- DOE to Invest $8B in Weatherization and State Energy Grants
- Appropriations Act Provides $2B in New Funding for EERE
- Interior Department Pursues Renewable Energy on Land & Sea
- USDA Funds Energy Audits for Farms, Ranches, Rural Small Businesses
- Electric Industry Examines Adding Solar Energy to Coal Plants
- U.S. Transit Use Up, Driving Down in 2008
- Cellulosic Ethanol Gains Ground in Iowa, NY, South Dakota
- Extended Daylight Saving Time Saves Energy
- U.S. GHG Emissions Increased 1.4% in 2007
- Worsening Findings on Climate Change
- Space Shuttle Delivers Final Set of Solar Wings to the ISS
DOE to Invest $8 Billion in Weatherization and State Energy Grants
DOE announced last week that it will invest nearly $8 billion in state and local weatherization and energy efficiency efforts as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funds will be divided between the Weatherization Assistance Program, which will receive nearly $5 billion, and the State Energy Program, which will receive nearly $3 billion. This will help families save hundreds of dollars every year on their energy bills, while creating approximately 87,000 jobs. To jump-start the job creation and weatherization work, DOE is initially releasing $780 million and will release more as the states demonstrate that they are using the funding effectively.
The State Energy Program funding will be used to provide rebates to consumers for home energy audits or other energy-saving improvements; to develop renewable energy and alternative fuel projects; to promote Energy Star products; to upgrade the energy efficiency of state and local government buildings; and other innovative state efforts to help families save money on their energy bills.
The weatherization funding will improve the energy efficiency of the homes of low-income families by adding more insulation, sealing leaks, or modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, at a cost of up to $6,500 per home. The energy efficiency upgrades will be available for families making up to 200% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this translates to about $44,000 per year in the lower 48 states, $55,140 per year in Alaska, and $50,720 per year in Hawaii. DOE announced specific funding levels for each of the states, ranging from $30 million for Hawaii to $545.7 million for Texas. See the DOE press release, the Weatherization Assistance Program Web site, and the State Energy Program Web site.
Appropriations Act Provides Nearly $2 Billion in New Funding for EERE
The omnibus appropriation act signed into law last week provides $1.93 billion for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) for fiscal year (FY) 2009, which runs through the end of September. The funding represents a 13.5% increase above FY 2008 funding, which was $1.72 billion.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided a one-time injection of $16.8 billion into the EERE budget. Combining that economic stimulus funding with the FY 2009 budget yields a total budget of $18.73 billion for EERE, an 11-fold increase above FY 2008 funding levels. See the president’s press release on the appropriations act, and see the article from this newsletter on the economic stimulus funding.
Of the $1.93 billion in new funding for EERE, the act provides:
* $273M for vehicle technologies, including $25M for the Clean Cities program;
* $217M for biomass energy;
* $175M for solar energy, including $30M for concentrating solar power;
* $169M for hydrogen technology, including $3M for fuel processors and $5M for manufacturing activities;
* $140M for building technologies, including $33M for the Commercial Buildings Initiative and $25M for solid-state lighting;
* $90M for industrial technologies, including $7.5M for energy-saving technologies for the steel, glass, and metal-casting industries and $25M to support distributed energy, combined heat and power, and advanced reciprocating engines;
* $55M for wind energy;
* $44M for geothermal energy;
* $40M for "water power," which includes conventional hydropower and tidal and marine technologies;
* $22M for the Federal Energy Management Program.
Given the separate funding injection from the economic stimulus act, these funding levels are difficult to analyze, but they represent clear funding gains for nearly all of these technology programs, including a doubling in funding for geothermal energy and a four-fold increase in water power funding relative to FY 2008.
EERE’s grant programs, international programs, infrastructure development activities, and other supporting activities also received funding increases under the appropriations act:
* Weatherization Assistance Program: $200M
* State Energy Program: $50M, adding to the $8 billion from the stimulus act.
* International Renewable Energy Program: additional $5 million; $6 million for tribal energy
* Facilities and infrastructure: $76M, most of which will go to DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, including $41M to complete construction of the Energy Systems Integration Facility.
* Renewable Energy Production Incentive: $5M
* DOE program support: $146M
* Congressionally-directed projects (earmarks): $229M – a 23% increase from FY2008. President Obama has proposed new earmark reforms for the FY 2010 budget.
