Recovery Act Benefits Small Clean Energy Businesses
New Steps to Strengthen Energy Star Program
International Green Construction Code Launched
Innovations in EV Charging Roll Out
Colorado Boosts Renewable Energy Requirement to 30% by 2020
Chinese Policies Could Hurt U.S. Renewable Industries
Recovery Act Benefits for Small Clean Energy Businesses
A DOE report shows that through early March, small clean energy businesses have been selected to receive $5.4 billion in funding from the Recovery Act and related programs, including loans, loan guarantees, grants, contracts, and tax incentives. The funds complement the 2800 loans totaling $656 million the Small Business Administration approved for renewable energy businesses from 2006-2009.
The report features 26 small businesses involved in clean energy technologies and related infrastructure, such as Smart Grid technologies, advanced batteries, energy storage, and energy efficiency tools.
Success stories highlighted in the report include: UQM Technologies, a supplier of electric propulsion and generator systems, received a $45 million grant to build manufacturing facilities for electric drive systems for electric and hybrid vehicles; Solazyme, which produces diesel from algae oil, will use a $21.8 million grant to build its first algae fuel refinery; FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp. will use an $8.3 million grant to develop its high-efficiency shrouded wind turbine; and Universal Display Corp will use a $4 million grant to establish a pilot manufacturing line for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). See the DOE press release and the full report (PDF 241 KB).
DOE, EPA to Strengthen Energy Star Program
DOE and the U.S. EPA outlined steps to strengthen the Energy Star program with expanded testing and enforcement. DOE began testing the most commonly used appliances, which account for over 25% of a typical household's energy bill, and the agencies are developing a system to test all products that earn the Energy Star label.
Recently, DOE began tests on freezers, refrigerator-freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, water heaters, and room air conditioners. 200 basic models will be tested at independent labs over the next few months.
EPA and DOE are developing an expanded system that will require all products seeking the Energy Star label to be tested in approved labs and will also require manufacturers to participate in an ongoing verification testing program that will ensure continued compliance.
The agencies have taken a series of actions in recent months to ensure compliance with Energy Star and DOE's appliance efficiency standards, including taking action against 35 manufacturers in the past four months. See the DOE press release and the Energy Star Web site.
Building Industry Groups Launch International Green Construction Code
Leading U.S. building industry associations launched the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) on March 11, representing a unique merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes.
The groups collaborated to make the IGCC a model regulatory framework for construction of high-performance commercial buildings. A document provides the building industry with language that broadens and strengthens building codes to accelerate construction of high-performance green buildings. Buildings use 39% of energy and 74% of electricity produced each year in the US.
The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) developed the code.
