GP: EREN Network News - 8/14/02

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

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EREN NETWORK NEWS -- August 14, 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
          FEMA, FTA Provide $4.55 Billion for Manhattan Transportation
          New York Federal Building Powered by 100 Percent Wind Energy
          Salt Lake City Becomes Utah's Largest Wind Power Buyer
          Home Depot Offers Solar Power Systems in East Coast Stores
          Solar Power Helps Deliver the Oil in Canada
          DOE, USDA to Investigate Power Production from Manure
          Trains and Biodiesel Combined in Distributed Generation Test

*Site News
          PNNL Bio-Based Product Research

*Energy Facts and Tips
          U.S. Electric Power Use Achieves New Record

*About this Newsletter


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NEWS AND EVENTS
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FEMA, FTA Provide $4.55 Billion for Manhattan Transportation

The transportation infrastructure in lower Manhattan, crippled
during the attack on the World Trade Center, will be rebuilt with
the help of $4.55 billion in federal funds, officials announced on
Monday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S.
Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
are providing the funding, which will "not only replace what was
lost on September 11 but will give the city a state-of-the-art
system for its commuters," said FEMA Director Joe M. Allbaugh.

Recognizing the interdependence of lower Manhattan's bus, subway,
rail, ferry and walkways, FEMA broadly interpreted its guidelines,
allowing maximum flexibility to support lower Manhattan's
transportation needs as it recovers from the attack. See the FEMA
press release at: <http://www.fema.gov/diz01/d1391n137.shtm>.

"Today's historic announcement will provide funding for a world-
class transportation system that will include a new PATH station, a
downtown grand terminal, mass transit connections, and underground
concourses linking PATH, the N and R subway lines, the 1 and 9
lines, the 4 and 5 lines, and ferry connections," said Joseph
Seymour, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey. See the Port Authority press release at:
<http://www.panynj.gov/pr/pressrelease.php3?id=238>.

The New York City Transit System is among the largest in the world,
serving six million riders per day, saving energy, avoiding
emissions, and reducing the traffic burden on the city's streets.
See the transit system Web site at:
<http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/facts/ffintro.htm>.

The collapse of the World Trade Center resulted in substantial
damage to the tunnel that serves the No. 1 and No. 9 subway lines
beneath the World Trade Center complex, along with its signals,
communications, tunnel lighting and power facilities. In addition, a
portion of the N and R subway lines sustained structural damage. See
the December 2001 report from the New York State Comptroller, in PDF
format only, at:
<http://www.osc.state.ny.us/osdc/rpt902/rpt902.pdf>.

A visual representation of the impacts of the attack is provided by
a New York City Transit System map for lower Manhattan, available in
PDF format only, at:
<http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/nyct/maps/mapdown.pdf>.

What might a rebuilt transportation infrastructure look like? Check
out the suggestions of "New York New Visions," a coalition of
20 architecture, planning, and design organizations. Their
principles call mass transit "the single most important investment
in the future health of Lower Manhattan." See "Principle 3" on the
New York New Visions Web site at:
<http://nynv.aiga.org/principles.shtml>.


New York Federal Building Powered by 100 Percent Wind Energy

Binghamton Federal Building in western New York State became the
first federal facility to buy 100 percent wind power yesterday. The
Federal contract for wind energy covers the facility's electricity
usage for 34 months, beginning in July of 2002. The 30-megawatt wind
farm in Fenner, New York, will produce the power, which should total
about 500,000 kilowatt-hours per year. The government is purchasing
the wind power from Community Energy, Inc. through an agreement with
Select Energy, Inc. See the August 13th press release from Select
Energy at: <http://www.selectenergy.com/Events/news_releases.asp>.

It should be noted that the Binghamton building is not the first
federal building to draw on 100 percent green power: the first was a
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) building in Richmond,
California, in July 1999. In fiscal year 2000, the facility bought
nearly 1.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity produced from
landfill gas projects (the Binghamton building is the first to draw
exclusively on wind power). See the EPA Green Power Partnership Web
site at: <http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/leading/leading.htm>.


Salt Lake City Becomes Utah's Largest Wind Power Buyer

Salt Lake City signed an agreement in late July to purchase 35,000
kilowatt-hours of wind-generated electricity per month, making the
city the largest buyer of wind power in Utah. The purchase of "Blue
Sky" energy from Utah Power supports both the Salt Lake City Green
program and the city's Local Climate Action Plan. That action plan
aims for the entire city to meet the Kyoto Protocol goal of a
7 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. See the
Salt Lake City press releases at:
<http://www.ci.slc.ut.us/mayor/pressreleases/blue sky purchase.htm>
and <http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/pressreleases/kyoto%20protocol.htm>.

