Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: Nov. 13, 2002

*News and Events

*Site News

Practical Ocean Energy Management Systems (POEMS)

*Energy Facts and Tips

EIA Updates Energy Analyses for Iraq and Afghanistan

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NEWS AND EVENTS

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U.S. Navy Dedicates a 750-Kilowatt Solar Power System

The U.S. Navy announced last week that it has installed the largest federal solar power system to date at Naval Base Coronado, located in San Diego, California. The 750-kilowatt system generates enough electricity during the day to power 935 homes. The photovoltaic panels also form a half-mile-long covered parking structure in the naval base’s parking lot, providing shading for more than 400 vehicles. The solar panels actually have a peak capacity of 924 kilowatts, but the system that connects the panels to the electrical grid will produce only 750 kilowatts. That system converts the direct current output from the panels into three-phase, 12-kilovolt power that is fed into the Navy’s electrical distribution system.

The system is expected to provide three percent of the base’s peak summer electrical load. Installed through an Energy Savings Performance Contract with NORESCO, an energy services company, and designed, manufactured, and installed by PowerLight Corporation, the system is expected to save more than $288,000 in energy costs each year. See the November 6th press release and the accompanying fact sheet on the Navy Region Southwest Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

In another part of San Diego County, much smaller solar power systems are providing a useful service to much different facilities: the learning centers at three Indian reservations. The Manzanita and La Posta bands of Mission Indians and the Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians now have high-speed Internet access, thanks to a collaboration among San Diego State University’s Mount Laguna Observatory, the Tribal Digital Village Network, and the High-Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN), an interdisciplinary project of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). A new microwave antenna at the observatory provides a connection between the UCSD broadband system and three solar-powered relays, which provide the final link to learning centers on each reservation. Each relay station is powered by a 320-watt solar power system with battery backup. See the HPWREN press release at: http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/news/021029.html

The installation brings the total number of Internet-connected reservations in San Diego County to 10. The county has 18 small Indian reservations, the most of any county in the United States. For more information, see the University of San Diego Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Company Proposes 12.5 Gigawatts of Wind at 17 Offshore Sites

A relative newcomer among wind energy developers is aiming to be a leader in U.S. offshore wind power, with proposals in development for 17 sites along the east coast. Winergy LLC lists sites off the coasts of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia as potential locations for its wind facilities. Most of the proposed wind plants total hundreds of megawatts each, and three exceed 1000 megawatts in capacity. The largest, called Gulf Bank and located off the Maryland coast, is a whopping 1,821.6 megawatts in capacity.

Just how many of these wind sites will actually be developed is anyone’s guess, of course, but the company should earn some respect for just the sheer chutzpah of its proposals. The current list of proposed projects totals 12,552.8 megawatts, about equal in peak capacity to 12 average-sized nuclear power plants. And apparently, they’re not done yet: According to the Winergy Web site, the company has identified a total of 22 sites for which it has begun the initial application process. The company acknowledges that the permitting process for each site is likely to take three to five years. See the Winergy Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Unfortunately, very little information is currently available on the status of the Winergy proposals. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the current starting point for offshore wind energy applications, and a search of their district Web sites only yielded one relevant item, a public notice that Winergy intends to submit an application for a 975.6-megawatt wind facility off the coast of Virginia, near the entrance to Chesapeake Bay (called “Porpoise Banks 2” on the Winergy Web site). The Norfolk District of the Corps of Engineers is accepting comments on the proposal through November 19th. See the announcement on the Norfolk District Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Meanwhile, the first attempt to establish an offshore wind power plant in the United States continues to move ahead, slowly but surely. The proposal by Cape Wind Associates, LLC to build a 420-megawatt wind facility off the coast of Massachusetts will face another hurdle tonight: The Massachusetts Electricity Facility Siting Board is holding a public hearing to examine the issues associated with a 17-mile transmission line that will connect the wind plant to the New England electrical grid. The company’s preferred route involves a cable running under Nantucket Sound, then through the t
owns of Yarmouth and Barnstable in Massachusetts. See the announcement on the Cape Wind Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

On November 21st, the New England District of the Corps of Engineers will host an additional public meeting in Bourne, Massachusetts. The meeting will provide the public with an update on the Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Review that are being prepared for the project. See the announcement on the New England District Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

DOE Releases Its Strategic Plan for Efficiency, Renewables

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) released its strategic plan on November 7th. According to David Garman, DOE Assistant Secretary for EERE, the strategic plan highlights the office’s role in addressing the National Energy Policy and describes how EERE is incorporating the President’s Management Agenda and the recommendations from the EERE Strategic Program Review (completed in March) into the office’s new way of doing business.

