EREN Network News

April 25, 2001

News and Events

• Bush Nominates Garman for DOE Efficiency, Renewable Office
• DOE Marks Earth Day with Kickoff of Solar Decathlon
• Long Island Company to Install 1.5 Megawatts of Solar Power
• City and State of New York Buy 289 Hybrid Electric Cars
• Nine-Megawatt Wind Plant Slated for Pennsylvania
• DOE Awards $6 Million to Advance Solar Cell Research

• Environmental and Energy Study Institute

• Report Examines Probability of Climate Change Outcomes

News and Events

Bush Nominates Garman for DOE Efficiency, Renewable Office
President Bush announced last week his intention to nominate David Garman to be the new DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Garman is currently chief of staff to Senator Frank Murkowski and served as a professional staff member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee from 1995 to 1998. See the White House press release.

As the Assistant Secretary for EERE, Garman will provide the direction for DOE efforts to advance energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. EERE provides funding for a wide range of programs, including the EREN Web site and this newsletter. See the EERE site on EREN.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) praised the nomination, noting that Garman has handled issues related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate change while serving on the Senate energy committee. See the AWEA press release.

DOE Marks Earth Day with Kickoff of Solar Decathlon
Students from 11 colleges and universities converged on Washington, D.C., this weekend and spent Earth Day learning about solar home design. The weekend workshop marked the start of DOE's Solar Decathlon, in which the 11 collegiate teams, starting with $5,000 of seed money from DOE, will each design and build a solar house.

In September 2002, the teams will return to the capital with their modular houses and will have four days to erect them on the National Mall. Each house will be 500 to 800 square feet and must have sufficient solar energy to provide heating, cooling, hot water, and enough electricity for lights, appliances, computers, and even an electric car. The entries will be judged on 10 categories, which makes it a "decathlon." See the DOE press release.

See also the Solar Decathlon site on EREN.

If building a solar home on the National Mall sounds like a stretch, think again: there's one there right now. Called the "Solar Patriot," the 3,000-square-foot, five-bedroom colonial went on display Saturday and will remain on display through this weekend. The house combines passive solar heating, a solar hot water system, a photovoltaic system, and a battery backup system with such features as well-insulated construction, high-efficiency lights and appliances, and water-conserving equipment. Solar energy meets all the energy needs for the house, which will later be relocated to Loudoun County, Virginia. See the press release from McNeil Technologies, Inc. — one of the sponsors for the house.

The Solar Patriot is part of Forum 2001, a solar energy forum that is ending today. More than 2,000 participants were expected at the forum, which is sponsored by the American Solar Energy Society. See the Forum 2001 Web site.

Long Island Company to Install 1.5 Megawatts of Solar Power
New York Governor George E. Pataki announced on Earth Day that a Long Island company, the Fala Direct DM Group, will install a total of 1.5 megawatts of solar power this summer at its facilities in Farmingdale and Melville. The governor claims that the project will be the largest application worldwide of solar power technology by a single commercial enterprise. The systems will cut the direct marketing company's energy bill by about 19 percent, at a total cost of $9.3 million. To help underwrite the cost of the systems, the Long Island Power Authority will provide a research grant of $4.5 million to the company. See the governor's press release.

The governor also highlighted the potential for geothermal energy to heat and cool buildings in New York state. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is currently working with 25 schools, health care facilities, churches and business to install geothermal heat pump systems. Among these is Westchester Country Club, which is installing a geothermal heat pump system as part of a $7 million project to reduce energy consumption by 775,000 kilowatt hours, saving $130,000 annually on energy costs. See the governor's press release.

City and State of New York Buy 289 Hybrid Electric Cars
Toyota Motor Corporation announced last week that the city and state of New York have bought a total of 289 of its Prius hybrid-electric cars. In the largest fleet transaction yet for the Prius, the City of New York will buy 231 Prius hybrids for use by a variety of municipal agencies, and New York City Transit — part of the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority — will buy 56 Priuses. In addition, the State of New Jersey will purchase 33 vehicles for use by the State Central Motor Pool and the Port Authority. See the April 11th press release on the Toyota Web site.

Nine-Megawatt Wind Plant Slated for Pennsylvania
PECO Energy Company announced Monday that a new 9-megawatt wind power plant will be built west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to provide wind power to its customers in the southeastern part of the state. Somerset Windpower LLC, a joint venture between Atlantic Renewable Energy Corporation and Zilkha Renewable Energy, will build the facility, to be called the Somerset Wind Farm. It will produce about 25,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year and serve about 3,000 customers. See the PECO press release.

PECO and Community Energy, Inc. will sell the wind power at a premium price to customers who sign up for it. Both the Somerset Wind Farm and the 15.4-megawatt Mill Run Wind Farm (announced in March) will provide wind power for PECO's "New Wind Energy" option. See the New Wind Energy Web site.

Recognizing the wind energy advances in the state, the American Wind Energy Association has established a new Web site, "Wind Power in Pennsylvania."

More wind power is destined for somewhere in the United States soon: American Wind Technology, Inc. (AWT) has been awarded a contract to supply 170 wind turbines to FPL Energy, LLC. At 660 kilowatts each, the turbines will total 112.2 megawatts in capacity. FPL Energy has ordered a total of 866 of the turbines since June 2000, for a total capacity of 572 megawatts. AWT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vestas Wind Systems A/S. See the Vestas press release.

DOE Awards $6 Million to Advance Solar Cell Research
DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced earlier this month the award of $6 million to 11 universities and five companies for research into non- conventional technologies to convert sunlight into electricity. The wide range of technologies being examined is somewhat startling and suggests the high degree of innovation being applied to this field. The awardees will examine the use of liquid crystalline organic layers, plastics, dye-sensitized nanocrystalline titanium dioxide, and other esoteric materials, as well as innovative fabrication techniques and even an antenna designed to capture solar energy. See the NREL press release.

If that's not enough of a departure from the standard silicon- based solar cell for you, how about diamonds? Yes, a researcher at Vanderbilt University is exploring the use of polycrystalline diamond in solar cells. According to the researcher, the cells would not be much more expensive than silicon solar cells, but may be more resistant to the harsh temperature and radiation exposures of space. See the Vanderbilt press release.

Site News

Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Founded in 1984, this non-profit organization promotes environmentally sustainable societies by providing information about energy and climate, water and sustainable communities, transportation, and economic and fiscal policy. The site includes the group's briefing summaries and a newsletter and allows users to register to be notified of future briefings.

For this and other recent additions to the EREN Web site, see http://www.eren.doe.gov/new/whats-new.html.

Energy Facts and Tips

Report Examines Probability of Climate Change Outcomes
Early this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Third Assessment Report on climate change, which now stands as the definitive summary of our understanding of the global warming phenomena. In that report, the IPCC projected a global warming of 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius (2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100. But is the most likely outcome closer to 1.4 degrees Celsius or closer to 5.8 degrees Celsius?

A report released last month by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) attempts to address that very question. The report, "Uncertainty Analysis of Global Climate Change Projections," projects that with no mitigation of greenhouse gases, the most likely temperature rise is 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit). It also finds a 95 percent probability that the temperature rise will be 0.9 to 4.8 degrees Celsius (1.6 to 8.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The report also finds a less than 1 percent chance that the temperature rise will be as high as 5.8 degrees Celsius.

The report was prepared by the MIT Global Change Joint Program.

DOE announced last month that it is establishing its own Joint Global Change Research Institute to investigate the scientific, social and economic implications of climate change. DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will team with the University of Maryland to form the new institute. See the PNNL press release.

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