DOE Announces Closing of $117 Million Loan Guarantee for Kahuku Wind Power Project
Hawaii Wind Plant to Create More Than 200 Jobs and Produce Clean, Renewable Energy for About 7,700 Oahu Homes Annually
Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced that the Department of Energy has finalized a $117 million loan guarantee for Kahuku Wind Power, LLC, the owner and operator of the Kahuku Wind Power project. The project includes the development of an innovative 30 megawatt (MW) wind power plant that will supply electricity to approximately 7,700 households per year. According to company estimates, the project, located in Kahuku, Hawaii, will create over 200 jobs on the island of Oahu.
Photo courtesy of DOE/NREL
“This project is another example of America’s leadership in the global clean energy economy,” said Secretary Chu. “Through the Recovery Act, we are supporting innovative projects that are adding to our workforce in the short term while laying the foundation for additional job creation in the long term.”
“This project represents what our national energy policy is attempting to accomplish: clean energy displacing imported oil in Hawaii to generate electricity, and in the process reducing our carbon output and creating green jobs,” said Senator Daniel Inouye
“The Kahuku wind project will bring Hawaii 30 megawatts closer to energy independence,” said Senator Daniel K. Akaka. “Reducing our reliance on imported oil will mean cleaner skies and more local jobs. This project is an important step forward.”
“There is an urgent need to establish renewable energy sources in Hawaii and the state has mapped an ambitious plan to achieve this. The federal loan guarantee announced today boosts this effort,” said Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono. “The Kahuku Wind Project is the type of project that Hawaii needs to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and keep billions of dollars in our economy.”
The project is expected to be the first to meet reliability requirements for wind and solar energy set by Hawaiian Electric Company, the only electric utility operating on Oahu. Successful integration of these new, clean energy technologies is expected to result in increased renewable energy generation and wind energy expansion in Hawaii.
The Kahuku wind power plant uses twelve 2.5 megawatt Liberty wind turbine generators manufactured by Clipper Windpower of Carpinteria, California and a 10 megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) manufactured by Xtreme Power Inc. of Kyle, Texas. The BESS will modulate and smooth fluctuations in power output caused by changes in wind levels. When completed, Kahuku will produce the first-ever combined installation of Clipper wind turbines and Xtreme’s battery energy storage system.
First Wind Holdings, LLC, the project sponsor and independent U.S.-based wind energy developer, successfully built and currently operates Hawaii’s largest wind energy facility, the 30 megawatt Kaheawa Wind project in Maui. Kaheawa Wind serves nearly nine percent of Maui’s annual electricity needs with clean, renewable energy.
Maine Signs Ocean Energy Agreement with Nova Scotia
Photo courtesy of DOE/NREL
Maine’s Governor John E. Baldacci signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on July 12 with Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, pledging to work cooperatively on renewable ocean electricity generation. The MOU calls for the new partners to share information on renewable electricity with a focus on ocean tidal energy and offshore wind energy. The two jurisdictions will also bring together tidal energy academics, researchers, policy makers, and private sector developers this fall. The MOU was signed during the 34th Conference of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers. The conference was held July 11-13, in Lenox, Massachusetts, to discuss energy security, efficiency, and the development of renewable energy in the region.
In June, Baldacci was one of ten U.S. governors to sign a MOU with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) that formally established the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium. The new consortium is promoting the development of wind resources on the Outer Continental Shelf along the East Coast, primarily by coordinating state and federal efforts relating to permitting, environmental studies, technical and financial barriers, and infrastructure needed to deploy and maintain offshore wind power plants. See the press release on Governor Baldacci’s Web site.
Unmanned Solar-Powered Aircraft Soars Nonstop for 14 Days
The Zephyr, an unmanned solar-powered aircraft, landed safely on July 23 after flying nonstop for 14 days, unofficially smashing long-standing world records, according to its manufacturer QinetiQ. The craft, which launched from the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on July 9, touched down there after a journey that quadrupled its own unofficial world record for longest unmanned flight (82 hours, 37 minutes) set in 2008. The company, which said Zephyr also surpassed the official world record for the longest flight for an unmanned air system (30 hours, 24 minutes) set by Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4A Global Hawk in March 2001, is awaiting official confirmation of the new mark. Zephyr also bettered the record for non-stop flight, passing the Rutan Voyager milestone of 9 days set in December 1986.
The drone flies on solar power delivered by amorphous silicon solar arrays on its 74-foot wingspan. The energy collected during the day recharges lithium-sulfur batteries, allowing it to fly during darkness without refueling. Zephyr’s ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber frame weighs about 110 pounds. This is the second notable solar-powered feat this month. On July 7-8, a pilot kept the solar-powered Solar Impulse aloft over Switzerland through an entire 24-hour cycle, the first time this was accomplished with a manned craft, according to sponsors. See the QinetiQ press release.
