(That Green Bean comes up with the best stuff...)
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 15:02:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: Green Bean
Subject: Ed: Wanted: energy policy that works
EDITORIAL Wanted: energy policy that works
Monday, August 4, 2003
SF Chronicle
THIS COUNTRY sorely needs a fresh energy policy, one
that balances conservation with drilling, accepts
science over myth and provides fairness, not political
favors.
The Senate's vote on an energy bill does none of this.
Both parties colluded to pass the buck in a stunt that
lets Republicans and Democrats look good. It's
shameful nonsense, and California's senators, Barbara
Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, sensibly rejected the
move.
Faced with a deadlock, the Senate cut a last-minute
deal: drop the fight over the current bill, dust off
last year's energy bill and toss the whole issue to a
House and Senate negotiating committee, likely
dominated by Republicans. A House energy measure,
leaning heavily on drilling and industry tax breaks,
is already waiting there.
>From here on, don't expect sweet reason and common
sense. Democrats hope they have a major say because
last year's Senate bill was written by their party,
then in the majority. Republicans are rubbing their
hands because they will have the votes at the next
stop and can rewrite the 1,000-page package.
Politics aside, consider what's at stake. SUV mileage
upgrades are long gone from the debate, though fuel
imports remain a central addiction for the economy.
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is
alive in the House bill, though the Senate may balk.
Other ingredients amount to political deals.
California drivers will be the dubious beneficiaries
of corn-based ethanol, popular in the grain-belt
Midwest but costly at the pump in this state. Mergers
of giant utility-holding companies will be easier
though regulatory checks on pricing won't be
toughened.
To squeeze out more energy, truly bad ideas are in the
works. Hydroelectric dam operators may have a freer
hand to operate, never mind the impacts on fish,
environment or recreation. More nuclear power plants
may be built via loan guarantees pushed by Sen. Pete
Domenici, the Republican chairman of the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee. He represents New
Mexico, a uranium mining center.
The Senate's energy wish list includes more
electricity from wind and renewable sources, a White
House office on climate change and a roster of which
companies are spewing out greenhouse gases.
These ideas represent science for the future and are
useful measures and inducement for change. But the
House bill has none of the provisions and GOP control
of the final package may cut them out.
A Mideast war, gyrating oil and gas prices and new
technologies all argue for an updated energy policy.
Instead of significant reforms, Washington appears
headed to the customary fixes -- more drilling, tax
breaks and political favors -- that don't work. It's
hardly an energy plan at all.
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 15:07:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Green Bean
Subject: Hawaiian Wave-generated electricity tests set
Monday, August 4, 2003
Wave-generated electricity tests set
Kaneohe Marine Base may get power from a buoy system
offshore
By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press
Waters off Kaneohe will be used this fall to see if
those nonstop open-ocean swells that make Hawaii a
surfer's paradise can be tapped for cheap, clean
electricity.
Ocean Power Technologies Inc., of New Jersey, holds a
$9.5 million contract from the Office of Naval
Research to test if the bobbing of subsurface buoys
tethered to the ocean floor can efficiently generate
electricity for Marine Corps Base Hawaii-Kaneohe.
AP PHOTO / OCEAN POWER TECHNOLOGIES VIA U.S. NAVY
The Office of Naval Research has contracted with a New
Jersey firm to test the PowerBuoy wave energy power
converter, shown in a graphic representation at left.
The idea is to reduce the Navy's electricity costs and
dependence on oil at its shoreside bases around the
world, but the technological development would also
have applications for civilian uses.
"Everybody (at OPT) feels ... that we're doing
something that may be important to the world," said
George Taylor, president and chief executive officer
of the 15-person company he helped start in 1994.
Taylor grew up in Australia where he learned to surf
and appreciate the force of the waves curling around
him.
The pilot project's first phase calls for one of the
company's trademarked PowerBuoys to be given a
buoyancy to ride nine to 12 feet below the surface in
100 feet of water nearly a mile off the Kaneohe base's
Hilltop housing area.
As the swell passes, the 40-foot-long,
15-foot-diameter, vertically positioned PowerBuoy
moves up and down on a rigid pole anchored to the
bottom.
