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EREN NETWORK NEWS -- September 11, 2002
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
New York Provides $7.8 Million for Efficient, Solar Schools
West Virginia Energy Plan Includes Efficiency and Renewables
Fiscal Problems Place Sacramento Solar Power Program on Hold
Toyota Prius Gains in Sales; All Hybrids Earn Tax Credit
Report Urges Federal Investments in Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
*Site News
Hydro Research Foundation
*Energy Facts and Tips
Russia Aims to Ratify Kyoto; Australia May Follow Suit
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Editor's Note: On this one-year anniversary of the attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the staff of EREN Network News
extends its hopes for peace to our subscribers around the world.
New York Provides $7.8 Million for Efficient, Solar Schools
Fifty schools in New York State will sport new solar electric
systems by next spring, thanks to a new $1.8 million state-sponsored
program called "School Power...Naturally." Governor George E. Pataki
announced the new program in late August as part of a package that
includes $6 million for improving energy efficiency in New York
schools.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA) will administer the School Power...Naturally program,
which will provide 90 percent of the cost of installing a $20,000,
2-kilowatt solar power system on each of the schools. AMERESCO, an
energy services firm, will provide an additional $500, reducing the
cost for each school to just $1,500. Solar Works, Inc. will design,
install and maintain the systems for the schools. Eligible New York
schools have until October 11th to apply for the program. See the
School Power...Naturally Program on the NYSERDA Web site at:
<http://www.nyserda.org/schools/index.html>.
NYSERDA is also administering the $6 million "Comprehensive Energy
Strategies in School" program, which will provide cost-shared
technical assistance, analysis, advice, and certified training to
schools so that they can identify ways to save energy. See the
governor's press release regarding both programs at:
<http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/year02/aug26_1_02.htm>.
Governor Pataki also dedicated the first utility-scale wind turbine
on Long Island in late August. The wind turbine, located near
Calverton on eastern Long Island, is the first of five that the Long
Island Power Authority will erect on farms in Suffolk County, which
spans the eastern two-thirds of the island. Each wind turbine will
generate about 100,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year --
about equal to the electricity needs of 12 average-sized homes. See
the governor's press release at:
<http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/year02/aug31_02.htm>.
Customers of Niagara Mohawk in upstate New York have a new way to
encourage the use of renewable energy: the utility is now offering
its customers the option of purchasing green power from one of three
suppliers. Green power, of course, is electricity derived from
renewable energy resources. See the September 4th press release on
the Niagara Mohawk Web site at:
<http://www.niagaramohawk.com/nimotod/newsindx/newsindx.asp>.
West Virginia Energy Plan Includes Efficiency and Renewables
West Virginia Governor Bob Wise announced in late August that his
Energy Task Force has produced a 20-year roadmap for developing
energy resources within the state while protecting the state's
environment and creating jobs. Although the coal state's energy
roadmap has an understandable emphasis on fossil fuel resources, it
also urges the development of energy efficiency measures and
renewable energy resources. In fact, two of the nine goals are to
"establish West Virginia as a leader in non-traditional energy-
related technologies and products" and to promote conservation and
energy efficiency across the state. Specific action items include
promoting the commercial and residential use of distributed energy
generation and renewable energy and establishing a green buildings
program. See the governor's press release at:
<http://www.wvgov.org/FullArticle.asp?index=538>.
The full report is available in Adobe PDF format only at:
<http://www.wvgov.org/WestVirginiaEnergyRoadmap08-20-02.pdf>.
Fiscal Problems Place Sacramento Solar Power Program on Hold
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) announced last week
that its popular "PV Pioneer" program is facing fiscal challenges,
causing the California utility to put new installations on hold
while the program is reevaluated. According to SMUD, "industry costs
for producing photovoltaic panels have not declined as expected, and
there have been some internal budgeting and state funding
shortfalls."
To prop up the program, the SMUD Board of Directors injected
$4.4 million in additional funds last week, and may need to add as
much as $1.9 million more if state funding doesn't materialize. The
additional funds will allow SMUD to honor existing contracts and
will not affect rates or impact the utility's budget. Despite the
challenges, SMUD is still committed to provide 20 percent of its
customer's electricity needs with non-hydro renewable energy by
2011. See the SMUD Solar PV Pioneer Program Web page at:
<http://www.smud.org/pv/index.html>.
The SMUD Board tackled the program funding problems during its
September 4th meeting. See the meeting notes on the SMUD Web site
at: <http://www.smud.org/info/agenda.html>.
Speaking of program challenges, we neglected to provide a link for
last week's story on problems within the Los Angeles Department of
Power and Water's Green Power program. See the press release from
City Controller Laura Chick, in Adobe PDF format only, at:
<http://www.ci.la.ca.us/ctr/press/ND5738.pdf>.