As spelled out in the strategic plan, EERE aims to dramatically reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, reduce the burden of energy prices on the poor, increase the viability and deployment of renewable energy technologies, increase the reliability and efficiency of our nation’s electrical power systems, increase the energy efficiency of buildings and appliances, increase the energy efficiency of industry, and spur the creation of a domestic bioindustry. The office also looked inward and pledged to change the way it does business. Along with details on how EERE will achieve all these goals, the strategic plan includes a listing and description of each of the 11 EERE programs that were formed when the office reorganized this summer. See the EERE strategic plan and Assistant Secretary Garman’s announcement on the EREN Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

DOE Refocuses Truck Initiative and Unveils Hydrogen Roadmap

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham made two announcements yesterday that will help to yield cleaner vehicles and a greater use of hydrogen as an energy carrier.

Secretary Abraham joined representatives from the U.S. departments of Defense and Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. trucking industry to announce a new vision for the country’s initiative for cleaner trucks, the 21st Century Truck Partnership. The partnership will now aim for a future where U.S. trucks and buses will safely and cost-effectively move larger volumes of freight and greater numbers of passengers while emitting little or no pollution and dramatically reducing their dependence on foreign oil. Among the technologies to be pursued by the partnership are hybrid electric heavy-duty vehicles, supplemental power systems to reduce engine idling, aerodynamic designs, components with lower rolling resistances, and advanced heavy-duty engines and fuels — all while increasing the safety and security of trucks and buses. The partnership’s research and development priorities will be reevaluated in light of these goals.

In a separate announcement, Secretary Abraham unveiled the National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, which identifies the challenges and paths forward to a future energy system that is centered on the use of hydrogen. The new roadmap — the result of a 12-month collaborative process — outlines the research, development, demonstration, codes and standards, and education efforts necessary to lead the nation to a clean and sustainable energy future based on hydrogen.

See the DOE press release and Secretary Abraham’s November 12th speeches on the DOE Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
[sorry this link is no longer available]

Or go straight to the National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap on the EREN Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Secretary Abraham’s speech on hydrogen energy was presented to the Global Forum on Personal Transportation, held in Dearborn, Michigan, and hosted by DOE. The State of Michigan’s NextEnergy Initiative also provided support for the forum. The forum was timed perfectly, since the public act to establish the state’s NextEnergy Authority was just approved in mid-October. Michigan Governor John Engler signed Senate Bill 1316 into law on October 17th, thereby creating a new state authority that will encourage the development of alternative energy technologies and businesses within the state. Six bills were introduced to both houses of the Michigan legislature in May to support the governor’s NextEnergy Initiative; of those, only two bills have stalled, both of which are related to tax breaks for vehicles. See the May announcement with links to all of the bills on the NextEnergy Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Puget Sound Energy to Restructure Time-of-Use Pilot

Many people fail to realize an essential fact about electricity: it’s not just how much of it you use, but when. Using electricity during the daytime hours, when most utilities experience their peak loads, can drive up energy costs and strain electrical systems. Since utilities will often draw on their least-efficient, most- polluting plants to meet their peak load, using electricity at these times also carries with it heavy penalties in terms of total energy use and pollution. The problem is, most consumers pay a flat rate, so they have no incentive to shift their electrical use to off-peak hours.

The utility industry has a solution to this problem: “time-of-use” or “time-of-day” pricing, which combines a higher electrical rate during peak hours with a meter that actually measures when the electricity is being used, not just how much. When structured correctly, this approach rewards customers by letting them pay much less for off-peak electricity, potentially saving a bundle on their bills.

That is, of course, if the system is structured correctly. Unfortunately, one of the nation’s leading time-of-use pilot programs, run by Puget Sound Energy in Washington State, turns out not to have been set up right. The utility announced in late October that the program was wor
king, in one sense: customers managed to cut their electrical load during peak hours by 5 to 6 percent. But the company was greeted with chagrin when it also noted that those customers were paying, on average, about 80 cents more each month than they would have under the standard flat-rate billing. Puget Sound Energy blames the lack of financial rewards on the currently lower cost for peak power, but facing a mass desertion of its program, also announced last week that it will ask the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to end the pilot program early. The company plans to restructure the rates for the program; in the meantime, it is giving back $1 per month to the program participants. See the Puget Sound Energy press releases at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Ethanol Construction Boom Brings Michigan Its First Plant

Michigan Ethanol, LLC completed construction of the first ethanol production plant in Michigan in late October. The new facility, located outside of Caro, Michigan, will process nearly 16 million bushels of corn each year, producing 40 million gallons of ethanol. Wisconsin also gained an ethanol plant in October, as Badger State Ethanol LLC finished construction on a corn-to-ethanol plant that will also produce 40 million gallons of ethanol each year. The new plant, located near Monroe, is the largest ethanol plant in Wisconsin.

