EERE Network News
February 21, 2007
News and Events
Continuing Resolution Boosts Funding for Efficiency, Renewable Energy
Congress has specified and the White House has approved nearly $1.474 billion in funding for DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for the remainder of fiscal year 2007. The funding is due to a "continuing resolution," which provides federal funding for the rest of the fiscal year.
Cellulosic Ethanol Facilities Planned for Louisiana and Georgia
Two companies are taking totally different routes toward producing cellulosic ethanol. A facility in Louisiana will convert crops and agricultural wastes to ethanol via fermentation, while a proposed facility in Georgia will gasify biomass and then produce ethanol from that "synthesis gas."
IndyCar Switches to 100 Percent Ethanol
When the IndyCar Series starts its first race of the season on March 24th, all 17 of the race cars will be running on 100 percent ethanol fuel. Ethanol is also coming to the American Le Mans Series, which will switch to a 10 percent ethanol blend for the 2007 racing season.
New Federal Rule Encourages Transmission Access for Renewable Energy
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has adopted a new rule that avoids excessive "imbalance" charges for intermittent power sources and creates a new class of service to accommodate less-predictable forms of renewable power generation.
Federal Regulators Seek Comments on Wave and Tidal Energy Permits
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering applying stricter scrutiny to permits for wave and tidal energy projects, requiring companies to demonstrate progress toward their milestones. The approach is now being applied to a proposed wave energy facility off the coast of Oregon.
Raleigh, North Carolina, Commits to LED Lighting
Wowed by the success of a garage lighting project using light-emitting diodes (LEDs), the City of Raleigh, North Carolina, has decided to become an "LED City." Over the next year and half, the city will deploy LED lighting in a wide variety of municipal applications.
Energy Connections
DOE to Add Strategic Petroleum Storage Site in Mississippi
As DOE begins a 20-year effort to expand the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to one billion barrels of petroleum, it has selected a new storage site in Richton, Mississippi. The site is the first SPR storage site to be located inland, away from the hurricane threats on the Gulf Coast.
