================================================= EREN NETWORK NEWS -- November 21, 2001 A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN). <http://www.eren.doe.gov/> =================================================
Featuring: *News and Events BPA Buys Power from 49.8-Megawatt Oregon Wind Project Chicago to Avoid Drawing on New Conventional Power Plants Green Power Coming to Georgia and Omaha, Nebraska Seattle Allows Residents to Support Local Renewable Projects Nevada Governor Names Task Force for Renewables, Efficiency California Zeroing In on Rules for Zero-Emission Vehicles Australia's "World Solar Challenge" Race Now Underway *Site News Chicago Solar Partnership *Energy Facts and Tips EIA Boosts U.S. Energy Demand Prediction for 2020 *About this Newsletter ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS AND EVENTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BPA Buys Power from 49.8-Megawatt Oregon Wind Project DOE's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) announced last week that it will buy all of the power from a 49.8-megawatt wind project now under construction near Condor, Oregon. SeaWest WindPower, Inc. is installing 83 Mitsubishi wind turbines at the site and expects to complete the project in May 2002. See the DOE press release at: <http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases01/novpr/pr01195.htm>. See also the SeaWest press release at: <http://www.seawestwindpower.com/news/111501.html>. SeaWest also developed and constructed Rock River I, a 50-megawatt wind facility that went online last week in Wyoming. Owned by a subsidiary of Shell WindEnergy Inc., the project marks the first major investment by Shell in the U.S. wind market. PacifiCorp is buying the entire output from the plant -- enough to power more than 13,000 homes -- for the next 20 years. See the SeaWest press release at: <http://www.seawestwindpower.com/news/111401.html>. Chicago to Avoid Drawing on New Conventional Power Plants The City of Chicago plans to meet its growing electricity needs through 2010 using renewable energy, energy management, cogeneration, and distributed energy sources, according to a new energy plan released last week. The plan estimates that even with the higher cost of renewable energy, Chicago will save more than $260 million by 2010. Chicago is already working with four city agencies and 48 suburban governments to purchase 20 percent of their combined power needs from renewable energy sources. The city is also building a distributed source of electricity by amassing the capabilities of the emergency backup generators located at city facilities. Together, these generators will be equivalent to one 10-megawatt power plant. The City of Chicago is also examining its facilities for the possibility of installing small power plants that also generate useable heat -- such combined heat and power facilities, also called cogeneration plants, operate at high efficiencies. Finally, the city has established building energy codes for energy efficiency and is retrofitting its facilities to make them highly energy efficient. Among the many energy- efficiency projects is a move to replace all traffic signals with low-energy light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which will save an estimated $4.4 million per year. See the press release titled "Daley Calls for National Effort to Revive Economy, Create Jobs" on Mayor Richard Daley's Web site at: <http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Mayor/news_press.html>. The full energy plan is posted on the city's Department of Environment Web page at: <http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Environment/>. When releasing the energy plan, Mayor Daley announced that the city will participate in the development of the Chicago Climate Exchange, a voluntary market for trading emissions of greenhouse gases. Mexico City announced its intentions to participate as well. See the press release on the Chicago Climate Exchange Web site at: <http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/html/CCX111301.htm>. Green Power Coming to Georgia and Omaha, Nebraska Thirteen of Georgia's Electric Membership Corporations (EMC) will offer power from renewable energy sources next year through the newly formed Green Power EMC. The EMC will begin by generating power from the methane produced by four landfills in north and middle Georgia. Green Power EMC projects that wind, solar and hydroelectric energy sources will be added to its generating capacity by 2003. The first site, at Richland Creek Road Landfill in Gwinnett County, is expected to be operational next fall. Green Power EMC will sell a total of 7.5 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity per month. Customers will be able to buy the power in 150-kilowatt-hour blocks at a additional monthly rate of $3 to $5. Signups for the program will begin in the second quarter of 2002. See the press release from Walton EMC, one of the 13 member EMCs, at: <http://www.waltonemc.com/News/press92.html>. In Nebraska, the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is preparing to offer green power