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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/>
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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
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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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>.
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SITE NEWS
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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>.
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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
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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.
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