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President Barack Obama has directed DOE to expedite
its energy efficiency standards for appliances.
Credit: DOE |
President Barack Obama issued a memorandum last week that
instructs DOE to take all necessary steps to finalize new
appliance efficiency standards as quickly as possible. As
noted by the president, the Energy Policy and Conservation
Act of 1975 (EPCA) set certain deadlines for DOE to set
energy efficiency standards for a broad class of residential
and commercial products, and in 2005, DOE was sued for
allegedly failing to meet the deadlines and other
requirements of the EPCA. In November 2006, DOE entered into
a consent decree, under which DOE agreed to publish the
final rules for 22 product categories by specific deadlines,
the latest of which is June 30, 2011. In addition, the
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) directed
DOE to establish energy standard for additional product
categories.
Although DOE has made progress on meeting its consent
decree, the agency remains subject to deadlines on 15 of the
22 product categories, as well as a number of additional
product categories added by the EISA. President Obama
directed DOE to focus its efforts on the five energy
efficiency rules with deadlines prior to August 8, and then
to prioritize its efforts, tackling first the standards that
will result in the greatest savings, while still meeting all
applicable deadlines. The president announced the new
memorandum on a visit to DOE, during which he spoke
primarily about his economic stimulus plan. Regarding the
efficiency standards, he noted that they will avoid the use
of "tremendous amounts" of energy. "We'll save through these
simple steps, over the next thirty years, the amount of
energy produced over a two-year period by all the coal-fired
power plants in America," said the president. See the
presidential memorandum and the text (PDF
16 KB) and video (Windows
Media File 55 MB) of President Obama's speech on the DOE
Web site. Download
Adobe Reader or
Windows Media Player.
DOE announced in late January its award of nearly $40
million to support the industrial use of alternative fuels
and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. The two
separate award announcements included $30.7 million over the
next four years, subject to congressional appropriations,
for cost-shared research and development of industrial
systems capable of using alternative fuels. The seven
alternative fuel projects selected for more than $9 million
in funding this year primarily involve the development of
fuel injectors, nozzles, fuel-handling systems, and entire
integrated systems for gas turbines, boilers, and other
combustion systems. The systems will need to handle fuels
with high hydrogen content or with low energy content, such
as those produced by anaerobic digesters, as well as fuels
containing reactive species that can cause corrosion or
generate pollutants. The systems will draw on such sources
as wood waste and tire-derived fuel, and one project will
use an anaerobic digester to convert cow manure into
methane, which will fuel an engine connected to a generator.
An additional 10 alternative fuel projects have also been
selected for awards of roughly $19 million later this fiscal
year, including projects involving internal combustion
engines, microturbines, a hazardous waste incinerator, a
fuel cell that runs on carbon particles (known as a "direct
carbon fuel cell"), and a high-temperature solid oxide fuel
cell, which can produce power from the hot gas produced by
gasifying biomass and other fuels. Projects will also
develop burners for viscous fluids, such as glycerin, and
thermal oxidizers that can convert a variety of fuels into a
combustible gas. See the
announcement on the DOE Industrial Technologies Program
Web site, and see the description of
direct carbon fuel cells from DOE's Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory.
Such alternative fuel systems can also function as CHP
systems by producing both electrical power and industrial
process heat. Compared to the separate generation of
electricity and heat, which typically achieve efficiencies
of 45%, CHP systems can operate at more than 80% efficiency.
DOE has selected six CHP projects for $9.1 million in
funding over the next three years, subject to congressional
approval, including four projects that will receive $4
million in funds this year. Those four projects will examine
an automated control system, waste heat recovery from
reciprocating engines, a chiller that runs on waste heat,
and a system that combines a microturbine and a chiller. Two
more projects are slated to receive more than $3 million
later this fiscal year, and will develop a heat recovery
system for fuel cells and a control system for combined
cooling, heating, and power systems. See the
announcement on the DOE Industrial Technologies Program
Web site, and for more information about CHP systems, see
the
winter 2009 edition of
Energy Matters,
the program's quarterly newsletter.
Solar thermal company Ausra, Inc. announced in January that
it will refocus its business strategy toward providing
technology and equipment for power projects and industrial
steam projects, rather than on being an independent power
developer. The company is still committed to developing its
177-MW Carrizo Plains solar power plant in California,
estimated to be online at partial capacity in 2010. In
October of last year, Ausra launched the 5-megawatt (MW)
Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield,
California, which is considered to be a demonstration of the
technology that will be used at Carrizo Plains. While
utility-scale projects are still in the works and will
continue to be part of Ausra's long-term strategy, in the
near term, Ausra will focus on deploying medium-sized solar
steam generating systems that can be installed quickly and
generate revenue immediately. See the Ausra
press release and, for background, the October 29, 2008,
article in this newsletter, announcing the launch of the
Kimberlina facility.
