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Green Mountain, Nuon Unveil New Solar Array
Green Mountain Energy Company recently joined with Nuon Renewable Ventures to dedicate a new commercial-scale, 43-kilowatt solar array on the rooftop of the Upper Kirby District Center in Houston, TX. Green Mountain said electricity generated from the installation, known as Green Mountain Energy Solar at the Upper Kirby District, will be delivered to the state power grid with the support of the company's Big Texas Sun Club members. According to the company, the Big Texas Sun Club, which is open to Green Mountain electricity customers, helps construct, develop and maintain new solar facilities in Texas as well as promote statewide education about solar energy. "This new, clean energy facility is a symbol of the growing interest Texans have in pollution-free electricity...," said Green Mountain Texas region president Gillian Taddune. Green Mountain said the solar facility, which will be owned and operated by Nuon, will help avoid the emission of approximately 45 tons of carbon dioxide per year. BP Solar designed and installed the array, which consists of 440 BP Solar MSX-120 panels. Austin, TX-based Green Mountain is a residential provider of less-polluting energy generated from such sources as wind, solar, water, geothermal, biomass and natural gas. Dutch company Nuon is The Netherland's largest utility and a leader in renewable energy development. Contact: Molly Hanlon, Green Mountain, phone 512-691-6187, e-mail molly.hanlon@greenmountain.com. Source: PR Newswire 7/17/2002 via EIN Renewable Energy Today 7/22/2002.
APX Starts Up NEPOOL Green Tags System
On July 15, APX, a provider of transaction processing services for the electric power industry, announced that it had created 30 million electricity generation "certificates" since July 1 when the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) Generation Information System (GIS) became operational. The 30 million certificates are for power produced from January through March. This system is the first in the U.S. to support environmental compliance reporting for all types of electric power generation. Operated by APX, the NEPOOL GIS helps to verify retail electric supplier compliance with various green power and environmental regulations in New England. For each MWh of power generated, the system creates a certificate, or an electronic tag, that describes characteristics, such as when, where, and who produced the power; the type of fuel source used; and the amount and type of certain pollutant emissions released.
The Web-based system at http://www.nepoolgis.com records the production details of all types of electricity generation in the NEPOOL control area. The new system now is used by approximately 100 generators, power traders, and retail electric suppliers in the NEPOOL control area, which encompasses Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and most of Maine. Retail electric suppliers, or load-serving entities, use the information from the certificates to report compliance with requirements that, for example, encourage increased renewable energy production and limit the release of certain emissions. Requirements set by individual New England states include: minimum renewable power purchase levels for retailers; retailer disclosure of fuel source and other characteristics of the power they sell; and maximum levels of pollutant emissions. Each company accesses its account statements and other information on an Internet portal, saving time in record keeping and in preparing compliance reports for the appropriate state agencies. As a result, many compliance reports can be prepared in a matter of minutes, rather than hours. Said Gary Zielanski, APX director, Northeast market development, "The companies and organizations participating in this important program are leading the nation in reporting the details of all types of power production, both conventional and renewable." The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has identified the NEPOOL GIS protocols as a best practice for U.S. regional transmission organizations. APX, which has a five-year contract with NEPOOL for the GIS, has developed renewable energy credit systems that serve California, Illinois, Ohio, and Texas. More information is available at http://www.apx.com. NEPOOL is a voluntary association of more than 200 participants in the New England bulk power system that has contracted with ISO New England, Inc., to operate and administer the New England transmission system and wholesale power markets in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. More information is available at http://www.iso-ne.com. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly 7/19/2002
Geothermal Believer Urges It for Neighbors
"One of the main reasons I bought on the lake was so I could use the lake for my geothermal heat and cooling," the retired airline pilot said. Denney's geothermal heat pump uses the lake's consistent temperature to heat and cool his 4,000-square-foot home. Fluid moves from the house to the lake and back through a closed-loop piping system that rests at the bottom of the lake and travels through the ground into his home. "I've been running the heat and air conditioner since January and my bills have been significantly lower than my next-door neighbor," Denney said. His last utility bill, he said, was $108.
