EREN Network News

July 5, 2001

News and Events

• President Bush Touts Energy Efficiency, Announces Grants
• California Claims 12 Percent Cut in Electricity Use in June
• CEC Awards $2.5 Million for One-Megawatt Solar Power Plant
• Renewable Energy Adds Generating Capacity to California
• Long Island Grid to Benefit from 75 Fuel Cells this Summer
• USDA Grants, Loans to Help Increase Ethanol Capacity

Site News

• Australian Wind Energy Association

• U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Up 2.7 Percent

News and Events

President Bush Touts Energy Efficiency, Announces Grants
President Bush delivered a message of energy efficiency to DOE last week, declaring that "ours is a program that says, we must conserve. We must advance technologies that are smart and reasonable and make eminent sense for the future of our country."

In support of his message, the President announced $85.7 million in new federal grants to accelerate the development of fuel cells, advanced engines, hydroelectric technology, and efficient appliances.

President Bush noted that many appliances are energy "vampires" that consume significant amounts of energy even when turned off. The President said the standard should be appliances that use at most one watt when turned off, and said that this standard should be one of the Energy Star qualifications. The President also promised to issue an executive order directing all federal agencies to purchase appliances that meet the one-watt standard, wherever cost- effective. See the President's remarks on the White House Web site.

The White House backed up the President's comments with a plan to cut energy use by 25 to 35 percent in the White House Complex. See the plan on the White House Web site.

The White House also released a summary of the President's legislative agenda for energy. The summary notes that "recent House action on both the Energy/Water and Interior appropriations bills is consistent with and largely supportive of the President's National Energy Policy released last month… Based on the Secretary of Energy’s preliminary review, the Committee’s actions in both bills to include $285 million for energy efficiency and renewable energy research and development may be supportive of the President's objectives." See the summary on the White House Web site.

California Claims 12 Percent Cut in Electricity Use in June
Californians continued to practice energy conservation in June, reducing their overall electricity use by 12 percent while reducing their peak electricity demand by 14 percent, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC). The numbers are adjusted for weather and economic growth.

"Californians are doing a phenomenal job of conserving energy," said Governor Gray Davis. "I asked Californians to reduce electricity usage by 10 percent and they have come through big time." See the governor's press release.

The complete data released by the CEC show an actual measured reduction of 8.3 percent in electricity use, and an 8.8 percent reduction in peak demand. The weather adjustment alone increased the drop in electricity use to 10.5 percent and the demand reduction to 12.2 percent. The CEC also compared similar weather days from 2000 and 2001 to demonstrate the energy savings. See the CEC analysis.

Although California passed through June without any electricity emergencies, hot weather this week has driven the California Independent System Operator (ISO) to declare Stage Two emergencies on Monday and Tuesday. The ISO has said that rolling blackouts are possible this week, but as of press time they had been avoided. See the ISO Web site.

The situation was not as positive in Nevada on Monday, where near-record temperatures caused a 45-minute blackout for 10,000 customers in the Las Vegas Valley. Nevada Power Company officials said the outage was a reminder that conservation is important. See the Nevada Power press release.

CEC Awards $2.5 Million for One-Megawatt Solar Power Plant
The California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded a grant of $2.5 million in June to the City of Vallejo for the construction of a one-megawatt solar power plant. Vallejo, located about 20 miles north of Oakland, will build the solar facility in partnership with BP Solar. The project is expected to be completed by year's end. See the city's press release.

More solar power is coming to California via solar electric homes. AstroPower, Inc. announced last week that it has teamed with Pardee Homes, Inc. to offer solar electric power systems to new home buyers in southern California. The companies hope to build 200 solar-powered homes over the next 2.5 years. See the AstroPower press release.

