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EERE NETWORK NEWS -- December 3, 2003
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
<http://www.eere.energy.gov/>
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Featuring:
*News and Events
Coming Soon: "Made With Renewable Energy" Labels on Products
Aeronaut's Goal: Around the World on Solar Power
Seattle-Area Utility Pursues Wind Power, Energy Efficiency
California Plant Begins Continuous Production of Biodiesel
Canadian Company Continues to Advance BioOil Technology
Two DOE-Funded Reports Show Promise for LED Lighting
*Energy Connections
EPA's Voluntary Programs Reduced Greenhouse Gases in 2002
*About this Newsletter
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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Coming Soon: "Made With Renewable Energy" Labels on Products
The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) -- the people that brought you
the "Green-e" certification for green power products -- announced in
early November that it will launch a new "Made With Renewable Energy"
label for products in 2004. The label will feature the distinctive
Green-e logo and will be available to companies that buy a
"significant" amount of certified renewable energy for their buildings
and factories. According to CRS, a number of companies have already
applied for the label, including White Wave (a maker of soy milk
products), the Interface Fabrics Group, Choice Organic Teas, and
Lundberg Family Farms, a producer of rice. See the announcement on the
Green-e Web site at: <http://www.green-e.org/media_ed/made.html>.
This Thanksgiving, shoppers in much of the eastern United States had
the opportunity to buy turkey that had been raised using 100 percent
wind energy. Plainville Turkey Farms in New York State is buying its
wind power from Community Energy, Inc. (CEI) and is now labeling six
of its turkey products with the NewWind Energy logo. Consumers in the
mid-Atlantic region can even shop at wind-powered groceries, since
Whole Foods Market, Inc., is now buying wind power to meet 10 percent
of the electricity needs at its 24 locations there. The company will
buy six million kilowatt-hours of wind power each year from CEI.
See the CEI press releases at:
<http://www.communityenergy.biz/cei_pr_turkeyfarm.html> and
<http://www.communityenergy.biz/cei_pr_wholefoods.html>.
The "Made With Renewable Energy" label might eventually appear on a
wide variety of products, thanks to a recent record purchase by the
corporate members of the Green Power Market Development Group.
Sterling Planet, Inc. announced in late November that it will provide
a total of 795 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy certificates
over the next several years to select members of the group, including
Alcoa Inc., Delphi Corporation, DuPont, Interface, Pitney Bowes, and
Staples. Sterling Planet's Green America renewable energy certificates
are Green-e certified. See the Sterling Planet press release at:
<http://www.sterlingplanet.com/sp/newsRelease27.jsp>.
Aeronaut's Goal: Around the World on Solar Power
A team of aeronauts -- the first to circumnavigate the globe in a
hot-air balloon without stopping -- now aims to repeat the feat in a
solar-powered aircraft. Dr. Bertrand Piccard announced on Friday that
he will team with Brian Jones, his former balloon co-pilot, and Andre
Borschberg, an engineer and jet pilot, to accomplish the task. To
develop a solar-powered airplane capable of flying continuously, the
Piccard team will receive scientific assistance from the Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology in Lausanne. A team of 30 experts from
several departments of that institute has been investigating the
feasibility of the solar-powered aircraft, called the "Solar Impulse,"
since March.
As envisioned by the team, the Solar Impulse aircraft will have an
extremely long wingspan, advanced aerodynamics, and a revolutionary
structure in order to capture and store sufficient solar energy during
the day to be able to maintain itself in flight during the night.
Piccard's plans call for the design and construction of a prototype
aircraft over the next two years, followed by initial test flights in
2006. The team expects to achieve its first overnight flight in 2007,
but they have not yet set a date for their flight around the world.
See the Solar Impulse press release (a 140-kilobyte PDF file) and
Web site at: <http://www.solar-impulse.com/en/press.pdf> and
<http://www.solar-impulse.com/en/index.php>.
