*News and Events
DOE to Award $150 Million for Hydrogen Demonstration Project
Dow Plant to Install up to 35 Megawatts of GM Fuel Cells
DOE Funds Project to Cut Manufacturing Costs for Solar Cells
SunPower Pilot Line Produces 20-Percent Efficient Solar Cell
NASA, BMW and Two Utilities Draw on Waste Methane for Energy
Washington Utility Signs Contract for Power from Wave Energy
*Site News
State Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs
*Energy Connections
EPA: Light-Vehicle Fuel Economy Increases Slightly in 2003
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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DOE to Award $150 Million for Hydrogen Demonstration Project
DOE announced on May 8th a $150-million solicitation for a five-year project to demonstrate and validate hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure. DOE seeks proposals from industry teams — ideally consisting of an automobile manufacturer and an energy company in combination with hydrogen fuel cell manufacturers, small businesses, universities, and state or local governments — that will split the cost of the project with DOE. The projects might include building a fleet of hydrogen vehicles or installing hydrogen fueling stations. Proposals are due by August 14th. See the DOE press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
President Bush has proposed $1.2 billion in research funding for hydrogen and fuel cell technologies over the next five years. The President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative is designed to develop hydrogen infrastructure in parallel with vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, allowing the technologies to be commercialized by 2015. See the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies program on the EERE Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Dow Plant to Install up to 35 Megawatts of GM Fuel Cells
Dow Chemical Company and General Motors Corporation (GM) reached an initial agreement last week to install GM fuel cells at Dow’s manufacturing facility in Freeport, Texas. Test of the fuel cells should begin late this year, leading to commercialization of the fuel cells in 2006. The Dow facility could eventually draw on up to 500 GM fuel cells, producing 35 megawatts of power. For Dow, the agreement makes use of hydrogen produced in one of its chemical processes to help power its largest manufacturing facility. For GM, the deal may help reduce fuel-cell costs to the point where they become practical to use in vehicles. See the Dow press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
The fuel cell industry should experience a boom in the next decade, according to a report released Tuesday by Allied Business Intelligence (ABI). The report projects at least $18.6 billion in global sales by 2013, and nearly $35 billion if the markets for automotive fuel cells improve. See the ABI press release, in PDF format only, at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
DOE Funds Project to Cut Manufacturing Costs for Solar Cells
DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) awarded a subcontract on May 8th to Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ECD) for the development of new solar cell manufacturing technology. The research project will concentrate on developing online diagnostic systems, closed-loop control, and continuous online optimization of a solar cell manufacturing line large enough to produce 30 megawatts of solar cells each year. Manufacturing lines built with the new technology will have more rapid start-up and commissioning, higher yields, and lower production costs. NREL will contribute about $3 million toward the $6-million, three-year subcontract, with ECD providing the balance of the funds. United Solar Systems, an ECD subsidiary, currently operates the world’s only advanced production machine for manufacturing thin-film amorphous-silicon solar cells. See the DOE press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
The project is part of DOE’s Photovoltaics Manufacturing Initiative, known as PVMat. PVMat’s goal is to improve photovoltaic manufacturing processes and products, while reducing manufacturing costs and
developing technologies that support large-scale manufacturing of solar cells. See the PVMat project on the NREL Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
SunPower Pilot Line Produces 20-Percent Efficient Solar Cell
While ECD works to improve thin-film solar cells, crystalline-silicon (c-Si) solar cells continue to be the industry’s workhorse, and companies are still striving to squeeze more power out of every c-Si cell. The latest milestone was announced Monday by SunPower Corporation, which produced a solar cell that’s more than 20 percent efficient, that is, under controlled test conditions it converts more than one-fifth of the sunlight hitting it into electricity. SunPower achieved the high efficiency through a back-contact design that keeps the wiring behind the cell and allows the maximum surface area to be exposed to sunlight. The company claims that the cell could deliver 3 kilowatts of power in less than 17 square meters (183 square feet, which is a square measuring 13.5 feet on each side). SunPower is currently manufacturing the cell on a pilot-scale line capable of producing only 2 megawatts of solar cells per year, but the company plans to begin full-scale production next year. See the May 12th announcement and the accompanying photo on the SunPower Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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The SunPower news comes just two weeks after Sharp Corporation introduced a c-Si solar module with a 17.4-percent efficiency, allow
ing a 3-kilowatt solar power system to fit in only 17.3 square meters (186 square feet). Sharp is currently selling the module only in Japan. See the Sharp press release at:
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NASA, BMW and Two Utilities Draw on Waste Methane for Energy
A growing number of landfills and waste treatment plants are recovering their methane emissions for use as an energy source, as demonstrated by new waste-to-energy projects at a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) facility in Maryland, a BMW plant in South Carolina, three landfills in Kentucky, and a wastewater plant in Brooklyn, New York.