See the full appropriations act, a summary of the appropriations for energy and water (PDF 44 KB), pages 33-34 of the energy and water section of the appropriations act (PDF 2.8 MB), pages 58-67 of the accompanying explanatory statement for the appropriations (PDF 18.4 MB), and for background, page 65 of the EERE budget request for FY 2009 (PDF 438 KB), which includes prior-year funding levels.
Interior Department Pursues Renewable Energy on Land and at Sea
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced initiatives and agreements aimed at accelerating the development of renewable energy on public lands and on the outer continental shelf (OCS). Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a Secretarial Order that declares renewable energy development as a top priority for the department.
The order also establishes a task force that will identify specific zones on public lands and on the OCS where the Interior Department can facilitate the development of solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy, as well as small hydropower or incremental hydropower additions to existing structures.
The task force will work with the department’s bureaus and offices to identify and resolve any obstacles to renewable energy permitting, siting, development, and production in those renewable energy zones. The task force will also identify electric transmission needs and will prioritize the permitting and environmental reviews needed for new transmission lines.
The Interior Department manages 20% of U.S. land, plus more than 1.7 billion acres on the OCS, including lands with some of the highest renewable energy potential in the nation. That includes 140 million acres of public land in western states and Alaska that have geothermal resource potential.
The department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has also identified about 29 million acres of public land with solar energy potential in the Southwest and about 21 million acres in 11 western states with wind energy potential. In addition, there is significant wind and wave energy potential offshore. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has identified more than 1,000 GW of potential wind energy development off the Atlantic coast and more than 900 GW of wind energy off the Pacific Coast. See the Interior Department press release and Secretarial Order (PDF 68 KB).
To help take advantage of those offshore renewable energy resources, the Interior Department agreed to work cooperatively with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to facilitate permitting of renewable energy projects on the OCS. A joint statement issued by the two agencies notes the Interior Department has broad authority for permitting and development of renewable energy resources on the OCS, particularly for wind energy projects.
However, FERC is responsible for overseeing the development of hydropower resources in the U.S., including wave, tidal, and ocean current projects. The joint statement gives FERC primary responsibility for managing the licensing of such "hydrokinetic" projects in offshore waters. The statement resolves a turf battle that arose over a wave energy resource off the coast of California, and it allows the Pacific Gas & Electric Company to retain a preliminary permit that was issued by FERC. See the Interior Department press release and the article from this newsletter on the jurisdictional dispute.
USDA Funds Energy Audits for Farms, Ranches, and Rural Small Businesses
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will provide grants to support energy audits at farms, ranches, and rural small businesses through its Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The energy audit funds, which were authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, will be awarded to governments and organizations that can conduct the audits, including state, tribal, and local governments; land grant colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning; and electric cooperatives and public power companies.
Governments and organizations seeking the funds must apply by June 9. Farmers, ranchers, and businessmen receiving audits must pay 25% of the cost. In addition to energy audits, the REAP grants can support programs that provide information about energy efficiency and renewable energy to farms, ranches, and rural small businesses, and they can also fund technical support efforts for development of small hydropower projects. Grants of up to $100,000 are available. See the USDA press release, the grant program Web page, and the Federal Register notice.
Electric Industry Examines Adding Solar Energy to Coal Plants
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a number of utilities are studying the potential to add solar power to existing coal plants to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. EPRI will work with Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association, Inc. and Progress Energy to evaluate adding solar thermal energy systems to the utilities’ power plants in Prewitt, New Mexico, and Roxboro, North Carolina. EPRI is also studying the potential to add solar thermal energy systems to natural-gas fired power plants owned by Dynergy Inc. and NV Energy and located in Kingman, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
The EPRI concept involves building fields of mirrors adjacent to a coal plant to focus the sun’s heat and boil water into steam. The steam from these solar thermal fields would be integrated into the steam cycle of the fossil-fueled power plant to either reduce its use of fossil fuel or to increase the plant’s power production. The approach would lower the carbon intensity of the power produced at the plant, while the solar thermal system could help meet state requirements for the use of solar power. Solar thermal research engineers at DOE’s Sandia National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will help to analyze the performance of the hypothetical solar energy systems. See the EPRI press releases on the natural gas and coal projects, as well as the related Tri-State press release.
