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There is a new wave of activism sweeping across college campuses. Student groups are coordinating efforts to reduce fossil-fuel dependency by pushing for more renewable alternatives and putting forth specific goals for their colleges. They're also synchronizing their actions with other campuses across the United States, putting up a united front for cleaner energy.
"This is a growing movement, and more and more students are getting involved," said Billy Parish, director of the Climate Campaign, a network of 10 student environmental organizations. "What's driving it is the Bush administration's disastrous energy policy."
Some 125 schools took part in a National Day of Action last April 1. Also known as "Fossil Fools Day," the event included demonstrations promoting renewable energy and protests against the Bush administration's fossil-fuel-friendly energy plan.
College campuses are pollution factories. A recent Yale University study reports that the school emits more greenhouse gases than 32 developing countries. With 84 percent of emissions coming from on-campus power plants (burning a mix of fuel oil and natural gas), Yale surpasses the Cayman Islands and Central African Republic in total annual emissions.
Students are bringing the energy protests home. At Temple University in Philadelphia, students are rallying behind wind power, recently passing a resolution expressing willingness to pay an extra fee for it on their term bill. If the plan goes through, it will be the third-largest university purchase of clean energy, supplying 7 percent of the institution's needs, said Kim Teplitzky, a member of Students for Environmental Action at Temple.
Sarah Hammond Creighton, author of Greening the Ivory Tower, is leading the Tufts Climate Initiative. "Tufts has a longstanding commitment to action on 'greening,'" she said.
Environmental groups at Columbia University have joined forces to create the C.U. Green Umbrella. The goals this year include pressuring the New York state legislature to cap carbon emissions and convincing the university to make more socially responsible investments.
"Building a solid activist community will guarantee tangible results in our campaigns," said Columbia student Anjana Sharma. "We need to make the change now to renewable energy sources, instead of doing it when we have no other choice." Source: Source: E/The Environmental Magazine via GreenBuzz, 9/13/2004.
Alternative energy production may not be the tour de force it should be with the crisis in oil production, but in the area of municipal and county investment in new technology, it is beginning to make serious eadway. By designing systems to take advantage of natural resources at hand, towns, cities, and counties are taking steps to produce energy or to conserve it, and in either case are saving money.
Several county and municipal energy projects coming together have turned a small central California region into a test bed for new ways to cut the power bill. The city of San Luis Obispo, with a population of 50,000, is putting in small-scale energy systems ranging from hydroelectric generation to geothermal climate control.
The city's primary water source is above La Cuesta Summit, which rises more than 1,500 feet in the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. The water falls 740 feet from the source to the city's old water treatment plant. It was relatively easy as well as profitable to put in a small hydroelectric system a generation ago. The city sold power to the grid and offset some of the water department's electricity costs.
Under contract with San Luis Obispo, Dean Rubinson, an engineer with Black & Veatch Consultants in Concord, Calif., ran a feasibility study for the restart of the hydroelectric plant. He reported that the best option for the city was to use the plant as it stands, but with new electronic controls. Rubinson said the alternative "takes full advantage of the hydroelectric generation potential of the raw water system at a minimum of capital expense." San Luis Obispo City engineers agreed.
According to the city's water division manager, Gary Henderson, "The water treatment facility takes a great deal of electricity to run. The city spends $260,000 a year to do it, and we estimate that with the hydro plant we can sell $52,000 worth of electricity to the grid during that same period. That's an attractive payback, especially since the system is expandable for future growth." The retrofitted hydroelectric system will use a large open clarifier tank at the decommissioned old filtration plant to store water, essentially creating a small lake for steady inflow of water to the turbine.
This is not the only project where the city expects to save on power bills. Copeland Sports Corp., a private company, is building a parking garage in the downtown area that will be purchased by the city when it is finished. One floor of the garage will contain offices with heating and cooling needs assisted by geothermal technology. Pumps will circulate tap water through a system of looped piping placed in fifty vertically drilled boreholes 300 feet deep.
Trenches for foundations of the San Luis Obispo City's new parking garage
include fifty 300-foot-deep holes drilled into the earth for piping loops
to run the geothermal heating und cooling systems for offices on one floor.
San Luis Obispo lies on the Pacific coast roughly halfway between Los Angeles
and San Francisco.
The pipe and fittings are made of high-density polyethylene plastic. Steve Best, owner of David's Plumbing, Heating & Air, Inc., is a local specialty subcontractor for the job. He is enthusiastic about the new technology and said, "For flexibility, resistance to corrosion, and expandability, for this application HDPE is preferred to steel."
He goes on to say that during the Northridge earthquake near Los Angeles, not one polyethylene line broke in hundreds of miles of underground piping while there were hundreds of breaks in steel lines. Best makes sure the piping is sealed in each borehole with a special thermally enhanced bentonite grout. This allows for full contact between the pipe and the surrounding surface to optimize thermal conductivity.
The circulating water, moderated by a consistent 62°F temperature underground, will keep the temperatures consistent in the offices of the new building all year long. Sixteen pumps will move BTU's to or from the earth by way of the ground loop heat exchanger.
The new system will use power, but for every one BTU equivalent of electricity consumed, it will draw four to five BTU's out of the ground. According to Dave Best, "Day after day, BTU's will be absorbed from the earth and rejected into the earth to meet the heating and cooling needs of these offices."
County building upgrade: A stone's throw from the city's building complex site, the San Luis Obispo County campus is undergoing its own energy makeover. When the county decided to put air conditioning in the old courthouse, which had none previously, design engineer Alien Crosby of Aircon Energy in Sacramento suggested it also look at long-term energy savings by replacing lamps in the building for higher efficiency and by adding motion sensors to turn lights on and off.
In addition, Aircon recommended the old boilers and chillers at the library and courthouse annex be retrofitted or replaced with new, more efficient ones. According to the county capital projects coordinator, Greg MacDougall, heating and cooling, even with the additional 42,000 square feet of area in the old courthouse, use less electricity than they did before.
A crew seals high-density polyethylene pipe connections with a thermal fuser. The connections form the resulting water into virtually a single pipeline nearly six miles long.