DOE Webinar July 28: Petroleum Reduction in the Transportation Sector
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Assistance Project (TAP) for state and local officials presents a Webinar about how to use online tools and resources for petroleum reduction projects in the transportation sector. At the Webinar, you will learn how to use online calculators, databases, and interactive maps that can help you fine-tune your transportation programs to fit local conditions.
The presentation will take place this Wednesday, July 28, from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and is titled “Clean Cities and Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center (AFDC): Tools and Resources for Petroleum Reduction in the Transportation Sector. The speakers will be Wendy DaFoe, Clean Cities project leader at the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Johanna Levene, senior applications engineer at NREL.
EPA Awards $5.6 Million to Spur New Clean Diesel Technologies
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $5.6 million for emerging technologies projects as part of a summer-long roll out of $120 million in clean diesel grants. The awards will provide opportunities to advance cutting-edge technologies in the marketplace, and support both environmental innovation and green jobs to reduce diesel emissions. Diesel pollution is linked to thousands of premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks and millions of lost work days.
Photo courtesy of DOE/NREL
“EPA is promoting innovations that will not only create jobs, but also keep dangerous pollution out of the air we breathe,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We’re playing to America’s strengths of ingenuity and invention to improve the future of our economy, our health and our environment.”
Most clean diesel grants involve widely used strategies such as retrofits or replacements. However, the emerging technologies program promotes deployment of innovative approaches that have not yet been verified or certified by EPA or the California Air Resources Board. Instead, the program enables evaluation of these promising technologies in the field while providing air quality benefits to the surrounding area. Diesel engines emit approximately 7.3 million tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 333,000 tons of soot annually.
Recipients of the emerging technologies grants are:
· City of Los Angeles Harbor Department for $731,000 for a hybrid crane with a small diesel generator combined with a battery to be used at ports.
· California Air Resources Board for nearly $1.2 million for a NOx reducing device for locomotive engines.
· University of Houston for $1 million for NOx reducing technologies installed on school buses.
· Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for nearly $1.2 million to use a seawater scrubber, which removes pollution from large ship engines.
· South Coast Air Quality Management District for $1.5 million for an exhaust capturing mechanism used on a variety of ships while at port.
Throughout this summer, EPA is awarding a total of $120 million under the diesel emissions reduction program (often known as DERA) to help lower exhaust from the existing fleet of 11 million diesel engines in communities nationwide. Grants included under DERA, in addition to the emerging technologies grants, are:
· SmartWay Finance Program grants
· National Funding Assistance Program grants
· Direct grants to all states for clean diesel programs
· First-ever clean diesel tribal grants
EPA’s new heavy-duty highway and non-road diesel engine standards taking effect over the next decade will significantly reduce emissions from new engines. However, these standards apply only to engines manufactured in the year 2007 and beyond. The 11 million diesel engines in use today will continue to pollute unless emissions are controlled with technology and/or cleaner fuels. EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign and the SmartWay Partnership assist fleets with controlling diesel emissions through financial and technical assistance.
More information on the National Clean Diesel Campaign: http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel
California Team to Receive award for Energy Innovation Hub to Develop Method to Produce Fuels from Sunlight
As part of a broad effort to achieve breakthrough innovations in energy production, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman today announced an award of up to $122 million over five years to a multidisciplinary team of top scientists to establish an Energy Innovation Hub aimed at developing revolutionary methods to generate fuels directly from sunlight.
Photo Courtesy of DOE/NREL
The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), to be led by the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), will bring together leading researchers in an ambitious effort aimed at simulating nature’s photosynthetic apparatus for practical energy production. The goal of the Hub is to develop an integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system and move this system from the bench-top discovery phase to a scale where it can be commercialized.
“The Energy Innovation Hubs have enormous potential to advance transformative breakthroughs,” said Deputy Secretary Poneman. “Finding a cost-effective way to produce fuels as plants do—combining sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide—would be a game changer, reducing our dependence on oil and enhancing energy security. This Energy Innovation Hub will enable our scientists to combine their talents to tackle this bold and highly promising challenge.”
Senator Feinstein said, “I’m very proud that California has been on the cutting-edge of the clean energy movement. With this award, some of California’s top scientists will continue to lead the way forward by working together to create ‘artificial photosynthesis,’ a process that can emulate the inner workings of plant life to produce a useful transportation fuel we can put right into our cars without further processing. If successful, this concept—to combine sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to produce a clean fuel—would revolutionize the energy sector. It would help scrub the atmosphere of excessive carbon dioxide, help eliminate our dependence on oil, and generate an innovative industry in the heart of California. This is very exciting.”
Senator Boxer said, “I am so pleased that this California consortium will receive this investment in clean fuels research, which has the potential to reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, increase our national security, and create jobs in California.”
The Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub is one of three Hubs that will receive funding in FY10. In May, the Department announced that a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory will establish a Hub on modeling and simulation for nuclear reactors. The selection for the remaining Hub will be announced over the coming months. The Hubs are large, multidisciplinary, highly-collaborative teams of scientists and engineers working over a longer time frame to achieve a specific high-priority goal. They will be managed by top teams of scientists and engineers with enough resources and authority to move quickly in response to new developments.
JCAP research will be directed at the discovery of the functional components necessary to assemble a complete artificial photosynthetic system: light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers, and separation membranes. The Hub will then integrate those components into an operational solar fuel system and develop scale-up strategies to move from the laboratory toward commercial viability. The ultimate objective is to drive the field of solar fuels from fundamental research, where it has resided for decades, into applied research and technology development, thereby setting the stage for the creation of a direct solar fuels industry.
The Hub will be directed by Nathan S. Lewis, George L. Argyros Professor and Professor of Chemistry, Cal Tech. Other members of the Hub leadership team include: Bruce Brunschwig (Cal Tech), Peidong Yang (UC Berkeley/Berkeley Lab), and Harry Atwater (Cal Tech). In addition to the major partners, Cal Tech and Berkeley Lab, other participating institutions include SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, California; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Irvine; and the University of California, San Diego.
Selection is based on a competitive process using scientific peer review. The selection process for the Fuels from Sunlight Hub was managed by the Department of Energy Office of Science, which will have federal oversight responsibilities for the artificial photosynthesis Hub.
The Hub will be funded at up to $22 million this fiscal year. The Hub will then be funded at an estimated $25 million per year for the next four years, subject to Congressional appropriations. More information on the Hubs can be found on the Energy Innovation Hubs Web site.
DOE Helps Launch Global Initiatives at First Clean Energy Ministerial Meeting
The United States is helping launch 11 international clean energy initiatives, DOE announced on July 20. These new programs will cut energy waste, help deploy smart grid and electric vehicle technologies, support renewable energy markets, expand access to clean energy resources and jobs, and support women pursuing careers in clean energy. Announced during the first Clean Energy Ministerial, a two-day gathering in Washington, D.C., these endeavors offer partners concrete technical actions to promote economic growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. The initiatives will eliminate the need to build more than 500 mid-sized power plants worldwide over the next 20 years. Ministers from 23 governments and the United States, representing more than 80% of the world energy consumption, participated. Those same countries also account for a similar percentage of the global market for clean energy technologies and are accelerating the global transition to a clean energy and low-carbon future.
As part of the “Global Energy Efficiency Challenge,” an endeavor highlighted at the gathering, the United States is leading projects that will deploy super-efficient appliances, improve industrial and building efficiency for large-scale facilities, implement smart grid technologies, and help put millions of electric vehicles on the roads. For example, under the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, governments will work with the private sector to encourage buyers to choose super-efficient appliances. At the same time, SEAD—focusing on lighting and televisions—will back stronger appliance standards that push the most inefficient machines off the market. In the public-private Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership, participants will encourage operators of large buildings and industrial facilities to measure and manage energy by establishing certification programs to recognize facilities that adopt approved energy management systems and achieve significant efficiency improvements.
In the transportation sector, the Electric Vehicles Initiative will enhance global cooperation on the development and deployment of electric vehicles. According to the International Energy Agency, this outreach will help put participating countries on the path to deploying at least 20 million electric vehicles by 2020 and reducing global oil consumption by roughly one billion barrels over the next decade.
A majority of governments at the gathering joined the International Smart Grid Action Network, which could support the spread of electric vehicles, improve the reliability of the electrical system, promote the growth of renewable energy, and help consumers and businesses reduce their energy use. Governments also came together in an additional seven initiatives that will support the growing global market for renewable energy and carbon capture technologies; bring solar LED lanterns to more than 10 million of the world’s poorest citizens by 2015; launch virtual clean energy solutions centers to help developing countries transition to low-carbon technologies; and encourage young women to pursue careers in clean energy. See the DOE press release and Ministerial fact sheet (PDF 76 KB), and the DOE Energy Blog Ministerial discussion Web site.
DOE Announces $30 Million for Energy-Efficient Housing Partnerships
Photo Courtesy of DOE/NREL
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced 15 research and deployment partnerships to help dramatically improve the energy efficiency of American homes. These highly-qualified, multidisciplinary teams will receive a total of up to $30 million for the initial eighteen months of the projects to deliver innovative energy efficiency strategies to the residential market and address barriers to bringing high-efficiency homes within reach for all Americans. A total of up to $20 million per year will also be made available for the partnerships for three potential one-year extensions. These research and deployment partnerships will provide technical assistance to retrofit projects and will leverage industry expertise and funding to support DOE’s energy efficiency retrofit programs. This effort will support the Department’s Retrofit Ramp-Up initiative, announced by Vice President Joe Biden in April, which brings communities, governments, private sector companies and non-profit organizations together to deliver energy-efficiency upgrades—or retrofits—to whole neighborhoods and cities.
