EREN Network News

October 10, 2001

News and Events

• DOE Launches Energy Awareness Month, Solar Home Tour
• DOE-Funded Research Wins 25 R&D 100 Awards
• DOE, EPA Publish Fuel Economy Guide for Model Year 2002
• California Helps Fund 300 Megawatts of New Renewable Power
• Southern California to Spend $28 Million on Clean Vehicles
• Siemens Westinghouse to Build Fuel Cell Plant in Pittsburgh

Site News

• New Web Site for DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies

• U.S. Heating Bills are Expected to be Lower This Winter

News and Events

DOE Launches Energy Awareness Month, Solar Home Tour
October is Energy Awareness Month, and as noted by Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, "We observe Energy Awareness Month because meeting our nation's energy needs is a task of immense proportions and utmost importance — now and in the future." See the DOE press release.

This month also marks the 25th anniversary of DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program, which has served as the nation's core program for delivering energy conservation services to low-income Americans since 1976. The Weatherization Assistance Program reduces the heating and cooling costs for low-income families, particularly the elderly, persons with disabilities, and children. The program has weatherized more than 5 million homes since its inception. To launch Energy Awareness Month, Secretary Abraham accompanied professional crews that were installing energy- efficient weatherization improvements in a home in Arlington, Virginia. See the DOE press release.

See also the Weatherization Assistance Program Web site.

As part of Energy Awareness Month, DOE is cosponsoring the American Solar Energy Society's National Tour of Solar Homes, being held this Saturday, October 13th. More than 800 homeowners in 43 states and the District of Columbia will open their doors to the public to demonstrate how solar energy can be used for heating, hot water, and electricity generation. See the DOE press release.

Solar home tour organizers often charge a fee, but not always. For information on solar home tours available in your area, see the American Solar Energy Society Web site.

DOE-Funded Research Wins 25 R&D 100 Awards
Research projects funded by DOE won one-quarter of the 100 awards presented this year by R&D Magazine. The prestigious R&D 100 Awards mark the year's most outstanding technology developments with commercial potential. The DOE-funded award winners work at 13 DOE facilities across the country, including 10 national laboratories. See the DOE press release.

Among the DOE-sponsored research developments are many relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy, including a catalyst for a fuel reformer that converts fuels into hydrogen, a process to remove silica (which fouls pipes and heat exchangers) from geothermal fluids, energy-efficient heating elements for melting aluminum, a high-efficiency solar cell, a method for battery recharging that extends the life of lead-acid batteries, and a residential water heater that uses a heat pump. For a full listing of DOE-sponsored winners, see the article on the DOE Office of Science Web site.

To see all 100 award winners, see the R&D Magazine Web site.

DOE, EPA Publish Fuel Economy Guide for Model Year 2002
DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the updated Fuel Economy Guide for model year 2002 yesterday. Hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles again took top honors for fuel efficiency, with the Honda Insight demonstrating the highest fuel efficiency and the Toyota Prius claiming the highest mileage for compact cars. See the DOE press release.

The Fuel Economy Guide Web site features a printable version of the guide in Adobe PDF format, as well as an online database that allows you to find a specific model, compare it with other cars, and search by class, make, or miles per gallon. See the Fuel Economy Guide Web site.

Unfortunately, despite the advances in fuel economy using hybrid electric technologies, the overall fuel economy of light vehicles — cars, pickups, vans, and most sport utility vehicles (SUVs) — has continued to decline and is now at a 21-year low. According to the EPA, the average new light-vehicle fuel economy has declined nearly 8 percent since 1988 and is now at 20.4 miles per gallon. The EPA notes that car mileage has remained essentially flat for the past 16 years and light truck mileage has stayed largely unchanged for the past 20 years. However, the growing market share of light trucks (including vans, pickups, and SUVs) has dragged down the overall fuel economy of light vehicles. See the EPA "Light-Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy Trends" Web page.

