EREN Network News

April 4, 2001

News and Events

• Turbines on Order for Largest Wind Project in Texas
• AWEA: Texas Energy Policy Spawns Large Wind Projects
• Connecticut Orders World's Largest Fuel Cell Installation
• USDA Funds Four Pilot Projects to Grow Energy Crops
• Ethanol Industry Reports Record Production, Rapid Growth
• How About a Phone Call When Your Bus is Coming?

• NW Energy Coalition

• World Energy Use Expected to Soar by 2020

News and Events

Turbines on Order for Largest Wind Project in Texas
The Danish wind turbine manufacturer Bonus Energy A/S confirmed last week that it has received an order for 214 wind turbines for the King Mountain wind project in western Texas. Each turbine will produce 1.3 megawatts of power, yielding a total capacity of 278.2 megawatts, which places the facility among the largest in the world. It will be fully operational by the end of this year, producing enough power for more than 139,000 Texas homes. See the Bonus Energy press release.

The King Mountain project is being developed by Renewable Energy Systems Ltd. and Cielo Wind Power, LLC. According to Cielo, the output from roughly 200 megawatts of the installation will be purchased by Reliant Energy, roughly 76 megawatts will be purchased by Austin Energy, and just under 3 megawatts will be purchased by Texas-New Mexico Power Company (TNMP). See the Cielo Web site.

TNMP announced yesterday that its customers can start signing up to receive wind power. TNMP's portion of the project will be complete by July, at which time the company will sell the power at a premium of one cent per kilowatt-hour. See the TNMP press release.

Austin Energy noted last month that the first of the turbines had passed through the city's airport on the way to King Mountain. Austin Energy's portion of the power will be sold through its "Green Choice" program, which already has more than 3,000 residential customers, 58 small businesses, and 17 large commercial customers. See the Austin Energy press release.

Reliant Energy announced its portion of the King Mountain project last year — see the August 30, 2000, edition of the EREN Network News.

AWEA: Texas Energy Policy Spawns Large Wind Projects
Why are such large wind projects being built in Texas? According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), it's because of an effective policy in Texas that requires a minimum amount of electricity generation from renewable energy — a policy known as a "renewables portfolio standard." See the AWEA press release.

Need to learn more about renewables portfolio standards? The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) recently published a 139-page report, "The Renewables Portfolio Standard: A Practical Guide" (PDF 291 KB), which is posted on the NARUC Web site.

Connecticut Orders World's Largest Fuel Cell Installation
The State of Connecticut has ordered a 1.2-megawatt fuel cell system for installation at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School in Middletown. The system, costing roughly $18 million, will be the largest fuel cell system installed to date. Select Energy, a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities, will install the system using fuel cells provided by International Fuel Cells (IFC), a unit of United Technologies Corporation. See the Select Energy press release.

IFC recently sold two fuel cell systems to the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut for use in the Mohegan Sun Casino. Each system will provide 200 kilowatts of electricity and 900,000 Btus of heat, which will provide hot water and space heating for the casino. See the IFC press release.

These recent fuel cell sales are likely harbingers of much larger things to come, according to a recent report by Allied Business Intelligence (ABI), a technology research think tank. ABI anticipates that worldwide fuel-cell generating capacity will grow by a factor of 250 over the next 10 years, increasing to 15,000 megawatts by 2011. See the ABI press release.

USDA Funds Four Pilot Projects to Grow Energy Crops The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced late in March that it had approved four pilot projects to grow grasses and trees to be used as energy crops. Farmers will grow switchgrass in Iowa and Pennsylvania, willow and switchgrass in New York, and hybrid poplar trees in Minnesota. In most cases the crops will be combined and "cofired" with coal in existing coal-fired power plants, but the Minnesota hybrid poplar trees will provide fuel for the 50-megawatt Whole Tree Energy power plant in St. Peter. See the USDA press release. The industry term for trees, grasses, and other organic matter available on a renewable basis is "biomass." When biomass is used to produce power, as in the USDA projects, it's called "biopower"; when used for fuel, it's called "biofuel"; and when used to make products, they're called "biobased" products. In general, energy from biomass is called "bioenergy." Learn more on the EREN Bioenergy page.

Ethanol Industry Reports Record Production, Rapid Growth
The ethanol fuel industry has been setting production records recently, with a record 116,000 barrels per day produced in February. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) credits the production peak to record expansion in production capacity last year. According to RFA, that growth is continuing, with 46 ethanol production facilities currently being built or expanded, and construction scheduled to begin on nearly 20 additional ethanol plants this year. See the RFA press release.

Ethanol fuel may get a further boost if California acts on a recent report that says the state would benefit from a biomass-to-ethanol industry. Produced for the California Energy Commission (CEC) by Arthur D. Little, Inc., the report estimates that California would need state incentives totaling $500 million over 20 years to create a 200-million- gallon-a-year ethanol industry. In the same span of time, that industry would generate $1 billion in benefits from new jobs and increased tax revenues. See the CEC press release, with a link to the full report.

How About a Phone Call When Your Bus is Coming?
Public transportation systems, when actively used by a community, provide great advantages in terms of energy savings and reduced air emissions. But many bus systems and some rail systems are plagued by slips in their schedules that prove too inconvenient for many riders. Unfortunately, bus schedules tend to slip the most during foul weather, when riders want least to be left waiting outside.

But never fear, bus riders, a solution is in sight! Thanks to a system created by NextBus Information Systems, riders at a stop can see when the next bus will arrive — not a schedule but an actual tracking of the bus. NextBus combines computer modeling software with Global Positioning System (GPS) and wireless technologies to locate your bus and calculate its arrival time. You can even check arrival times on the Web from the comfort of your home or office. And if that's not enough for you, the company will even send an automated message to your wireless phone when your bus is coming. As of late March, users with WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) wireless phones can opt to receive a phone alert at a pre-selected number of minutes before their bus arrives. The company's system has been extensively tested in San Francisco, and was recently installed in Vail, Colorado. See the NextBus press releases.

GPS technology has great potential for increasing the efficiency of transportation. At DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), GPS is being used to help schedule and route a senior-citizen shuttle service. By combining GPS information on the shuttle's location with advanced scheduling and routing software, NREL is helping the shuttle operators to handle a higher volume of calls on a tighter schedule. Overall, the shuttles are using less energy by covering their territory more efficiently. The technology could be adapted to any "transit-on-demand" service, such as shuttles or taxis. See the NREL press release.

Site News

NW Energy Coalition
The NW Energy Coalition is an alliance of nonprofit organizations, utilities, and businesses from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and British Columbia. The site features numerous articles and factsheets on energy conservation and renewable energy resources, affordable energy, and fish and wildlife restoration on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

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

World Energy Use Expected to Soar by 2020
The world will use 59 percent more energy in 2020 than it does today, according to a new report from DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The "International Energy Outlook 2001" projects that half the growth in energy use will occur in the developing countries in Asia and in Central and South America. The report anticipates that natural gas will be the fastest growing of all energy sources, while oil is expected to remain the dominant energy source. Although renewable energy use is projected to increase by 53 percent, that won't keep pace with the growth in world energy use.

The EIA report anticipates most of the renewable energy growth to come from large-scale hydroelectric projects in the developing world. The projected increase in the use of fossil fuels will result in a near doubling of carbon dioxide emissions, from 5.8 billion metric tons in 1990 to 9.8 billion metric tons in 2020. See the EIA press release, with a link to the full report.

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