Utilities throughout the country are now offering so-called green
power through programs similar to Utah Power's Blue Sky program. In
the southeast, for example, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
offers a program called the Green Power Switch. In early July, an
additional 26 local utilities in TVA's service area began offering
the Green Power Switch program to their customers. The utilities are
located in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama. See the July 2nd press
releases on the TVA Web site at:
<http://www.tva.gov/news/releases/index.htm>.

Is green power unavailable in your area? You can still support
renewable energy development by buying "green tags," which embody
the environmental benefits of the renewable power -- the power
itself is sold into local power markets near the installation. Ice
cream maker Ben & Jerry's, for instance, just purchased enough green
tags to equal 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, offsetting one
year's carbon dioxide emissions from its Vermont ice cream
production facilities. Ben & Jerry's bought the green tags from
NativeEnergy, which will use the funds to support the Rosebud Sioux
Wind Turbine Project in South Dakota. See the Ben & Jerry's press
release at:
<http://lib.benjerry.com/pressrel/native_energy08012002.html>.


Home Depot Offers Solar Power Systems in East Coast Stores

The Home Depot announced last week that it is now selling AstroPower
residential solar power systems in select stores in Delaware, New
Jersey, and New York. Home Depot began selling solar power systems
in three of its stores in San Diego, California, in September 2001.
With the latest expansion, Home Depot now sells solar power systems
in 18 San Diego stores, 16 stores in the Los Angeles area, 18 stores
on Long Island, and 5 in southern New Jersey, and 4 in Delaware, for
a total of 61 stores nationwide. Unfortunately, that's still less
than 5 percent of the company's 1,296 Home Depot stores throughout
the United States.

The systems are being sold and installed under a full-service
program that includes installation and service. Home Depot also
offers financing options for the systems. See the AstroPower press
release at: <http://www.astropower.com/homedepot_expansion.htm>.

Home Depot also signed on in March as a sponsor for DOE's Solar
Decathlon, a first-ever competition among universities to design and
build energy efficient homes that provide for a modern lifestyle
using only solar energy. Home Depot is providing financial and
in-kind support to the 14 student teams, including professional
advice on materials and homebuilding techniques. See the press
release, in Adobe PDF format only, on the Solar Decathlon Web site at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/solar_decathlon/pdfs/sd_newsrelease_bb.pdf>.

The Solar Decathlon is approaching rapidly: it will be held from
September 19th through October 9th on the National Mall in
Washington, D.C. See the latest news from each team, and learn more
about the competition, on the Solar Decathlon Web site at:
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/solar_decathlon/2002teams.html>.

The solar decathletes, and other energy-conscious homebuilders,
might want to check out a set of online videos provided by the
California Energy Commission (CEC). Although intended mainly to
educate homebuilders and energy code officials on California's
latest "Title 24" energy efficiency standards for homebuilding, the
videos provide useful information for anyone interested in such
topics as structural insulating panels (SIPs), insulation, high-
efficiency windows, and other topics. The CEC site includes overview
videos for consumers and training videos for energy professionals.
See the CEC "Consumer Energy Center" Web site at:
<http://cec.ishow.com/>.


Solar Power Helps Deliver the Oil in Canada

Solar power systems are proving their durability, reliability, and
ability to go where no power line can reach in a surprising project
in Canada: an oil pipeline. Northern Power Systems built eight solar
photovoltaic systems to power valve actuators at strategic points
along the Corridor Pipeline, a dual pipeline that runs between a
town near Edmonton, Alberta, to a mine about 300 miles north. Since
the pipeline is located between about 54 and 57 degrees latitude,
diesel generators provide backup power for those long winter nights.
Northern also built 14 grid-connected battery backup systems,
installed at pipeline locations that had power available to them.
See the Northern press release, in PDF format only, at:
<http://www.northernpower.com/media/pdf/ccpp.pdf>.

Strictly speaking, the Corridor Pipeline carries bitumen, a heavy
crude oil that is too thick to flow through pipelines. Layers of the
oil and water surround grains of sand that are mined in open pits.
The oil is separated from the sand and water at the $2.1 billion
Muskeg River Mine, and a mixture of oil and solvent is sent through
the pipeline. At the $2.1 billion Scotford Upgrader, near Edmonton,
the oil is recovered and refined, and the solvent is returned to the
mine. Altogether, the Athabasca Oil Sands Project is so massive that
it even requires a separate 70-mile natural gas pipeline to provide
power and heat at the mine. See the Industry Overview and Project
Profile on the Western Oil Sands Web site at:
<http://www.westernoilsands.com/html/project/industry.html> and
<http://www.westernoilsands.com/html/project/profile.html>.


