EREN Network News

September 05, 2001

News and Events

• Californians Cut Peak Electricity Use by 9 Percent in August
• Green Mountain Energy Offers Solar Energy to Californians
• SunWize Installs Solar Water Pumping System at National Park
• Study: Ethanol Industry Will Grow to Meet California's Needs
• Minnesota Power to Build 225-Megawatt Cogeneration Plant
• Researchers Create High-Temp Superconductor with Bucky Balls

Site News

• Ohio Biomass Energy Program

• Many U.S. Vehicles are Driven on Under-Inflated Tires

News and Events

Californians Cut Peak Electricity Use by 9 Percent in August
Californians continued to conserve energy in August, cutting their collective peak electrical demand by 9 percent and reducing their overall electricity use by 7 percent, compared to last year. Governor Gray Davis announced the latest results on Sunday. More Californians qualified for the state's 20/20 program in August, in which customers that reduce their electricity use by at least 20 percent relative to last year receive an extra 20 percent off their electricity bills. The number of Californians qualifying for the rebate increased by 25 percent to 4.3 million. See the governor's press release.

The full details on electricity use in California are available on the California Energy Commission Web site.

California's water agencies can take some of the credit for energy conservation. According to the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), the agencies have been shifting some operations to off-peak times and installing energy efficient pumps. The agencies have also formed a purchasing cooperative to buy microturbine generators and photovoltaic systems for onsite power generation. See the ACWA press release.

Green Mountain Energy Offers Solar Energy to Californians
California residents can use solar energy to reduce their electrical needs, and as of a couple weeks ago, they have a new place to turn to for solar energy systems. Green Mountain Energy Company (GMEC) announced last month that it is now offering solar electric systems with capacities ranging from 1 to 4 kilowatts. The company will handle all aspects of the system installation and will provide annual checkups for the first five years of operation. See the GMEC press release.

SunWize Installs Solar Water Pumping System at National Park
SunWize Technologies announced last week the installation of a 7.2-kilowatt solar-powered water pumping system at Joshua Tree National Park in southern California. The system can pump 10,000 gallons of water per day from the park's well. An additional 300-watt system operates two small water treatment pumps and a light in the pumphouse. The system replaces a diesel generator that had been powering the pumping system. See the SunWize press release.

Study: Ethanol Industry Will Grow to Meet California's Needs
A recent study by the California Energy Commission (CEC) finds that the U.S. ethanol industry is expanding rapidly, apparently in preparation to meet the state's significant needs for ethanol. Starting in 2003, California will need as much as 950 million gallons of ethanol annually to replace the fuel additive MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), which is being phased out because of groundwater contamination concerns. The industry's capacity will increase by 800 million gallons by the beginning of 2003 and will increase by another billion gallons by the end of that year.

The industry's total capacity of 2.2 billion gallons per year will double within four years, according to the report. Most of the new facilities will continue to produce ethanol from corn, although two facilities will use a grain called milo and several will produce ethanol from cheese whey, beverage industry wastes, and potato waste. See the CEC press release, which includes a link to the full report.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is doing its part to assure that the ethanol industry grows as expected — it's providing $150 million in grants this year to commercial producers of ethanol and biodiesel that increase their production. See the USDA press release.

Meanwhile, the industry's growth continues to lead to new production records each month. According to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), ethanol production in July hit a new record of 112,000 barrels per day. The RFA expects total ethanol production to reach 1.8 billion gallons this year. See the RFA press release.

Minnesota Power to Build 225-Megawatt Cogeneration Plant
Minnesota Power, an Allete company, announced in mid- August that it will build a 225-megawatt power plant in cooperation with Blandin Paper Company. The plant will be fueled with a combination of biomass (mostly wood waste), low-sulfur coal, and natural gas. Using a circulating fluidized bed boiler, the plant will be capable of being powered with up to 40 percent wood waste. The $200 million plant will meet all the steam needs for the paper company while producing electricity for the region. See the Allete press release.

Power plants that also produce steam for industrial purposes are known as cogeneration plants, or combined heat and power (CHP) plants. They achieve much higher energy efficiencies than typical stand-alone power plants. See the CHP Web site on EREN.

Researchers Create High-Temp Superconductor with Bucky Balls
Researchers at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs have produced a high-temperature superconductor (HTS) using soccer-ball-shaped carbon molecules, often referred to as "bucky balls." Superconductivity is the ability of materials to conduct electricity without electrical resistance, which is the main source of energy losses in electrical wires. Normal conductors exhibit superconductivity near absolute zero, but HTS materials exhibit superconductivity at much higher temperatures. The bucky ball material exhibits superconductivity at 117 degrees Kelvin, or minus 249 degrees Fahrenheit. That relatively high temperature allows the material to be cooled with liquid nitrogen, rather than the much more expensive liquid helium.

Bucky balls get their name from their resemblance to geodesic domes, which were invented by R. Buckminster Fuller — they are also referred to as "buckminsterfullerenes," or just plain "fullerenes." Since HTS devices are currently produced using ceramic compounds of copper oxide, the ability to produce HTS materials from bucky balls may potentially open up new possibilities for the production of HTS devices. The research was published in last week's Science magazine. See the Lucent Technologies press release.

The HTS field was already shaken earlier this year by the discovery of a new HTS material, magnesium boride, announced in January by scientists in Japan. By June, researchers at Agere Systems, another Lucent Technologies company, had produced an HTS wire using the inexpensive compound. Of course, both the magnesium boride and bucky ball materials are a long way from commercial production.

Site News

Ohio Biomass Energy Program
Funded by DOE, this program’s mission is to increase the development and use of biomass energy resources in Ohio. The site provides publications and information on biomass energy and its economic and environmental benefits. It also includes announcements of grants and information on biomass projects in Ohio.

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

Energy Facts and Tips

Many U.S. Vehicles are Driven on Under-Inflated Tires If you just got back from a long drive on your Labor Day weekend, and you're feeling unhappy with the amount of gas you've burned, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has this advice for you: check your tire inflation. According to a survey performed by DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), fully 27 percent of U.S. passenger cars are riding on at least one under-inflated tire, as are 32 percent of light trucks (including sport utility vehicles, vans and pickup trucks). For purposes of the survey, a tire was considered under-inflated at 8 pounds per square inch (psi) or more below the vehicle manufacturer's recommended inflation pressure. That's significant, since every 2 psi of under-inflation per tire leads to a one percent increase in fuel consumption caused by increased rolling resistance. See the NHTSA press release.

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