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EREN NETWORK NEWS -- May 1, 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 State Initiatives and Laws to Boost Renewable Energy
Utah Enacts Net Metering Legislation, Kentucky Starts Pilot
Environmental Summit Yields Renewable Power Recommendations
DOE Funds Research to Increase Geothermal Production
DOE, BPA to Test Environmentally Friendly Turbines
Zero-Energy House Featured in Atlanta and on National Mall
Houston Group to Plan Ways to Fight Heat Island Effect
*Energy Facts and Tips
Is Nuclear Power Coming Back in the United States?
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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New State Initiatives and Laws to Boost Renewable Energy
A proposed initiative in Michigan and new laws and
regulations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire are likely
to increase the production and use of renewable energy in
each of the states.
In Michigan, Governor John Engler announced in mid-April
his "NextEnergy" economic development plan, which
focuses on hydrogen-powered fuel cells but also encourages
the establishment of other renewable energy industries in
the state. The energy blueprint proposes a 700-acre, tax-free
"NextEnergyZone" near Ann Arbor, including a state-of-the-
art clearinghouse and information resource called the
NextEnergy Center. With its proposals for a national
certification and standards program, tax incentives and
exemptions, microgrid demonstrations, and an international
conference, the NextEnergy program could catalyze the
development of renewable and fuel cell industries in the
state. See the NextEnergy Web site, with links to the
governor's announcement, at:
<http://www.nextenergy.org/default.htm>.
In Massachusetts, new regulations are in place for a
statewide standard for production of electricity from
renewable energy sources. The Massachusetts Renewable
Portfolio Standard (RPS) specifies that retail suppliers of
electricity must draw on new renewable energy projects to
provide one percent of their power in 2003, increasing to
four percent by 2009. However, electricity suppliers can
avoid the requirement by purchasing credits from the
Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation, which
administers the state's Renewable Energy Trust. For 2003,
the credits will cost $50 per megawatt-hour, or 5 cents per
kilowatt-hour, which is likely to be higher than the
incremental cost of new renewable power sources. The
regulation is expected to take effect this month. See the RPS
regulations on the Massachusetts Division of Energy
Resources Web site at: <http://www.state.ma.us/doer/rps/index.htm>.
New Hampshire is approaching power production from the
opposite direction, through regulation of power-plant
emissions. The state's new multiple pollutant reduction
program is the first in the country to include carbon dioxide
emissions. The program caps emissions at their current
levels and establishes a system of emissions credits that can
be traded among power generators. It also requires the
state's Department of Environmental Services to establish an
integrated strategy to reduce emissions, including the use of
energy efficiency and renewable energy. The legislation
anticipates lowering the carbon emissions cap in 2010. See
the New Hampshire bill at:
<http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2002/hb0284.html>.
Utah Enacts Net Metering Legislation, Kentucky Starts Pilot
Utah and Kentucky have joined the ranks of states in which
the state's utilities offer net metering to their customers. Net
metering allows customers to install their own power
generation systems and feed excess power back into the
grid. Customers are billed only for their net electricity use
over a month or a year -- ideally, their meter turns backwards
when they are feeding power into the grid. Net metering is
usually limited to clean power sources of a certain size.
The Utah legislation, which takes effect next week, applies to
renewable energy and fuel cell installations of not more than
25 kilowatts. See the Utah bill at:
<http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2002/htmdoc/hbillhtm/HB0007.htm>.
In Kentucky, net metering will be tested through pilot
programs run by the Louisville Gas and Electric Company
and the Kentucky Utilities Company. The three-year pilots
will allow 25 customers of each utility to try net metering,
with residential customers limited to 10-kilowatt systems and
non-residential customers limited to 25-kilowatt systems.
The pilot applies to wind, hydropower, and solar installations.
The utilities will install sophisticated meters to examine
whether the systems feed power to the grid during peak or
off-peak periods, with the intent of determining the costs and
benefits of the program. See March 14th order, number
2001-00303, on the PSC Web site at:
<http://www.psc.state.ky.us/agencies/psc/orders/032002/ord_idx.htm>.