Renewable Energy Adds Generating Capacity to California
Renewable energy sources provided several additions to California's generating capacity in June. El Paso Corporation announced that a refurbished 25-megawatt biomass power plant near Fresno went online two weeks ahead of schedule. See the El Paso press release.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) added hydroelectric generators at its pumping plant at Diamond Valley Lake. The MWD converted four massive water pumps into generators with a total of 13 megawatts of capacity -- enough to power 13,000 homes. MWD plans to convert the remaining 8 pumps to increase the generating capacity to 40 megawatts. See the MWD Web site.

And Henwood Energy Services, Inc. announced that a 1.35-megawatt hydroelectric facility is now online near San Diego. The facility is powered by treated wastewater that drops 90 feet from the Point Loma wastewater treatment plant prior to being released into the ocean. See the Henwood press release, (PDF 24 KB),Download Acrobat Reader.

To encourage such installations, the California Energy Commission (CEC) has announced its third auction of renewable energy incentives. The CEC has $40 million to provide to qualified power installations. Bidders will submit projects with both an estimate of their anticipated power production and the incentive they wish to receive, in cents per kilowatt-hour. The CEC will fund qualified projects starting with the lowest incentive bid and moving higher until the funds are exhausted. Successful bidders will receive incentive payments of up to 1.5 cents for every kilowatt-hour of renewable electricity they generate during their first five years of operation. See the CEC press release.

Long Island Grid to Benefit from 75 Fuel Cells this Summer
The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) announced last week that it will connect 75 fuel cells to its electrical grid at its West Babylon substation this summer. Plug Power Inc. will provide the fuel cells for the $7 million program. See the LIPA press release.

Two 5-kilowatt fuel cells are also headed to California. Fuel Cell Technologies Ltd. (FCT) will install its solid oxide fuel cell systems at the Presidio Trust in San Francisco and the National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California at Irvine. See the FCT press release.

And in Texas, a 3-kilowatt fuel cell was installed at the Port of Houston last month. The installation uses a DCH Technology fuel cell. See the press release from the Houston Advanced Research Center, which is providing technical support for the project, June 15, 2001.

USDA Grants, Loans to Help Increase Ethanol Capacity
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week the award of $1.9 million in grants that will boost the U.S. production of ethanol. The grants will help fund four ethanol plants -- two in Iowa and one each in South Dakota and Washington state -- with a combined capacity of 109 million gallons per year of ethanol. The USDA is also providing a $500,000 grant toward market evaluations for food- and fuel-grade soybean oil. See the USDA press release.

The USDA also approved in late June a $12.5 million guaranteed loan for the construction of an ethanol production plant in Galva, Iowa. The loan recipient, Quad County Corn Processors’ Cooperative, has contributed roughly $8.5 million in equity capital toward the construction project, which will be complete in January 2002. Each year, the plant will convert 6.8 million bushels of corn into 18 million gallons of ethanol. See the USDA press release.

Site News

Australian Wind Energy Association
This site’s mission is to promote wind energy in Australia. It provides information on reliability, explains how wind turbines work, presents calculations for power generation, discusses wind potential for agricultural uses, and provides general information about building your own turbine. The site also answers the most commonly asked questions about wind energy, examines case studies, and provides information on current Australian projects, news and publications.

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

Energy Facts and Tips

U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Up 2.7 Percent
Preliminary estimates by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) find that U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels rose 2.7 percent in 2000, the highest growth rate since 1996. EIA attributes the growth to a return to more normal weather, decreased hydroelectric power generation that was replaced by fossil-fuel power generation, and strong U.S. economic growth. All sectors of the economy -- residences, commercial buildings, industry, and transportation -- showed emission increases in 2000. According to EIA, carbon dioxide emissions account for more than 80 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and are a good indicator of the change that can be expected in total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. See the EIA press release.

The U.S. trend is in contrast to recent trends in China. Although China is expected to be a growing source of greenhouse gas emissions, the country has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent since 1997, according to a report by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). During the same period, China's economy grew 36 percent. The NRDC report attributes the decrease to switching to higher quality coal, restructuring industry through broad economic reforms, closing inefficient coal- fired power plants, improving energy efficiency, promoting cleaner energy sources, and instituting tougher air pollution control policies. See the NRDC report

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