Toyota Prius Gains in Sales; All Hybrids Earn Tax Credit
Recent sales data released by Toyota Motor Sales indicate that the
Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle is growing rapidly in popularity. Toyota
announced last week that the Prius sedan's August sales have
increased 29.2 percent over the year before, while the year-to-date
sales are up 34.8 percent over last year's sales for the same
period. With sales of 13,216 vehicles so far this year, the Prius is
rivaling many of the Lexus models for total sales, while among all
Toyota/Lexus vehicles, only sales of the Lexus ES 300 and Toyota
Highlander are growing more rapidly than the Prius. See the
September 4th press release on the Toyota Web site at:
<http://pressroom.toyota.com/>
August sales of the Prius may have been boosted by an August 12th
announcement by the IRS, certifying the Prius as eligible for a
$2,000 clean-burning fuel deduction. Last week, an equal
certification was extended to the Honda Insight and Civic Hybrid.
The certifications follow a May 21st IRS announcement that
proclaimed hybrid vehicles as eligible for the deduction but left
open the question of whether the vehicles were eligible for the full
deduction. Honda and Toyota had to document the added cost of the
hybrid systems to earn the certification. See the IRS press
releases, in Adobe PDF format only, at:
<http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/ir-02-64.pdf>,
<http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/ir-02-93.pdf>, and
<http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/ir-02-97.pdf>.
Report Urges Federal Investments in Fuel Cells and Hydrogen
A comprehensive federal program is needed to advance and
commercialize fuel cell and hydrogen infrastructure technologies,
according to a new report from the Breakthrough Technologies
Institute (BTI), a non-profit corporation. The report, titled "Fuel
Cells and Hydrogen: The Path Forward," lays out a strategy that
includes research and development, demonstrations, pilot fleets of
fuel-cell vehicles, government purchases of fuel cells, federal
market entry support for the technologies, removal of barriers to
commercialization, and education and outreach. Of course, all of
these concepts are quite familiar to proponents of other renewable
energy and energy efficiency industries.
The BTI report, endorsed by 26 fuel cell companies, recommends a
federal investment of roughly $5.5 billion over the next 10 years.
See the press release, report summary, and the full report (as well
as other documentation) on the Web site at:
<http://www.fuelcellpath.org/>.
Fuel cells and hydrogen technologies have continued to rack up new
achievements in recent weeks. Ballard Power Systems, for instance,
received an order for three 205-kW fuel cell engines for use in
transit buses in San Jose, California, and unveiled a hydrogen-
fueled internal combustion engine-generator that was jointly
developed with Ford Power Products. In Texas, the Houston Advanced
Research Center (HARC) and Entergy connected a 5-kilowatt Plug Power
fuel cell to the electrical grid. Plug Power Inc. also sold nine of
its 5-kilowatt fuel cells for use on three U.S. Navy facilities in
California. See the August 7th and August 29th press releases from
Ballard, the HARC press release, and the August 29th press release
from Plug Power, respectively, at the following Web addresses:
<http://www.ballard.com/news_archive.asp?pgid=16&dbid=0#2002>,
<http://www.harc.edu/pressroom/02_0903.html>, and
<http://www.plugpower.com/news/>.
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SITE NEWS
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Hydro Research Foundation
<http://www.hydrofoundation.org/>
The HRF works to advance research and knowledge concerning
hydroelectric technology, including efficiency improvements and
environmental mitigation. Its Web site includes information on the
latest research and development efforts, and on career opportunities
in the hydropower industry.
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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
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Russia Aims to Ratify Kyoto; Australia May Follow Suit
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov announced last week that
Russia intends to ratify the Kyoto Protocol "in the near future."
The announcement was made during the Prime Minister's speech to the
World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Combined
with the announcement that Canada intends to ratify the treaty
(covered in last week's EREN Network News), the Russian news
indicates an increasing probability that the global warming treaty
will enter into force. See the summary of the speech on the Web site
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (under
"Government Information Departments Reports" for September 4th) at:
<http://www.ln.mid.ru/bl.nsf/eng?OpenView&Start=5.1.3>.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, speaking in a
radio interview on September 4th, suggested that his country might
change its mind regarding the Kyoto Protocol. Although Australia
had previously refused to ratify the treaty, the Prime Minister said
in the interview, "If we become convinced in the months ahead
that it's in Australia's interest to sign the protocol, we'll sign
it..." See the transcript of the interview on the Prime Minister's
Web site at:
<http://www.pm.gov.au/news/interviews/2002/interview1815.htm>.
Whether the Kyoto Protocol is ratified or not, a group of business
and environmental leaders recently joined together to call for an
international framework that allows business to effectively
address the risks of climate change. Members of Greenpeace and the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), two
groups that are usually at odds, joined together to call for
international agreements that will create "a level playing field
that avoids the confusion of differing national implementations."
The WBCSD is a coalition of 160 international companies, including
many of the world's largest energy, industrial, and automotive
industries. See the WBCSD press release at:
<http://www.wbcsd.org/newscenter/releases/200200828_kyoto1.htm>.
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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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