honorary prize of $153,000 will go to the best-performing team that achieves at least 80 miles per hour and 160 passenger-miles per gallon.
The NASA Innovative Partnerships Program is providing the prize purse for the competition, while the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation will administer the contest. Registration for the competition is underway and will continue through next year, while the competition will be held in July 2011 in Santa Rosa, California. See the NASA press release and the full competition rules (PDF 1.2 MB).
Report: The Next Decade will Determine America’s Energy Future
Actions taken by the US between now and 2020 to develop and demonstrate several key energy technologies will largely determine the nation’s energy options for many years to come, according to a new report from the National Research Council (NRC).
The report, "America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation," notes the US could obtain substantial energy-efficiency improvements, new sources of energy, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through accelerated deployment of existing and emerging energy technologies.
Deploying energy-efficiency technologies in buildings alone could eliminate the growth in U.S. electricity demand, while deploying energy efficiency in all sectors, including industry and transportation, could reduce projected U.S. energy use by 30% in 2030.
The report notes that a broad portfolio approach, supporting basic research through the demonstration stage, will likely be more effective than targeted efforts aimed at identifying technology winners and losers. At the demonstration stage, high-priority technologies include carbon capture and storage, evolutionary nuclear technologies, cellulosic ethanol, and advanced light-duty vehicles.
The more long-term research and development needs include new technologies for producing liquid fuels from renewable resources, advanced batteries and fuel cells, large-scale electricity storage, enhanced geothermal power, and advanced solar PV technologies. In addition, because many barriers exist that could delay or prevent technology deployment, the report recommends that sustained policy and regulatory actions, as well as other forms of incentives, be employed to drive adoption. See the National Academies press release and the full report, which can be read online for free.
As part of the America’s Energy Future study, the NRC also issued a report in mid-June that specifically examines renewable energy. It concludes that renewable energy could meet a significant portion of U.S. electricity needs, but taking full advantage of its potential will require enhanced technologies, increased deployment, greater financial investments, and the implementation of policies to drive adoption.
With accelerated deployment, increases in transmission capacity, and other electric-grid improvements, non-hydroelectric renewable sources could contribute up to 10% of US electricity by 2020, and 20% or more by 2035, according to the report. However, major scientific advances and changes to the way we generate, transmit, and use electricity will be needed before it can supply the majority of U.S. electricity.
Necessary improvements include the development of intelligent, two-way electric grids; large-scale and distributed electricity storage; and significantly enhanced, yet cost-effective, long-distance electricity transmission. See the National Academies press release and the full report.
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EREE Network News is a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
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