"Everyone's looking for ways to save on electricity costs, especially government," MacDougall said. "Our budgets are getting whacked, but people still need the services, so we have to find ways to deliver those services cheaper. One way to do that is to lower operating costs."
The courthouse retrofit won an award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers.
The county hired Aircon to look into energy efficiency options in other areas. The result is a new cogeneration system to cut power costs at the county government campus. The system serves the old courthouse, the annex, and the library. Across the street, a new county building under construction will also be served by the new power plant.
The system, designed by consulting engineer Ron Blue of List Engineering in Monterey, Calif., has three synchronous cogeneration units of 200 kilowatts each, fueled by natural gas. Exhaust heat will be recycled for hot water in all the buildings and to maintain comfortable temperatures in offices during winter. The system will cool the buildings in summer through an absorption chiller.
The production of power on-site is expected to provide 45 percent to 55 percent of all electricity needs for the county building complex. An incentive program through the Public Utilities Commission has already brought the county a half-million dollar rebate. The payback for the capital expenditure is expected to take seven to nine years even with fluctuating gas prices. Engineers are also looking at powering the jail with a similar system.
The new multi-story county building being built across from the courthouse has energy consciousness built in. The floor consists of an air space sandwiched between two inch-and-a-half slabs of concrete.
A blower system will take advantage of low nighttime temperatures, which often fall into the 50's in the summer. The floors of one level are the ceilings of the one below. The walls are broken up with windows so only the floor/ceilings are used in the system.
The special floor design is a part of the environmental package recommendations. It also has the same kind of energy-efficient lamps and motion sensors for on and off. This system can sometimes lead to unusual measures to keep a meeting going. If people are not moving around much, sensors will turn off the lights, and people will have to wave their arms to kick the sensor on again.
Specially designed louvers on each window allow sunshine to enter the building in winter and keep it out in summer. Pumps take advantage of the cool summer nights by pulling in air to cool the slab and shell of the concrete building afte\r dark, reducing some of the need for air conditioning during the day.
The San Luis Obispo city engineering staff is looking to put solar electric arrays on the roofs of two buildings. A city councilman, John Ewan, is a supporter of green energy systems. He is in the solar energy business but is prohibited from bidding on projects because of his position on the council.
Also in the design stage is a plan to offset the cost of electricity at the city sewer plant with by-product methane produced on-site to power synchronous microturbines.
The elimination of fossil fuel from the process may qualify the project for a rebate from the Public Utilities Commission. Solar projects qualify for rebates and that includes anyone in the state, private offices, manufacturing facilities, homes, apartments, and anyone looking to reduce power off the grid.
The PUC gives their highest priority to promote projects that use fewer or no natural resources such as gas assist backup by using hydroelectric, solar or waste methane.
A hundred years ago electric power plants were small and scattered. That was before the emergence of today's vast energy infrastructure of power grids and fuel lines. Demand was small, too, before today's ever-expanding need for light, heat, and fuel.
The growing movement to conserve electricity using public funds judiciously by municipal and county entities with alternative distributed power demonstrates leadership that deserves to be applauded and emulated. The best option for the city was to use the plant as it stands, but with new electronic controls. Source: Electrical Apparatus, Barbara Wolcott, EA Special Correspondent, 9/12/2004 via Energy Central, 9/13/2004.
Spire Corporation announced today the completion of five new photovoltaic systems Chicago's Millennium Park. The systems are representative of building integrated photovoltaics, or solar electric systems that have the double purpose of producing electricity and serving as construction materials. These systems were manufactured locally at Spire Solar Chicago.
Green technologies like solar are one of the City of Chicago's major initiatives. "Using solar electricity at Millennium Park is consistent with our goal as a city to expand the use of renewable energy," said Mayor Richard M. Daley. "Chicago is committed to leading by example and incorporating technology that will not only save money but is good for the environment and the overall quality of life for our residents." The Millennium Park PV projects are unique, in that they combine function with aesthetics. Thousands of tourists and residents will visit the park each year and be able to view the PV installations, normally hidden on rooftops away from the public eye.
The Exelon Pavilions, designed by Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge Architects and located on Upper Randolph Street, house the elevators that lead to the underground Millennium Park Parking Garage and the Millennium Park Information Center. The impressive structures are glass cubes; four sides of which are BIPV curtain walls. Curtain walls are non-load bearing exterior walls that serve as weather surfaces. Instead of using conventional glass panels, the HBRA design utilizes monocrystalline PV panels. HBRA architects and Spire Solar Chicago engineers worked together to design the architectural PV module consisting of dark PV cells encased in laminates that include color-matched backsheets. By concealing the bus bars that connect the solar cells, the designers were able to achieve a black, glazed appearance that contributes to the minimalist design of the Pavilions.
HBRA and Spire Solar Chicago worked with Wausau Metals to create a BIPV curtain wall that would comply with both the National Electrical Code and the Chicago Building code. The pavilions will house exhibits that include information on PV, the power generation from the systems, as well as their associated environmental benefits.
Another BIPV project integrating Spire Solar Chicago products is the Millennium Park Bicycle Shelter, complete with 300 spaces, lockers, showers, bike repair, bike rental and other amenities to accommodate commuters and recreational bikers. Muller & Muller Architects chose two of Spire Solar Chicago's custom module designs for this Chicago Department of Transportation facility. Clear-backed solar panels, some with cells arranged in a checkerboard fashion, are installed in a custom framing system over a glass atrium roof. The cells create a "floating" appearance and cast a dappled pattern that brings the eye upward.
Photovoltaic systems are also incorporated into two additional Exelon Pavilions on Monroe Street. The park features five separate solar installations totaling over 80 kilowatts of PV capacity, typically supplying enough electricity to power 15-20 Chicago homes. ComEd, an Exelon company, is funding the four Exelon Pavilions, and partially funding the Millennium Park Bicycle Shelter. "ComEd is excited to bring solar power to Millennium Park, " said Janet Beniak, ComEd's Manager of Environmental Rates and Services. "The Exelon Pavilions will raise awareness of renewable energy technologies and demonstrates their practical use." Funding toward the projects was also provided by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.
