GP: EREN Network News 7/24/02

["Tom Gray" <tomgray@igc.org>]

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EREN NETWORK NEWS -- July 24, 2002
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN).
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/>
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Featuring:
*News and Events
          Oregon Group Seeks 25 to 100 Megawatts of Wind Power
          New California Law to Set Greenhouse Gas Limits on Vehicles
          NREL Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary with Habitat House
          Waverly Light and Power Wins First Rappaport Award
          Canadian Company Aims to Commercialize Spheral Solar Cells
          Solar Aircraft Supports HDTV Transmission at 65,000 Feet
          New Research Institute for Bioproducts, Bioenergy Formed

*Site News
          World Wind Energy Association

*Energy Facts and Tips
          BP Releases Its Statistical Review of World Energy 2002

*About this Newsletter


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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Oregon Group Seeks 25 to 100 Megawatts of Wind Power

The Energy Trust of Oregon -- a new nonprofit organization for
promoting clean energy in the state -- started its renewable energy
programs in a big way when it requested proposals for 25 to
100 megawatts of wind power last week. The Energy Trust is seeking
one or more wind energy projects that must begin generating power
before the federal production tax credit expires at the end of 2003.
Successful bidders will sign a long-term purchase agreement with
either Portland General Electric (PGE) or PacifiCorp, and the Energy
Trust will pay up to $8.5 million to cover the difference between
the cost of the wind power and the utility's purchase price.
Proposals are due August 21st, and the Energy Trust will make its
selection in fall.

Launched in March, the Energy Trust is funded by a 3 percent charge
on electricity sold by PGE and PacifiCorp, the state's two largest
electric utilities. The charge was established as part of Oregon's
electric restructuring law. In addition to the wind energy project,
the Energy Trust has tentatively agreed to help fund two renewable
energy projects: a solar power installation at the Brewery Blocks, a
development project in Portland's Pearl District, and a biogas
energy project at Threemile Canyon Farms, a 41,000-acre farm near
Boardman in eastern Oregon. The biogas project is expected to
generate an average of 3.85 megawatts of power for 15 years at a
cost of $1.5 million.

The Energy Trust has also launched three pilot energy efficiency
programs: a program to replace 750 green traffic lights with light-
emitting diode (LED) lamps, a program to seal exposed heating ducts
in 1,000 existing manufactured homes, a program to provide low-
interest loans for energy efficiency projects in public buildings,
and a program to offer rebates for energy management system
installations in restaurants. See the Energy Trust of Oregon Web
site at:
<http://www.energytrust.org/programs/index.html>.

To date, 15 states have created systems similar to Oregon's, usually
using a small electric surcharge to generate so-called "clean energy
funds." Two recent reports from DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory (LBNL) examined existing clean energy funds in terms of
their support for solar power projects and large-scale renewable
projects. For solar power, most funds help pay the installation cost
of the system, an approach that has led to about 24 megawatts of
installed solar power nationwide. For utility-scale projects,
$265 million in state funds have been allocated to date for
1,500 megawatts of new renewable power capacity. So far, however,
only a small fraction of this capacity has been built, largely
because developers couldn't find long-term buyers for their power.
The expiration of the federal production tax credit also played a
role. Note that both of these factors are at play in the Oregon wind
project. See the May 2002 reports on the LBNL Web site at:
<http://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/EMS/EMS_pubs.html#RE>.


New California Law to Set Greenhouse Gas Limits on Vehicles

California Governor Gray Davis signed a bill into law on Monday that
will set limits on greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles
sold in the state. Assembly Bill 1493 requires the California Air
Resources Board (ARB) to develop greenhouse gas emissions standards
for passenger vehicles starting with model year 2009. The ARB has
until the end of 2004 to develop and adopt regulations that "achieve
the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions" from passenger vehicles. No specific reduction guidelines
are included in the legislation.