Solar thermal power is also getting some attention in
projects at the U.S. Army and DOE's National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL). The Army's Senior Energy Council
in October announced several pilot projects, including a
500-MW solar thermal plant at Fort Irwin, California, in the
Mojave Desert. Other pilot projects include purchasing
Neighborhood Electric Vehicles for use on posts, biomass to
fuel demonstrations, a geothermal power plant, and an energy
savings performance contract to reduce energy consumption.
Meanwhile, NREL is in the process of testing an innovative
parabolic trough design called SkyTrough. SkyTrough,
developed by SkyFuel, is coated with a reflective metal skin
instead of mirrored glass and is expected to operate at
least as well as current parabolic troughs, but cost less to
manufacture, transport, and maintain. See the Army's
press release and NREL's
feature story.
The U.S. wind energy industry shattered all previous records
in 2008, installing 8,358 megawatts (MW) of new generating
capacity and placing the United States above all other
nations in terms of installed wind power capacity. U.S. wind
capacity increased by 50%, bringing it to a total of 25,170
MW, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
That's enough to push the United States above Germany, the
previous leader for installed wind power capacity. According
to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Germany had 22,247
MW of wind capacity at the start of the year, but added only
1,665 MW in 2008, bringing it to 23,903 MW, more than 2,000
MW short of the new U.S. total. Overall, global wind power
capacity increased by 28.8% in 2008, with more than 27,000
MW of new generating capacity, increasing the global wind
power capacity to 120,791 MW, according to the GWEC.
Currently, only China appears able to challenge the U.S.
lead, as the rapidly growing country added 6,300 MW of wind
turbines in 2008 to more than double its installed wind
power capacity for the fourth year in a row. China's total
wind power capacity is only 12,210 MW—less than half of the
U.S. wind capacity—but if the country continues to
accelerate in its pursuit of wind power, it could quickly
catch up to the U.S. total. Of course, a big unknown for
2009 is how each country will be affected by the global
economic crisis, as the GWEC notes that financing for new
projects and new orders for wind turbines and components
slowed to a trickle by year's end. According to AWEA Chief
Executive Officer Denise Bode, "it is clear that the
economic and financial downturn have begun to take a serious
toll on new wind development. We are already seeing layoffs
in the area where wind's promise is greatest for our
economy: the wind power manufacturing sector." See the press
releases from
AWEA and the
GWEC, as well as the GWEC's country-by-country
compilation of wind power capacity totals (PDF
45 KB).
Download Adobe Reader.
Looking to the future, at least one organization remains
bullish on global wind power growth. The Energy Watch Group,
which bills itself as an international network of scientists
and parliamentarians, notes that global wind power capacity
has experienced exponential growth since the early 1990's,
and the group expects the trend to continue. As wind power
becomes more competitive with competing sources of
electricity, the group sees rapid growth fueled by access to
new wind energy resources, greater access to power grids,
and an emerging world market for wind turbines and
components. The group recently released a study that
explores four different scenarios for global power
consumption and wind power generation, and each scenario
projects that wind power will eventually capture half of the
market share for new power plant installations, with the
date of that accomplishment ranging from 2017-2033. By 2025,
the four scenarios result in renewable energy providing
23%-65% of the world's electricity needs. See the press
release (PDF
185 KB) and full study (PDF
5.6 MB) from the Energy Watch Group.
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When it is launched later this year, the Ultimate
Aero EV will aim to be the world's fastest electric
vehicle in production.
Enlarge this image.
Credit: Shelby SuperCars |
The manufacturer of the world's fastest production car, the
1,287-horsepower Ultimate Aero, has developed an
all-electric powertrain for the vehicle. Shelby SuperCars (SSC)
has no relation to the legendary automotive designer Carroll
Shelby, but it earned respect in the automotive world in
2007 when it set a record by driving its Ultimate Aero Twin
Turbo at an average top speed of 256.18 miles per hour (it's
an "average" top speed because the car must be driven down
the same road in opposite directions, and its top speeds
from both passes are averaged to remove any advantages of
wind speed or road inclination). Despite the company's
fascination with large, powerful engines, it's also a true
believer in electric technologies, and it is building the
Ultimate Aero EV to prove the electric vehicles provide more
linear power and overall performance that internal
combustion cars.
The Ultimate Aero EV drivetrain will feature twin motors
capable of producing 1,000 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of
torque, enabling it to rocket to 60 miles per hour in 2.5
seconds, reaching a top speed of 208 miles per hour. The
system will have a range of 150-200 miles, but its onboard
charging system will allow for full battery recharges in as
little as 10 minutes. The car will feature a three-speed
automatic transmission, and the entire electric drivetrain
will be liquid-cooled, allowing it to be run full-out for
extended periods of time without overheating. (You can be
sure that the BBC's "Top Gear" boys will be testing that
claim soon.) SSC plans to roll out its first full-scale,
pre-production Ultimate Aero EV by mid-2009 and deliveries
to customers may start before the end of the year. And to
follow on the success of its Ultimate Aero, the company also
hopes to claim the title of "World's Fastest Production
Electric Car." See the
SSC press release. |