Source: Spire Corporation via Business Wire, 7/15/2004
The Renewable Fuels Association today congratulated the farmer-owners of Lincolnland Agri-Energy, LLC for beginning production at their ethanol plant near Palestine, Illinois. Illinois now has 6 operating ethanol plants.
“Lincolnland Agri-Energy will provide a major boost to the Palestine-area economy,” said Bob Dinneen, RFA president. “Higher corn prices, new jobs, and greater economic activity is good news for the entire community.”
Lincolnland Agri-Energy, LLC will process more than 15 million bushels of corn into 40 million gallons of ethanol and 128,000 tons of distillers grains annually. Fagen, Inc., the Granite Falls, Minnesota design-build contractor, is overseeing the construction and will incorporate a process design provided by ICM, Inc. of Colwich, Kansas. Currently, 81 ethanol plants nationwide have the capacity to produce over 3.4 billion gallons annually. There are 10 ethanol plants under construction. Source: RFA, 9/13/2004.
COUNCIL tenants could be bathing in water heated by the sun if a pilot project receives the go-ahead. Richmondshire District Council has received funding for a solar- powered water heating scheme. Scottish Power has given the authority more than 20,000 to install the system in nine properties.
A bid for more money from the Department of Trade and Industry's Clear Skies fund could mean up to 20 homes having solar panels fitted. Colin Dales, head of the council's housing unit, said: "The aim is to reduce fuel bills for our tenants, but the bigger picture is about sustainability and the green agenda.
"If it is successful, we would look to build the system into our mainstream improvements program. "For instance, subject to funding, if we went to re-roof a property we could incorporate solar water heating as well." Mr. Dales said the system was simple to install and worked whatever the weather.
"It is a misconception that solar power only works on a bright sunny day. "Whenever there is daylight, it will heat the water. Obviously the hotter the day the more hot water you get, but the panels do work in winter as well as summer." If the project is approved by councilors at a meeting on Tuesday, volunteers will be sought to test the system for a year.
A supplier of the solar panels has already been found by the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, which is working with the council. The Solartwin system is said to be more energy efficient that others, as it uses solar power, instead of electricity, to run the water pump.
It is designed to minimize disruption and installation costs by using existing plumbing and hot water cylinders. Mark Hill, leader of the Yorkshire Green party, welcomed the pilot project, but said Britain was still not using enough solar power. "It is a drop in the ocean and not the sort of progress we need to be making to bring climate change and fuel poverty under control, " he said. "In Germany in 2001 alone, they installed 100,000 solar thermal systems." Source: Energy Central, 9/10/2004
It's green, it possesses enormous power, and it comes from deep below the Earth's surface. No, it's not the latest monster to come out of Hollywood. It's geothermal energy, and it's poised to be a blockbuster in eastern Cassia County.
Daniel Kunz, president of Boise-based U.S. Geothermal, has spent three years securing energy rights and leasing and buying property, and he expects to put a proposed 10-megawatt geothermal generation plant in Raft River on line by 2006.
One reason the project can move so fast is that much of the work was done by the US. Department of Energy, which operated the site as a geothermal demonstration project from 1974 to 1982. "A lot of the nitty gritty stuff is already done," Kunz said Tuesday before a tour of the site with U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson. "Many of the risks have been taken care of—the risk of discovering the resource, for one."
Kunz said a resource nearly a mile underground can be difficult to locate
usually requiring drilling exploratory wells on a massive scale, because surface
features offer little evidence of geothermal potential.
In a nation often accused of burying its head in the sand when it comes to
finding energy solutions, the strategy has paid off with geothermal. "A
rancher was drilling for stock water and kept coming up with hot water,"
Kunz said. The rancher had tapped into an aquifer warmed by a rift of magma
below that extends all the way to Yellowstone National Park and heats deeper
water to 300 degrees.
The Department of Energy drilled wells through two water tables in the early '70s to reach the superheated water. When the demonstration project was shut down in 1982, the wells were capped and the facility sold to an Oregon-based company that never developed it for energy production, Kunz said.
U.S. Geothermal bought the facility and one square mile of land from the company and has negotiated leases and energy rights for another five square miles, Kunz said, meaning the plant will have more than 3,700 acres of geothermal potential to tap. Kunz said he expects the plant to eventually have a capacity of 90 megawatts.
But the plant isn't a done deal: "We're still in a high-risk stage of our life," Kunz said, adding that a power purchase agreement with Idaho Power Co. currently being negotiated will be a key step forward.
Viability of the facility may also depend on the passage of legislation to provide production tax credits to geothermal producers. "In production tax credit, wind gets a huge advantage compared to the rest of us," Kunz said.
Simpson asked Kunz what level of tax credit would make the project viable. "Wind gets 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour, and that would make it more than viable," Kunz responded. Kunz said legislators need to examine the advantages of geothermal as a renewable, non-consumptive and environmentally friendly energy source that's both quiet and has minimal visual impact. And, once the plant is built, geothermal energy is inexpensive to produce.
"The more they look at geothermal, they'll realize that this is the cheap power of the future," Kunz said. Construction of phase one of the plant, which could begin in 2005, would employ about 100 workers for a year, and plant operation would require 15 workers, Kunz said. Source: By Chip Thompson, Times-News writer via Gerry D. Galinato, P.E., Chairman, Idaho Energy Division, 9/10/2004.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Center for Resource Solutions will be conducting a post-conference workshop, free of charge, the afternoon of Oct. 6 entitled: Improving The Performance of Your Green Pricing Program. Consumer-owned utilities are encouraged to attend.
The workshop will be conducted following adjornment of the Ninth National Green Power Marketing Conference in Albany, NY.
The National Wind Coordinating Committee published its Renewable Energy Credit Tracking System and Design Guide; and REC Tracking System Design Principles. Both documents were developed by the NWCC Credit Trading Working Group, led by ED Holt, Working Group Chair.
NWCC has published many other reports, studies and documents including a recent report entitled: The Economic Development Impacts of Wind Power.
SunViewer.net™ is a powerful, interactive tool that enables people to view the performance of their distributed generation systems over the Internet. In addition to graphing a variety of quantities of interest, SunViewer.net™ allows users to download data in a spreadsheet compatible format for further analysis. To learn how you can get online with SunViewer.net™, visit Heliotronics or contact Matt Arner, 617-730-5436.