In some ways, combining solar thermal and fossil-fuel energy in one system is an old concept – most of the Solar Energy Generating System (SEGS) plants in California use natural gas as backup energy. The California Energy Commission (CEC) is reviewing a proposal by the City of Palmdale to build a new power facility similar to the EPRI concept, with a solar thermal facility providing 10% of the peak power generated by a 570 MW natural gas-fired power plant. If approved, the Palmdale Hybrid Power Project will start operating in 2013.
Last year, the CEC approved a similar project in Victorville that will integrate 50 MW of solar thermal into a 563 MW natural gas-fired power plant. A recent DOE-funded report found it even makes sense to combine coal-fired power plants with wind power facilities. See the data on the SEGS plants from NREL, the CEC Web pages on the projects in Palmdale and Victorville, and the coal-wind hybrid report from DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (PDF 296 KB).
U.S. Transit Use Up, Driving Down in 2008
The number of vehicle miles traveled in the U.S. fell 3.6% in 2008, while the number of trips on public transportation increased 4%, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
DOT estimates that U.S. residents traveled 2.922 trillion miles in 2008, down from 3.030 trillion miles in 2007, a reduction of nearly 108 billion miles. In fact, U.S. driving has been declining for 14 months, for a total vehicle travel reduction of 115 billion miles. The DOT found the greatest decrease in rural driving, which was down by 4.2%, suggesting that people are simply driving less in rural areas. Meanwhile, urban driving decreased by 3.2%. See the DOT traffic trends from December 2008, along with the DOT press release.
At least part of the drop in urban driving can be explained by the 4% increase in the use of public transit. U.S. residents took 10.7 billion trips on public transportation in 2008, according to APTA, reaching the highest level of ridership in 52 years. Light rail experienced the greatest increase, at 8.3%, in part because of relatively new and expanded service in places like Charlotte, North Carolina, and restored service in New Orleans, Louisiana. For other mass transit modes, commuter rail increased 4.7%, subway ridership increased 3.5%, bus ridership increased 3.9%, and paratransit (on-demand transit services) increased 5.9%. See the APTA press release and the full statistics.
Cellulosic Ethanol Gains Ground in Iowa, New York, and South Dakota
While 2009 is starting out as a difficult year for the ethanol fuel industry, so far it’s been a landmark year for cellulosic ethanol. Produced from non-food plants and agricultural residues, cellulosic ethanol is expected to yield significant benefits in terms of energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions. So far this year, Poet and Mascoma Corporation have started up pilot plants in South Dakota and New York, while Poet is already planning construction of a commercial facility in Iowa.
In January, Poet started producing cellulosic ethanol at its research center in Scotland, South Dakota. The company can convert corn cobs into about 20,000 gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol at the $8 million facility, and claims to have validated its processes by producing the first 1,000 gallons of fuel at the pilot plant. Poet is now looking at development of a $200 million commercial facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa, which would produce 25 million gallons a year of cellulosic ethanol from corn fiber and corn cobs.
The facility is jointly funded by Poet, DOE, and the State of Iowa, and the company recently gained $14.75 million in funding from the Iowa Power Fund Board. It will be located at the site of an existing corn ethanol facility, and by adding cellulosic ethanol production, Poet will be able to produce 27% more ethanol from an acre of corn, while reducing fossil fuel consumption and water use. The company expects to begin production next year and plans to eventually add cellulosic ethanol production to its six other facilities in Iowa. See the Poet press releases on the facilities in South Dakota and Iowa.
In late February, Mascoma Corporation began cellulosic ethanol production at its pilot facility in Rome, New York. The pilot plant is capable of producing 200,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year from a variety of biomass sources, including wood chips, grasses, and corn and sugar cane residues. The plant was funding partially by grants from the State of New York. Mascoma’s affiliate, Frontier Renewable Resources, is developing a commercial-scale facility in Kinross, Michigan. See the Mascoma press release (PDF 22 KB).
Extended Daylight Saving Time Saves Energy
People throughout most of the U.S. set their clocks ahead by one hour on March 8 for the start of Daylight Saving Time, marking the third year in a row that Daylight Saving Time started three to four weeks early. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 shifted the start of Daylight Saving Time to the second Sunday in March, rather than the first Sunday in April, and extended it through the first Sunday in November, rather than the last Sunday in October. The shift started in 2007, and the intent was to save energy allowing people to take advantage of additional daylight in the evening hours. See the article from this newsletter on the shift.
