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DOE Awards $452M in Recovery Act Funds for Building Retrofits
Vice President Joe Biden announced on April 21 the selection of 25 states, communities, and organizations to receive $452 million in DOE Recovery Act funding to "ramp-up" energy efficiency building retrofits.
DOE’s Retrofit Ramp-Up initiative allows communities, state and local governments, private-sector companies, and non-profit organizations to work together on pioneering programs for concentrated and broad-based neighborhood retrofits. The partnerships will support large-scale retrofits and make energy efficiency accessible to hundreds of thousands of homeowners and businesses.
For example, Lowell, Massachusetts is creating a model for efficiency upgrades in historical buildings. Phoenix, Arizona is retrofitting a least half of all commercial and residential space along a 10-mile stretch adjacent to its new light-rail line. The models created through this program are expected to save households and businesses about $100 million annually.
In addition to the Recovery Act investment, the 25 projects will leverage an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources over the next three years to retrofit hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country. In implementing these projects, grantees will deliver verified energy savings and incorporate sustainable business models to ensure that buildings will continue to be retrofitted after Recovery Act funds are spent.
DOE will use the lessons learned from these pilot programs to develop best-practice guides for comprehensive retrofit programs that can be adopted and implemented by communities across the country. The Retrofit Ramp-Up projects are the competitive portion of DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program and are part of the overall $80 billion Recovery Act investment in clean energy and energy efficiency.
See the DOE press release and the full list of projects (PDF 129 KB).
EPA: U.S. GHG Emissions Down 2.9% in 2008
On April 15, the US EPA released the U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory report for 2008, which shows a 2.9% drop in emissions from 2007.
The agency attributes the drop to a decrease in CO2 emissions due to lower consumption of fossil fuels and electricity. In 2008, the US produced 6,957 million metric tons of CO2; 13.5% higher than 1990 levels.
CO2 contributes 85.1% of the total, with methane in second place at 8.2%, nitrous oxide at 4.6%, and other GHGs contributing the final 2.2%. See the EPA press release and the full report.
The EPA also released a report on environmental indicators of climate change. It looks at 24 key indicators of climate change, including GHG emissions and concentrations in the atmosphere; weather and climate events; and observed impacts on the oceans, global snow and ice cover and on societies and ecosystems. See the EPA press release, the climate change indicators report, and new fact sheets, which are part of the EPA’s "Climate Toolbox."
DOE Closes $529 Million Loan to Fisker Automotive
On April 23, DOE closed a $528.7 million loan for Fisker Automotive to develop and produce two lines of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).
The loan will support the Karma, a full-size, 4-door luxury sports sedan expected in showrooms in late 2010, and a line of family-oriented models being developed under the company’s Project NINA program. The cars will have an all-electric range of 40-50 miles on a full charge and will be able to travel up to 300 miles with the aid of their fuel-efficient gasoline engines. The loan is being provided through DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program (ATVM).
Fisker, a southern California startup, expects to manufacture the vehicles at a recently shuttered GM factory in Wilmington, Delaware, employing 2,000 assembly workers. Part of the loan will be used to purchase and retool the former GM plant to manufacture the Project NINA line, which is expected to begin rolling off the assembly line in late 2012.
Fisker’s PHEVs will be among the first to market and will accelerate the introduction of EVs in the US. Fisker estimates annual sales of up to 115,000 vehicles when full production is reached in 2015.
This is the fourth loan signed by DOE with an advanced technology vehicle manufacturer – previous loans went to Ford, Nissan, and Tesla Motors. Combining Fisker projected sales volumes with that of the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S EV results in over 300,000 advanced vehicles a year, all of which were partially funded with DOE loans. See the DOE press release, DOE’s ATVM Web site, and the Fisker Web site.
DOE Offers $200 Million for Solar, Water Power
DOE will invest over $200 million over five years to expand and accelerate development, commercialization, and use of solar and water power technologies throughout the US. Four funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) are for projects to help industry overcome technical barriers, demonstrate new technologies, and boost clean energy jobs. See the DOE press release.
Three of the FOAs relate to solar, including $125 million over five years for manufacturing-focused research projects in solar PV technologies. Funds are available for both universities and industry. Concept papers are due June 3, and full applications are due in early August.
One of the solar FOAs will award $40 million over three years to develop a PV supply chain focused on products or processes that will make a major impact on the PV industry within 2-5 years. Examples include lower-cost coating materials, electrical components that improve system performance, processes that reduce manufacturing waste, or equipment that dramatically improves manufacturing or installation speed. Applications are due July 2.