Since greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to fuel
efficiency, the new law will, in effect, set de facto mileage
standards for vehicles sold in the state. Until the ARB develops its
regulations, though, it's impossible to judge the impact of the law.
The standards will apply to automakers' fleet averages, rather than
individual vehicles, and automakers will be able to partially
achieve the standards by reducing pollution from non-vehicular
sources, including their factories. See the Governor's July 22nd
announcement by selecting "Press Releases" on the Governor's Web
site at:
<http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_pressroom_main.jsp>.

See the full text of the bill by searching for "AB 1493" on the
California Legislative Information Web site at:
<http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html>.

California has the unique ability to set vehicle emissions standards
because the ARB existed prior to the Clean Air Act of 1970. That law
allowed the ARB to continue to enact tougher vehicle emissions
standards than federal law. Other states are allowed to either
follow federal law or enact California's regulations. Since other
states (mostly in the Northeast) have enacted previous California
emissions standards, they may also follow California in enacting
greenhouse gas emissions standards.

One recent example of the ARB taking the lead occurred in June, when
the board passed new, tough standards for emissions of fine
particles known as particulates. See the ARB press release at:
<http://www.arb.ca.gov/newsrel/nr062002.htm>.


NREL Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary with Habitat House

DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) celebrated its
25th anniversary on July 18th. The laboratory was launched in 1977
as the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI); in 1991, President
George H. W. Bush designated the facility a DOE national laboratory,
and SERI became NREL. NREL is now a leading research facility for
wind, solar, and biomass power; biofuels; geothermal energy;
hydrogen; fuel cells; distributed power; hybrid vehicles; advanced
vehicle design; fuels utilization and building energy technologies.

When SERI was launched in 1977, solar-derived electricity cost
several dollars per kilowatt-hour, and wind power cost about
40 cents per kilowatt-hour. Today's solar energy systems yield
electricity costs of 20 to 25 cents per kilowatt-hour, and wind
power costs about 4 to 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Wind power is now
the fastest-growing source of energy in the world.

In honor of the anniversary, NREL is helping to build an energy-
efficient Habitat for Humanity home in the Denver area. The home's
energy efficiency features include a sun-tempered living and dining
area, advanced windows, sprayed-foam wall insulation, enhanced floor
insulation, solar hot water, a grid-tied solar power system, and
energy-efficient appliances. Employees from NREL, the DOE Golden
Field Office, and DOE's Denver Regional Office have committed to
donate 3,000 volunteer hours in designing and building the home, and
NREL's managing partners -- Midwest Research Institute, Battelle,
and Bechtel -- are sponsoring the home's construction by providing
the $50,000 sponsorship fee.  See the DOE press releases at:
<http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases02/julpr/pr02145.htm>

NREL isn't just resting on its laurels: the laboratory dedicated a
new research facility last week that will develop cleaner fuels for
trucks and buses. The new Renewable Fuels and Lubricants Research
Laboratory (ReFUEL) is housed at the Regional Transportation
District Bus Maintenance Facility in Denver and includes one of only
six heavy-duty chassis dynamometer emissions laboratories in the
nation. See the announcement in "Transportation Times," a
publication of NREL's Center for Transportation Technologies and
Systems, at:
<http://www.ctts.nrel.gov/transtimes/>.


Waverly Light and Power Wins First Rappaport Award

As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, DOE's National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) named Waverly Light and Power as
the first winner of its new Paul Rappaport Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency Award last week. The national-level award goes to
an individual, team, or organization that has contributed to NREL's
mission of advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy. Waverly
Light and Power was the first utility in Iowa to install a utility-
scale wind turbine and has also pioneered green marketing approaches
to provide financial support for the wind turbine installations. See
the NREL press release at:
<http://www.nrel.gov/hot-stuff/press/2002/2902_innovative_wind.html>.

For an overview of the utility's wind program, see the Waverly Light
and Power Web site at:
<http://www.waverlyia.com/WLP/Wind/skeets_search_wind.html>.

For more information about the Paul Rappaport Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency Award, see the NREL Web site at:
<http://www.nrel.gov/rappaport_award/>.