The North Carolina Small Wind Initiative at Appalachian State University has organized 4 workshops for this fall focusing on small scale wind technology. The workshops will be held at Appalachian State University and our new Small Wind Research and Demonstration facility on Beech Mountain and will be led by national experts. They promise to be an enjoyable and valuable educational experience and we have tried to keep the costs for attending the workshops as low as possible.
The production of electricity with wind turbines has become a very viable option. Our research has led me to conclude that we most certainly have the wind resources in western North Carolina to produce electricity cleanly, inexpensively and sustainably. Please consider finding out more about this renewable energy resource by coming to one of our upcoming workshops and help us spread the word about them.
A one day overview workshop led by Jim Green of NREL's National Wind Technology Center will be offered two times this fall and we will have two week long installation workshops: one led by Robert Preus of Abundant Renewable Energy and focusing on the installation of an African 3.6 wind turbine; and another led by Josh Levinson and Jay Yeager of Southwest WindPower focusing on the installation of an H40 and a 175 wind turbine. For additional information and registration information visit Appalachian State University online, e-mail or phone 828-262-7333.
The workshops and dates are as follows:
Source: Dr. Dennis Scanlin, Appalachian State University, Director, Department of Appropriate Technology, 9/13/2004.
Global Warming an 'Urgent Priority' for Business, Says Conference Board
Growing scientific evidence is confirming that the world's climate is radically changing and that human activity is now contributing to global warming, according to a new report by The Conference Board.
The report is based on the collective views of 11 noted climate scientists who met this June under the auspices of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Conference Board's participation in the meeting was facilitated by Environmental Defense, which links science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.
Concludes the report: "The Earth—for whatever the exact reasons—is on a trajectory toward an ever warmer climate. This cannot be avoided at this point, but the trajectory can be jiggled and potential risks associated with the warming can be mitigated. Ultimately the trajectory could be reversed."
The report finds that "governments and markets are likely to act" on expanding scientific evidence and perceptions that climate change has become "an urgent priority that must be addressed through a variety of measures." Participating scientists in the report strongly believe that "a reduction in human-caused emissions is an essential step in any overall strategy for dealing with climate change."
Says Dr. Charles Bennett, author of the report and The Conference Board's environmental expert: "Given the increasing costs of, and uncertainties surrounding, the reliability of traditional energy sources and growing pressures for higher standards of citizenship and contributions to global sustainability, businesses that ignore the debate over climate change do so at their peril."
Corporate boards will be increasingly expected to evaluate potential risks associated with climate change, says the report. It adds: "The frequently cited 'Enron effect' will likely result in increased pressure on boards to evaluate potential costs and risks associated with mitigation either of carbon emissions or the effects of actual climate changes."
The Conference Board report finds a broad scientific consensus emerging that climate change (defined as shifts in average weather conditions over time) is underway. This is most clearly demonstrated by the rapid rise in average global temperatures, especially over the last 100 years. The report notes also an increase in severe weather events (such as intense rain storms) which scientists believe are the results of rising atmospheric instability occurring alongside global warming.
Spring Will Be a Little Earlier This Year: The report cites a number of ecological shifts that suggest widespread changes in the world's climate. Ocean warming, expansion of sea water and melting glaciers are causing the sea level to rise. Mean global sea level has risen 10-20 centimeters (3.9-7.8 inches) during the last century. "This trend is expected to continue," says the report, "but both the rate and the amount of sea level rises are, as with most other climate change patterns, subject to uncertainty."
Spring is arriving earlier. The start of spring in the northern hemisphere has been arriving 2.5 days per decade earlier, on average, than it did a century ago. Says Dr. Bennett, citing comments by the Carnegie Institute's Dr. Chris Field: "The role of climate change in the world's recent ecological problems, including expanding wildfires and increases in invasive plant and animal species, is not clear, but there appears to be solid evidence that warming can exacerbate negative impacts of human actions such as forest clearing."
Mountain glaciers, which account for about 10 percent of the world's surface water, are melting. In many parts of the world they are sources of municipal and irrigation water. This is especially evident in the tropics. "The large spatial scale and accelerating rate of mountain glacier retreat both north and south of the equator are astonishing," says Dr. Lonnie Thompson, Professor of Geological Sciences at Ohio State University.
We're Having a Heat Wave: Some scientists suggest the Earth could be approaching its warmest period since the Eocene epoch (55-36 million years ago). Professor Daniel Schrag, Professor of Geochemistry at Harvard University, cites historical evidence indicating that the present atmospheric level of CO2 (380 PPM) is higher than it has been for 400,000 years. Projections suggest that it could reach 800-1000 PPM by 2100, levels not seen since the Eocene.
The challenges facing business are summed up by John Browne, Group Chief Executive of BP plc in Foreign Affairs: "Taking small steps never feels entirely satisfactory. Nor does taking action without complete scientific knowledge. But certainty and perfection have never figured strongly in the story of human progress. Business, in particular, is accustomed to making decisions in conditions of considerable uncertainty, applying its experience and skills to areas of activity where much is unknown. That is why it will have a vital role in meeting the challenge of climate change -and why the contribution it is already making is so encouraging."
Some not-for-profit organizations stress the urgency of designing strategies that can reduce at least some of the human behavior that is worsening an impending crisis. "The Conference Board report underscores the scientific realities of global warming and the need to take action," declares Steve Cochran, Director of Strategic Communications at Environmental Defense. "Affordable, practical solutions are available today." Source: Source: GreenBiz.com, 9/13/2004.New Study Examines Business Impacts of Energy and Climate Choices
Energy demand could double or triple by 2050, as population rises and developing countries expand their economies and overcome poverty, according to a new study.
The study, by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, ponders whether change in technologies and policy frameworks could help companies move toward sustainable energy systems, and which energy options can help reshape our energy future. Source: Source: GreenBiz.com, 9/13/2004.