DOE, USDA to Investigate Power Production from Manure

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in late July
that it will team with DOE to investigate the use of biogas
generated from manure to power a microturbine. The cooperative
project will draw on the expertise of USDA's Agricultural Research
Service, DOE's Office of Biopower, and DOE's National Energy
Technology Laboratory. The project will be carried out at the Henry
A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center at Beltsville,
Maryland, and will convert cow manure to biogas using an anaerobic
digester. The biogas will fuel a microturbine system to generate as
much as 26 kilowatts of electricity and roughly 400,000 Btu per hour
of heat. The demonstration project is meant to apply to small dairy
farms of 250 cows or less. See the USDA press release at:
<http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2002/07/0321.htm>.

A new anaerobic digester in Chino, California, is now converting
manure from 10 nearby dairies into 210,000 cubic feet of biogas per
day. The biogas supplies the fuel for one of two gas-fired engine
generators at the facility, generating 500 kilowatts of electricity.
The digester, owned by the Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA),
processes 225 tons per day of fresh manure from about 3,750 cows.
IEUA started up the facility in May and is using electricity
produced at the site to remove salt from groundwater. See the IEUA 
Web site at: <http://www.ieua.org/o/organcen/plug_flow.htm>.

A smaller project in Iowa, also started up in May, was declared a
success in late July. The digester converts manure from 700 cows at
the Top Deck Holstein Dairy Farm into 130 kilowatts of electricity,
using both a 100-kilowatt engine generator and a 30-kilowatt
Capstone microturbine. See the press release from Alliant Energy,
one of the partners in the project, at:
<http://www.alliantenergy.com/news/news.php?issueID=349>.

The Toronto Zoo may get into the bioenergy business as well. The zoo
was recently awarded $30,000 from the city's "Green Municipal Funds"
to investigate power production from biodigestion of animal wastes.
The zoo currently composts its animal wastes. See the August 6th
press release on the City of Toronto Web site at:
<http://stratus.city.toronto.on.ca/inter/it/newsrel.nsf/all?OpenView>.


Trains and Biodiesel Combined in Distributed Generation Test

Here's a train story that's just going nowhere: California's Sierra
Railroad Company plans to park 48 surplus locomotives and use them
as power sources over the next five years. Locomotives generate a
lot of electricity, so the company will electrically connect the
48 idled locomotives to act as a small power plant, providing extra
power to California during peak periods of electrical use. According
to the company, the trains will produce enough electricity to light
100,000 homes. The company calls the proposal "PowerTrainUSA," and
expects to operate the trains for about 1,000 hours per year for the
next five years. To avoid belching tons of diesel exhaust into the
air while the trains are running, the company will fuel the
locomotives with biodiesel fuel from World Energy, burning about
7.5 million gallons of biodiesel each year. See the World Energy
press release at:
<http://www.worldenergy.net/WORLD_ENERGY_NEWS.html>.

Along with the potential power benefits of the project, Sierra
Railroad sees it as a unique opportunity to study locomotive air
emissions, which (believe it or not) are unregulated in California.
The company intends to test emissions control technologies developed
for other types of diesel engines to see if they can be adapted for
locomotives. See the PowerTrainUSA page on the Sierra Railroad Web
site at: <http://www.sierrarailroad.com/powertrain/index.html>.


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SITE NEWS
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Bio-Based Product Research at PNNL
<http://www.pnl.gov/biobased/>

DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) researches and
develops novel thermal, chemical, and biological processes to
convert biomass to industrial and consumer products, fuels, and
energy. It has patented catalytic processes that convert sugars and
acids into much higher value commodity and specialty chemicals.


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ENERGY FACTS AND TIPS
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U.S. Electric Power Use Achieves New Record

A nationwide heat wave led the U.S. electric power industry to
produce a record amount of electricity early this month, generating
90,640 gigawatthours (GWh) for the week ending August 3rd, according
to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). The electricity produced
represents about a 3 percent increase over the record from last
year. See the EEI press release at:
<http://www.eei.org/issues/news/releases/020807.htm>.

Whether the EEI numbers have any real significance is somewhat open
to debate. The factors that most affect reliability are the balance
between the customer electrical load and the ability to generate and
transmit power to meet that load, factors that operate on a state or
regional basis. A high amount of electricity generated in one week
means that a large area of the country drew a high electrical load
for a large part of the week, but it does not reflect how well
individual utilities were able to meet their demand. In fact, only
localized power disruptions were noted by electric utilities during
the heat wave.

For those worried about high electrical consumption, it seems
worthwhile to return to a May report from the American Council for
an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The ACEEE report found that
energy efficiency programs in California, New York, and New England
reduced peak demand by more than 4,300 megawatts in 2001 -- the
equivalent of about 15 medium-sized power plants. See the ACEEE
press release at: <http://www.aceee.org/press/u021pr.htm>.

Need some suggestions to reduce your own electrical demand? See the
"No Sweat" tips from the Alliance to Save Energy at:
<http://www.ase.org/media/newsrel/summer2002nosweattips.htm>.


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____________________________________________________________________________
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