Canadian Company Aims to Commercialize Spheral Solar Cells

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. announced last week its plans to
commercialize an innovative method of producing solar cells, called
Spheral Solar technology. The technology -- based on tiny silicon
beads bonded between two sheets of aluminum foil -- promises lower
costs due to its greatly reduced use of silicon relative to
conventional multicrystalline silicon solar cells. ATS claims to
have achieved sunlight-to-energy conversion efficiencies equal to
conventional solar cells at lower costs and in a form that is
lightweight, pliable, and break resistant.

Spheral Solar technology is not new: it was championed by Texas
Instruments Incorporated (TI) in the early 1990s. At one point, TI
envisioned shipping silicon beads to local manufacturing plants
located around the world. Unfortunately, the production process was
plagued with quality control problems. Despite DOE funding for
process development, TI terminated its program in early 1995, citing
a lack of external funding for a large-scale factory. See the DOE
Photovoltaic Manufacturing Technology (PVMaT) Web site at:
<http://www.nrel.gov/pvmat/ti.html>.

ATS, a leading producer of automated manufacturing systems, may have
the manufacturing expertise needed to overcome TI's pitfalls. The
company claims to have further developed and enhanced TI's
technology and will complete a pilot production line in Cambridge,
Ontario, this summer. ATS also has solar cell experience through its
1997 acquisition of Photowatt International S.A., now the seventh
largest solar manufacturer in the world. ATS claims to have improved
Photowatt's profitability through the use of its automation
technology; the company expects to eventually license the Spheral
Solar technology to Photowatt.

To fully commercialize the Spheral Solar process, ATS has started
design of a new 120,000-square-foot, highly automated factory that
will be capable of producing 20 megawatts of solar cells each year.
The new factory will require $40 million of automated production
equipment and is supported in part by a $29.5 million research and
development agreement with the Canadian government. ATS plans to
complete the facility and begin commercial production by fall of
2003. See the ATS press release at:
<http://www.atsautomation.com/profile/news/2002/020717.htm>.

ATS created a new subsidiary, Spheral Solar Power, Inc., to
commercialize the new technology. See the new company's Web site at:
<http://www.spheralsolar.com/>.


Solar Aircraft Supports HDTV Transmission at 65,000 Feet

It sounds like a technophile's fantasy project: the high-tech worlds
of high-definition television (HDTV), video conferencing, wireless
internet, solar power, and remote-controlled flight technologies all
came together recently in a practical demonstration of what could
become the telecommunication industry's newest way to deliver high-
bandwidth information to your home. The tests used Pathfinder-Plus
-- a solar-powered, remote-controlled aircraft -- as a high-altitude
platform for telecommunications technologies, essentially
functioning like a satellite. While circling at 65,600 feet (more
than 12 miles) above Kauai, the Pathfinder-Plus successfully
re-transmitted an HDTV signal, relayed third-generation cellular
audio calls and video conferencing, and provided a high-speed
wireless Internet connection. The HDTV transmission used only a watt
of power while blanketing an area of land the size of Los Angeles
with a high-quality signal for two hours.

The demonstrations were sponsored and funded by a team of Japanese
telecommunications researchers from the Japanese Ministry of
Communications laboratories as well as two private companies: Japan
Stratosphere Communications, Inc. and the U.S.-based SkyTower, Inc.,
a subsidiary of AeroVironment, Inc. AeroVironment designed and built
the Pathfinder-Plus aircraft, which was provided for the tests by
the Dryden Flight Research Center, part of the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA). See the Dryden press release at:
<http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/PAO/PressReleases/2002/02-44.html>.

See also the SkyTower Web site at: <http://www.skytowerglobal.com/>.

