Interior Dept Approves Largest Solar Project on U.S. Public Lands
The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) approved on October 25 the largest solar project ever to be built on U.S. public lands.
When completed, the Blythe Solar Power Project, the world’s largest concentrating solar facility, will produce up to 1000 MW of solar, enough to power 300,000 – 750,000 homes. The installation will cover 7025 acres of public lands eight miles west of Blythe in Riverside County, California. The developers, Palo Verde Solar I, a subsidiary of Solar Millennium, LLC, expect it to create 1,066 solar jobs at the peak of construction and 295 permanent jobs.
A 230-kilovolt transmission line will be constructed to connect the power to the grid. The Bureau of Land Management will offer Solar Millennium a right-of-way grant to use the public lands for 30 years if all rents and other conditions are met. BLM requires that Solar Millennium provides funding for alternative habitat for desert tortoise, western burrowing owl, bighorn sheep and Mojave fringe-toed lizard habitat to mitigate the project’s environmental impacts. Solar Millenniumis eligible for a $1.9 billion conditional loan guarantee from DOE through the Recovery Act. See the DOI press release, a project fact sheet , and the DOE Concentrating Solar Power Web site.
Wind Could Provide 20% of World’s Electricity by 2030
A study by the Global Wind Energy Council and Greenpeace International concludes that wind could meet 12% of global power demand by 2020, and up to 22% by 2030.
The "Global Wind Energy Outlook 2010" (GWEO 2010), released October 12, shows the 1,000 GW of wind capacity projected to be installed by 2020 would prevent emissions of as much as 1.5 billion tons of CO2 every year. By 2030, the world would be spared 34 billion tons of CO2 with 2,300 GW of wind capacity.
According to GWEO 2010, wind energy is also becoming an important contributor to economic development, now providing more than 600,000 wind jobs in direct and indirect employment. By 2030, the authors project the industry to employ over 3 million people.
The report forecasts an increase of up to ten times the current installed capacity in China by 2020, up from just 25 GW at the end of 2009. Wind energy is now deployed in over 75 countries around the world. See the press release from the Global Wind Energy Council and the full report .
EPA, DOT Seek First U.S. Truck Fuel Efficiency Standards
The U.S. EPA and Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on October 25 the first U.S. standards to reduce carbon emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses, beginning with the model year 2014.
The standards are projected to reduce emissions by about 250 million metric tons and save 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced within the program’s first five years. The heavy-duty sector, from the largest pickups to 18-wheelers, emits about 20% of U.S. transportation emissions, according to the EPA.
EPA and DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are proposing new standards for three categories of heavy trucks: combination tractors (the semi trucks that typically pull trailers), heavy-duty pickups and vans, and vocational vehicles.
By the 2018 model year: proposed standards would reduce CO2 emission and fuel consumption 20% for combination tractors; 10% for gasoline Heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans and 15% for diesel vehicles; 10% reductions for
Vocational vehicles.
The technologies fostered by this program would also yield economic benefits, enhance energy security, and improve air quality. Such new technologies include widespread use of aerodynamic improvements and decreased tire rolling resistance, as well as engine and transmission upgrades.
EPA and NHTSA are providing a 60-day comment period that begins when the proposal is published in the Federal Register. NHTSA has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed fuel efficiency standards. It compares the environmental impacts of the agency’s proposal with those of a number of regulatory alternatives.
Comments may be submitted on the draft EIS through January 3, 2011 at the NHTSA website. See the EPA press release, the proposed regulations and standards, and the NHTSA Corporate Average Fuel Economy Web site.
USDA Readies Expanded Biofuels Initiatives, Including FAA Jet Fuel Project
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a series of measures on October 21 to promote production of biofuels from renewable sources.
USDA will publish a final rule to implement the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), which has operated as a pilot since 2009. Under the BCAP final rule, USDA will resume making payments to eligible producers. Authorized in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, BCAP is designed to ensure that a sufficiently large base of new, non-food, non-feed biomass crops is planted to meet future demand for renewable energy consumption. The overall goal of the measure is to create green jobs and mitigate the effects of climate change.
BCAP uses a dual approach to support the production of renewable energy. First, BCAP assists with the establishment and production of eligible renewable biomass crops within specified project areas. Producers who enter into BCAP contracts may receive payments of up to 75% of the cost of establishing eligible perennial crops. Further, they can receive payments for up to five years for annual or non-woody perennial crops and for up to 15 years for woody perennial crops.
In addition, BCAP assists agricultural and forest landowners and operators by providing matching payments for the transportation of certain eligible materials that are sold to qualified biomass conversion facilities. The facilities convert the materials into heat, power, bio-based products, or advanced biofuels.