News from Washington
DOE Awards $16 Million for 162 Efficiency, Renewable Energy Projects
DOE announced on August 9th that it will grant more than $16.3 million to 162 energy projects in 43 states and the District of Columbia as part of its State Energy Program. The Special Projects competitive grants include 66 "Clean Cities" grants to support the deployment of alternative fuels and alternative-fueled vehicles; 33 "Rebuild America" grants to assist community-based partnerships in improving the energy performance of commercial, government, multifamily, and public-housing buildings; 16 grants to support states' building codes and standards activities; 14 grants to encourage energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries and to support educational programs for industrial energy efficiency; 7 grants to support regional application centers to help deploy combined cooling, heating, and power technologies; 7 grants to promote biomass technologies; 6 "Building America" grants to build highly energy-efficient houses; 5 grants to support projects of the Federal Energy Management Program; 5 grants to measure wind energy resources at heights of 100 meters or more; and 3 grants to deploy solar energy technologies on polluted "brownfield" sites. Source: DOE Press Release, 8/9/2004.Bureau of Land Management Releases Draft EIS
On Friday, September 10, the Bureau of Land Management plans to release a draft of a document designed to ease the permitting of wind projects on BLM-managed lands (except Alaska). Called the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, it is aimed at speeding up some of the environmental reviews needed to develop a wind project on federal land. An announcement of the document release and instructions on how to submit public comments are expected in the Federal Register. Comments are due by December 10.
BLM’s action is part of an overall effort at the U.S. Department of the Interior to increase renewable energy production on federal lands. In May 2001, the Bush administration recommended that the Departments of Energy and of the Interior address limitations to renewable energy project development as part of the President’s national energy policy.
AWEA will feature Lee Otteni, BLM’s project manager for the wind energy PEIS at its Project Siting Workshop to be held in Portland, Ore., on October 13 and 14. The workshop will provide the latest information on siting tools, techniques, and developments. Presenters will address a range of issues, including western permitting processes, wildlife issues, and community engagement strategies. BLM's schedule calls for the final PEIS to be released in June 2005. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly, 9/10/2004.Bill Containing PTC 90% To Finish Line
Congress returned September 7 from a six-week break and now faces a tight target deadline of October 8 before concluding its work for the year. However, there is also the possibility of a special post-election “lame duck” session if more time is needed to complete its work.
“With Congress back, the bill containing the wind energy production tax credit is 90 percent of the way to the finish line,” said AWEA legislative director Jaime Steve. “Between now and the end of this Congress, our challenge is to reach that finish line.”
When Congress adjourned at the end of July, the House and Senate had each passed different versions of the corporate tax bill (S.1637 / H.R.4520), also known as the “JOBS (Jump-start Our Business Strength) bill.” Both contained a package of tax items, including a reinstatement of the PTC and creation of a new small turbine credit. The next step is a conference committee, where select members of the House and Senate get together to hammer out the differences between the bills. The Senate has named members of the committee. The House may do so next week.
The JOBS bill, containing the PTC, faces difficulties that include a high overall cost to the Treasury and controversial provisions dealing with payments to tobacco farmers and changes to new Bush administration policies on overtime pay for workers. Working out these issues may delay final action on the JOBS bill, as may the upcoming Presidential election.
The underlying bill is aimed at lifting European Union trade sanctions on specific U.S. products (now at 11 percent) by repealing a U.S. export tax break ruled a violation of World Trade Organization free trade rules. Key Senators and congressional staff have told AWEA and other energy lobbyists in Washington, D.C. that the JOBS bill is the best shot at gaining energy tax credits this year.
At the moment, there are four possible scenarios for reinstatement of the PTC this year. While Congress could pass the JOBS bill before Election Day (November 2), this is unlikely because it does not allow enough time to settle significant policy differences on issues unrelated to the PTC. Another possibility is that Congress could pass the JOBS bill after the elections in a “lame duck” session. Congressional leaders have not yet decided whether a lame duck session will take place. If the corporate tax bill stalls, there is a chance that the package of tax provisions could be stripped out and passed through other means. This is an “eleventh-hour” tactic when there is little hope left of passing a larger bill. If the PTC is not acted on in either the JOBS bill, a tax extenders package, or as an attachment to some other piece of legislation, then the next opportunity for action would be early next year. For more information go to AWEA’s Web site. Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly, 9/10/2004.
McCain Seeks To Keep The Heat on With Sixth Committee Hearing
As part of his continuing campaign to keep global climate change on the Senate agenda and secure a second floor vote on greenhouse gas reduction legislation, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) held another hearing on the topic.
The hearing was the panel's sixth climate change hearing this session, McCain's last as chairman of the Commerce Committee, and legislators are expected to examine recent evidence of the effects of climate change. According to a committee staff member, McCain shared his observations from a trip he led to the Arctic during the August recess to observe first hand the changes taking place there.
Arctic warming has been more pronounced than other regions on Earth, with receding glaciers, melting permafrost and other perturbations showing up in recent years. Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H., a committee member, accompanied McCain on the trip.
Committee spokesman David Wonnenberg said the hearing discussed a recent report detailing potential climate change effects on California. That study concluded climate change is likely to exacerbate California's water and energy woes as well as increase heat-related mortality beginning around midcentury.
The study found the state's current water crisis would escalate as increasing temperatures significantly reduce snowfall between 30 and 90 percent in the Sierra Nevada mountains, as well as cause the typical snowmelt period to occur earlier.
It also determined California's $3.2 billion wine industry could be hit by increased temperatures, because wine grapes are highly sensitive to temperature fluctuations. The study showed grape ripening will occur one to two months earlier and at higher temperatures, "leading to degraded quality" (Greenwire, Aug. 17).
Another recent study discussed predicted more frequent and longer heat waves this century in Europe and North America. In addition, committee members will hear from a representative of the Inuit people who depend on the Arctic ecosystem for their existence and have been warning of detrimental changes taking place.The hearing, like the others he has held, allowed McCain to compile a record of evidence on climate change to use to try to persuade senators to vote for his GHG reduction bill, S. 139. The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), would force major energy, transportation and manufacturing companies to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to year 2000 levels by 2010. The senators have been seeking a second vote on the bill since it was defeated last October on a 43-55 vote.