Still not enough technology for you? We have more: Dryden is
currently working to add a regenerative energy storage system to
NASA's ultra-high-flying solar aircraft, the Helios. The system will
store energy by converting the craft's excess solar power into
hydrogen and oxygen during the day, and then use a fuel cell to
"regenerate" the electricity at night. A system light enough to fly
on Helios passed muster back in April, consuming 16 kilowatts of
electricity for about 5.5 hours and then generating up to
4.6 kilowatts over about 5 hours. NASA plans to attempt a high-
altitude overnight flight of the Helios next year, with the goal of
eventually developing high-altitude aircraft that can stay aloft for
weeks or months. Last year, even without an energy storage system,
the solar-powered Helios set a new world altitude record for non-
rocket-powered aircraft: 96,863 feet, more than 18 miles high. See
the Dryden press release at:
<http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/PAO/PressReleases/2002/02-24.html>.

NASA is also working on more down-to-earth applications for Kauai: a
project is underway to take high-altitude photographs of Kauai's
coffee fields from the Pathfinder Plus. The photos will help coffee
growers decide when to harvest their fields. The photo technology
was tested from a piloted aircraft in 2001 and will be launched on
the Pathfinder Plus in September. See the press release from NASA's
Ames Research Center at:
<http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2002/02_27AR.html>.

NASA is committed to developing remote-controlled airplanes, which
it calls unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. Officials from Ames,
Dryden, Clark University, and the non-profit Girvan Institute signed
a memorandum of understanding in late May to establish a "UAV
Applications Center" at Ames' NASA Research Park. See the Ames press
release at:
<http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2002/02_67AR.html>.


New Research Institute for Bioproducts, Bioenergy Formed

Two DOE national laboratories and two universities announced last
week that they will work together to form a new research institute
for the production of energy and industrial products from biomass
resources. The new Northwest Bioproducts Research Institute will
combine the talents of DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
(PNNL), DOE's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental
Laboratory, Washington State University, and the University of
Idaho. Under terms of the agreement, the participants will
collaborate to form a nationally renowned, multi-disciplinary
research and development program. Using their existing laboratory
facilities, they will examine and develop methods for converting
agricultural and food processing residue and wastes into bio-based
fuels, power and industrial products. See the PNNL press release at:
<http://www.pnl.gov/news/2002/02-19.htm>.


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SITE NEWS
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World Wind Energy Association
<http://www.wwindea.org/default.htm>

The WWEA promotes the use of wind energy worldwide through its
efforts to improve communication among the wind energy industry,
influence national and international policies, and provide avenues
for international technology transfer. Its activities include
sponsoring the World Wind Energy Conference and Exhibition, which
was held in Berlin in early July. A short manifesto, "A Global
Strategy for Wind Energy," was released during the conference and is
available on the Web site.


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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
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BP Releases Its Statistical Review of World Energy 2002

BP released its annual statistical review of world energy in June.
According to BP, the world has at least 40 years of oil supply left
and 60 years of natural gas. While noting that new forms of energy
will eventually come along, BP maintains that oil and gas will
remain the predominant fuels for at least the next 30 years.

If 30 years doesn't sound like long to you, perhaps you should
peruse the company's renewable energy section. According to BP,
installed wind power generation capacity has increased more than
ten-fold over the last decade, to 25 gigawatts. "For the last three
years, wind power capacity additions have exceeded those of nuclear
power," says BP, "signaling wind's emergence as a mainstream energy
source."

As with wind, installed solar electric capacity has increased more
than ten fold over the last decade, but from a low starting point.
BP estimates just over 0.7 gigawatts of solar electric capacity
installed worldwide in 2000, but that represents a 37 percent
increase over the previous year's capacity. Geothermal capacity is
nearly 6 gigawatts worldwide, and has grown about 37 percent over
the past ten years. And hydroelectric power production increased
just 16 percent in the past decade (although China aims to remedy
that soon).

BP presents one of the most comprehensive views of world energy
production and use by drawing on worldwide information sources, and
with its 2002 issue, the publication reaches its 51st annual
edition. See the BP press release at:
<http://www.bp.com/centres/press/p_r_detail.asp?id=904>.

See the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2002 at:
<http://www.bp.com/centres/energy2002/>.

And last but not least, be sure to see the Renewable Energy page
(and note the left-column links to solar and wind information!) at:
<http://www.bp.com/centres/energy2002/renewables/index.asp>.


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