California Helps Fund 300 Megawatts of New Renewable Power
The California Energy Commission (CEC) announced last week that nine new renewable-energy power plants will receive a total of up to $40 million through the state's financial incentives auction. The incentives were "auctioned" by requiring bidders to submit their preferred incentive in cents per kilowatt-hour, and the lowest bidders were selected. Winning bids ranged from 0.65 to 0.8 cents per kilowatt-hour and included a 30-megawatt waste tire plant, a 21-megawatt small hydropower plant, and seven wind plants totaling 249.2 megawatts. All of the projects are expected to start generating electricity in 2002. Of the 72 successful bidders from the CEC's first two auctions, 35 projects totaling more than 200 megawatts are now online. See the CEC press release.

The CEC provides funding for a wide variety of energy projects through several programs. For instance, Onsite Energy Corporation, an energy service company, announced last week that it has entered into a $5 million contract with CEC to provide 20 megawatts in peak load reduction by June 2002. Onsite will work with its customers to reduce the electrical load from food processors and cold storage facilities. See the Onsite press release (PDF 11 KB), (Download Acrobat Reader).

Southern California to Spend $28 Million on Clean Vehicles
The governing board of California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) approved last month a total of $28.17 million in funding for clean vehicles in Southern California. The funds will go toward replacement of diesel engines in more than 150 construction vehicles and other equipment, low-sulfur diesel fuel for locomotives, co-funding for up to 10 liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations, and co-funding for more than 1,000 clean-fueled and lower- emission vehicles and equipment, including 507 transit and shuttle buses; 285 delivery and refuse pickup trucks; and 273 other vehicles. Some of the funds will also go toward the replacement of portable diesel generators with propane- powered microturbines. See the SCAQMD Web site.

Siemens Westinghouse to Build Fuel Cell Plant in Pittsburgh
Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation announced in late September that it will build a new fuel-cell production plant in the Greater Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. The 430,000-square-foot facility will manufacture solid oxide fuel cells for generating electricity in buildings. The facility will be built by next year and will be fully operational by spring of 2003. Siemens Westinghouse plans to begin commercially producing fuel cells by fall of 2003. The company says the manufacturing plant will initially employ 150 people, but may expand employment to 500 people by 2006. See the Siemens Westinghouse press release.

New and expanded facilities are a common occurrence throughout the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Another recent example is Xantrex Technology Inc., a maker of inverters that allow people to use the energy from solar energy systems and also connect the systems to the electrical grid. The company recently expanded its Arlington, Washington, facility from a production capacity of 3 megawatts per year to a capacity of more than 35 megawatts per year. See the Xantrex press release.

Site News

New Web Site for DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies
DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) Web site has been revamped to provide easier access to the office's vast resources. OIT strives to improve energy efficiency and environmental performance in the core U.S. industries. The new Web site's straightforward design provides OIT news on the home page and industry-specific news on the pages for the various industries. The site also places special emphasis on the nine Industries of the Future: agriculture, aluminum, chemicals, forest products, glass, metal casting, mining, petroleum, and steel.

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

Energy Facts and Tips

U.S. Heating Bills are Expected to be Lower This Winter
DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced last week that U.S. homeowners are expected to pay less to heat their homes this winter. Assuming a normal winter, residential heating bills could average from $170 to $320 lower than last winter. High inventories of natural gas and low prices for natural gas and crude oil are expected to keep costs down. Meanwhile, a slowing economy is expected to reduce the growth in energy demand while keeping all energy prices low. See the EIA press release, with a link to the full "Winter Fuels Outlook" report.

According to the EIA, oil prices collapsed on September 24th, dropping to near $20 per barrel. Despite the low prices, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has refrained from reducing its production quotas. See the recently updated OPEC fact sheet on the EIA Web site at:

The news about energy prices isn't all good, however: a recent refinery fire in Illinois has tightened gasoline and diesel fuel supplies in the Midwest, and the EIA warns that motor fuel prices there may be above the national average for the next few months. The EIA expects the tight supply situation to be resolved by December. See the "Midwest Gasoline and Distillate Fuel Near-Term Outlook" on the EIA Web site.

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