Another solar FOA will award $4.5 million over five years to a national administrator for the Solar Instructor Training Network, created in 2009 by DOE. The selected organization will serve as a national point of contact for the training network and will work with a broad set of stakeholders to define, prioritize, and address issues related to solar training and workforce development. Applications are due June 15.
See the PV Manufacturing Initiative FOA on Grants.gov and FedConnect, the PV supply chain development FOA on Grants.gov and FedConnect, and the FOA for the training network administrator on Grants.gov and FedConnect.
The other FOA will provide $39 million over four years for marine and hydrokinetic technologies. DOE intends to speed the technological advancement and commercial readiness of emerging water power technologies that can produce renewable, cost-competitive electricity by harnessing the energy of waves, currents, tides, and free-flowing rivers, or energy stored in ocean thermal gradients.
This FOA seeks to leverage private-sector investment in water power technologies by providing cost-shared funding to industry and industry-led partnerships to advance technological and operational readiness of water power systems and components. Applications are due June 7. See the FOA on Grants.gov and FedConnect.
DOE, Masdar Sign Clean Energy Pact
DOE and Masdar, a multifaceted renewable energy initiative in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, signed a MOU on April 26 to promote collaboration on clean energy technologies.
The agreement establishes a framework in three areas: water and biofuels, building technologies, and carbon capture and sequestration. The agreement opens the door for scientific and technical exchanges and joint research and development of clean energy technologies.
The bilateral agreement will foster viable renewable energy solutions as part of the Masdar Initiative, also known as the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, begun in 2006 to advance development and deployment of renewable energy solutions and clean technologies.
A key aspect of the initiative is to build Masdar City, a district on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi that aims to be the world’s first carbon-neutral and zero-waste city. Masdar City is home to the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which accepted its first graduate students in September 2009, and it also became the headquarters for the International Renewable Energy Agency in 2009. See the DOE press release and the Web sites for the Masdar Initiative and Masdar City.
USDA Proposes Rules for 3 Biofuels Programs
The USDA on April 16 invited public comments on proposed rules for three programs designed to increase U.S. production of advanced biofuels.
The Biorefinery Assistance Guaranteed Loans would establish guaranteed loan regulations to develop commercial-scale biorefineries and to retrofit existing facilities using an eligible technology. Under the proposal, there would be a rolling application process for loan guarantees, with loans capped at $250 million and covering no more than 80% of the total eligible project costs.
For Repowering Assistance Payments to Eligible Biorefineries, the USDA proposes to pay eligible biorefineries that install biomass energy systems to displace fossil fuels. The USDA calls for eligible biorefineries to receive a payment equal to 50% of the cost of installing eligible systems, with a cap at $5 million.
Finally, under the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program, the USDA proposes establishing a payment program for eligible producers of advanced biofuels produced from renewable biomass, excluding corn kernel starch.
Comments on the proposed rules must be received by June 15. See the USDA press release and the proposed rules for the Biorefinery Assistance Guaranteed Loans (PDF 215 KB), the Repowering Assistance Payments (PDF 96 KB), and the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program (PDF 1.3 MB), as published in the April 16 edition of the Federal Register.
The USDA also announced an initiative to help agricultural producers transition to more energy efficient operations. Funding will be available for individual on-farm energy audits. Approximately 1,000 energy audits in 29 states will be funded with $2 million provided through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) in fiscal year 2010.
Energy audits will be individually tailored to ensure coverage of each farm’s primary energy uses, such as milk cooling, irrigation pumping, heating and cooling of livestock production facilities, manure collection and transfer, grain drying, and other common on-farm activities. See the USDA press release and the EQIP Web site.
AIA Names Top Ten Green Buildings for 2010
The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (COTE) has named this year’s top 10 examples of sustainable architecture and green design.
Many of the new buildings have received or are expected to earn LEED Platinum certification, the highest level of LEED certification. Awardees range from a prototype for mass single-family home construction in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans to the world’s largest LEED Platinum project – a new international research university in Saudi Arabia. There are also examples of a mixed-use high rise, an art gallery, and an elementary school. Winners are located in six states-California, Connecticut, Louisiana, New York, Oregon, and Virginia-and in Canada and Saudi Arabia.
Most of the buildings make use of geothermal heat pumps, daylighting, shading, natural ventilation, and passive solar heating. Architects also employed energy efficiency technologies such as radiant heating and cooling, cool roofs, energy efficient appliances and equipment, and evaporative cooling with reclaimed water. Some use recycled materials and green roofs, while others generate renewable energy with solar, and one (Twelve West, in Portland, Oregon) features roof-mounted wind turbines. See the AIA press release and the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects 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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