USDA Awards $22.8 Million for Renewable and Efficiency Projects
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that it has selected 167 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to receive a total of $22.8 million in competitive grants. Rural small businesses, farmers, and ranchers will use the funds to build renewable energy systems and install energy efficiency improvements. Of the 94 renewable energy projects, most are either wind turbines or anaerobic digesters that convert farm wastes into energy, although a handful of projects involve solar power, geothermal energy, and biodiesel fuels. Most of the 73 energy efficiency grants will go towards upgrading buildings used by agricultural producers. See the USDA press release <http://www.usda.gov/Newsroom/0386.04.html> and the full list of grant recipients <http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd/newsroom/2004/EnergyLists0904.html> . The USDA's Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements program was created as part of the 2002 Farm Bill to assist farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses in developing renewable energy systems and making energy efficiency improvements to their operations. See the program Web site <http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd/farmbill/9006resources.html> . San Francisco to Include Efficiency and Solar Power in 1,600 Homes The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has approved an agreement with Lennar/BVHP to include energy efficiency measures and solar electric systems in the construction of 1,600 residential housing units. Lennar is the primary developer selected by the city for the redevelopment of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, which is being transferred to the City and County of San Francisco. The new homes will be built on a 78-acre plot that was the first parcel of land transferred to the city. The agreement between the city and Lennar specifies a variety of energy efficiency measures—including improved wall and attic insulation, combined water and space heating, better windows, and highly efficient appliances—as well as rooftop solar electric power systems. See the SFPUC announcement <http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/7/MSC_ID/64/MTO_ID/139/C_ID/2036> . The California Energy Commission (CEC) is also encouraging the construction of energy-efficient solar homes. The CEC issued a request for proposals last week that aims to support research and development to encourage market adoption of so-called "zero-energy homes"—homes that generate as much energy as they use over the course of a year. The CEC intends to provide up to $10 million to develop zero-energy homes that integrate the best available energy efficiency measures and solar power designs with effective business models to reduce the cost of the homes. Proposals are due by November 8th. See the CEC announcement <http://www.energy.ca.gov/contracts/2004-09-13_500-04-501.html> and the request for proposals <http://www.energy.ca.gov/contracts/#pier_zenh> . New Jersey Proposes New Rules for Renewable Energy Systems The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved amendments last week to its rules for connecting renewable energy systems to the electrical grid and selling the power back to the electric utility. The proposed rules expand the types of eligible systems to include renewable-fuel-powered fuel cells, landfill-gas systems, power from sustainable biomass sources, and geothermal, wave, and tidal energy systems, in addition to wind and solar systems, which were previously included. The rules also boost the maximum system size to 2 megawatts, up from 100 kilowatts. Three levels of interconnection requirements start with simple, streamlined requirements for small systems and ratchet up to more complicated requirements for the larger, more expensive systems. The changes are consistent with model procedures and agreements developed by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. See the BPU press release <http://www.bpu.state.nj.us/home/news.shtml?60-04> . Canadian Solar Car Achieves World-Record Distance <http://www.eere.energy.gov/images/spacer.gif> <http://www.eere.energy.gov/images/spacer.gif> Photo of the solar car breaking through ribbons with a crowd in the background<http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/images/04_09_21_solarcar.jpg> The Midnight Sun solar car crosses the finish line after its record-breaking trip. Credit: Midnight Sun Solar Car Team, University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo's Midnight Sun Solar VII solar car broke the unofficial distance record for a solar car tour last week. The previous unofficial record of 8,111 miles was set in 2002 during a circumnavigation of Australia. The Midnight Sun team's new record of 9,370 miles is subject to ratification by the International Solar Car Federation and Guinness World Records. See the University of Waterloo press release <http://newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca/news.php?id=4141> . The Midnight Sun team completed its North American Tour on September 16th after driving across Canada and through the United States for 40 days, relying heavily on the kindness of strangers. Find out all about the team's experiences along the way—including the challenges of incoming hurricanes, overcast skies, overeager highway patrolmen, and errant dogs and cats—in the Tour News Archive <http://www.midsun.uwaterloo.ca/tour/tour_news/archive/> . Honda Delays Release of