Net metering is now available to some extent in 36 states.
Most of the states require net metering by legislation. For a
summary of these programs, see the EREN Green Power
Web site at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/greenpower/netmetering/nmtable.shtml>.
Environmental Summit Yields Renewable Power Recommendations
The Second Environmental Summit on the West, held last week in
Salt Lake City, Utah, resulted in a detailed list of recommendations
for increasing power production from renewable energy resources in
the West. The recommendations focus on the use of renewable
energy credits as well as ways to increase renewable power
production on federal lands. Cosponsored by the Western
Governors' Association (WGA) and the White House Council on
Environmental Quality, the summit was based on "Enlibra" principles,
which aim to develop a consensus approach to environmental
issues. See the WGA press release at:
<http://www.westgov.org/wga/press/pr_4-25-02_roundup.htm>.
DOE Funds Research to Increase Geothermal Production
DOE announced Monday its award of $4.5 million over the
next five years to two firms that will investigate ways to
increase the production of energy from geothermal
reservoirs. These reservoirs consist of water or steam that
permeates the pores and fissures of rock deep underground.
That rock, in turn, is heated by magma that has swelled up
far below Earth's surface. The extent of the pores or fissures
in the rock will limit how much energy can extracted through
a geothermal well.
To increase the amount of energy that can be extracted, the
DOE-funded project will pump water at high pressure into an
existing reservoir, fracturing the subsurface rocks and
creating new channels for the flow of the hot water. The
process, known as "hydrofracing," will be applied to the
Coso geothermal field, located about 25 miles north of
Ridgecrest, California, on the China Lake Naval Air
Weapons Station. The University of Utah's Energy and
Geoscience Institute and Caithness Energy, LLC will perform
the test at a total cost of about $12 million. See the DOE
press release at:
<http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases02/aprpr/pr02072.htm>.
DOE, BPA to Test Environmentally Friendly Turbines
DOE's Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) announced in
mid-April that it is working with the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to install and test a prototype turbine on the
McNary Dam on the Columbia River. BPA anticipates that a
new turbine could increase the safe passage of fish through
the turbine while also boosting power production.
The Army Corps of Engineers is currently soliciting
proposals for the project, and intends to have contractors
build scale models for testing. By next year, that testing
should be complete, leading to production of a full-scale
prototype. By 2015, all of the turbines may be replaced at
McNary, potentially increasing power production by
90 megawatts on average. See the BPA press release at:
<http://www.bpa.gov/corporate/kc/media/NewsRelease.cfm?ReleaseNo=287>.
DOE's Idaho Operations Office is also planning to test
environmentally friendly turbines. DOE aims to install an
advanced turbine at a site in the United States or Canada.
The office is seeking applications from hydropower
developers that are currently planning or conducting the
rehabilitation of an existing hydropower plant. Responses
are due June 4th. See the DOE Hydropower Program Web
site at: <http://hydropower.id.doe.gov/turbine/turbine.htm>.
While DOE works to reduce the environmental impact of
existing hydropower installations, the Low-Impact
Hydropower Institute (LIHI) is working to recognize
hydropower facilities that are already minimizing their
impact. The institute just certified its first project, the Putnam
hydropower facility in northeastern Connecticut. The
575-megawatt run-of-river plant had to meet eight rigorous
criteria to achieve certification. See the LIHI press release at:
<http://www.lowimpacthydro.org/Recent.html>.
Zero-Energy House Featured in Atlanta and on National Mall
Visitors to the Atlanta Home Show last month were wowed
by an unusual entry: a zero-energy house. The house
combines solar energy, a geothermal heat pump, and
energy efficiency to eliminate its need for outside energy
sources. See the Atlanta Home Show press release at:
<http://www.atlantahomeshow.com/spring2002/Press_Release_2.aspx>.
Sponsored by the Captain Planet Foundation, the 1,500-
square-foot house -- they actually refer to it as a "cottage" --
is due to be displayed on the National Mall in Washington,
D.C., this Friday and Saturday as part of the National Park
Service Sustainability Fair. See the Captain Planet Web site
at: <http://www.captainplanetfdn.org/features/ze_cottage.html>.
