Vice President Biden Unveils Energy Efficiency Home Retrofit Plan
Vice President Biden released on October 19 the "Recovery Through Retrofit" report, which lays out a plan to help U.S. residents upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes. The program aims to increase green jobs and save energy through residential retrofits. At the same time, DOE issued a solicitation that offers $454 million in ARRA funds-including $390 million for a "Retrofit Ramp-Up" program-to support energy efficiency efforts across the country.
At a Middle Class Task Force meeting earlier this year, Biden asked the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop a proposal for federal action to lay the groundwork for a self-sustaining industry for home energy efficiency retrofits.
Their response is the October 19 report and includes these federal recommendations: provide U.S. homeowners with home energy retrofit information, including an energy performance label for existing homes; get past cost barriers by making financing more accessible, including long-term municipal loans repaid through the owners’ property tax bills, known as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE); and establish national workforce certifications and training standards, creating a uniform set of national standards to qualify workers for energy efficiency retrofits. See the Recovery Through Retrofit report (PDF 485 KB).
DOE’s new solicitation will support the retrofit objectives with a series of "Retrofit Ramp-up" awards, ranging from $5 to $75 million, for states, local governments, and Indian tribes. DOE seeks innovative programs that are highly leveraged, are broadly replicable and scalable, can achieve cost savings when scaled up, and are likely to be self-sustaining beyond the funding period.
The programs should achieve high-quality retrofits for a large fraction of the buildings within entire neighborhoods and communities, and they can include PACE programs and programs that employ Home Performance with Energy Star, a national program from DOE and the U.S. EPA. DOE also offered $64 million in energy efficiency grants for local governments and state-recognized Indian tribes that are not eligible for direct funding under DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. Applications are due on December 14. See the DOE press release, download the full solicitation (PDF 395 KB), and see the solicitation postings on grants.gov and FedConnect.
Team Germany Wins the 2009 Solar Decathlon
Team Germany won the 2009 Solar Decathlon, followed by the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and then Team California. Team Germany-students from Darmstadt, Germany, whose team also won the 2007 Solar Decathlon-designed, built and operated the most efficient solar home among 20 university entries. Their "Cube House" produced a surplus of power despite three days of rain during the two-week contest.
The 2009 Solar Decathlon challenged 20 teams from across the US, Germany, Spain, and Canada to compete in 10 contests, most of which related to the design and energy performance of the teams’ solar homes.
Of those 10 contests, Team Germany’s surplus power production earned the Net Metering award, which carried the greatest weight at 150 points. They also won the Comfort Zone contest for 100 points by best maintaining a comfortable temperature and humidity in the home.
Coming in second place overall, the University of Illinois took top honors in the Appliances contest, which involved running a refrigerator and freezer, dishwasher, washer, and dryer; the Hot Water contest, which required producing enough hot water for regular showers; and the Home Entertainment contest, which involved not only running a television, computer, lights, and a cooking appliance, but also hosting two dinner parties and a movie night, which were rated by their fellow contestants.
And although the team didn’t place in the top three, the University of Minnesota claimed the top spot in two juried design contests: Lighting Design and Engineering. The Engineering award honors the solar home that best exemplified excellence in energy systems design, savings, innovations, and reliability.
Although the 2009 Solar Decathlon just ended, the application process for the next Solar Decathlon, to be held in fall 2011, has already begun. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 2011 Solar Decathlon is available on the Solar Decathlon Web site. Applications are due by November 17, and selected teams will be notified by December 18. See the DOE press release, the Solar Decathlon Web site, and the RFP (PDF 747 KB).
DOE to Invest $24 Million in 3 Wind Research Facilities
DOE announced on October 15 its selection of three university-led wind energy research facilities to receive $24 million in ARRA funds over the next two years. Located in Illinois, Maine, and Minnesota, they were selected competitively to conduct R&D on utility-scale and prototype wind turbines, with the goal of improving the performance and reliability of both land-based and offshore wind turbines. The funds will also enable them to provide educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in wind technologies and wind jobs.
Chicago’s Illinois Institute of Technology will receive up to $8 million to install a test turbine at an existing wind farm in rural Illinois. The 1.5 MW GE wind turbine will be used to study advanced concepts for wind turbine control, robust sensors for blades, and innovative models to improve wind turbine performance and reliability. The University of Minnesota will take a similar approach, drawing on up to $8 million to install a 2.3 MW Siemens wind turbine, which will be used to investigate novel systems for mechanical power transmission and electric power generation. The turbine will be close to an existing wind farm, allowing the university to study how it interacts with the wake caused by nearby turbines.
The University of Maine will investigate offshore wind, receiving up to $8 million to design and deploy two 10 kW wind turbine prototypes and one 100 kW prototype to be mounted on floating offshore platforms. The university’s plan includes optimizing the designs for floating platforms by evaluating durable, lighter, hybrid composite materials, while also determining the requirements and logistics for manufacturing and deploying the platforms. See the DOE press release and DOE’s Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program.
