Next Generation Commercial Air Conditioners Get Support
DOE is joining with the private sector to support market-based efforts to develop and deploy next-generation high-efficiency air conditioners for commercial buildings.
As part of a voluntary program, DOE worked with members of the DOE Commercial Building Energy Alliance, including Target and Walmart, to develop performance criteria for 10-ton capacity commercial air conditioners, also known as rooftop units or RTUs. The new specifications would result in rooftop units that use 50%-60% less energy.
DOE's national labs - Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, National Renewable Energy Lab, Pacific Northwest National Lab, and Oak Ridge National Lab - will provide technical assistance to manufacturers or developers who want to build the units. Interested manufacturers will receive assistance in designing, constructing, measuring, and testing the air conditioner units produced to the new specifications.
The Commercial Building Energy Alliance is part of DOE's Building Technologies Program, which works to develop technologies, techniques, and tools for making buildings more energy efficient, productive, and affordable. See the DOE press release, the Buildings Technologies Program website, and the Commercial Building Energy Alliances website.
DOE Offers Loan Guarantee to Boost Advanced Biofuels
DOE offered a $241 million loan guarantee to support Diamond Green Diesel, LLC, a proposed joint venture between Valero Energy Corp and Darling International. The partners plan to build a 137-million gallon per year diesel biofuel facility in Norco, Louisiana.
Valero will design, build and operate the plant and will market the products; Darling will supply the feedstock from animal fats, used cooking oil, and other waste grease streams.
DOE's Loan Programs Office has issued loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees totaling $17.5 billion for 18 clean energy projects.
DOE also announced the launch of an online collaboration tool and data resource focused on bioenergy. The Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework website allows researchers, policymakers, and investors to share large data sets and the latest bioenergy research. It also facilitates collaborative production, integration, and analysis of information. See the DOE press release, the Loan Programs Office website, and the Framework website.
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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).
