EREN Network News

July 5, 2000

News and Events

• Oakland to be Largest Municipal Purchaser of Green Power
• DOE Awards $4.3 Million to Develop Bio-based Products
• Toyota Begins Online Sales of Prius Hybrid Electric Car
• Volkswagen Team to Go Around the World on 1000 Liters
• Marylanders Get Energy Star Appliances Tax-Free
• Southeastern National Parks to Get Energy Efficiency Boost
• Cogeneration Plants Planned for Louisiana and Alabama

• Australian Renewable Energy Web site

• Report: 117 Million Americans Breathe Smoggy Air

About this Newsletter

News and Events

Oakland to be Largest Municipal Purchaser of Green Power Oakland City Council voted late last month to have all of its municipal facilities powered solely by electricity from renewable energy. Oakland will buy roughly 9 megawatts of electrical power — enough to power 27,000 homes — for its City Hall, administration buildings, and street and traffic lights. The commitment makes Oakland the world's largest municipal green power purchaser. ABAG Power, a power purchasing program of the Association of Bay Area Governments, will provide the green power. ABAG Power intends to supply 20 percent of the electricity from new renewable energy projects by 2003. See the press release on the EREN Green Power Web site.

DOE Awards $4.3 Million to Develop Bio-based Products
DOE announced last week the award of four grants, totaling $4.3 million, for the development of bio-based fuels and products — that is, products made from trees, crops, and other agricultural, forest and aquatic resources. The grantees will investigate methods to convert corn wastes into ethanol and plastics, to use bark as a source of resin for plywood manufacture, and to convert hog manure into methane fuel and fertilizer. See the DOE press release.

Toyota Begins Online Sales of Prius Hybrid Electric Car
Last week, Toyota began selling its hybrid electric car, the Prius, online. The four-door, five-passenger sedan features a 1.5-liter, 4-cylinder engine teamed with a 33-kilowatt motor. Unlike its competition, the Honda Insight, the Prius can operate on the electric motor only during low-speed trips around town. Its mileage is estimated at 52 miles per gallon in the city and 45 miles per gallon on the highway. The manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) is $20,450. Toyota is adding a special 8-year/100,000-mile warranty on all hybrid-electric components. See the Toyota Prius Web site.

Volkswagen Team to Go Around the World on 1000 Liters
A team of Germans just completed the North American stretch of a car trip that will take them "around the world in 80 days." The team is driving a Volkswagen Lupo equipped with a 3-cylinder turbocharged direct-injection (TDI) diesel engine. The Lupo 3L TDI, which is not available in the United States, achieves roughly 79 miles per gallon of diesel fuel. Volkswagen says it's the most fuel-efficient car in the world. The team started on May 16th and will travel 20,712 miles by August 3rd, using only 1000 liters (264 gallons) of fuel. The car is flown between port cities along the route. See the Volkswagen press release.

More details about the Lupo and the trip are available in German only on the Volkswagen Web site.

The TDI engine's high fuel efficiency make it a good candidate for hybrid electric vehicle applications. For more information, see DOE's Fuel Economy Web site.

Marylanders Get Energy Star Appliances Tax-Free
Residents of Maryland will pay no state sales tax when they buy energy efficient clothes washers, refrigerators, and room air conditioners, thanks to a new law that went into effect July 1st. In addition to waiving the sales tax on these Energy Star appliances, the new law establishes tax incentives for the use of solar power, hybrid automobiles, fuel cells, and biomass fuels. DOE applauded the law in a ceremony last week. See the DOE press release.

Southeastern National Parks to Get Energy Efficiency Boost
DOE signed an agreement with the National Park Service last week to help incorporate energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and practices in national parks in the southeastern United States. The agreement is part of the Green Energy Parks Initiative, initiated in 1999 by DOE and the U.S. Department of the Interior. See the DOE press release.

For more information about the Green Energy Parks Initiative, see the Federal Energy Management Program Web site on EREN.

Cogeneration Plants Planned for Louisiana and Alabama
American Electric Power (AEP) announced last week that it will build a natural gas-fired cogeneration plant at Dow Chemical Company's chemical complex in Plaquemine, Louisiana. Cogeneration plants — also called combined heat and power (CHP) plants — achieve superior energy performance by generating both electricity and heat for use in industrial processes. The 900-megawatt Plaquemine facility will also provide steam to the Dow chemical plant. See the AEP press release.

A cogeneration plant was also announced last week by Calpine Corporation, an independent power company, which will build, own, and operate a natural gas-fired plant at the BP Amoco chemical facility in Decatur, Alabama. The Decatur facility will generate 660 megawatts of electricity while supplying steam to the BP Amoco facility. It will also be capable of generating an additional 130 megawatts of power during times of peak energy usage. See the Calpine press release.

For more information about cogeneration plants, see DOE's Industrial CHP Initiative Web site.

Site News

Australian Renewable Energy Web site
This site provides an overview of solar, wind, wave, biomass and hydro energy, including specific information about Australia's own renewable energy use. In addition, visitors can learn how to implement these technologies in the home, search a database of players in the Australian renewable energy industry, and find out the latest information on Australian Government Initiatives.

Energy Facts and Tips

Report: 117 Million Americans Breathe Smoggy Air
A report released last month by the Clean Air Network found that more than half of the U.S. counties that measure smog levels consistently exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality standards for ozone. A total of 117 million people live in those counties. The high ozone levels are caused by nitrous oxides, which are a by-product of burning fossil fuels, and volatile organic compounds, which are emitted primarily by vehicles and certain industrial processes. The Clean Air Network report precedes an official EPA report, which is expected to be released in 2001. See the "Smog Watch 2000" report.

About this Newsletter

To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your e-mail address, 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.