The closest thing yet to the Solar Impulse was the Helios, an unmanned
solar-powered aircraft developed by AeroVironment, Inc. for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Helios was
designed to use a fuel cell to maintain flight overnight, but it
crashed in June before accomplishing that goal. The crash
investigation is still underway. Meanwhile, NASA is investigating the
use of ground-based lasers to power an aircraft that has solar cells
mounted on the bottom of its wings. See the Helios project page and
the laser-powered aircraft press release on NASA's Dryden Flight
Research Center Web site at:
<http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Research/Erast/helios.html> and
<http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewsReleases/2003/03-54.html>.
Seattle-Area Utility Pursues Wind Power, Energy Efficiency
Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the utility serving the Seattle area, issued
a request for proposals for 150 megawatts of wind power in late
November. PSE seeks to buy wind power either through long-term power
purchase contracts or through ownership of a wind power plant. PSE is
holding a pre-bid conference this afternoon, with responses due by
January 9th. The utility expects one or more wind power projects to be
in place by the end of 2005. See the PSE press release and the request
for proposals at: <http://www.pse.com/news/2003/pr20031113a.html> and
<http://www.pse.com/about/supply/resourceplanning.html>.
PSE also plans to expand its energy efficiency programs and has
proposed higher targets for 2004 and 2005. Over the next two years,
the utility plans to avoid 39.2 average megawatts of electrical load,
while saving more than 5 million therms of natural gas. The utility
has proposed a wide range of programs for its residential, commercial,
and industrial customers, ranging from consumer rebates to business
grants. PSE also intends to launch pilot programs for heat-pump
maintenance, lighting retrofits in multi-family housing, duct system
enhancements in mobile homes, and ventilation system maintenance for
commercial customers. The PSE plan is subject to regulatory approval.
See the PSE press release at:
<http://www.pse.com/news/2003/pr20031105a.html>.
While it plans to increase its use of wind power and energy
efficiency, PSE is decreasing its reliance on hydroelectric power.
The utility announced last week that it will no longer pursue a new
operating license for its 92-year-old White River Hydropower Station,
because meeting current environmental standards at the facility would
be cost prohibitive. PSE will shut down the 70-megawatt station in
January. Meanwhile, the utility continues to pursue a new license for
the Baker River Project, a 175-megawatt installation consisting of
powerhouses on two dams near Concrete, Washington. The project's
50-year license expires in April 2006. See the PSE press release and
hydropower licensing Web page at:
<http://www.pse.com/news/2003/pr20031121a.html> and
<http://www.pse.com/hydro/index.html>.
California Plant Begins Continuous Production of Biodiesel
Green Star Products, Inc. announced in November that it had completed
initial product test runs at its new biodiesel production plant in
Bakersfield, California. The plant will be the first in the United
States to use a continuous-flow process to produce biodiesel. Other
U.S. plants produce biodiesel fuel in batches; continuous production
processes can potentially produce greater volumes of product at lower
costs.
The company tested both recycled and virgin vegetable oil for its
initial production of biodiesel, and was able to deliver product to
U.S. Hondo Chemical, which is using biodiesel in its off-road
vehicles. Although the Bakersfield Biodiesel Plant is currently
capable of producing 2.5 million gallons of biodiesel per year, the
company claims that the plant could be expanded to produce 35 million
gallons per year, which would be more than twice the national
production of biodiesel in 2002. See the Green Star Products press
release at: <http://www.greenstarusa.com/news/03-11-06.html>.
The U.S. Navy will also become a biodiesel producer in the near
future, according to the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). The Naval
Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California, plans to recycle the
Navy's used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel. The demonstration plant
will be able to produce one million gallons of biodiesel each year.
The NBB has also noted a number of biodiesel developments in Colorado,
including the first retail pumps in Boulder and Denver and the use of
biodiesel in the buses for 12 Denver-area school districts, funded
through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And
with a $3.8-million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the
NBB will now be working even harder to educate the public about
biodiesel. See the NBB press releases at:
<http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/pressreleases/default.asp>.
