President Obama Announces $3.4B to Spur Smart Electric Grids
President Obama announced the largest single electric grid modernization investment in U.S. history on October 27, with DOE tapping $3.4 billion in ARRA funds for 100 projects. The funds will be matched by $4.7 billion in private investments.
According to the president, the smart grid projects will help build a "clean energy superhighway," with a goal of increasing energy efficiency and helping to spur the growth of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power. The grants range from $400,000 to $200 million, and will reach every state except Alaska.
The grants will pay for installing over 2.5 million smart meters, which allow utility customers to access dynamic pricing information and avoid periods of peak electricity use, when power is most expensive. The grants will also support installation of other smart grid components, including 1 million in-home energy displays, 170,000 smart thermostats, and 175,000 other load control devices to enable citizens to reduce energy use.
The funding will help expand the market for smart washers, dryers, and dishwashers, so that U.S. residents can further control energy use and lower electric bills. The technologies can also better accommodate the use of plug-in electric vehicles and production of renewable energy from customer-owned systems, such as solar or wind systems.
Much of the funding will support upgrades to utility power grids, including installation of over 200,000 smart transformers, which will make it possible for power companies to replace units before they fail. Utilities will also install 850 sensors, which will cover the entire electric grid in the contiguous U.S., making it possible for grid operators to better monitor grid conditions and allow them to take advantage of intermittent renewable energy. Finally, utilities will install nearly 700 automated substations, which will make it possible for power companies to respond faster and more effectively to restore service when bad weather knocks down power lines or causes electricity disruptions. See the DOE press release, President Obama’s comments, the awards by category (PDF 141 KB) or by state (PDF 68 KB), and a map of the smart grid projects (PDF 568 KB).
Report: Addressing Climate Change Yields 4.5M Clean Energy Jobs
In the process of addressing climate change, the US could net 4.5 million jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2030, according to a new study. The report, "Estimating the Jobs Impact of Tackling Climate Change," was prepared for the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) by Management Information Services Inc.
The report finds that an estimated 1.2 billion tons of annual carbon emissions could be eliminated by 2030 through renewable energy and energy efficiency alone, if the country makes a serious commitment to reversing climate change.
According to the report, about 57% of the reduction in carbon emissions would be from energy efficiency and 43% would be from renewable energy. Professions that would gain the most jobs include farming, construction, professional services, trucking, and metal fabrication, with job benefits spread across the entire country. The greatest numbers of renewable energy jobs would be in solar, biomass and biofuels. A summary of the report is available now; the full report will be posted on October 30. See the ASES press release and a summary of the report (PDF 1.09 MB).
DOE Awards $151M in Recovery Act Funding for ARPA-E Projects
DOE awarded $151 million in ARRA for 37 energy research projects under the recently-formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy ("ARPA-E"). ARPA-E’s mission is to develop inventive approaches to transform the global energy landscape while advancing U.S. technology leadership by creating jobs and cutting carbon pollution.
This first round of grants will go to researchers and inventors in 17 states and will support R&D of new technologies for solar cells, wind turbines, geothermal drilling, biofuels, and biomass energy crops. The grants will also support a variety of energy efficiency technologies, including power electronics and engine-generators for advanced vehicles, devices for waste heat recovery, electrically controlled windows and control systems for smart buildings, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), reverse-osmosis membranes for water desalination, catalysts to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, improved fuel cell membranes, and more energy-dense magnetic materials for a variety of electronic components. Six grants will go to energy storage technologies, including an ultracapacitor, improved lithium-ion batteries, metal-air batteries that use ionic liquids, liquid sodium batteries, and liquid metal batteries.
"With ARPA-E, we are swinging from the heels and trying to hit home runs, not just base hits. The 37 projects we’re funding span the spectrum from renewable energy, to energy storage, to industrial and building efficiency, to petroleum-free vehicles, and carbon capture," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
Examples of ARPA-E grants include a large-scale liquid metal battery, under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Based on low-cost, domestically available liquid metals, the battery could lead to the mass adoption of large-scale energy storage as part of the nation’s energy grid. At the University of Minnesota, researchers have developed a bioreactor that has the potential to produce gasoline directly from sunlight and carbon dioxide, using a symbiotic system of two organisms. And Momentive Performance Materials will be investigating a novel crystal growth technology to lower the cost of LEDs, which are 30 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs and four times more efficient than compact fluorescents.
ARPA-E was inspired by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and aims to support high-risk, high-reward energy research that can provide transformative new solutions for climate change and energy security. More than 3,600 initial ARPA-E concept papers were submitted to a competitive merit review by experts. A second set of ARPA-E funding opportunities will be announced later this fall. See the DOE press releases on the ARPA-E awards and Secretary Chu’s comments, the ARPA-E Web site, and the list of projects (PDF 50 KB).
Plug-In Hybrid Automaker to Reopen GM Plant Using DOE Loan
Vice President Joe Biden announced that Fisker Automotive is re-opening a former General Motors factory in Wilmington, Delaware, to produce plug-in hybrid vehicles that can cruise about 300 miles on a single charge. Funding comes from part of a $528.7 million conditional loan awarded by DOE last month, the fourth conditional loan commitment under DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program.