"It keeps the issue on the table, and two, it keeps presenting more of the scientific research results that's coming out. This is an opportunity to highlight some of that research, obviously not all of it, but certainly some of it," a committee staff member said of the hearing.
But the select witness list also leaves McCain open to charges that he is stacking the deck in favor of his legislation. Overall, McCain booked witnesses who have espoused the scientific opinion that warming is occurring and at least a portion of it is due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, leaving him open to criticism that he has ignored scientists who downplay climate change risks. In each hearing, McCain has sought to link environmental observations—such as measurements of a shrinking Arctic Ice Shelf and deterioration of the world's coral reefs—with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In May, Will Hart, spokesman for Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.), an ardent opponent of the McCain-Lieberman bill, criticized McCain's hearings for ignoring scientists who believe climate change is not a major, human-induced problem. "So far there has not been a critic to climate change science," he said.
McCain and Lieberman are searching for a legislative vehicle for the bill before Congress adjourns for the year. Prior to recess they filed it as an amendment to an unrelated measure pertaining to class-action lawsuits, but that bill ultimately did not come up for a vote and its future is currently in doubt.
Asked about his strategy, McCain said he is looking to "get a vote, get a vote, get a vote." He indicated he has not discussed the issue with the White House, which is opposed to the bill in favor of voluntary emission reductions. McCain, a 2000 presidential primary rival of President George W. Bush, has been campaigning for the president's re-election bid, and there is some speculation that he could try to translate his support into White House approval for a vote on the bill.
McCain said the White House itself may be moving closer to his position on climate change. The Bush administration released a report to Congress in late August detailing climate change research activities that cited studies firmly linking rising temperatures to human activities. The report was interpreted by many as a possible sign the White House is de-emphasizing scientific uncertainties and could be moving toward mandatory emission reductions. "I was glad to see what indicates a certain shift in the position of the White House," McCain said last week. Schedule: The hearing was scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, at 253 Russell. Source: Andrew Freedman, Environment & Energy Daily Reporter, Environment and Energy Daily, 9/13/2004
State Activities, Marketing & Market Research
Sustainable Development and Energy Use
The below abstract is from an article published by Energy Central/Energy Pulse on September 10, 2004, written by Murray Duffin, Retired. Be sure to read the comments posted on this story as well.The Energy Challenge 2004: The new administration's priority attention to energy is a much needed step in the right direction. The report of the National Energy Policy Development Group might be considered a reasonable first pass (a grade of B-?), given that it was produced in a relatively short time, and driven from a petroleum industry point of view. However from a perspective of the challenge we face and the nation’s real needs it must be given a failing grade. The NEPDG report has seven key weaknesses that must be addressed and have so far, during the last 3 years, been ignored. In priority order these are:
Time Horizon: The energy challenge to 2020 can to some degree be addressed as outlined in the report, but doing so will put the future beyond 2020 in more jeopardy than it is in now. No policy and no projections that stop short of 2050 should be allowed. The present approach will address the problem for those of us over 50 at the expense of our grandchildren.Supply Limits: Limits to the supply of oil and natural gas are ignored. Worldwide oil availability will be in decline long before 2020, and natural gas by 2030. (Natural gas production in North America is already in decline, since a peak in 2002). Neither will be significant in the energy picture by 2050, but replacements must be developed.
Hydrogen: The inevitable--and probably at least 30-year—effort of shifting from a hydrocarbon to a hydrogen economy is largely ignored. The Bush administration has put some priority on the development of a hydrogen economy since the NEPDG report was issued, but this is seen by many as a way to postpone the real needed actions.Efficiency and Conservation: The potential on the demand side is severely underestimated, and the priority for the demand side is far too low.
Renewables: Far too little attention is given to either the potential of renewables, or the challenges of realizing their potential, and the shift to renewables is not optional. Only the timing and rate of speed are optional.Relative Costs: Saving energy costs much less than developing additional supply, and can have an impact much more quickly. The report fails to touch on this subject.
Regulations, Incentives, and Perverse Incentives: This subject is touched on lightly, relative to distributed power, but is largely ignored. It is a key topic to be dealt with in any effective energy policy. Energy will be the most important issue facing the country in this decade, even more than, but inseparable from, terrorism. We need a policy and strategy that set aside partisan differences, ignore special interest pressures, and give the Energy Challenge the priority it deserves.The worst aspect of this problem is that present legislation (passed in the House and pending in the Senate) is largely based on the NEPDG report, remains unchanged since late 2001, and is largely contrary to the country’s real needs. There is major emphasis on development of new domestic supplies with large subsidies for oil, gas, coal and nuclear, and little attention to the demand side or to renewables. In spite of the fact that, since the legislation was written, oil prices have doubled, coal prices have nearly doubled, natural gas prices have more than tripled, and energy company profits have soared, the proposed subsidies haven’t changed. Also E&D activity hasn’t exactly soared. Clearly domestic prospects are not attractive enough for development on the shareholders money, but legislators don’t get it.
Assertions: The energy challenge we face is the most important issue of this decade in terms of its impact on future generations. If we get the answers right, we have a good chance to take the challenge in stride, with no more than minor economic impact. If we get them wrong, this decade will prove (in retrospect) to have been the most important decade in the country’s history. The decisions we make can either set us on a path of smooth transition to a new energy economy, or on a slide toward a future of deprivation for our children and grandchildren and generations to come. Unfortunately, most of our elected leaders are living in a world of no information, misinformation, or disinformation. Unless this situation changes, they are unlikely to make the best decisions.No information results mainly from the fact that energy has not been an issue, so the homework has not been done. Misinformation derives mainly from dealing with assumptions and opinions rather than facts, well-meaning but one-sided viewpoints, too short time horizons (20 years or less), and expecting that the future will be like the past. Disinformation comes mainly from two sources, one of which has some claim to innocence:
- Economic models that are based on invalid and usually unstated fundamental assumptions
- Selfish special interests that are, at best, economical with the truth.
Following is a set of declarations or assertions that introduce the key issues, and that can be made with a high degree of confidence:Supply side:
- Nuclear power will be an important part of the solution, but it is not politically palatable right now, and will need to be based on Integral Fast Reactors when restarted to avoid fuel shortages in only a few decades. Work on IFRs is presently forbidden in the USA.