Although some people argued that increased use of lighting in the morning could easily cancel out the gains in the evening, the data suggest otherwise. A DOE report released last year found that U.S. electricity use decreased 0.5% for each day of the extended Daylight Saving Time, resulting in a savings of 0.03% for the year. The savings are small in percentage terms, but in absolute terms, they added up to 1.3 billion kWh, enough to power about 122,000 average U.S. homes for a year. The DOE report did find small increases in electricity use in the early morning hours, but those increases were more than cancelled out by the energy savings in the evening. The shift was also found to have no effect on traffic volume and gasoline consumption. See the DOE report (PDF 285 KB).
U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Increased 1.4% in 2007
The net emission of greenhouse gases in the U.S. increased 1.4% in 2007, according to a draft report released last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA found that U.S. emissions reached the equivalent of 7.125 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2007, up from 7.029 million metric tons in 2006. The EPA attributes the increase to a cooler winter, a warmer summer, a significant decrease in hydropower production due to drought, and an increased consumption of fossil fuels to produce electricity.
The 2007 U.S. emission levels were 17.1% higher than the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 1990. The Kyoto Protocol, which the U.S. never ratified, would’ve called for U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012. The EPA will accept comments on the draft report through early April. See the EPA press release and report.
The EPA is proposing the first comprehensive U.S. system for reporting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The proposal only applies to the country’s largest greenhouse gases emitters, which account for 85%-90% of the greenhouse gases emitted in the U.S.. That list includes companies that indirectly support greenhouse gas emissions, such as suppliers of fossil fuel and industrial chemicals and manufacturers of motor vehicles and engines. It also includes direct emitters of greenhouse gases with emissions equal to or greater than 25,000 metric tons per year, which is roughly equivalent to the emissions of 4,500 passenger vehicles. Most small businesses would fall below this threshold. Tallying both categories yields about 13,000 U.S. facilities that would be required to report their greenhouse gas emissions under the new rule. The EPA will accept comments on the rule until early May. See the EPA press release and the proposed rule.
Worsening Findings on Climate Change
It’s been less than two years since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its latest compilation of climate science, called the Fourth Assessment Report, but climate scientists are already finding the document is out of date. In light of upcoming negotiations on a new global climate treaty, an international scientific congress on climate change was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, last week, and the findings are almost universally gloomy.
For instance, the IPCC report projected a sea level rise of 18-59 centimeters by 2100 based on thermal expansion of the ocean, while admitting that dynamic processes affecting the polar ice sheets were still too poorly understood to account for in the report. Scientists have since gained an improved understanding of those processes and now warn that sea levels could rise by as much as a meter by the end of the century, while sea level rises of less than 50 centimeters are looking "increasingly unlikely." See the press release on sea level rise from the climate congress.
While the projection of sea level rise is perhaps most disturbing, other climate trends, such as the rate of ocean acidification and the frequency of extreme climate events, are following the worst-case scenarios of the IPCC report, according to the climate congress. Meanwhile, mounting evidence demonstrates that societies are highly vulnerable to even modest levels of climate change, with poor nations and communities particularly at risk.
The findings suggest that global temperature rises of 2°C or more above pre-industrial levels would result in impacts that contemporary societies would have a difficult time coping with. The climate congress also noted that strong emission goals for 2020 are essential, as weaker goals will make it much harder to meet the 2050 emissions targets needed to keep the global temperature rise below 2°C. That finding echoes the results of a recent report from McKinsey & Company. See the press release on key messages from the climate congress, and for background, see the articles from this newsletter on the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and the McKinsey & Company report.
Space Shuttle Delivers Final Set of Solar Wings
The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Earth on Sunday to deliver the fourth and final set of solar "wings" to power the International Space Station (ISS). The mission involves adding a final truss, called S6, to the starboard side of the ISS and then unfurling the solar arrays, which are folded and packed into the truss like an accordion.
The four new solar arrays will extend in pairs from each side of the truss, forming solar "wings," each 115 feet long. The new solar wings will increase the solar capacity of the ISS to 264 kW, allowing it to produce 84-120 kW of usable power, or enough power for more than 40 average U.S. homes. But since most of that power goes toward day-to-day operational needs and life support aboard the ISS, the new set of solar wings will actually double the amount of power available for scientific research.
The 31,000-pound truss segment, solar wings, and accompanying batteries were built by Boeing and delivered to Kennedy Space Center back in 2002, but problems with the space shuttle program repeatedly delayed its launch. See the Mission Overview, press release, and press kit (PDF 5.2 MB) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as well as the Boeing press release.
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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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