generated from a 660-kilowatt wind turbine and from a 3.2-megawatt landfill methane power plant. Combined, the two sources should generate about 27.1 million kilowatt-hours per year. Residential customers can participate for as little as $4.50 per month; commercial customers will pay an extra three cents per kilowatt-hour. See the OPPD Green Power announcement at: <http://www.oppd.com/news/GreenPower.htm>. Seattle Allows Residents to Support Local Renewable Projects The Seattle City Council last week approved new legislation allowing customers of the city's electric utility to make voluntary contributions for the installation of renewable energy projects. Starting January 1st, residential customers will be able to choose to donate $3, $7, or $10 per month toward new renewable power installations. Businesses are also given several donation options, on a scale that increases with their energy use. The legislation calls for approximately 60 percent of the funds to go toward new renewable resources at no more than twice the cost of the wind resource that is currently included in the city utility's rate base, with a preference for local resources. The remaining 40 percent will go toward local demonstration projects on public buildings, with a strong preference for solar energy projects. See the city's press release at: <http://www.cityofseattle.net/news/detail.asp?ID=2248&Dept=28>. To see the full text and status of the legislation, search for Council Bill Number 113944 on the city's Web site at: <http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/CBOR1.htm>. The Pacific Northwest has much to gain from renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, according to a new study released last week. The study finds that in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, these energy technologies are currently supported by a $1.4-billion-a-year industry. That industry is expected to grow to at least $4 billion per year over the next 20 years, while adding 12,000 new jobs in the region. The study by Climate Solutions, a non-profit organization, suggests several policy choices that would result in an even larger industry for these energy technologies in the region. See the Climate Solutions press release at: <http://www.climatesolutions.org/staging/releases/marketAnalysis.html> The full report is linked to from the Climate Solutions home page at: <http://www.climatesolutions.org/>. Nevada Governor Names Task Force for Renewables, Efficiency Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn announced last week the nine members of the state's new renewable energy and energy conservation task force. The task force will administer the state's newly created Trust Fund for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, which will provide funding for consumer education, incentives, grants, and feasibility studies. The task force will also advise the Nevada Office of Energy on renewable energy and energy conservation aspects of the Comprehensive State Energy Plan. See the Governor's press release at: <http://gov.state.nv.us/pr/2001/11-16ENG.htm>. The trust fund was created by Assembly Bill 661, which was signed into law this year. For the full text of the bill, see: <http://www.leg.state.nv.us/71st/bills/AB/AB661_EN.html>. Considering the high percentage of public lands in Nevada, the development of renewable energy resources there is likely to require the use of public lands. To examine the potential for expanding such development throughout the United States, particularly in the West, the "National Conference on Opportunities to Expand Renewable Energy on Public Lands" is being held next week in Washington, D.C. The conference will be convened by Interior Secretary Gale Norton together with key officials from DOE, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. There is no charge for the conference but pre- registration is required. See the conference announcement on EREN at: <http://www.eren.doe.gov/renewable_energy_summit/>. California Zeroing In on Rules for Zero-Emission Vehicles The California Air Resources Board (CARB) continues to revise its rules for Zero-Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) as it responds to new public comments. In January of this year, CARB chose to stick with its rules to mandate a certain percentage of ZEVs to be sold in California starting in 2003, but it also modified the rules to allow partial credits for hybrid electric vehicles, or "Advanced Technology Partial ZEVs" -- AT PZEVs for short. It had already added credits for low- emission vehicles, called Partial ZEVs (PZEVs). For background, see the January 31st edition of the EREN Network News at: <http://www.eren.doe.gov/newsletter/archives/2001/jan31_01.html>. In the latest revision, released yesterday, the AT PZEV standard has been expanded to allow some credits for vehicles with high-pressure gas storage systems, for vehicles storing hydrogen in a non-gaseous form, or for vehicles that achieve significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions. The requirement for AT PZEVs to automatically stop the engine while idling was removed. The