*News and Events
Italy to Join DOE’s International Hydrogen Partnership
DOE to Award $2.9 Million to 16 Tribal Clean Energy Projects
Minnesota Utility to Build a 100-Megawatt Wind Power Plant
New Jersey Agencies Buy 11 Megawatts of Wind Power
California, DOE to Support Electric Energy Storage Projects
Boeing to Lead Fuel-Cell-Powered Airplane Demonstration
Growing U.S. Stores of Natural Gas Show Promise for Winter
Italy to Join DOE’s International Hydrogen Partnership
DOE announced on August 5th that Italy intends to join its International Partnership for a Hydrogen Economy. Italy has a well- developed research and development program that addresses hydrogen and fuel cell applications in vehicles and for electric power. The Italian government plans to cooperate with the United States on investigations
of hydrogen production, storage, and transport, as well as end-use technologies and codes and standards. Italy and the United States currently cooperate under a bilateral science and technology agreement and under the implementing agreements of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham proposed the new partnership during a speech to the IEA ministers in April, and encouraged the European Commission to participate in June. Italy will be the first country to join the partnership, although several other countries have expressed their interest. Secretary Abraham made the announcement after a
meeting with Antonio Marzano, Italy’s Minister of Productive Activities. During his visit to Europe, Secretary Abraham also toured a Daimler Chrysler fuel cell research facility in Germany. See the August 5th and 12th press releases from DOE at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
DOE to Award $2.9 Million to 16 Tribal Clean Energy Projects
DOE announced on August 8th that it will award Native American tribes a total of $2.9 million for 16 clean energy projects. Of the total, DOE is awarding nearly $2.2 million for seven projects to help develop renewable energy technologies on tribal lands. In addition, more than $700,000 will go to nine tribal groups to support the initial steps to develop renewable energy and energy efficiency on their lands.
Among the seven renewable energy projects, the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes plan to buy, install, and operate a 660-kilowatt wind turbine on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. Three other tribes — the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana, and the Makah Indian Nation in Washington — will begin
developing 30-megawatt wind energy projects on their lands. The Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, located in northeast Alaska, will study the feasibility of powering an entire village during the summer using solar energy. The Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, located in Minnesota, will investigate using biomass resources to
create a sustainable business that produces and sells bioproducts. And finally, the Fort Mojave Tribe in Arizona will investigate power production from a variety of renewable energy sources.
The nine tribal groups taking the initial steps toward clean energy development include the Hopi Tribe in Arizona; the Yurok Tribe, Smith River Rancheria, and Cabazon Band of Mission Indians in California; the tribes of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota; the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York; the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Fort Sill Apache Tribe in Oklahoma; and the Samish Indian Nation in Washington. These initial steps include strategic planning within each tribe, analyzing the tribe’s energy options, figuring out what organizational structures are needed to develop energy projects, and building the capabilities needed within the tribe to support the projects. Particularly noteworthy is the Yurok Tribe’s approach to energy development: the tribe is studying the feasibility of forming its own electric power utility. See the August 8th press releases from DOE at:
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Minnesota Utility to Build a 100-Megawatt Wind Power Plant
Great River Energy, a cooperative power supplier in Minnesota, announced last week that it is negotiating with Trimont Area Wind Farm, LLC to develop a 100-megawatt wind power project in southwestern Minnesota. As noted by Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ME3), Trimont Area Wind Farm, LLC is a corporation formed by farmers who plan to develop the wind project on their own land. As such, the project will be the largest landowner-owned wind energy project to date. As the name implies, the wind project will be located near the town of Trimont in Martin and Jackson counties, near the southern border of Minnesota. See the Great River Energy and ME3 press releases: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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New Jersey Agencies Buy 11 Megawatts of Wind Power
Nearly 180 public agencies in New Jersey have banded together to buy 11 megawatts of wind power from Pepco Energy Services. Starting in July, such notable entities as Rutgers University, the New Jersey Highway Authority, New Jersey Transit, and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority began drawing on wind energy for half of the electricity
they use. Starting in December, Pepco expects to draw on a new 20- megawatt wind farm in Pennsylvania for its wind power supply. Called the Bear Creek Wind Energy Project, the new facility is currently under development by Community Energy, Inc. (CEI) and PPL Corporation. See the press releases from Pepco Energy Services and CEI at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Among other recent “big spenders” in the green power world are the Audubon Society of Portland and the Austin Grill — a restaurant with six locations in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland area — both of which are buying 100 percent green power (provided, respectively, by Green Mountain Energy Company and CEI). Luzenac America, Inc. demonstrated a similar level of commitment, offsetting all the greenhouse gas emissions produced through electricity use at its Yellowstone Talc Mine by buying green tags from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF). And the American Psychological Association (APA) and its property manager, Trammel Crow Company,