Canadian Company Continues to Advance BioOil Technology
DynaMotive Energy Systems Corporation, a Canadian company, continues
to advance its production process for a biomass-derived fuel called
BioOil. DynaMotive can convert a variety of biomass materials, such as
wood residues, into BioOil using a process called "fast pyrolysis,"
which exposes the materials to high temperatures in the absence of
oxygen. In early November, DynaMotive announced that it had fabricated
a system that will produce BioOil from wood residues and use it to
produce 12,000 pounds of steam per hour and 2.5 megawatts of
electricity. The combined heat and power system can also be fueled
with conventional fuels. DynaMotive expects to finish testing the
system in early 2004, when it will be installed at Erie Flooring and
Wood Products in West Lorne, Ontario.
DynaMotive plans to produce a similar system for Freymond Lumber,
Ltd., in Bancroft, Ontario. DynaMotive and its development partners
expect to launch the project in 2004 and complete it in 2005.
The company also announced yesterday that it is fabricating another
production plant that will be capable of converting 200 tons of wet
biomass into BioOil each day -- twice the capacity of the Erie
Flooring plant. Although the location of the new plant won't be
announced until next year, it's noteworthy that DynaMotive is working
with the Municipality of Greenstone in northwestern Ontario to develop
BioOil plants in the Greenstone area. See the November and December
press releases on the DynaMotive Web site at:
<http://www.dynamotive.com/news/newsreleases.shtml>.
Two DOE-Funded Reports Show Promise for LED Lighting
Two new reports on solid-state lighting -- lighting using light-
emitting diodes (LEDs) or organic LEDs (OLEDs) -- find that the United
States is already achieving significant energy savings from the
technology, and the promise for the future is, well, bright. The DOE-
funded reports, prepared by Navigant Consulting, conclude that LEDs
have already saved more than 8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity
in the United States. If LED manufacturers achieve their cost and
performance goals, the technology will cut future use of energy for
lighting by 30 percent. LEDs have already made significant headway in
traffic lights, exit signs, and taillights. The report finds that with
accelerated investment in the technology, it could achieve energy
savings by 2025 that would be equal to the power produced by 40 large
power plants. See the press release from Navigant Consulting at:
<http://ir.ccbn.com/ir.zhtml?t=nci&s=410&item_id=469896>.
The full reports are available on the Web site for DOE's National
Energy Technology Laboratory. See the reports -- a 661-kilobyte file
and a 413-kilobyte file -- in PDF format only at:
<http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Niche%20Final%20Report.pdf> and
<http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/SSL Energy Savi_ntial Final.pdf>.
What's another market for LED lights? You guessed it: holiday
lighting! LED lights not only use about one-tenth the energy used by
the current favorite, mini-lights, but also last much longer and are
cool, so they won't catch anything on fire. See the "Holiday Lights"
fact sheet -- a 751-kilobyte PDF file -- on the Western Area Power
Administration's Energy Services Web site at:
<http://www.es.wapa.gov/pubs/files/03_WAPA_holiday.pdf>.
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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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EPA's Voluntary Programs Reduced Greenhouse Gases in 2002
Voluntary programs administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) succeeded in avoiding 43 million metric tons of
U.S. carbon emissions in 2002, according to an EPA report released in
November. The report notes the achievements of the DOE/EPA Energy Star
program, which currently labels more than 18,000 energy-efficient
products in about 35 product categories, while more than 3,000
builders have constructed about 110,000 Energy Star-qualified homes.
According to the EPA report, the Energy Star program is saving
$33 billion in energy bills each year. See the press release under
"November News Highlights" on the EPA Web site at:
<http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/2003_nov.htm>.
The full report is available as a 1.37-megabyte PDF file on the
EPA Web site at: <http://www.epa.gov/appdstar/pdf/cppdann02.pdf>.
Last week, DOE proposed new guidelines for the voluntary reporting of
greenhouse gas emissions. The guidelines are intended to improve the
accuracy, verifiability, and completeness of the greenhouse gas
emissions data. DOE will hold a workshop in Washington, D.C., on
January 15th, 2004, to discuss the proposed guidelines. See the
announcement, including links to the guidelines and the DOE press
release, on the DOE Office of Policy and International Affairs Web
site at: <http://www.pi.energy.gov/enhancingGHGregistry/>.
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