EREN Network News
June 14, 2000
News and Events
- SeaWest to Build New Wind Plant in Oregon
- Honeywell Microturbines to Power Chicago Facilities
- Oak Ridge Laboratory Signs Up For TVA Green Power
- DOE Partnership to Advance Superconducting Cables
- Daylighting Project Slashes Energy Use, Boosts Light Levels
Site News
- High Performance Buildings
Energy Facts and Tips
- Study: U.S. Effects of Climate Change to be Severe
- Hey, Turn That Stereo Down!
About this Newsletter
News and Events
SeaWest to Build New Wind Plant in Oregon
SeaWest WindPower, Inc. announced last week that it plans
to build a 24.6-megawatt wind power plant in Gilliam County,
Oregon. The plant is intended to provide power to the
Bonneville Power Administration and should be completed
by the end of 2001. See the SeaWest press release.
Honeywell Microturbines to Power Chicago Facilities
Honeywell announced last week the sale of as many as 55
of its 75-kilowatt microturbines to Commonwealth Edison of
Chicago. Unicom Distributed Energy, the Midwest distributor
of the microturbines, will install the units at various locations
within Commonwealth Edison's service area, including
senior housing facilities operated by the Chicago Housing
Authority. See the Honeywell press release.
In related news, Capstone Turbine Corporation announced
last week that a 30-kilowatt microturbine running on landfill
methane has completed 1300 hours of operation. The Los
Angeles County Sanitation Districts is testing the
microturbine at its Puente Hills landfill. A independent test
found low nitrogen oxide emissions from the unit. See the
Capstone press release.
Oak Ridge Laboratory Signs Up For TVA Green Power
DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has announced plans
to purchase a portion of its power from the Tennessee Valley
Authority's (TVA) "Green Power Switch" program. Oak Ridge
will purchase 675,000 kilowatt-hours per year of electricity
generated from renewable energy sources, including wind,
biomass, and solar energy. The purchase makes Oak Ridge
one of the first industrial participants in TVA's green power
program. See the story and the Oak Ridge press release on
EREN's Green Power Network.
The Green Power Network has also garnered some attention
by publishing four "top ten" lists of utility programs that offer
green power — often referred to as "green pricing" programs.
The top-ranking utility programs in each category made
impressive achievements: signing up 31,000 customers,
signing up 4.7 percent of all customers, developing
16 megawatts of new wind energy, and charging a premium
of only 0.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. See the top ten lists on
EREN's Green Power Network.
DOE Partnership to Advance Superconducting Cables
DOE announced last week a new three-year partnership to
develop techniques for manufacturing superconducting
cables. DOE and IGC-SuperPower, LLC will share the costs
of the $4.5 million project. Superconducting cables carry
electrical current with minimal losses of energy.
Approximately seven percent of the electricity generated in
the United States is lost in the process of delivering it to the
customers; superconducting cables used in transformers,
transmission wires, and other equipment could cut that
energy loss in half.
High-temperature superconductors (HTS) are materials that
lose resistance at or near the temperature of liquid nitrogen.
However, these materials are brittle and are difficult to
fabricate into flexible cables. The "coated conductor"
approach, developed at DOE's Los Alamos National
Laboratory in April 1995, deposits the superconducting
material onto a substrate in a way that essentially creates an
infinitely long crystal of superconducting material. Using this
technique, Los Alamos researchers developed a flexible
HTS tape that could carry nearly 100 times more current per
square centimeter than previous superconducting cables.
The new partnership will develop manufacturing processes
that use the coated conductor approach. See the DOE news
release.
In related news, researchers at DOE's Argonne National
Laboratory have developed a technique to form a strong
weld that allows unfettered current flow between two pieces
of HTS cable. This capability will further advance the
commercial application of HTS technology. See the Argonne
announcement.
Daylighting Project Slashes Energy Use, Boosts Light Levels
The Core Group of Companies announced last week that
they have added natural daylighting to their Cary, Illinois,
office and warehouse, thereby cutting energy use by
70 percent while increasing light levels fivefold. The
company used a combination of passive daylighting systems
and active systems, which use solar-powered sun-tracking
mirrors to channel sunlight into the building. The company
claims the installation eliminated the need for fluorescent
lighting during normal working hours. See the Core Group press release.
Site News
High Performance Buildings
High performance buildings use energy efficiency measures,
renewable energy technology, recycled and sustainable
materials, and site-sensitive design to minimize the burden
on the environment. This Web site profiles exemplary
commercial and residential buildings around the world and
provides news on the latest in high performance building
research.
Energy Facts and Tips
Study: U.S. Effects of Climate Change to be Severe
A draft report released yesterday by the U.S. Global Change
Research Program (USGCRP) projects dire effects on the
United States from global warming during the 21st Century.
The assessment, which was prepared for Congress by a
government-led group of experts from a wide variety of
organizations, predicts that U.S. temperatures will rise about
5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years, which is
higher than the expected increase in global temperatures.
The wide-ranging effects on the United States include the
potential destruction of some ecosystems, widespread water
concerns, more frequent heavy and extreme precipitation
events, and increased damage to coastal and permafrost
areas. On the plus side, U.S. agriculture should be able to
adapt to the predicted climate changes. The draft report is
available for public comment at the USGCRP Web site.
Hey, Turn That Stereo Down!
When your neighbor's stereo starts shaking your windows,
do you ever find yourself wondering how much energy it's
using? According to a recent report from DOE's Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), audio products like
stereo systems and clock radios account for about
1.8 percent of the total electricity use in U.S. homes. That's
about equal to the electricity use of all the households in
Maryland.
The report estimated that this number could be cut in half
through energy efficiency improvements. One of the big
energy wasters, according to the report, is the power usage
in low-power products, like clock radios, in their standby and
idle modes. Another big energy waster is the use of
inefficient amplifiers in high-power stereos. Maybe that fact
can help you convince your neighbor to turn the stereo down
— then again, maybe not. See the LBNL report, "Energy Use
of Home Audio Products in the U.S." on EREN.
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