DOE Offers $100M for Innovative Energy Research Projects
DOE issued three Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) on March 2 that offer $100 million in Recovery Act funds for the third round of its Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) program.
The FOAs focus on innovations in grid storage, power converters, and cooling systems for buildings. The goal is to promote U.S. leadership in the emerging global market for these advanced energy technologies, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions and reducing U.S. electrical consumption by as much as 30%.
Specifically, the program aims to support development of modular, cost-effective, grid-scale energy storage technologies, including advanced system prototypes and proof-of-concept projects that address critical shortcomings of existing grid-scale energy storage technologies.
For power converters, the program seeks fundamental advances in soft (non-permanent) magnets, high-voltage switches, and high-density charge storage. By coupling these to advanced circuit architectures and scalable manufacturing, the program aims to leapfrog existing power converter performance while offering reductions in cost.
The program breaks down power converters into three categories: chip-scale power converters; kilowatt-scale power converters for grid-tied photovoltaic systems and variable-speed motors; and medium-voltage energy converters for high-power applications, such as electrical substations and wind turbine generators.
The program seeks cooling systems that use refrigerants with low global warming potential, efficient air conditioning systems for warm and humid climates, and vapor-compression air conditioning systems for hot climates. Technologies should ideally be suited for both retrofits and new cooling systems. Concept papers must be submitted by April 2, but the deadline for complete applications has not yet been determined. See the DOE press release and the FOAs.
Funded last year with $400 million from the Recovery Act, ARPA-E selected 37 projects from its first solicitation in early 2009. That initial opportunity sought transformational innovations in energy storage, biofuels, carbon capture, renewable power, building efficiency, and vehicle designs.
ARPA-E’s second solicitation, announced in December 2009, yielded nearly 500 concept papers focused on new approaches for biofuels, carbon capture, and batteries for electric vehicles. See the ARPA-E Web site.
Detroit Automakers Invest in Energy-Efficient Engines
The three major Detroit-based automakers are retooling some factories and redesigning vehicle powertrains as they move towards more efficient engines and vehicles.
GM announced a $494 million outlay at three U.S. plants to produce the next-generation Ecotec engine, which relies on direct injection, variable valve timing, and turbocharging to draw more power out of a smaller engine. Focusing on state-of-the-art four-cylinder engines, the automaker will add capacity at its Tonawanda, New York plant to produce 370,000 engines per year. Two Michigan factories, located in Defiance and Bay City, will also be upgraded to produce the blocks and connecting rods for the engine. See the GM press release.
Meanwhile, Ford is spending $155 million at its Cleveland operations to build a fuel-efficient V-6 engine for the 2011 Mustang. DOE’s Advanced Technology Manufacturing Incentives Program is supporting the upgrade. The Mustang engine is one of nine new or upgraded engines or transmissions for Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles to be released in the 2011 model year.
This brings Ford’s total investment in powertrain engineering and facility upgrades in North America to $1.8 billion for the 2011 vehicle launches alone, with more to come. The revamped engines and transmissions are part of a five-year effort, which began in 2008, to overhaul all of Ford’s powertrains. One of its most advanced new engines will be a new normally aspirated 2.0-liter direct-fuel-injection engine, the first of its kind for a North American Ford vehicle, which will be deployed in the 2012 Ford Focus. See the Ford press releases on the engine investment and the 2012 Ford Focus.
Chrysler is also revamping its powertrain lineup, implementing technology that will lead to an overall fuel-efficiency improvement of over 25% by 2014. Through its alliance with Fiat, the company’s five-year business plan has added a powertrain offensive, including a progressive vehicle electrification strategy.
The overhaul includes adopting Fiat technology such as Multiair, Fiat’s patented electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation technology. Fiat will also add its direct-injection, turbocharging, and six-speed transmission systems to Chrysler’s portfolio. Four-cylinder engine options are being expanded at Chrysler with the introduction of Fiat’s 1.4-liter and 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines, both featuring Multiair. As part of its five-year plan, the Chrysler Group is currently developing a hybrid version of its Ram 1500 pickup for 2010. The company also continues its plan with the DOE to build a small test fleet of plug-in hybrid Ram 1500s and minivans. See the Chrysler press release.
NREL Finds U.S. Wind Potential Larger than Previously Estimated
The maximum potential to generate wind power in the U.S. is more than triple previous estimates, according to a study by DOE’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).
The analysis, developed with AWS Truewind, LLC, is based on updated computer models and examines the wind potential at wind turbine hub heights of 80 and 100 meters. Previous studies were performed at hub heights of only 50 meters, which were more representative of commercial wind turbines in the early 1990s. The study also has a spatial resolution of only 200 meters, compared with the previous national study, which had a resolution of 25 kilometers. The updated model filtered out urban areas, water areas, and lands such as parks that could not be developed for wind power. It represents the maximum amount of wind power that could be reasonably developed in the contiguous US.
U.S. wind potential depends greatly on turbine hub heights and the capacity factor that developers are willing to accept, says the study. The capacity factor is the amount of power produced per year divided by the amount that would be produced if the wind turbine operated at full capacity all the time.
Capacity factors for today’s wind plants are typically around 30%. For a 60-meter hub height, the study finds that 10,459 GW of wind could achieve a 30% capacity factor, generating nearly 37 million GWh of electricity a year.