- Coal will be a major source for decades yet, and can probably become economically clean, with considerable R & D. However, if we maintain the growth trend of coal of the last 30 years, it too will peak (at 2-3 times the present consumption) and will be in decline before the end of the century.
- Wind power is an economical alternative, and there is enough harnessable wind to meet America’s total energy needs, but there are problems of variability to be overcome.
- Solar power will also be part of the solution, but it needs a lot of R & D to become economical for all but a few special applications. It can be economical for peaking power now, but the utility industry seems to be ignorant of the potential.
- Bio-mass, mainly in the form of agricultural waste, will also be a significant contributor, especially for replacement of a good fraction of petroleum shortages.
- Other alternatives (geo-thermal, tidal, wave) must also receive attention.
All alternatives require major investment to be realized and demand a long-term commitment and plan. Source: Energy Central, Energy Pulse, 9/10/2004.Stores Sell Hundreds of Thousands of Generators
Hardware suppliers are scouring the nation for generators as South Florida stores are caught with low inventories in the wake of hurricanes.
Fort Lauderdale's Hanna Paint and Hardware sent a truck to the Ace Hardware distribution center in Tampa to fill up on batteries, Tapcon masonry anchors, gas cans and other inventory, said manager Noel Darcy, who described the last week as "completely crazy."
In two weeks, Darcy said about 100 generators, priced from $399 to $1,500, have sold. The store hoped to haul in more Sept. 9. The demand for generators has been so great, officials from rivals Lowe's Home Improvement and Home Depot are each pulling any left in the country off shelves and shipping them to Florida."Literally, we are getting all we can as they come off the assembly line," said Jennifer Smith, spokeswoman for North Carolina-based Lowe's, which had already shipped 15,000 generators into Florida, had another 1,200 on the way. Lowe's also plans to ship in plywood, propane tanks, tarps, grills, cleaning supplies and sump pumps from stores as far away as Wisconsin.
Similarly, Home Depot's spokesman Don Harrison said there were "hundreds and hundreds" of trucks ready to resupply, pulling stock from shelves as far away as Seattle, California and New York. The Atlanta-based company, with 1,800-plus outlets, is the world's largest home improvement retailer."For 96 hours before Charley, which seems like a lifetime ago, we slammed 330,000 generators into that market," Harrison said. Both Lowe's and Home Depot officials said they can't provide details about a potential revenue boost from the surge in hurricane-related sales. "This is unprecedented in Home Depot history," Harrison said. "We've never tackled anything like this with back-to-back hurricanes and a third on our doorstep. We're just asking out customers to be patient."
Stocking for the storms: Home Depot has about 130 Florida stores with roughly 50 of them in South Florida. Many of those stores were able to reopen Sept. 5 even as Frances continued to trek across the state. Locations in Tampa and Florida's panhandle were closed through Labor Day and some store closings along the northern coast of Florida near Melbourne and Merritt Island lingered later into the week.About 1,000 Home Depot workers volunteered from six states to aid Florida, Harrison said. Lowe's said it plans to send about 450 workers from North and South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi as support. Lowe's Valdosta, Ga., distribution center - the size of 28 football fields - has spit out trucks prepped for specific stores in Florida. Special attention is on the panhandle area, which caught an onslaught of Frances second wind, Lowe's Smith said.Lowe's has more than 1,000 stores nationwide. Out of its 63 stores in Florida, four are in Palm Beach County, five are in Broward County and none are in Miami-Dade County. Only the Vero Beach location was closed Labor Day, Smith said, but reopened the next day. Seven were operating on generator power as of Sept. 7. A command center for Hurricane Charley was activated at Lowe's offices in Wilkesboro, N.C. With Hurricane Ivan looming, workers remained on 12-hour shifts. "It's like a war room," Smith said. Source: Susan Stabley, American City Business Journals Inc., 9/13/2004.
Solar Power Play
On Aug. 20, in the midst of the flurry of activity accompanying the impending end of the state legislative session, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a plan to put solar panels on 1 million California homes by 2017. The ambitious proposal would have required homebuilders to offer solar power as an option on new homes starting in 2008. It would have required electric utilities to buy any excess power generated by those panels. And it would have included municipally owned utilities like the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Roseville Electric, which traditionally have managed their own renewable-energy incentive programs.The proposal died when the Legislature went into recess last week, but plans are afoot for a revival. "There's the public desire and the political will to do something next year in terms of California's solar market," said Bernadette Del Chiaro, an energy advocate with Environment California, which sponsored the bill that would have enacted the million-solar-home plan.
The promise of solar power should be obvious to anyone who has ever spent a summer in Greater Sacramento. Solar energy systems are most productive on the days when people use the most power, keeping air conditioners running so offices and homes don't feel like toaster ovens.Solar power is also cleaner than the air-polluting power plants used to meet the state's power needs when energy use peaks. Advocates of the million-solar-homes plan estimated it would create 2,700 megawatts and reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by 50 million tons, or roughly the amount 400,000 cars produce in a year.
But solar energy isn't cheap. A solar power system for a new home costs about $12,000 to $15,000. Current rebate programs cut that cost nearly in half, but electric utility customers pay for those programs.Solar power advocates face a challenge in finding additional money for more solar power. They may also face opposition from some builders and utilities worried about additional costs and complications, as well as political wrangling over energy regulation.High demand for solar: Consumers love solar-power rebate programs. The state Energy Commission manages a renewable-power incentive program that pays a rebate of $3 per watt for residential and small commercial solar power systems. Homeowners have overwhelmed that program, depleting funding two years sooner than expected.
Though the million-solar-homes bill died in a state Assembly committee, the Legislature passed a simpler solar energy bill this year to keep the Energy Commission rebates flowing. The winning bill, AB 135, would allow the state Energy Commission to borrow $60 million against electric rates to be collected from 2007 to 2012. It would apply only to customers of the state's three big investor-owned utilities: Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. Schwarzenegger had not signed AB 135 by Tuesday, but his approval was expected.