“Home energy efficiency is one of the easiest, most immediate and most cost-effective ways to reduce carbon pollution and save money on energy bills, while creating new jobs,” said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. “By developing and using tools to reduce residential energy use, we will spur economic growth here in America and help homeowners make cost-cutting improvements in their homes.”
The partnerships announced today will provide additional support to ongoing retrofit initiatives that are making cost-effective energy efficiency retrofits easily accessible to hundreds of thousands of American homes and businesses. These partnerships will research and deploy new technologies and demonstration projects, and provide systems engineering, quality assurance, and outreach for retrofit projects throughout the country.
Existing techniques and technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting—such as air-tight ducts, windows and doors, heating and cooling systems, insulation and caulking—can reduce energy use by up to 40% per home and cut energy bills by $40 billion annually.
The following selections were made though the DOE Building Technologies Program, which forges research partnerships across the residential building industry to develop cost-effective solutions that dramatically reduce the average energy use of housing while improving comfort and quality. To find out more, visit the Buildings Technology Program Web site.
To further support the broad deployment of energy efficiency building retrofits, DOE is hosting the Residential Building Energy Efficiency Meeting 2010 in Denver, Colorado from July 20-22, to present cutting-edge research results, identify key stakeholder and market transformation needs, and facilitate collaboration opportunities between conference participants. This conference is targeted to researchers, architects, contractors, manufacturers, builders, utilities, legislators, lenders, realtors, auditors, raters, installation technicians, HOA representatives, and anyone else interested in creating substantial connections with the field.
Report: Home Size is Declining, Energy Efficiency a Factor
The size of new U.S. single-family homes completed in 2009 declined, dropping to a nationwide average of 2,438 square feet and reversing trend of the past three decades, according to a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). New single-family homes were almost 100 square feet smaller in 2009 than they were in 2007, according to recently released U.S. Census Bureau data. One reason for the drop, NAHB noted, was homeowners’ desire to keep energy costs in check. This growing energy-efficiency consciousness is one of many trends that the association said was likely to continue.
Despite the tendency towards a smaller footprint, overall energy usage has been growing. One reason could be the spread of air conditioning. Census Bureau data show that less than half of all new single-family homes completed in 1973 had air conditioning while nearly nine-out-of-ten new homes were air conditioned. Not surprisingly, there are regional differences in those nationwide findings. The proportion of homes with air conditioning ranged from a low of 69% in the West to a high of 99% in the South. The Northeast and Midwest were at 75% and 90%, respectively.
Still, even as energy use climbs, so does energy efficiency. “Residential Energy Consumption Survey,” a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report released in 2005, confirms that while both floor size and overall energy consumption been trending upwards for decades, energy consumption per square foot has been dropping. The survey shows that new households were smallest from 1970 to 1979, averaging 1,863 square feet. They steadily increased through 2005, according to the EIA report. Likewise, overall household energy consumption was lowest from 1980 to 1989, but has been rising ever since. However, even as residences have grown, the amount of energy used per square foot has declined from 51.8 Btu per square foot before 1940 to only 33.4 Btu per square foot in structures built from 2000 to 2005. See the NAHB press release and page three of the EIA 2005 “Residential Energy Consumption Survey” (PDF 51 KB).
EPA Launches National Water Conservation Campaign
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense program is kicking off its national “We’re for Water” campaign to encourage Americans to make simple choices that save water. The program, in collaboration with its partner, American Water, will spread the word about saving water by traveling cross-country, stopping at national landmarks and educating consumers about WaterSense labeled products. WaterSense products use about 20 percent less water than standard models.
Photo courtesy of DOE/NREL
“Whether by replacing an old, inefficient plumbing fixture with a WaterSense labeled product or adopting more water-efficient behaviors, together we can help save water for future generations,” said Peter Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “WaterSense offers consumers simple tips that can help the environment and keep money in their pockets.”
Consumers can start saving water today with three simple steps: check, twist and replace.
· Check toilets for silent leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring in the tank; if the color shows up in the bowl indicating a leak, fixing it may be as simple as replacing the toilet’s flapper.
· Twist on a WaterSense labeled bathroom faucet aerator to use 30 percent less water without a noticeable difference in flow.
· Replace a showerhead with a WaterSense labeled model that uses less water and energy, but still has all the power of a water-hogging model.
WaterSense, a partnership program sponsored by EPA, seeks to protect the future of our nation’s water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, new homes and services. In 2009, EPA’s WaterSense program helped consumers save more than 36 billion gallons of water and $267 million on their water and sewer bills.
More information on the We’re for Water road trip: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/wereforwater
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