As noted by AWEA, the previous government survey of U.S. wind resources, published by DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Lab in 1991, pegged U.S. wind potential at 10.8 million GWh. The new study still found a huge potential at a 40% capacity factor, with 5,577 GW of wind capacity generating nearly 22 million GWh of wind power per year.
And at a 100-meter hub height and 30% capacity factor, the potential is even higher, with 12,125 GW of wind capacity generating 44.7 million GWh per year of wind power, or about 20% more than at the 80-meter hub height.
Several states benefit from the updated figures, as Indiana, Ohio, and Oregon moved onto the list of the top 20 windiest states for the first time. To put the figures in perspective, the current U.S. installed wind power capacity is only 35 GW. See the wind maps and the table of results (Excel 127 KB) on DOE’s Wind Powering America Web site, as well as the AWEA press release.
New Solar Manufacturing Plants Coming to Four States
The Dow Chemical Company has picked Midland, Michigan as the site for the first full-scale production facility for its Dow Powerhouse solar shingle, if the company obtains sufficient local, state, and federal funding.
That became more likely on February 25, when the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) awarded $61.3 million in tax credits over 15 years to Dow for a variety of projects, including the manufacturing plant.
The proposed facility will produce solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingles. The devices employ low-cost, thin-film solar modules made from copper indium gallium diselenide, or CIGS. The CIGS materials are deposited on a flexible stainless steel substrate by Global Solar Energy, which confirmed that its solar modules can convert 13.2% of the sunlight hitting them into electricity, setting a record for thin-film, flexible solar modules.
Dow is already manufacturing solar shingles in a small-scale market development plant in Midland, thanks to a DOE grant of $20 million awarded in 2007 under the Solar America Initiative Pathways Program. The full-scale plant could be operational by 2014, bringing more than 1,200 jobs to the area. See the press releases from Dow and MEDC.
The Dow news follows several announcements of new solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facilities. China’s Suntech Power, the world’s largest manufacturer of crystalline silicon PV modules, announced in January that it would build a manufacturing plant in Goodyear, Arizona. The 30 MW plant will be able to grow to more than 120 MW.
In November 2009, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell announced that Heliosphera US would build a thin-film solar plant in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, creating 400 jobs. The company received a $49 million incentive package of loans and grants.
And SolarWorld announced in October 2009 that it would add another solar module assembly line at its manufacturing plant in Hillsboro, Oregon. The addition will make it the first fully integrated crystalline silicon PV plant in the Americas, from polysilicon rock to finished solar modules. SolarWorld completed its 480,000-square-foot factory in 2008; an adjacent 210,000-square-foot building will house the 350 MW module assembly line. See the press releases from Suntech, the State of Pennsylvania, and SolarWorld.
According to the 8th annual PV status report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, worldwide production of PV solar panels leapt to 7.3 GW in 2008, an 80% increase over 2007. They note that a significant slowdown in PV investment in the second half of 2008 and early 2009 started to reverse itself in the second quarter. China became the leading producer of solar cells with an annual production of about 2.4 GW, followed by Europe with 1.9 GW, Japan with 1.2 GW, and Taiwan with 0.8 GW. If production continues to grow at the 2009 rate, they predict China could have 32% of the world-wide PV production capacity by 2012. See the press release from JRC (PDF 157 KB).
World’s Largest Solar Boat to Circumnavigate the Globe
The world’s largest solar boat was unveiled on February 25 at a shipyard in Kiel, Germany. Called "PlanetSolar," the 102-foot catamaran is powered exclusively by high-efficiency solar cells manufactured by SunPower. The craft will begin testing in late March, about a year in advance of a planned round-the-world journey in April 2011. Constructed in 13 months, the boat is powered by about 38,000 deck-mounted solar cells, each with a 22% solar conversion efficiency. The cells cover about 5,382 square feet of the boat’s surface.
The boat, designed by a team of international engineers working under the direction of PlanetSolar SA of Switzerland, is expected to be the fastest solar boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the first to navigate both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Planned stopovers on the east-to-west voyage include Hamburg, Germany; London, England; Paris, France; New York, New York, and San Francisco, California, in the US; Singapore; and Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The solar boat will be available for public display during each of its stops.
PlanetSolar follows in the wake of the smaller solar-powered "sun21" catamaran, which averaged 5-6 knots (similar to a sail-powered yacht), on its 7,000-mile trans-Atlantic voyage from the Canary Islands to New York harbor in 2007. See the SunPower press release and the Web sites for PlanetSolar and sun21.
White House: Agencies Should Weigh GHG Emissions in NEPA Reviews
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced on February 18 that it’s proposing steps to modernize and reinvigorate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), including the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts when evaluating proposed projects and actions.
NEPA provides the framework for nearly all environmental reviews performed by federal agencies, projects on federal lands, and projects over which the federal government has jurisdiction.
The draft guidance proposes that any project resulting in GHG emissions equivalent to 25,000 metric tons of CO2 or more per year should undergo a quantitative analysis of its environmental impacts. Specifically, agencies should consider reasonable alternatives to reduce GHG emissions. The guidance also instructs agencies how to assess the effects of climate change on their proposed actions. The draft guidance doesn’t apply to land and resource management actions. The CEQ published a notice of the draft guidance documents in the Federal Register on February 23 and will accept public comments through May 24. See the CEQ press release, the draft guidance on climate change and GHG emissions (PDF 102 KB), and the Federal Register notice.
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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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