EREN Network News

November 17, 1999

News and Events

• Kinko's and City of Oakland Buy Green Power
• Program Launched to Accredit Utility Green Pricing Programs
• Report Finds U.S. Renewable Energy Policies Lacking
• DOE to Test Methods of Sealing Home Heating Ducts
• Microorganisms to Help Convert Rice Straw to Ethanol

Site News

• Natural Gas Vehicles '99

• Leaded Gasoline Study Shows the Link of Energy to Health
• New Booklet Provides Renewable Energy Overview

About this Newsletter

News and Events

Kinko's and City of Oakland Buy Green Power
Kinko's, a provider of document copying and business services, committed earlier this month to powering more than 75 of its California stores with renewable energy. The company will also buy cleaner power for several of its Pennsylvania stores. The agreement makes Kinko's the largest commercial customer for GreenMountain.com, a national supplier of green power. For more information, see the story posted on EREN's Green Power Network.

Buying its electricity from GreenMountain.com will help Kinko's meet its corporate Environmental Vision Statement, which includes a commitment to use energy-efficient technologies and renewable energy. See Kinko's Environmental Vision Statement.

In related news, the City of Oakland, California, is preparing to power all its municipal facilities with green power. The city estimates that 9 megawatts of capacity will be needed to meet its electricity needs. The City Council approved the release of a request for proposals from green power providers; proposals can include so-called "distributed" power sources like solar photovoltaic panels or fuel cells. For more information, see the story posted on EREN's Green Power Network.

Program Launched to Accredit Utility Green Pricing Programs
The Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) has announced the launch of a new program to accredit green power programs offered by regulated utilities. CRS, a non-profit organization, has administered the "Green-e" program to certify green power products in California since the state deregulated its electric industry in early 1998. It later expanded the program to Pennsylvania when that state was deregulated. But in states that have not deregulated, more and more utilities are offering electricity from renewable energy sources at a premium price, through so-called green pricing programs. The new Green Pricing Accreditation Initiative will verify the environmental performance of these programs and will recognize and accredit those programs that meet stringent standards for consumer and environmental protection. For more information, see the CRS press release.

Report Finds U.S. Renewable Energy Policies Lacking
A new report by the Renewable Energy Policy Project (REPP) finds that the United States' international competitors have superior policies for encouraging the renewable energy industries in their countries, presenting a threat to U.S. businesses. According to the report, "if the U.S. does not commit to a multi-year, diverse mix of commercialization strategies soon, it will continue to lose its share of a growing global market." For more information, see the report, "Renewable Energy Policy Outside the United States," in the New Publications section of the REPP Web site.

DOE to Test Methods of Sealing Home Heating Ducts
If your home uses a forced-air heating and cooling system, you probably are well aware of the intricate system of ducts running through the crawlspace, basement, and walls of your home. But here's something you might not know: they probably leak. In fact, as much as 30 percent of a home's heating and cooling energy is lost through leaky ductwork. In the United States, that totals $5 billion in wasted energy each year.

Surprisingly, tests at DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) found that standard duct tape is NOT the answer to leaky ducts; in fact, it works poorly. Instead, LBNL researchers developed an aerosol spray that can be injected into ducts to seal them from the inside. Now DOE is preparing to test this and other duct-sealing technologies in a national test on 100 low-income homes this winter.

DOE will collaborate on the $200,000 field test with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing. For more information, see the DOE press release.

Microorganisms to Help Convert Rice Straw to Ethanol
DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has signed two agreements with Arkenol Holdings, of Mission Viejo, California, to develop microorganisms that will better convert rice straw into ethanol. NREL holds the patent on a genetically engineered bacterium, Zymomonas mobilis, that can ferment both glucose and xylose into ethanol. Xylose is a sugar found in woody plants that is usually resistant to fermentation. Arkenol will license the use of the bacterium and will work cooperatively with NREL to develop improved strains of the bacterium. The company intends to use the technology in an ethanol facility planned for Sacramento, California. For more information, see the NREL press release.

Site News

Natural Gas Vehicles '99
Natural Gas Vehicles '99 features a database of natural gas vehicle and engine product information. Listings are organized by category and contain model numbers, brief product descriptions and specifications, and contact information, when available. In addition, the site includes general information about the benefits of using natural gas as a fuel and how natural gas engines work. A calendar of natural gas vehicle events, a searchable database of compressed natural gas fueling stations, and a listing of funding sources for purchasing or converting natural gas vehicles are also included.

For this and other recent additions see the EREN Web site.

Energy Facts and Tips

Leaded Gasoline Study Shows the Link of Energy to Health
Energy use is linked to health, but to some the connection may seem weak. The argument goes like this: most energy use causes air pollution, and air pollution impacts people's health, so energy use affects people's health. Simple enough, but usually it's difficult to link a specific kind of energy use — say, driving a car — to a specific health problem, like asthma. And it's even harder to say how changing our energy use patterns might impact health.

In light of that problem, a recent study on the use of leaded gasoline throughout the world may open a few eyes. Researchers at Princeton University compared blood lead levels to the use of lead in gasoline in 19 studies on six continents. The researchers found a direct correlation of blood lead concentrations to the use of leaded gasoline. During leaded gasoline use, blood lead reached levels of more than 15 micrograms per deciliter in some countries. Reductions in gasoline lead levels were "a major causal factor in the observed reductions in population blood lead levels and show that [blood lead] levels of about 3 [micrograms per deciliter] are widely achievable," according to the researchers. The study was published in the November 15th edition of Environmental Science and Technology. For more information, including a posting of the article, see the journal's Web site.

New Booklet Provides Renewable Energy Overview
Renewable energy sources can provide reliable electricity while reducing environmental concerns. But many Americans don't understand how renewable resources can be harnessed to provide them with a clean, never-ending source of energy. A new 32-page booklet from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges surrounding the greater use of renewable energy in the United States. "Choices for a Brighter Future: Perspectives on Renewable Energy" looks at the use of renewable energy in eight regions of the nation, plus Alaska and Hawaii, because each area has its own energy needs, electrical system constraints, policy issues, and environmental concerns. For more information, see the NREL press release.

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