EREN Network News

May 16, 2001

News and Events

• President Bush: Energy Efficiency to be Part of Energy Plan
• Pennsylvania Slated for 50-Megawatt Wind Power Plant
• U.S., European Union to Cooperate on Energy Research
• DOE Honors Leaders in Alternative Fuel Vehicle Use
• Hybrid Electric Buses Coming to California, New York, Ohio

• Dr. E’s Energy Lab

• World Energy Production Down in 1999; Renewables Increased

News and Events

President Bush: Energy Efficiency to be Part of Energy Plan
Investment in new energy-saving technologies will be part of the administration's energy plan, President Bush said on Saturday. The President's weekly radio address focused on the benefits of energy efficiency, which he referred to as "a new kind of conservation, a 21st-century conservation that saves power through technological innovation." President Bush said the energy plan, to be released Thursday, will require improved efficiency standards for appliances as well as incentives to encourage industry to replace outdated equipment. See (or listen to) the President's address on the White House Web site.
The address is also available in Spanish on the White House Web site.

A poll by the Gallup Organization, released yesterday, found that the President's emphasis on conservation is likely to appeal to the public. According to the Gallup poll, "Americans express widespread support for several measures to deal with the current energy situation, including both new production and conservation initiatives, but when asked to make a trade-off between the two approaches, more Americans choose conservation than new production."

The poll found the U.S. public to be most supportive of investing in new sources of energy, such as solar, wind, and fuel cells — 91 percent favored these investments. The poll also showed strong support — 85 percent of more — for mandating more energy efficient appliances, buildings, and cars. To produce highly efficient cars, a partnership between government and industry is favored by 76 percent of the U.S. public. See the Gallup press release.

Pennsylvania Slated for 50-Megawatt Wind Power Plant
Exelon Power Team and Waymart Wind Farm, LLC announced last week their plans to build a 50-megawatt wind power plant near Scranton, Pennsylvania. The facility is the fourth major wind farm announced for Pennsylvania, and it will be the largest yet, comprising 40 turbines, each rated at 1.3 megawatts. Exelon Power Team will buy the wind power from the project, called the Moosic Mountain wind farm, and resell it to commercial and residential customers throughout the state. Community Energy, Inc. and Exelon Power Team will jointly market the power. See the press release.

Exelon Power Team is also involved with marketing power from the Mill Run Wind Farm and the Somerset Wind Farm, announced earlier this year. Combined, the three projects will total more than 74 megawatts of wind capacity. See the April 25th edition of the EREN Network News.

U.S., European Union to Cooperate on Energy Research
DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham and European Union (EU) Commissioner for Research Philippe Busquin signed agreements on Monday to conduct joint research in energy, including renewable energy and energy efficiency research. According to the European Commission, the EU has strengths in fusion energy and energy efficiency and is mainly interested in fuel cell technology, hydrogen production technologies, solar energy and biomass. See the DOE press release. See also the European Commission press release.

DOE Honors Leaders in Alternative Fuel Vehicle Use
One potential solution to tight gasoline supplies and high prices is to switch some of the demand to alternative fuels, such as ethanol, natural gas, and electricity. For their efforts to do so, 18 organizations and communities were recognized with DOE awards on Monday. The awards, part of DOE's Clean Cities Program, went to ten Clean Cities Coalitions across the country and to eight "Clean Cities National Partners" — companies and organizations that help the program meet its goals. See the DOE press release.

The Clean Cities Program helps build local, voluntary, government-industry partnerships to reduce oil consumption, achieve cleaner air and stimulate local economic activity through the use of alternative fuel vehicles. More than 80 local coalitions comprise the nationwide Clean Cities network, in which more than 4,400 Clean Cities coalition members and partners are working to put alternative fuel vehicles on the road today. See the Clean Cities Web site.

One example of a Clean Cities National Partner is American Airlines, which was awarded for its commitment to replace 80 percent of its fossil-fueled ground service vehicles in the United States with electric vehicles in the next ten years, at a cost of $400 million. The company has already converted its entire ground service vehicle fleet at El Paso International Airport to electric vehicles. See the American Airlines press release.

The company also introduced two solar-powered fueling carts at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in April — the first of 13 that are being deployed in Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. See the American Airlines press release.

Promoters of alternative fuels received good news early this month, when DOE announced that biodiesel fuel now qualifies as an alternative fuel. The new rule allows fleet owners to use biodiesel fuel in existing diesel vehicles, rather than purchase special alternative fuel vehicles. Biodiesel is a clean-burning, biodegradable fuel for diesel engines produced from animal, plant or waste oils such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil or waste from french fry oil. See the DOE press release.

Hybrid Electric Buses Coming to California, New York, Ohio
Hybrid electric buses are proving to be a popular approach to mass transit. BAE Systems announced last week that two California transit systems — the Fresno Area Express and the city of Torrance — will each introduce two buses this month that use its hybrid electric drive system. Two more buses will be delivered to the San Francisco Municipal Railway in late May. Meanwhile, New York City Transit, which has logged 300,000 miles on the hybrid electric buses, plans to add 325 more of the buses to its fleet by 2004. The buses use an electric drive with a diesel-powered electric generator. See the BAE Systems press release.

Hybrid electric buses are also coming to Cleveland, Ohio, through an innovative approach called Bus Rapid Transit. After facing opposition to stringing power lines for a trackless trolley-style system, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) chose last week to pursue hybrid electric buses as an alternative. The buses will travel most of Euclid Avenue — a major traffic corridor on Cleveland's East Side — along bus-only lanes in the median of the road. The RTA expects to save $38 million by not installing overhead electric wires. Construction of the new Bus Rapid Transit line is expected to begin in 2003, and it should be up and running by the end of 2006. See the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project press release (and also see the home page for photos) For more information about Bus Rapid Transit, see the Web site from the Federal Transit Administration.

Site News

Dr. E’s Energy Lab
Kids will enjoy this new site on EREN, which rounds up the best Web sites for them to learn about energy efficiency and renewable energy. The site provides links to information on wind, solar, geothermal, and alternative fuels, as well as links to general sites on renewable energy and energy efficiency. And to keep it fun, an elastic trail of bouncy spheres follows your cursor wherever it goes! For this and other recent additions to the EREN Web site.

Energy Facts and Tips

World Energy Production Down in 1999; Renewables Increased
The world's production of energy decreased by 0.7 percent in 1999, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). Coal production dropped the most, by 5.0 percent, while petroleum production decreased by 1.4 percent. Gains were seen in the production of natural gas, which increased by 2.2 percent, hydroelectric power (up 1.5 percent) and nuclear power (up 3.4 percent). But the largest gains were seen in the production of energy from non-hydro renewable energy sources, which increased by 7.6 percent over 1998.

The world's consumption of energy actually increased slightly, by 0.5 percent. The most obvious difference between the production and consumption figures is that the world's use of petroleum increased by 1.6 percent, even though production decreased. The world energy data is summarized in EIA's "International Energy Annual 1999," published in February. See the report on the EIA Web site.

See especially the tabulation of world energy production.

See also the tabulation of world energy consumption.

The worldwide growth in renewable energy use shouldn't be a surprise, according to a recent report by Clean Edge, a market-intelligence firm. The report projects that what it calls the "clean energy" market — including fuel cells, microturbines, solar, and wind power — will grow by 28 percent annually, from approximately $7 billion in worldwide revenues in 2000 to more than $82 billion in revenues by 2010. The report also projects a growth in the market for clean vehicles -- including cars, buses, and trucks -- from about $2 billion in 2000 to $48 billion by 2010. See the Clean Edge press release.

The full 17-page report is posted in Adobe PDF format.

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