purchased more than 20 million kilowatt-hours of green power for APA’s two office buildings in Washington, D.C. — a move brokered and applauded by one of APA’s tenants, the World Resources Institute (WRI) See the press releases from Green Mountain Energy Company, CEI, BEF, and WRI at:
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Green power continues to advance throughout the country. Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, began offering a Green Energy Rate in July, with service to begin in January 2004. Georgia Power expects to draw on landfill gas projects for 83 percent of its green power supply, with another 16 percent coming from wind power and solar power providing about 1 percent. In North Carolina, the NC GreenPower program began offering green power to the state’s residents in late July. The program is also seeking green power providers, with responses due by the end of August. In Montana, NorthWestern Energy is selling green power through green tags purchased from BEF. And in Maine, 1,000 customers and 750 state agencies have signed up for green power. Maine Renewable Energy, the in-state supplier for the program, is now delivering one million kilowatt-hours of renewable power each
month. See the announcements from Southern Company, NC GreenPower, NorthWestern Energy, and (in PDF format) Maine Interfaith Power and Light at:
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California, DOE to Support Electric Energy Storage Projects
The California Energy Commission (CEC) announced in late July that it will work in partnership with DOE to sponsor research and development projects related to electric energy storage. The CEC expects proposals to include such technologies as flywheels, advanced batteries, and mini- or micro-pumped hydropower systems. CEC’s Public Interest Energy Research program will provide up to $5 million for the projects, and DOE’s Energy Storage Systems program will offer consultation and in- kind services. Each project is expected to cost about $2 million.
Proposals are due September 30th. See the July 31st press release from CEC and the full request for proposals at:
Recent news on electrical energy storage technologies has come mainly from the lithium battery developers, as the batteries continue to advance commercially. Lithium Technology Corporation, which calls itself “an early production stage rechargeable lithium battery manufacturer,” has racked up a number of recent orders, including an order from the United Kingdom military for ten 46-volt batteries, each containing 11 60-amp-hour cells. The company also claims to have orders from an electric vehicle developer, a large car company, and from Penn State University, which is preparing for the 2004 Future Truck Competition. Meanwhile, ZAP, a marketer of electric vehicles, has agreed to distribute lithium-ion polymer rechargeable batteries that can power portable computers for up to 10 hours. ZAP claims the batteries, from Valence Technology Corporation, also have potential in larger-scale applications. See the press releases from Lithium Technology Corporation and ZAP at:
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Boeing to Lead Fuel-Cell-Powered Airplane Demonstration
The Boeing Company announced in July that its research and technology center in Madrid, Spain, would lead a project to explore the use of fuel cells for commercial airplanes. As part of the project, which involves five partner companies, the companies will develop, build, and fly an electric-motor-driven airplane powered by fuel cells.
See the Boeing press release at:
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The other U.S. partner in the project, Advanced Technology Products (ATP), has already developed an electric plane that runs on the power of lithium batteries, provided by Lithium Technology Corporation, and using a motor and controller from UQM Technologies, Inc. The plane is a retrofit of an American Ghana Aircraft mod
el that features a carbon- fiber fuselage. ATP hopes to eventually outfit the plane with a fuel cell, and is on its way toward that goal with a recent $400,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The plane was exhibited at the annual air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last week. See the ATP Web site and the UQM Technologies press release at: http://www.aviationtomorrow.com
el that features a carbon- fiber fuselage. ATP hopes to eventually outfit the plane with a fuel cell, and is on its way toward that goal with a recent $400,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The plane was exhibited at the annual air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, last week. See the ATP Web site and the UQM Technologies press release at: http://www.aviationtomorrow.com
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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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Growing U.S. Stores of Natural Gas Show Promise for Winter
DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted last week that the amount of natural gas in storage in the United States has increased at historically high rates over the past two months. Relatively mild weather across much of the United States has reduced the need to use natural gas for electricity production, allowing much of it to be injected into underground storage instead. By the end of July, the amount of usable natural gas in storage was estimated to be about 17 percent below last year’s level and about 9 percent below the five-year average for July. According to EIA, such a “solid gain” in natural gas storage levels “bolsters the chance that natural gas inventories may return to normal by the start of the heating season.” Based on this inventory, the EIA projects that prices at the wellhead will stay just under $5 per thousand cubic feet for the remainder of 2003 and then will drop another 16 percent in 2004. See the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook at:
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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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