The booming ethanol industry continues to set new production records: In September, the industry set a new monthly production record of 145,000 barrels per day, up 25 percent from September 2001. Currently, 68 ethanol plants nationwide have the capacity to produce 2.65 billion gallons per year, and 10 additional ethanol plants under construction. See the press releases from the Renewable Fuels Association at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

The leading ethanol production company, Archer Daniels Midland Company, also continues to grow. The company announced in late October that it would buy The Dow Chemical Company’s share of World Ethanol, which is a joint venture of the two companies. During 2003 and 2004, Dow will gradually shift its ethanol customers to two ADM facilities, and will exit the ethanol industry by January 1, 2005. See the Dow press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

How About Solar Power on the Moon?

As if it isn’t hard enough to install solar power systems on rooftops and in parking lots, a physicist at the University of Houston (UH) now proposes installing them on the moon! Estimating that the world could need as much as 20 terawatts of power by 2050, physicist David Criswell looked to the moon, which receives about 13,000 terawatts of solar power. The energy-hungry world of the future could receive its energy supply by harvesting just one percent of that energy, he says, envisioning massive banks of solar panels that beam their energy to earth via microwaves. Worried about the shipping costs? No problem: You make the solar cells from moon dust, says Criswell. And think of the advantages: no clouds, no haze — heck, no atmosphere at all to block the sunlight. But despite the press release’s claim that the moon “continuously receives sunlight,” we must point out that, just like the Earth, only half of the moon receives sunlight at any one time — and the lunar night lasts about 15 days! See the press release (“‘Fly Me to the Moon’ for Clean, Reliable Electricity”) on the UH World Space Congress 2002 pressroom at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

A technology team led by ENTECH, Inc. is preparing to study power concepts that are a bit more down-to-earth — but still not on it. ENTECH will work with NASA Glenn Research Center and Assumption School, both located in Cleveland, Ohio, to develop advanced concepts for generating power in space. ENTECH has already demonstrated a solar array in space that converted 27 percent of the solar energy striking it into electricity. The new team has been awarded $195,000 from the National Science Foundation and will develop a roadmap for developing solar concentrator arrays for use in space. See the ENTECH press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

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SITE NEWS

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Practical Ocean Energy Management Systems (POEMS)
http://www.poemsinc.org/

POEMS, based in San Diego, California, facilitates education and research in renewable ocean energy, sustainable development, and mitigation of coastal environmental problems. Programs include a proposed endowment fund, which will award grants to individuals and organizations for promising new projects in ocean energy. Its Web site features educational resources for teachers, as well as technical and general FAQs about ocean energy.

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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS

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EIA Updates Energy Analyses for Iraq and Afghanistan

DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) demonstrated interesting timing when it updated its “Country Analysis Briefs” for Iraq and Afghanistan last month. The EIA briefs examine the general situation in each country and then focus in on its energy picture. For war-torn Afghanistan, currently trying to rebuild its infrastructure under a transitional administration, the EIA notes that the “hurdles to recovery” are high. Still, the country has some valuable energy assets, including up to 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Thirty-one natural gas wells that formerly supplied the Soviet Union remain shut today. The country also holds about 95 million barrels in oil reserves, and is considered a potential route for carrying oil and natural gas from the Caspian Basin to the Indian Ocean. See the Afghanistan Fact Sheet on the EIA Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

The Afghanistan figures pale in comparison to those for Iraq, which
holds 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves — the world’s second largest oil reserves. Iraq has been allowed to export some of its oil under an “Oil for Food” program, monitored by the United Nations. Under that program, Iraq exports officially averaged 2 million barrels per day in 2001, but dropped considerably in 2002. However, the EIA reports that Iraq is apparently smuggling up to 400,000 barrels per day through various routes, possibly generating as much as $2 billion per year through illegal channels. See the Iraq Fact Sheet at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

Despite the growing threat of war against Iraq, oil prices are holding steady in the United States. According to the EIA, the markets are now waiting to see Iraq’s response to the recent U.N. Security Council resolution. Meanwhile, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve now contains 590 million barrels of oil, and OPEC nations hold about 4.9 million barrels per day of excess production capacity that could be brought on line if needed. See the EIA Energy Situation Analysis Report at: [sorry this link is no longer available]

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