Why call this a "cottage"? Because the Captain Planet
Foundation is now in the process of building a 2,200-square-
foot house. The two-story zero-energy house is being built
as part of DOE's Building America program. See the Captain
Planet Web site at:
<http://www.captainplanetfdn.org/features/ze.html>.
More zero-energy houses will be displayed on the National
Mall this fall, when 14 college teams erect their entries in the
Solar Decathlon. The ten-part contest culminates with the
construction and operation of the 14 solar homes in late
September and early October. The Solar Decathlon Web site
now includes links to the team Web sites, which are part of
the competition. See the Solar Decathlon Web site on EREN
at: <http://www.eren.doe.gov/solar_decathlon/home.html>.
Houston Group to Plan Ways to Fight Heat Island Effect
The power of solar energy is all too apparent in today's
cities, where dark roofs, asphalt, concrete, and other
materials inadvertently work together to make the cities
function as giant solar collectors. The resulting "heat island"
effect can boost urban temperatures by 5 to 9 degrees
Fahrenheit, driving up the use of air conditioners, increasing
ozone levels, and exacerbating health problems.
In Houston -- a city that has more than its share of both heat
and ozone -- a non-profit group is now developing a plan to
reduce the city's heat island effect. The Houston Advanced
Research Center (HARC) has received a grant to develop a
"Cooler Houston Implementation Plan," which is likely to
include tree planting projects as well as incentives for roofers
and pavers to use heat-reflecting materials. See the HARC
press release at: <http://www.harc.edu/pressroom/02_0412.html>.
The urban heat island effect is a matter of international
interest, as demonstrated by the North American Urban Heat
Island Summit, which starts this evening in Toronto. The
summit of leading researchers, municipal leaders, doctors,
and policy experts from across Canada and the United
States will tackle heat island trends and challenges, best
practices, and the latest science on heat island adaptation
and mitigation measures. See the summit announcement on
the City of Toronto Web site at:
<http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/taf/uhis_summit.htm>.
For more information about the urban heat island effect, see
the Heat Island Group, part of DOE's Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, at: <http://eetd.lbl.gov/heatisland/>.
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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
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Is Nuclear Power Coming Back in the United States?
It's been over 20 years since a new nuclear plant has been
proposed in the United States, but recent news suggests this
languishing power source may be having a revival. Thanks
to a new, streamlined licensing process offered by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and a DOE offer to
share the cost of preparing a permit, three nuclear operating
companies have announced their intentions to apply for a
so-called "early site permit" at existing nuclear stations.
Entergy Nuclear, one of the three, emphasized that it does
not currently plan to build a new nuclear plant, but will
examine the economics three to five years from now. The
company applied for a permit at its Grand Gulf Nuclear
Station, located in Port Gibson, Mississippi. According to
Entergy, the new permits, if granted, would be good for
20 years and could then be renewed for another 20 years.
See the April 16th press release on the Entergy Web site at:
<http://www.entergy.com/news_database/>.
For more information about the DOE offer to fund new site
permits, see the press release on the DOE Office of Nuclear
Energy, Science & Technology at:
<http://www.nuclear.gov/home/03-4-02.html>.
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is
considering restarting its Browns Ferry Unit 1 nuclear power
plant. A new report estimates that it will take five years and
$1.7 billion to restart the reactor, which has not operated
since 1985. The project is currently undergoing an
environmental review. See the TVA press release at:
<http://www.tva.gov/news/releases/0302bfreport.htm>.
Although nuclear generating capacity has remained
essentially steady for the past 12 years, nuclear operators
have successfully kept the units operating more often in
recent years. According to DOE's Energy Information
Administration (EIA), the amount of electricity generated by
U.S. nuclear plants achieved a record last year, at
768.8 billion kilowatt-hours. See the EIA press release at:
<http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/press/press191.html>.
See also the EIA chart of nuclear generating capacity at:
<http://eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_reactors/reactsum.html>.
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