"I'm real interested in energy efficiency and this is one of the primary ways of obtaining that," Denney said. He was so enthusiastic about the future for the product that he persuaded Roy Smith of Smith and Associates to let him serve as a company representative in the Tellico Village area. Smith installed Denney's system and said he's installed about 100 similar systems in Tellico Village. He said he's installed more than 300 systems within a 75-mile radius of Knox County. While geothermal technology has been around for decades and has most often been used in schools, hospitals and businesses, Smith said it's just in the past few years that people have begun considering it for their homes. "They would shy away once they heard the cost," Smith said. "They said, 'I can't afford that.' They looked at it like high-grade cabinets." Installation costs can start at $12,000 and go up, depending on the size of the house, he said. But in the past two years, Smith said people's attitudes have been changing. He attributes that to a better-educated population that is more interested in energy efficiency and the environment. "Now they say, 'I've heard of this. I know it's more expensive to buy, but I know it pays back,'" Smith said. Denney said he expects to see his payback in about five to seven years. "We're beginning to see more and more people go to geothermal who are younger people," Smith said. "The older ones are mainly retiring and building retirement homes and don't want to pay high utility bills anymore. But now we're seeing the younger generations are going for it." Laura Ayo may be reached at 865-342-6341 or ayo@knews.com. Provided by KnoxNews.com, http://www.knoxnews.com/. Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. 7/19/2002 via PowerMarketers.com 7/22/2002.
Phillips First California Retailer to be Completely MTBE-Free
Phillips Petroleum Company announced today it is the first gasoline retailer in California to offer MTBE-free gasoline year-round at all of its retail outlets. Phillips owns 1,500 '76' gasoline stations throughout California. Phillips, which uses ethanol to replace MTBE, will also make the MTBE-free fuel available to its unbranded independent marketers in the state. Today's announcement comes a year-and-a-half before the official state deadline to remove MTBE from California gasoline. "Phillips has been a leader in proving the naysayers wrong about ethanol in California," said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association. "They were the first refiner to start blending ethanol and now they are the first to be completely MTBE-free in their gasoline stations. I feel strongly that consumers will reward Phillips for their aggressive approach to ending the MTBE contamination of California's precious drinking water supplies." BP, Shell Oil Products US, and ExxonMobil have announced they will join Phillips and provide MTBE-free gasoline to California in 2003. Together these four marketers account for more than 60 percent of total gasoline sales in California. The only remaining major refiner, ChevronTexaco, hasn't made a definitive public statement regarding their timetable for eliminating the use of MTBE in California gasoline. "We applaud Phillips for their leadership in replacing MTBE with ethanol in California," said Dinneen. "The ethanol industry is ready, willing, and able to supply any refiner that wishes to stop using MTBE. As ethanol use in California continues to grow, it is good news for existing ethanol producers, but also for the groups planning to produce ethanol in California as well." The Phillips press release can be found at: www.phillips66.com/newsroom/NewsReleases/rel399.html. Source: RFA Release 7/22/2002.
BPA Exempts Wind from Transmission Penalty
On July 15, Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) issued a final decision to exempt wind power resources from an onerous transmission imbalance penalty. Under its Generation Imbalance Service Rate (GIS Rate), BPA's transmission business line charges a $.10 (100 mills) per kWh minimum rate when generation falls short of what is expected. The rate is a penalty not based on the cost of providing the service that is charged to encourage accurate scheduling by generators. "This penalty acts as one of the most significant deterrents to the development of wind in our region," commented Ann Gravatt, senior policy associate at the Renewable Northwest Project (RNP). Given the current state of technology and the costs associated with developing wind power, the 100-mill charge has a significant potential to make otherwise viable wind projects undevelopable. In issuing the decision, BPA recognized that the variable nature of wind power generation makes it impossible for the penalty to have the desired effect of causing operators to schedule expected generation more carefully. The final decision notes that, "[w]ind generators, unlike other generators, are uniquely situated, cannot respond to the intent of the 100-mill penalty rate, and should be exempt from the 100-mill penalty." AWEA's Policy Director Jim Caldwell commented, "Without this decision, wind development in Bonneville's service territory would have ground to a halt. It is commercially unfeasible for a wind project to take service under the current BPA transmission tariffÂnot because wind imposes excessive costs on the system, but because the tariff imposes severe non-cost-based penalties on the variable output of wind projects. This timely decision by Bonneville removes the worst of these non-cost-based penalties." Upon approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the revised rate will be in effect October 1 through September 30, 2003. Caldwell noted that this decision "gives regional stakeholders time and space to craft a more comprehensive proposal for the next General Rate Case that treats wind fairly and benefits customers." AWEA joined in the case with a broad coalition of parties known as the Joint Wind Energy Group. The coalition included RNP, BPA Power Business Line, FPL Energy, Last Mile Electric Cooperative, Northwest Wind, the Oregon Office of Energy, PacifiCorp, PacifiCorp Power Marketing, Portland General Electric Co., SeaWest Windpower, and the City of Seattle, through its City Light Department. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly 7/19/2002