In Maryland, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) became the first federal facility to use landfill methane to heat its buildings. Thirty-one buildings on the GSFC campus are now heated with landfill gas that is piped from a landfill five miles away. See the GSFC press release and news story (which includes photos) at:
[sorry this link is no longer available]
[sorry this link is no longer available]
In South Carolina, BMW’s manufacturing plant in Spartanburg is now using landfill methane to provide 25 percent of its energy needs. The project draws on a 9.5-mile pipeline that delivers the gas from the nearby Palmetto Landfill, which is owned by Waste Management, Inc. See the April 30th press release and accompanying photos on the
BMW Manufacturing Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Kentucky will soon gain its first landfill-gas power plants, thanks to the East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC). In mid-March, the coop earned approval from utility regulators to build plants at the Bavarian Landfill in Boone County, the Laurel Ridge Landfill in Laurel County and the Green Valley Landfill in Greenup County. All three plants should be built by the end of September, producing a combined total of more than 10 kilowatts of electricity. See the EKPC press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available].
And in Brooklyn, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) is making use of methane produced at a wastewater treatment plant. NYPA is installing a 250-kilowatt microturbine to produce power from the methane generated
in anaerobic digesters at the New York City Owl’s Head Wastewater Treatment Plant. NYPA will also install a total of eight 200-kilowatt fuel cells at other wastewater treatment plants this year. See the NYPA press release at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Companies producing power from waste gas are also able to make money through the sale of renewable energy credits, or “green tags.” Gas Recovery Systems, Inc. recently sold a year-and-a-half of credits from two Massachusetts landfill gas systems to Massachusetts Electric at a cost of $1.8 million. CSGServices, Inc. (CSGS) brokered the deal. See the CSGS press release, in PDF format only, at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Washington Utility Signs Contract for Power from Wave Energy
AquaEnergy Group Ltd., a wave energy developer, announced in early April that a utility in Washington state has signed a contract to buy all the power from its planned wave energy pilot plant. Clallum County PUD will buy up to 250 kilowatts of power from four wave energy converters — called “AquaBoUYs” — that the company plans to install about 3 miles off the shore of Makah Bay, near the tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. AquaEnergy’s system uses a moored buoy that captures the kinetic energy of the waves. The company hopes to install and start operating the pilot plant by mid-2004. See the AquaEnergy press release at:
The Washington state project recently lost its competition from up north — Canadian utility BC Hydro dropped its plans to test wind and wave technologies on Vancouver Island, saying that both technologies are already being developed commercially and, besides, the power from the projects would be too expensive. Instead, the utility is
continuing its resource monitoring. See the BC Hydro Web site at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Denmark, however, remains in the running. The “Wave Dragon” wave energy converter was damaged during its installation in a Danish fjord in March, but according to Wave Dragon ApS, the damages are minor. The prototype’s wing-like wave reflectors were removed and towed to a nearby harbor while missing rubber fenders and ruined signal cables on the main platform are being repaired. The reflectors should be reinstalled by mid-May; meanwhile, initial tests are underway on the platform. See the Wave Dragon press releases and photos at:
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SITE NEWS
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State Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs
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The Association for Better Insulation has launched this Web site that lists by state the rebates and tax incentives for upgrading insulation to DOE-recommended levels of insulation.
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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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EPA: Light-Vehicle Fuel Economy Increases Slightly in 2003
The average fuel economy of light vehicles sold in the United States increased slightly in 2003, reaching 20.8 miles per gallon (mpg), according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Last year, light-vehicle fuel economy hit a 22-year low of 20.4 mpg. Light vehicles include cars and light trucks: vans, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
Fuel-efficiency improvements caused the fuel economy of new vehicles to peak at 22.1 mpg in 1988. Since then, the increasing market share of light trucks — now comprising 48 percent of light-vehicle sales — has caused average fuel economies to generally decline. On the plus side, though, automakers have achieved higher vehicle weights with greater power while holding fuel efficiencies roughly constant. The EPA report, posted on May 2nd, is based on projected sales and will be revised with final sales numbers, but is not expected to change by more than 0.5 mpg. See the EPA Light-Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Trends Report:
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| Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). |
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