EREN Network News

September 19, 2001

News and Events

• A Message from the Editor
• California Power Authority Pursues 1000 MW of Renewables
• New Hybrid System to Power Honda Civic in 2002
• Home Depot Starts Selling Residential Solar Power Systems
• Organic Molecules May Yield Inexpensive Solar Cells
• Stateline Wind Project Gets Green Light in Oregon
• DOE Awards $30 Million for Bioproduct Technologies
• DOE Funds Seven Projects to Improve Reciprocating Engines

Site News

• Renewable Energy Analytic Studies Network

• Power Outages, Rebuilding, Increased Energy Security, and Isolated Price Hikes Follow Terrorist Attacks

News and Events

A Message from the Editor
The audience for EREN Network News is truly international, and we received a flood of sympathetic comments over the past week. A warm thanks to all who touched us with their responses. Sympathies arrived from Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Pakistan, India, Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Columbia, and Cuba. It's a good reminder that the people of the United States do not stand alone. Today's "Energy Fact and Tip" focuses on the energy impacts of last week's attack, but the remainder of our newsletter returns to its standard format. Also, today's newsletter was delayed due to concerns about the "Nimda" computer worm. We apologize for any inconvenience.

California Power Authority Pursues 1000 MW of Renewables
The new California Power and Conservation Financing Authority, which has the mission of ensuring a reliable power supply for the state, has announced its intentions to acquire 1000 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy capacity by next summer. The Power Authority is currently negotiating with 14 parties, representing mainly wind and biomass projects, to supply the needed capacity.See the California Power Authority Web site (PDF 123 KB), Download Acrobat Reader.

The Power Authority is also requesting bids for fuel cells systems, microturbines, and solar photovoltaic systems. See the California Power Authority Web site.

Governor Gray Davis has set a goal of providing 17 percent of the state's electricity supply from renewable energy sources, which the authority estimates will require 3,000 MW of new renewable energy capacity over the next five years. See the Power Authority Background section.

New Hybrid System to Power Honda Civic in 2002
A hybrid electric version of the Honda Civic will be available in the United States in 2002, and it will use a new, improved hybrid gasoline-electric system as its power source. The new system combines Honda Motor Company's newest lean-burn 4-cylinder engine with a more powerful motor, a more efficient battery, and a smaller power control unit than are used in the Honda Insight. The system also shuts down three of the four cylinders when decelerating, cutting the engine's compressive braking in half and allowing more energy to be captured via regenerative braking, which charges the battery. The result of all these features is a gas mileage of about 68 miles per gallon, according to Honda. The company expects to mass produce the new Hybrid Civic, which will seat five. Although the vehicle will be available in Japan in fall of this year, it won't be sold in the United States until spring 2002. See the Honda press release.

Honda also debuted its latest fuel-cell-powered car, the FCX-V4, early this month. This latest experimental model has a top speed of 87 miles per hour and, thanks to a high- pressure hydrogen storage tank, can travel 186 miles between fill-ups. Honda worked to make this model more of a "real" vehicle by including luggage space and safety features and even designing a user-friendly display for monitoring the fuel cell and energy storage system. The company still maintains that its goal is to introduce a production fuel cell vehicle in 2003. See the Honda press release.

Home Depot Starts Selling Residential Solar Power Systems
Some energy experts have said that the solar energy industry won't be truly successful until the average consumer can walk into The Home Depot and buy a solar power system. Well, that day has arrived — in San Diego, California, at least. AstroPower, Inc. announced in early September that three of The Home Depot's stores in the San Diego area are now offering the systems. The Home Depot is providing a full-service program that includes financing, installation, and service of the solar power systems. See the AstroPower press release.

Combined with last month's announcement about residential solar energy systems from Green Mountain Energy Company (GMEC), the AstroPower announcement suggests that solar energy may finally be achieving mainstream acceptance in the United States. See the September 5th issue of EREN Network News for the GMEC announcement.

Need to know more about the status of solar electric power? UPEx'01, the Photovoltaic Experience Conference and Exhibition, is coming to Sacramento, California, with sponsorship by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA). The conference will be held as originally scheduled, from September 30 through October 4. For more information, see the SEPA Web site.