USDA also announced jointly with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) a five-year agreement to develop aviation fuel from forest and crop residues and other green feedstocks in order to decrease dependence on foreign oil and stabilize aviation fuel costs.
The agencies will work together to assess availability of various feedstocks that could be processed by bio-refineries to produce jet fuels. The cooperative agreement supports a larger research plan led by USDA through its five regional biomass research centers, which will help accelerate development of a commercial advanced biofuels industry across the US.
A report by USDA’s Economic Research Service determined that replacing more petroleum with cost-competitive domestic biofuels reduces crude oil imports, thereby lowering prices for energy and benefiting the U.S. economy. See the USDA press release, the ERS report, the BCAP Web site.
DOE Partners in $5 Million Boost for Ocean Renewable Energy Research
DOE, the U.S. Dept of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, and the U.S. Dept of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on October 26 eight joint research awards totaling nearly $5 million to support siting and permitting of offshore wind facilities and ocean energy projects.
The research will address key information gaps regarding potential environmental effects of ocean energy, and will help lay the foundation for an offshore energy industry.
Research funded under each of the program’s eight topic areas will help reduce environmental risks and regulatory uncertainties associated with offshore energy deployment. The interagency work multiplies the impact of all three agencies’ research funding by eliminating redundancies and supporting complementary work.
Projects will examine a variety of topics. For example, University of Washington will evaluate the ability of three classes of active acoustic technologies to monitor animal densities and distributions at a proposed hydrokinetic site. And, University of Arkansas will develop the Visual Impact Evaluation System for Offshore Renewable Energy, which will allow a user to design the spatial layout and content of an offshore facility. See the DOE press release and the DOE Water Power Program Web site.
Green Power Leadership Awards Announced
DOE, EPA, and the Center for Resource Solutions recognized a variety of organizations and one individual on October 20 for promoting the voluntary purchase of electricity from renewable energy sources.
DOE honored six organizations as Green Power Leaders, including 3Degrees, which originates and markets renewable energy certificates from projects around the world; Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a non-profit green power supplier that re-invests the profits from their green power products in renewable energy development; SolarCity, one of the nation’s largest solar and energy efficiency service providers; SunRun, which partners with solar installers to employ more than 2,500 local workers; La Plata Electric Association, a cooperative in southwest Colorado that’s a leader in purchasing renewable energy certificates; and Portland General Electric, the utility that has the highest number of renewable power customers.
18 EPA Green Power Partners were recognized for using over 5 billion kWh of green energy annually, equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 700,000 vehicles.
Honorees include:
– Kohl’s Department Stores: increased green power purchases by 60% last year;
– Motorola: increased renewable energy certificate purchases by 50%;
– TD Bank: used wind energy certificates to supply 100% of its electricity;
– Whole Foods Market: the first Fortune 500 company to purchase wind for 100% of its electricity across its US operations.
See the EPA press release, the EPA Green Power Leadership Awards Web site, and the EPA Green Power Partnership Web site.
U.S. Grid to Feature Diverse Energy Sources, Slow Demand Growth
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which is responsible for the reliability of the power grid, released its 2010 Long-Term Reliability Assessment on October 20. The report looks ahead 10 years, dividing future energy resources into "planned" resources-those anticipated to become available in the next decade-and "conceptual" resources, which are in early stages of development and are less certain.
According to the report, 180,000 MW of wind and solar resources-53,000 planned MW and 126,000 conceptual MW-will be added in the contiguous US and Canada by 2019. The total includes 165,000 MW of new wind capacity, although only 24,000 MW of wind are expected to be available during peak power demand.
As a result, fossil-fuels, nuclear, and hydropower generation are projected to provide over 90% of the capacity necessary to meet peak demand in North America by 2019. But within the coming year, natural gas is expected to replace coal as the leading fuel for peak capacity, and that trend is expected to continue with nearly 60,000 MW of new gas-fired generation capacity expected by 2019.
Meanwhile, the economic recession has caused a significant reduction in projected long-term energy use across North America. Combined with decreases in demand during the recession, the effect has been to defer projected growth in peak demand by about four years relative to projections made in 2008.
US peak demand is now projected to grow by 1.3% a year, while net electrical energy needs are projected to grow 1.6%. Over the next decade, energy efficiency efforts in the US and Canada are expected to reduce growth in electrical demand by about 10,300 MW.
Demand response is expected to grow from 30,000 MW in 2010 to about 40,000 MW in 2019. In the US, energy efficiency and demand response are expected to reduce projected peak demand by 40,000 MW by 2019. See the NERC press release and 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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