Commercial solar rebate programs are also popular. PG&E has a waiting list of commercial customers seeking rebates for solar power systems greater than 30 kilowatts, said PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno. SMUD and Roseville customers are eligible if they buy natural gas from PG&E. The utility has paid $38 million in incentives for 100 solar projects since 2001, and has about $113 million for 165 more under construction or not yet started.Advocates may try to expand the appeal of solar power legislation next year by offering a broader range of incentives."There will be a lot of energy directed into a legislative proposal that would enact the governor's million-solar-homes program," said state deputy secretary of energy Joseph Desmond. But this time around the proposal would include additional incentives for commercial and industrial power users, he added.
Seeking efficiency: State Sen. Kevin Murray, a Culver City Democrat, introduced SB 199, the bill that would have enacted the million-solar-homes plan. State Sen. Debra Bowen, a Democrat from Redondo Beach, advanced a similar bill, SB 118. Both would have required builders to offer solar energy as an option on new houses in subdivisions of more than 50 homes.Advocates of the legislation say mandating a minimum amount of solar power purchases would help bring down the price of the equipment, which would increase demand even more. Builders have doubts about the idea.
"There's an interest on behalf of builders, but it's got to make financial sense," said John Ralston, vice president of sales and marketing for Premier Homes in Roseville.Premier Homes is in the midst of building a 95-home Rancho Cordova subdivision called Premier Gardens that features solar-power-generating roof tiles on all homes. The homes also include a standard package of energy-efficient appliances and other features designed to cut power use.
Ralston said he thinks the market will move toward solar energy without any help from the Legislature. In fact, he said, mandating solar power might actually do some damage. Consumers prefer "unobtrusive" solar roof tiles to solar panels that bolt onto the roof, he said. Though there aren't many manufacturers of solar-powered roof tiles, he said, that's what consumers will demand. "If you mandate a product and there's no competition on it the price doesn't go down. The price goes up," Ralston said.But Jim Shetler, SMUD's assistant general manager for energy supply, said he thinks the industry would gear up to supply growing demand if incentive programs offered some certainty in the market. "I think it's a goal worth going after," Shetler said. "There certainly is a large opportunity to influence the market and bring the price down."
But, he added, SMUD would prefer a broader approach that includes energy-efficiency requirements along with residential solar energy systems. And, he added, "if the goal is to impact energy production and lower the cost for solar, I don't think you can ignore the commercial side as well."Not enough time, too much politics: Murray's and Bowen's bills had some other similarities. Both would have started out with a residential solar rebate of $3 per watt (household systems are typically 2,000 to 3,000 watts) and lower the rebates each year until they hit zero in 2015. That's the approach favored by the solar industry.
In the past rebates have been as high as $4.50 per watt, but incentive programs created boom and bust cycles in the industry because the money ran out too quickly."We know we have to get off the dependence on ratepayers," said Jan McFarland, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association. "What we're trying to do is create 10 years of incentives. We would much rather have the rebates lower and get more megawatts out of them."
Either bill would cost about $100 million, but they would take the money from different places. Murray's bill would have allowed the state Public Utilities Commission to raise rates to pay for additional solar rebates to meet the million-home goal. That increase would raise bills by $3.72 for an average residential customer and $24,796 a year for the largest industrial customers.Bowen's bill would have shifted the money from incentive programs designed to reduce industrial energy use during power emergencies.
Both bills also would have required electric utilities to buy some of the power generated by the new solar energy systems, though Murray's bill would have required the utilities to buy more. Utilities object to such requirements, claiming that homeowners are allowed to sell excess solar power into the grid without having to pay charges for distributing that electric power."They're using the infrastructure for delivering the power but they're not paying the costs," said PG&E spokesman Ron Low said. "Our concern was that other customers would be subsidizing these costs."
The details of both bills were complicated and emerged late in the legislative session, said deputy energy secretary Desmond.
"We were unfortunately pressed for time, and people wanted a little more time to examine the proposals," Desmond said.But Del Chiaro of Environment California said she thought both bills got caught up in a scuffle between the governor and legislators over energy regulation. At first Bowen's bill was tied to AB 2006, a messy and controversial energy policy bill.As originally introduced in February, AB 2006 would have restored the right of large power users to choose retail electricity suppliers. By the time it passed the Legislature it had been completely altered and would instead require the state Public Utilities Commission to establish minimum power-generation requirements for the state's three largest utilities. Schwarzenegger's administration opposed AB 2006.
Bowen's bill was separated from AB 2006 in an effort at compromise, but by that time the legislature was winding down."This bill did not die over policy," Del Chiaro said. "It died over politics. So that's the biggest hurdle we're going to have to get over." Source: From the September 10, 2004 print edition of the Sacramento Business Journal, Celia Lamb, Staff Writer via Bizjournals, 9/13/2004.
Grants, RFPs & Other Funding News
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grants Management Division NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions, Environmental Entrepreneurship Program Modification1. Source: Grants.gov Opportunities Posting Update, 9/10/2004.DOE Awards Funding to Measure Winds Aloft
The U.S. Department of Energy will provide nearly $400,000 to research the wind resource at levels above normal measurements in five different states under its Special Projects competitive grants program. Most wind resource data is now in the 30-50-meter range, whereas typical hub-heights for utility scale turbines are now in the range of 70 to 90 meters and higher.Funding was awarded to state energy departments in Iowa, Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, and Ohio to establish tall-tower wind monitoring programs. Researchers will collect taller tower data to validate meso-scale weather modeling as well as examine interaction of the “nocturnal jet” and high-hub wind turbines. The nocturnal jet phenomenon consists of a layer of strong winds centered a few hundred meters above ground level. It reaches its maximum strength at night and occurs in the continental U.S. Further data is needed to understand how far down jets extend toward the surface during the night, and how that affects wind resource characterizations.
“We don’t understand well the way wind acts above 100 meters, the height that many of the newer wind turbines will reach,” said Jack Cadogan, head of the DOE wind program. “These grants will fill in some of the holes in our current understanding.” Source: AWEA Wind Energy Weekly, 9/10/2004.
This news item comes to you as a service of Western's Renewable Resources Program.
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