AWEA: Recovery Act Spurs U.S. Wind Growth in Third Quarter
The U.S. wind industry installed 1,649 MW of new power generating capacity in the third quarter of 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). That’s more wind power than was installed in either the previous quarter of 2009 or the third quarter of 2008. AWEA credits the ARRA as a "major driving factor" in the growth, placing the industry ahead of where it was a year ago in terms of annual growth.
But AWEA also sees slower growth ahead, as there’s nearly 40% less construction underway now than the 8,000 MW of wind power that were under construction this time last year. This year is also lagging behind 2008 in terms of wind turbine manufacturing. As a result, the growth in U.S. wind power for 2009 as a whole is expected to fall short of last year, when a record 8,358 MW was installed. So far this year, 5,800 MW of wind power has been built, bringing the country’s total wind power capacity to 31,109 MW.
Arizona showed the fastest growth among states in the third quarter, due to the inauguration of its first large-scale wind farm, the 64 MW Dry Lake Wind Power Project.
Texas was tops in the amount of wind power added during the third quarter, with 436 MW of new wind energy capacity. The Lone Star state also remained the number one wind state in the country, with a total of 8,797 MW of capacity. Texas also features the largest wind projects completed this quarter: the 199.5 MW Panther Creek III wind farm and the 197 MW Inadale wind farm, also known as Roscoe IV, both of which were developed by E.ON Climate & Renewables. Combining Roscoe IV with the previous three phases of the project, the Roscoe Wind Farm now has a capacity of 781.5 MW, making it the world’s largest wind power facility. See the AWEA press release and report(PDF 676 KB), as well as the E.ON press release.
California Expands Rules for Feed-In Tariffs, Net Metering
California is seeking to encourage utility customers to feed power into the grid from their renewable energy systems with two legislative bills signed on October 11 by Governor Schwarzenegger.
The first bill expands California’s "feed-in tariff," under which large utilities have to pay customers for the power they produce and "feed in" to the grid, at standard rates or "tariffs" that are adjusted to account for the time when the power is produced. Power produced during times of peak demand earns the highest rate.
The new law doubles the maximum system size from the current 1.5 MW to 3 MW and requires long-term agreements that will be in effect for 10-20 years. It also increases the statewide cap for such feed-in tariff arrangements to 750 MW, up from 500 MW. Utilities buying power under the feed-in tariff will be able to take credit for the renewable energy under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires utilities to draw on renewable energy for one third of their power by 2020. See the feed-in tariff bill and the summary from DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency.
Utility customers that aren’t interested in such long-term agreements, or who want to take advantage of incentives that are prohibited under the feed-in tariff, are more likely to opt for "net metering," which allows customers to carry forward a credit on any month when they generate more power than they use.
Currently, any credit for net power generation is lost at the end of the year, but the state’s new net metering law will give customers the option of either rolling over credits from year to year or selling the excess power to their utility at a predetermined rate. In turn, the utility can take credit for that power under the state’s RPS.
The new law goes into effect on January 2011, after the California Public Utilities Commission sets the compensation rates. Both laws are aimed at helping utilities meet the RPS while encouraging utility customers to install renewable energy systems. See the net metering bill and the summary from DSIRE.
2010 Fuel Economy Guide Now Available
DOE and the U.S. EPA released the 2010 Fuel Economy Guide, which provides information about estimated fuel costs and mileage standards for model year 2010 vehicles. Each vehicle listing in the Fuel Economy Guide provides an estimated annual fuel cost, calculated based on the vehicle’s miles per gallon rating and national estimates for annual mileage and fuel prices. The online version of the guide allows people to input their local gasoline prices and typical driving habits to receive a personalized fuel cost estimate.
Fuel economy leaders for 2010 include a wide range of hybrid models, from compact cars to SUVs, as well as the Smart fortwo. The Fuel Economy Guide is also available to mobile users at fueleconomy.gov/m, making it readily accessible from a mobile device, smart phone, or personal digital assistant (PDA). See the DOE press release and the Fuel Economy Web site, which includes a printable version of the Fuel Economy Guide.
Report Examines Hidden Health, Environmental Costs of Energy Use
The energy you use to heat and cool your home, power your electric devices and appliances, and fuel your car may seem expensive, but according to a new report from the National Research Council (NRC), there are plenty of health and environmental costs that aren’t reflected in your energy bills.
Quantifying mainly the health effects from major air pollutants-sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and particulates-the report estimates such "external" costs at $120 billion for the US in 2005. More than half the cost is attributed to the nation’s 406 coal-fired power plants – only 10% of those plants account for 43% of those costs. The other big offender is vehicles, which cost an estimated $56 billion in damages in 2005.
NRC declined to tackle some of the more nebulous costs of energy production and use, including harm to ecosystems; risks to national security; effects of other pollutants, such as mercury; and climate change. The report notes that coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of greenhouse gases in the US.
And while the committee didn’t place a precise cost on climate change, it notes climate-related damages caused by each ton of carbon dioxide will be far greater in 2030 than they are now. The committee estimates that if the total amount of GHG emissions remains steady, the damages caused by each ton of carbon dioxide will increase 50%-80% by 2030. 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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