Pennsylvania Projects Funded by Its 2007 Formula Grant from DOE's State Energy Program
Pennsylvania used U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funds from its State Energy Program (SEP) Formula Grant to implement the following project in 2007. For more information on energy projects in Pennsylvania, see the Bureau of Energy, Innovations and Technology Deployment.
Buildings
P2E2 Technical Assistance for Businesses Project is carried out by the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program of the Pennsylvania State University, providing their own technical assistance to mostly small businesses. Follow-up surveys demonstrate the environmental, energy, and economic benefits. The 2008 ACI Home Performance Conference offered almost 150 workshops during this week long event and short courses for attendees to choose from, designed to provide solutions and best practices for anyone involved in residential buildings such as achieving energy efficiency, green building design, renewable energy installation practices, real answers to addressing climate change, and much more. The Small Business Energy Efficiency Workshops Program presented five half-day workshops at locations around Pennsylvania about energy conservation for small and medium-sized businesses. These workshops provide these smaller, less sophisticated entities with easily implemented suggestions to conserve energy in their operations and facilities. The workshops included information about identifying energy supply options and discussions about how to identify energy savings opportunities and understand utility bills. The Regional Energy Outreach Program conducted outreach events and activities tailored to municipalities, universities, congregations, and industry. These events included workgroups, energy efficiency assessments, forums, and expos to promote energy efficiency and Btu of energy saved through efficiency activities deployed.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
- Commercial Buildings
- Residential Buildings
- State and Local Government Facilities
Electric Power and Renewable Energy
The Anemometer Loan Program for Community Wind provided St. Francis University students and faculty with innovative learning opportunities and helped Pennsylvania landowners assess their wind resource. It identified viable wind resource areas and extended the development of wind energy projects to newly identified areas, provided the equipment and technical assistance necessary to assess the wind resource, educated businesses, schools, developers, farmers, and homeowners about renewable energy and cost-effective use of wind energy, built Saint Francis University's institutional knowledge and skills in wind energy and wind resource assessment through integration with academic programs, centers, and student life. The program lent 50-meter towers and conducted a focused marketing and educational effort, including educational presentations, conferences, workshops, as well as news releases, advertisements, and public relations events specifically geared toward community wind projects. Residential Solar Energy Security System Project promoted deployment of a Renewable Solar Energy Security System to supply electric power to critical systems in homes in the event of grid failure. Critical systems protected include heat, medical equipment, sump pumps, and emergency lighting. The project included development of a software program to prioritize among the various systems in accordance with the homeowner's needs and would deploy three systems on homes in the Pittsburgh area. Systems used a 1.6-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array consisting of 100 watt modules manufactured by Solar Power Industries. The Biodiesel Fueled Backup Power Generation Demonstration used soy-based biodiesel as the fuel for a continuous-rated diesel generator for backup of critical loads and building heat at the Joint Headquarters Alternate Emergency Operations Center. It demonstrated the benefits of using biodiesel fuels to thwart the risk of prolonged power outages caused by terrorist attacks on a utility power plant or transmission line as well as failures caused by weather, equipment, or human error and enabled the Army to continue to perform its key missions. This project also helped to establish biodiesel as a locally available alternative to foreign oil supplies. Wind and Wildlife Demonstration developed recommended policies, adaptive strategies, guidance, and procedures for the various stakeholders that appropriately protect our wildlife resources while allowing for beneficial wind power development. The Wind and Carbon Sequestration Workshops Program conducted two, one-day workshops, one on carbon sequestration, and one on wind energy issues for municipalities. The first workshop was for environmental leaders, activists, and other concerned lay people to explore the science, applications, and political opportunities surrounding carbon sequestration. The second was a Pennsylvania Wind Working Group workshop for municipalities. Several issues related to wind development, such as local taxation and development of a model local wind ordinance, made it timely to convene local government officials to inform them of these updates.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
- Biomass Power
- Solar Power
- Wind Energy
Policy, Planning, and Energy Security
The Pennsylvania Energy Harvest Grant Program was designed to achieve major environmental and energy goals with projects that emphasize renewable and clean energy. Over 20 projects were funded by this program. The Leadership Forum on Coal Gasification created a leadership forum that provided a venue for the environmental community and others, including opinion makers in the media and academia, to explore all the facts that could lead them to supporting coal gasification and carbon capture, or offset, and the role of coal in Pennsylvania's energy future.
This work is reflected in the following SEP topics:
- Energy and the Environment
- Financing Energy Programs
See SEP grants to Pennsylvania for:
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