rules were also broadened for earning add-on credits by linking a qualifying vehicle to a mass-transit system. At the same time, the amount of "banked" credits that an automaker may reserve from the early sale of low-speed Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) has been decreased. The new rules are open for public comment until December 4th. See the CARB ZEV Web page at: <http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/zev2001/zev2001.htm>. So what does this all add up to, you ask? Well, the CARB has also made available a "Fleet Implementation Schedule" at the Web site listed above. According to this schedule, CARB expects 4, 408 ZEVs to be sold in California in 2003, along with 10,164 AT PZEVs and 91,046 PZEVs. By 2020, 2.4 percent of California car sales will be ZEVs, 12.9 percent will be AT PZEVs, and a full 56.6 percent will be PZEVs. Australia's "World Solar Challenge" Race Now Underway The "World Solar Challenge," a five-day solar-powered race across Australia, began Sunday. The car race, also called the Solar Odyssey 2001, begins in Darwin in northern Australia and bisects the continent, ending at Adelaide in southern Australia. This year the event also includes the World Solar Cycle Challenge, in which solar-assisted bicycles race from Alice Springs to Adelaide. More than 40 solar car teams are participating in the Solar Odyssey 2001, and 14 cycle teams are entered in the World Solar Cycle Challenge. As of yesterday, "Nuna" -- an entry from the Netherlands -- was in the lead of the Solar Odyssey 2001 in a tight race, and "Solar XR2" -- an entry from Australia's own Prince Alfred College -- was holding a slight lead in the World Solar Cycle Challenge. For the latest results, see the World Solar Challenge Web site at: <http://www.wsc.org.au/Results/2001/index.solar>. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SITE NEWS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago Solar Partnership <www.chicagosolarpartnership.org> The Chicago Solar Partnership is a coordinated effort among utilities; the Chicago Public Schools; community groups; state, local and federal government; and solar manufacturers and installers. The mission of the consortium is to maximize photovoltaic installations in Chicago and to make Chicago Public Schools the leading school system in solar energy installations and environmental technology education. The partnership's newly launched Web site explains the partnership and provides energy tips, teaching tools, ways to participate, and a list of photovoltaic distributors and installers. For this and other recent additions to the EREN Web site, see <http://www.eren.doe.gov/new/whats-new.html>. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EIA Boosts U.S. Energy Demand Prediction for 2020 The United States will use more energy in 2020 than previously expected, according to a new forecast by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The Annual Energy Outlook 2002, which was released in part last week, projects U.S. energy demand to increase from 99 quadrillion Btu in 2000 to 131 quadrillion Btu in 2020, 4 quadrillion Btu higher than projected by EIA last year. A "quadrillion," by the way, is 10 raised to the 12th power, or a million million -- a quadrillion Btu is a convenient unit for referring to U.S. energy use as a whole. Although the U.S. economy is currently experiencing a slowdown, the economy is expected to recover by mid-2002 and increase at an average annual rate of 3.0 percent through 2020, very similar to last year's forecast. However, energy demand is expected to be higher than in last year's forecast in both the commercial and transportation sectors. In the transportation sector, higher projected growth in personal travel, combined with slower growth in efficiency, raises energy demand by more than 1 quadrillion Btu in 2020 compared to last year's forecast. Meanwhile, generation of electricity from renewable energy sources is expected to increase by 1.3 percent per year through to 2020. The EIA now projects that renewable energy will supply 8.9 quadrillion Btu in 2020, up by 0.6 quadrillion Btu from last year's forecast. Coal and nuclear power are expected to gradually lose market share while natural gas demand increases nearly 50 percent. The net result is an increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion to 2,088 million metric tons carbon equivalent in 2020, 54 percent higher than the 1,352 million metric tons carbon equivalent produced by the United States in 1990. See the EIA press release, with a link to the partial results, at: <http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/press/press185.html>. The complete report will be released on December 21st. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to this newsletter using the online form at: <http://www.eren.doe.gov/newsletter/subscribe/>. This Web page also allows you to update your email address or unsubscribe to this newsletter. The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) home page is located at <http://www.eren.doe.gov/>. 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