Accord Hybrid Until December <http://www.eere.energy.gov/images/spacer.gif> <http://www.eere.energy.gov/images/spacer.gif> Photo of the Accord Hybrid engine—a large black box—with a red power cable snaking around it<http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/images/04_09_21_accordhood.jpg> A peek under the hood of the new Honda Accord Hybrid. Credit: Honda American Honda announced last week that its Accord Hybrid will not go on sale until December, a delay from its original fall release. The new Accord Hybrid will combine the third generation of Honda's hybrid electric drive with a V-6 engine. Compared to the Honda Civic Hybrid, the Accord's hybrid electric system will achieve 26 percent more torque during initial acceleration and more than double the torque while driving at speed. The lighter battery pack produces 45 percent more power per pound and 20 percent more power overall. Fuel-saving features of the Accord Hybrid include lightweight aluminum and magnesium components and an Electric Power Steering system, and to top it off, Honda's new Variable Cylinder Management technology will shut down three of the six cylinders during cruising and deceleration. The sum total of all this technology is an estimated fuel economy rating of 30 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 37 mpg on the highway, a significant gain over the current Accord V-6 (21 mpg city and 30 mpg highway), while also achieving a slight increase in performance. See the Honda press release <http://hondanews.com/CatID2128?mid=2004091739095&mime=asc> . Energy Efficiency Yields Big Savings for Mississippi Schools Twenty schools in Mississippi are expected to save more than $390,000 in energy costs each year, thanks to energy efficiency improvements recently completed by Chevron Energy Solutions. The improvements included lighting retrofits throughout the Harrison County School District, as well as water conservation retrofits, the installation of digital thermostats in classrooms and a centralized energy management system, and the use of a Web-based information system for remote energy monitoring at each of the 20 schools. The improvements also included new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems at two schools, plus the installation of two new boilers. The Harrison County School District will pay only $2.4 million of the total project cost of $6.4 million, with future energy savings paying the remainder through a financing structure known as an energy savings performance contract (ESPC). See the Chevron Energy Solutions press release <http://www.chevronenergy.com/press_news/2004_sep_03.asp> . The federal government also uses ESPCs. DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) estimates that 18 federal agencies and departments in 46 states are using ESPCs to save $4.7 billion in energy costs. About $3.2 billion in energy savings will pay off the investment in the energy efficiency projects, resulting in a net savings of $1.5 billion for the U.S. government. See the FEMP ESPC Web page <http://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/financing/superespcs.cfm> . Harrison County, by the way, was one of three coastal counties in Mississippi that faced a threat from Hurricane Ivan. However, the hurricane caused minimal damage in the county, and schools were able to reopen on Monday. See Governor Haley Barbour's announcement <http://www.governorbarbour.com/Evacuate.htm> prior to landfall and the reopening announcement on the Harrison County School District Web site <http://www.harrison.k12.ms.us/DesktopDefault.aspx> . <http://www.eere.energy.gov/images/spacer.gif> <http://www.eere.energy.gov/images/spacer.gif> Site News KidWind Project Explores the Science Behind Wind Power <http://www.kidwind.org/> The KidWind Project is a team of teachers, students, engineers, and practitioners exploring the science behind wind energy in classrooms around the United States. Its Web site features hands-on science projects and lesson plans to help kids learn about wind. After successful summer workshops that served more than 150 teachers in the Northeast, the KidWind Project has a number of workshops planned in the Northeast in October and November. See the KidWind Project Web site <http://www.kidwind.org/> . <http://www.eere.energy.gov/images/spacer.gif> Energy Connections Study Finds Vulnerabilities in the U.S. Power Grid A recent study of the U.S. power grid finds that a major disruption could result from the loss of only two percent of its electrical substations. The study, conducted by researchers at Penn State and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, involved mathematically modeling the electrical grid with more than 14,000 "nodes" at which either generators or substations are located. The study found that during a cascading failure, in which heavily loaded substations fail in sequence, the failure of only about 280 of the most heavily loaded substations could cause a catastrophic failure of the entire grid. In contrast, a random failure of about 411 substations would result in a loss of power for only 60 percent of the electrical grid. The authors suggest that schemes to reduce the electrical load on the most heavily loaded substations could reduce the electrical system's overall susceptibility to disruptions. The study was published in the February 26th edition of Physical Review E; Penn State announced the news on September 16th. See the Penn State press release <http://live.psu.edu/story/7929> . _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