BCC to Release Updated Photovoltaic Study
Norwalk, CT-based Business Communications Company, Inc. (BCC) recently announced it will soon release a five-year projection study examining worldwide shipments of photovoltaic (PV) modules. The company said the new report, titled "Photovoltaics: Markets and Technologies," determined that the market for PV modules will increase from $2 billion in 2001 to $3.7 billion by 2006. Additionally, BCC said the report predicts that total shipments of PV modules will grow from 393.8 megawatts (MW) in 2001 to 1,021.5 MW by 2006. The report noted that while silicon is expected to remain the most widely used product in the PV market, worldwide shipments of polycrystalline silicon will experience an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 20.6 percent, reaching 450.8 MW by 2006. BCC said the thin film industry will also experience significant growth, expanding from a 12 percent market share in 2001 to 14.9 percent in 2006. In addition, thin film shipments are expected to grow from 47.3 megawatts in 2001 to 152.8 megawatts in 2006, with an AAGR of 26.3 percent. According to the report, the value for PV module materials is projected to increase from $1.3 billion in 2001 to $2.4 billion by 2006. Contact: Malika Rajan, BCC, phone 203-853-4266 extension 309, e-mail publisher@bccresearch. Source: EIN Renewable Energy Today 7/17/2002.
Sunfire 10kWe WGA-500 Advanced Dish Development Systems
On July 19, 2002 at the Las Vegas office, Sunfire group has announced their decision to start research and development sales of the Sunfire 10kWe WGA-500 Advanced Dish Development System unit.
Sunfire's 10 kWe WGA-500 Advanced Dish Development Systems continue to operate reliably and extend continuous operation. The first-generation Sunfire Dish (Mod 1) grid-connected ADDS recently achieved an important milestone by operating over 400 hours without incident. As of noon on July 3, 2002 it had 422 power-producing hours without incident and is still counting. The Stirling engine has also performed remarkably well, running the last 664 hours without incident. Counting only incidents that cannot be reset remotely, WGA-500 has operated over 660 continuous hours. This is the second time this year that the WGA-500 system had its incident-free-hours streak stop at over 300 hours (315 hours) nearly two months since its previous incident with its unattended operating system. The system paged us and we were able to resume operation remotely with only about a 10-minute loss of operation. Setting Efficiency Records The system is also setting efficiency records. Last month the Sandia team increased net solar to electric system efficiency another full percentage point to nearly 26%. This dramatically improved performance and net system efficiency improved to nearly 24%. This latest change now means that the system easily produces over 10 kWe net at a direct normal insolation of 1000 W/m2, even at high ambient temperatures and reduced mirror area. This is also the second time this year that efficiency has dramatically improved. Peak output was over 11 kWe (net) with a direct normal insolation of 1080 W/m2 - not bad for a system rated at 9.5 kWe (net). Due to these improvements and solid operating record of availability, the Sunfire group has decided to start research and development sales of the unit. For more information, contact Tim Carlson at (702) 257-1770. Source: E-mail from Michelle Cramer 7/22/2002.
The T.R.E.E.S. Project
Welcome to the T.R.E.E.S. Project. In these pages you will learn of some innovative, inexpensive solutions to many of Los Angeles' most persistent environmental and social problems. Until now, drought, flooding, air and water pollution, landfill closures, high energy costs, youth unemployment, and urban blight have appeared to be unrelated and virtually insurmountable challenges. And the problems have been addressed by separate agencies, often working at odds with each other. The T.R.E.E.S. Project was created by an unprecedented coalition of government agencies and environmentalists, and it offers the first truly integrated approach to resolving all of these issues. In 1997, T.R.E.E.S. held a design charrette that brought together dozens of city planners, landscape architects, engineers, urban foresters and public agency staff members to design the retrofit of Los Angeles as a living watershed. Together they developed a series of best management practices (BMPs) for industrial sites, commercial buildings, schools, apartments and single-family homes. The resulting planbook is a blueprint for an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable Los Angeles, and an implementation plan proposes public policy and financial strategies that can facilitate the widespread use of the BMPs. As you will see at our demonstration site in South Central Los Angeles, several of these BMPs are making it possible for a single-family residence to function as a miniature urban watershed. Implemented citywide, these and other BMPs could
The interactive computer Cost/Benefit Model also developed for this project will help policy-makers understand the economic, social, health and safety benefits to be derived from employing the BMPs described in Second Nature. This is the T.R.E.E.S. Project - our vision of a healthier Los Angeles.
