EREN Network News

October 27, 1999

News and Events

• Australian Team Wins the 1999 World Solar Challenge
• Los Angeles World Airports Commit to Green Power
• DOE Invests $33 Million in Industrial Energy Efficiency
• Photovoltaic Cell Achieves Record Conversion Efficiency
• Synthetic Enzyme Shows Promise for Inexpensive Hydrogen

Site News

• Strawbilt

Energy Facts and Tips

• Restructuring of the Electric Utility Industry
• Businesses Can Save Energy and Protect the Bottom Line

About this Newsletter

News and Events

Australian Team Wins the 1999 World Solar Challenge
The 1999 World Solar Challenge, an international solar car race spanning Australia, began October 17th and officially ended yesterday. The 3000-kilometer race started in Darwin on Australia's north coast and ended in Adelaide on the south coast. The Aurora 101 team from Melbourne, Australia, won the race when it crossed the finish line early Friday morning, beating the second-place finisher by only 12 minutes. The team's total racing time was 41 hours and 6 minutes, for an average speed of nearly 73 kilometers per hour (45 miles per hour). See photos, video, and official race results on the Web site of the Centre for Photovoltaic Engineering at the University of New South Wales:.

The highest-placed car from the United States was the eighth-placed Manta GTX, entered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The team finished in 45 hours and 34 minutes, averaging nearly 66 kilometers per hour (41 miles per hour). See their Web site on the MIT Web site.

Los Angeles World Airports Commit to Green Power
The Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) received approval from their Board of Airport Commissioners last week to enter into a 10-year purchasing agreement for green power. LAWA will buy the green power -- electricity generated from renewable energy -- from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. LAWA will initially buy enough green power to provide 10 percent of the electricity consumed at the Los Angeles International and Van Nuys airports. The goal is to ramp up that percentage to 50 percent by 2010 and to 100 percent by 2015. For more information, see the press release on the LAWA Web site.

DOE Invests $33 Million in Industrial Energy Efficiency
DOE announced last week that it was investing $33 million in 56 research, development, and deployment projects to save energy in industry. The 56 projects relate to the aluminum, forest products, metalcasting, mining, and steel industries, all of which are energy-intensive industries. The awards go to researchers at several dozen universities and research institutions, 200 private companies, and eight DOE laboratories. For more information, see the DOE press release.

The awards were made in support of DOE's Industries of the Future Program, which aims to reduce energy use in the nine most energy-intensive industries. For more information, see the Industries of the Future Program on the Office of Industrial Technologies Web site.

Photovoltaic Cell Achieves Record Conversion Efficiency
Spectrolab, Inc. and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory announced last week that they had constructed a photovoltaic solar cell that converts 32.3 percent of the sunlight that hits it into electricity. The high conversion efficiency was achieved by combining three layers of photovoltaic materials into a single solar cell. This "multijunction" cell performed most efficiently when it received sunlight concentrated to 50 times normal. To use such cells in practical applications, the cell is mounted in a device that uses lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto the cell. Such "concentrator" systems are mounted on tracking systems that keep them pointed toward the sun. For more information, see the press release.

To learn more about multijunction photovoltaic cells, see the following page on the DOE Photovoltaics Program Web site.

Synthetic Enzyme Shows Promise for Inexpensive Hydrogen
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign have developed a synthetic enzyme that could lead to new methods for producing inexpensive hydrogen. The enzyme mimics a naturally occurring enzyme called hydrogenase, found in certain bacteria that produce hydrogen. Although the synthetic enzyme only produces a small amount of hydrogen and then stops, the researchers believe their approach shows promise. Hydrogen is a clean energy source that could power fuel cells and other devices. For more information, see the press release on the university's Web site.

The research was published in the October 20th edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. For more information, visit the Journal's Web site.

Site News

Strawbilt
This site presents a case study of the sustainable building and renewable energy projects at the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico. The project team combined strawbale construction with solar hot water, photovoltaics, and other technologies to operate the monastery entirely off-grid. The site explains, in detail, the group's energy needs and how they were met by these technologies.

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

Energy Facts and Tips

Restructuring of the Electric Utility Industry
Depending what state you live in, you may or may not be aware of the ongoing restructuring of the electric industry. Currently, 21 states have enacted legislation to restructure their electric industry, and all 50 states have at least considered it. On the federal level, DOE worked with the Clinton Administration to propose federal legislation, and several bills have been introduced in Congress this year.

The main idea of electric industry restructuring is to remove the monopoly control that most utilities have in their service areas and instead allow a number of "electricity providers" to compete for customers. Among other benefits, this has opened the door for companies selling green power. Some legislators have also found restructuring as an opportunity to encourage the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency within their states.

DOE has been tracking restructuring efforts for years. The Electric Utility Restructuring Web site on EREN provides a comprehensive source of information about the subject, including a weekly update of restructuring activities around the country. The Web site was recently enhanced to include all back issues of the Electric Utility Restructuring Weekly Update, providing a detailed resource for investigating the subject. See the Web site.

Businesses Can Save Energy and Protect the Bottom Line
If you run your own business or are in a position of authority in a business, you should think seriously about how your business can cut its energy use and avoid pollution while actually improving its economic performance. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has taken a close look at the possibilities for businesses to save energy, and currently has 18 case studies of successful business practices posted on their Web site. See the Web page, "Making Business Sense of Energy Efficiency and Pollution Prevention," on the ACEEE Web site.

About this Newsletter

To subscribe to this newsletter, please go to the Web page http://www.eren.doe.gov/newsletter/subscribe/.

The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) home page is located at http://www.eren.doe.gov/.

Please contact webmaster_eere@nrel.gov if you have questions or comments about the EREN Web site.

If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact the editor.