Of the total Fisker loan, $359 million is going to revive manufacturing at the Boxwood Plant in Delaware in support of Fisker’s NINA, a mass-market plug-in hybrid sedan. The company plans to build between 75,000 and 100,000 of the vehicles by 2014. The White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers played a key role in the revival of the Delaware plant. See the White House fact sheet on the agreement.
Fisker plans to use the remaining $169.3 million in ATVM loans for engineering work in Michigan and California to complete the company’s first vehicle, the Fisker Karma; to develop manufacturing processes for the Boxwood Plant; and to design tools and equipment for manufacturing its plug-in hybrids.
Fisker automobiles are driven by electric motors powered by a lithium-ion battery, and for long drives, the battery is supplemented by a generator, which is driven by a fuel-efficient gasoline engine. DOE will make additional loans under the ATVM program over the coming months to large and small auto manufacturers and parts suppliers. See the DOE press release and the ATVM Web site.
DOE Offers $24 Million Loan to Emissions Controls Manufacturer
DOE offered a conditional loan of $24 million to Tenneco Inc. to develop fuel efficient emission control components for advanced technology vehicles.
Tenneco, headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, is the first component manufacturer to receive a conditional loan commitment under the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program. Previously, the program loaned $5.9 billion to Ford Motor Company, $1.6 billion to Nissan North America, Inc., and $465 million to Tesla Motors. The ATVM program also offered a conditional loan of $528.7 million to Fisker Automotive.
Tenneco will use the loan for emission control components for gasoline-fueled and diesel-fueled vehicle engines, including engines for hybrid electrics. These advanced technology products will help car and light truck manufacturers meet increased federal fuel economy and tailpipe emissions standards.
Over two million cars and light trucks built in model years 2010 to 2014 will be equipped with the company’s emission control technologies, including catalytic converters, diesel particulate filters, diesel oxidation catalysts, and selective catalytic reduction units.
The ATVM program is an open process to promote the development of fuel-efficient advanced technology vehicles. First appropriated in the fall of 2008, the program provides loans to companies making cars and components in U.S. factories that increase fuel economy at least 25% above 2005 fuel economy levels. See the DOE press release and the ATVM Web site.
Honda CR-Z Concept Hybrid Debuts at Tokyo Motor Show
Honda debuted its CR-Z Concept 2009, a gas-electric hybrid, at the Tokyo Motor Show on October 20. The car is a global version equipped with a rear seat; the version to be released in North America in 2010 will be a two-seater – a "sporty coupe."
The CR-Z draws on the legacy of the original Honda Insight, a hybrid first sold in the U.S. in late 1999. The new CR-Z will join a newer Insight and Civic Hybrid in the Honda hybrid lineup. The Civic Hybrid, launched in 2003, was Honda’s first mainstream model to feature hybrid power. The 2010 Insight, introduced in March 2009, is a hybrid family sedan. See the Honda press release.
While the Tokyo Motor Show features its usual array of unusual concept vehicles, Japanese automakers also brought a few vehicles that appear closer to reality. Toyota brought its Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept, which was first displayed at the Frankfurt International Motor Show. The vehicle integrates a lithium-ion battery pack into the third-generation Prius, achieving an electric-only cruising range of about 12 miles. Toyota plans to introduce 500 of the vehicles globally, including 150 in the U.S.
Fuji Heavy Industries, maker of Subaru automobiles, is displaying the Subaru Hybrid Tourer Concept, a four-seat vehicle with gull-wing doors that combines a 2-liter, turbocharged, direct-injection gasoline engine with a continuously variable transmission and two axle-mounted motors. A lithium-ion battery pack provides energy storage for the vehicle. And Suzuki is displaying the Swift Plug-in Hybrid, which also has an electric-only cruising range of about 12 miles, drawing on a lithium-ion battery pack.
The Tokyo Motor Show 2009 is open to the public through November 4. See the Toyota press releases from the Tokyo Motor Show and the Frankfurt Show, as well as the Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept Web page from the Tokyo Motor Show; the press releases from FHI (PDF 75 KB) and Suzuki; and the Tokyo Motor Show Web site.
EPA Names Top 20 Green-Powered Schools
For the first time, the U.S. EPA named the 20 primary and secondary schools nationwide using the most power from renewable energy. The schools participating in its Green Power Partnership are buying nearly 113 million kWh of green power annually, offsetting the GHG emissions that would be produced from the electricity used by 11,000 U.S. homes for a year.
The five top schools are the Austin Independent School District and the Round Rock Independent School District in Texas; the Rochester City School District in New York; the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland; and The Dalton School in New York City.
EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with 1,100 organizations to voluntarily purchase green. Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying more than 17 billion kWh of green energy annually, equivalent to the GHG emissions from the electricity used by nearly 1.7 million U.S. homes annually. See the EPA press release, the list of top 20 K-12 schools, and EPA’s Green Power Partnership Web site.
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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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