Organic Molecules May Yield Inexpensive Solar Cells
Producing solar cells may one day be as simple as applying a liquid to a sheet of plastic and waiting for the cells to "assemble" themselves, according to researchers at the University of Arizona. The liquid will be composed of organic molecules that will collect on the plastic surface in a way that forms a very organized coating. If the researchers are successful, that coating will be able to efficiently convert solar energy into electricity. If the difficult task of creating the right organic molecules succeeds, the simplicity of the production process could result in low-cost solar cells. The research is partially funded by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. See the story on the university's news page.

Stateline Wind Project Gets Green Light in Oregon
The Stateline Wind Project, a 300-megawatt wind project that straddles the border between Washington and Oregon, has received approval for construction from the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council. Due to concerns about impacts on the Washington ground squirrel, which is listed as an endangered species in Oregon, two strings of turbines had to be eliminated from the Oregon side of the border. FPL Energy is already constructing the project on the Washington state side. See the council's announcement.

For more information about the Stateline Wind Project, see the project Web site.

DOE Awards $30 Million for Bioproduct Technologies
DOE announced on Monday that it will award $30 million to 11 projects that will develop technology to produce chemicals, plastics, materials and other products from plant matter and other natural waste materials. These so-called "bioproducts" save energy while reducing the use of nonrenewable resources such as petroleum. The 11 projects will be carried out over the next three to five years, and cover the range of processes from harvesting to final product. Funds will also establish university education and training programs in the area of bioproducts. See the DOE press release.

DOE Funds Seven Projects to Improve Reciprocating Engines
Natural-gas-fired reciprocating engines are one of many technologies that are currently being used for on-site generation of power in homes and businesses. To improve the efficiency of these engines, DOE is investing $3.6 million in seven research and development projects. The projects will also seek to lower costs and emissions from the engines. See the DOE press release.

Honda Motor Company, Ltd. announced in late August that it is preparing to test a home unit in Japan that produces power, heat, and hot water using a natural-gas engine. Systems that produce both heat and electricity are called "cogenerators." The Honda cogenerator will produce one kilowatt of electricity and three kilowatts of heat, converting 85 percent of the energy in the natural gas into either heat or electricity. See the Honda press release.

Site News

Renewable Energy Analytic Studies Network
This Web site from DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory includes news, reports, tools, and data related to the analysis of renewable energy technologies. The site also serves an on-line community by providing interactive features such as a discussion group, file sharing, live chats, and real-time polls.

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

Energy Facts and Tips

Power Outages, Rebuilding, Increased Energy Security, and Isolated Price Hikes Follow Terrorist Attacks
One of the impacts of last week's terrorist attack on the World Trade Center was the loss of electrical service to lower Manhattan. Two electrical substations next to the Trade Center were totally destroyed and a third substation was knocked out of service. Major electrical transmission cables were also lost. As of this morning, the city's electric utility, Con Edison, had managed to restore power to all of lower Manhattan after installing more than 33 miles of new high-voltage cable. However, the utility is still asking people in lower Manhattan to minimize their use of electricity. More than 1,900 Con Edison workers have labored around the clock to restore power. See the Con Edison press releases.

In response to the attacks, security was heightened throughout the U.S. energy infrastructure. Shipments of nuclear material were halted and security was heightened at nuclear plants, refineries, pipelines, and along the electricity transmission grid. Taking a longer view, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) noted that the electric, gas, and oil companies that it regulates may need to adopt new procedures, update existing procedures, and install facilities to further safeguard their systems. FERC announced that it will approve applications to "recover prudently incurred costs" for such actions and will expedite any such requests. These costs will presumably be passed on to consumers. See the FERC announcement.

Fears of supply disruptions apparently led some U.S. gas stations to hike their prices to as much as $5 per gallon. DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham announced on the day after the attack that such price hikes were unjustified, and asked consumers to call the DOE Hotline (1-800-244-3301) to report such incidents. See the DOE press release.

As of Monday, DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that U.S. petroleum prices were generally holding steady. See the the EIA Web site for price summaries (particularly for retail gasoline).

See also the EIA's assessment of oil markets from the day after the attack on the EIAWeb site.

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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