California's Strategic Plan for Distributed Generation
On June 12, 2002, the Energy Commission adopted a Strategic Plan for Distributed Generation. The plan is designed to serve as a guidance document for the coordination of activities related to the deployment of distributed generation in the State of California. The Plan will also chart a clear path for the Energy Commission's own distributed generation activities. See the plan at: http://www.energy.ca.gov/distgen/strategic/strategic_plan.html Source: E-mail from CEC 6/12/2002.
Green Schools Newsletter
Find out how Penn Treaty Middle School students in Philadelphia gave their school a check-up, how one California student at Mary Silveira School saves by riding her bike, and get a first look at the Green Schools Song from Eisenhower High School in California and much more! See the Green Schools Newsletter at www.ase.org/greenschools/update.html, and click on the newsletter to view the pdf document. The Newsletter is produced by the Alliance to Save Energy. Source: E-mail from ASE 6/12/2002.
President Bush Touts Ethanol for Energy Security
President George Bush traveled to Iowa on June 7th to speak to farmers attending the World Pork Expo. While the focus of the speech was to encourage the U.S. Senate to follow the House in making elimination of the death tax permanent, the President received his longest and loudest applause after highlighting his support for ethanol. Bush stated, "For the good of the economy, and for economic security, they [Congress] need to get me an energy bill -- an energy bill that encourages conservation, an energy bill that encourages reasonable, environmentally sound exploration, and an energy bill that promotes renewable sources of energy such as ethanol and biodiesel. "When I first came to Iowa, to ask for the support of the people here, and I talked about ethanol, people's eyes tended to glaze over at times, because they said, well, this guy's from Texas. He can't possibly mean what he says about ethanol. First, I hope I proved them wrong. And secondly, you've got to understand, it's in our national interest to have more forms of energy produced at home, so we're less reliant upon foreign sources of energy." Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen thanked the President for his continued support. "Time and again President Bush has been a leader on the ethanol issue," stated Dinneen. "The fuels agreement including the renewable fuels standard would not have been possible without his leadership. It passed the Senate and with the President's support we are confident it will be a part of the final House-Senate legislation." Source: RFA Release 6/11/2002.
Nevada State Office of Energy Launches New Web Site
Nevada has a long history of being a desirable place to live and do business. The Nevada State Office of Energy (NSOE) believes that a reliable, affordable and diverse energy supply that is used efficiently will protect these qualities for future generations. NSOE further believes that improving the energy infrastructure, diversifying the sources of energy produced and used, and encouraging the efficient use of energy will enhance the energy security of Nevada, the western United States and the nation. See their new web site at: http://www.energy.state.nv.us/. Source: E-mail from Carl Linvill 6/13/2002.
EPA Grant Supports Tribal Research
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a $1.2 million research grant to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, located in the state of Washington. The grant is the largest competitive EPA research award ever given to a tribe. The researchers will study whether the Swinomish people are exposed to contaminants when they eat shellfish from traditional harvesting areas. The project will also help the Swinomish tribe understand whether this exposure contributes to the high incidence of health related problems on their reservation. Scientists will study 16 shellfish harvest areas in Washington that are used by the Swinomish Tribal Community. Sediments, littleneck clams, Japanese oysters, butter clams and dungeness crabs will be analyzed for several chemicals and heavy metals. Researchers will also investigate effective and culturally appropriate ways to communicate any health risks they identify to the Swinomish community and nearby tribes who also participate in subsistence shellfish harvests. The results of the project will help the tribes develop ways to reduce the health risks of shellfish consumption. The research grant to the Swinomish tribe was awarded through Science to Achieve Results Program (STAR), an EPA program that funds research grants in numerous science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review.
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced the grant last week at the Sixth National Tribal Conference on Environmental Management. Whitman also said that despite the EPA's progress in reducing pollution on tribal lands, it is "all too apparent that EPA needs to do more." "For tribes, clean water often means providing basic sanitation that most of America takes for granted," Whitman said. "Today, there are 1,100 open dumps in Indian country and only about one out of 10 tribes have developed solid waste management programs to date." Source: ENS 6/11/2002.
For more information on funding solicitations go to: http://www.eren.doe.gov/solicitations.html
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