The up-and-down movement mechanically creates a flow
of hydraulic fluid to drive an electrical generator
housed in a canister on the ocean floor, said Don
Rochon, spokesman for the Pacific Division of the
Naval Facilities Engineering Command, which is
overseeing the project.
The motor generates direct current in a submerged
cable to an onshore transformer to create an average
20 kilowatts and up to a peak of 50 kilowatts of
alternating current plugged into the base's Hawaiian
Electric Co. grid, enough to serve five to eight
homes, Rochon said.
Several prototypes of the system have been
successfully tested off the New Jersey shore in
Tuckerton since 1998.
Project operators are waiting for lower swells usually
occurring in September to place the subsea electric
cables, after which the PowerBuoy will be deployed,
Rochon said.
The only visible part of the device will be a brightly
colored navigation mast sticking up to warn boaters to
avoid coming too close.
The contract calls for a second device to be deployed
and for a two- to five-year test period to see if the
project will be expanded for permanent use, Rochon
said.
"First, we have to prove the technology," he said.
Hawaii was chosen for the test because on average it
has the highest recorded wave power in the world.
The company said that in its technology, bigger is
better.
If it can develop a 100-megawatt system, the company
said its PowerBuoy technology can lower the cost of
generating electricity to 3 to 4 cents per
kilowatt-hour, slightly cheaper than electricity
generated from fossil fuels and much cheaper than wind
or solar energy systems.
A 1-megawatt system, the goal of the Hawaii project,
would generate power at a cost of 7 to 10 cents per
kilowatt-hour, including maintenance and operating
expenses as well as amortized capital costs of the
equipment, the company said.
A modular system based on an array of the small and
relatively inexpensive buoylike structures would
require low-cost maintenance for a lifetime of 30
years, according to OPT's Web site.
"We believe that this project will position the
company for expansion into the U.S. and the
international commercial marketplace," Taylor said.
To explain the global potential, the company's chief
financial officer, Charles Dunleavy, said waves
passing through a 10-by-10-mile area of ocean create
enough energy to meet the electricity needs of the
entire state of California.
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2003 15:10:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Green Bean
Subject: Hotel Gets 250 kWe + Heat Fuel Cell
FuelCell Energy Completes Fuel Cell Installation at
Starwood's Sheraton Edison Hotel
8/4/03
DANBURY, Conn. &EDISON, N.J., Aug 4, 2003 (BUSINESS
WIRE) --
FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NasdaqNM:FCEL) and its U.S.
distribution partner, PPL EnergyPlus, a PPL
Corporation (NYSE: PPL) subsidiary, today announced
the installation of a clean and efficient Direct
FuelCell(R) (DFC(R)) power plant for Starwood Hotels
&Resorts, one of the world's largest hotel and leisure
companies.
The dedication ceremony marked the completion of the
installation, commissioning and testing of the DFC300A
power plant, which will provide 250 kilowatts of
electric power as well as heat to the Sheraton Edison
Hotel - Raritan Center in Edison, New Jersey. The
system provides about 25 percent of the hotel's
electricity and hot water.
'We are delighted to be working with Starwood as it
continues its vision and commitment to environmental
leadership with the first of two installations of DFC
power plants at its hotel properties this year,'said
FuelCell Energy Chairman and CEO Jerry D. Leitman.
'This unit represents PPL's fourth successful
installation, demonstrating its role as a premier
provider of ultra clean energy using our highly
efficient DFC power plants.'
'We are thrilled that our first hotel application of
fuel cell system technology has been completed and are
pleased to be working in conjunction with PPL on this
important initiative,'said John Lembo, Director of
Energy for Starwood. 'Having been the recipient of the
ENERGY STAR Partner(R) of the Year Award for the last
two years, Starwood Hotels & Resorts will continue to
adopt and implement environmentally safe and friendly
practices that save energy and protect the
environment. We feel that energy fuel cell technology
will play an important role in reducing harmful
emissions and reduce the hotels'overall energy costs.'
'Until recently, fuel cell energy technology was not
available commercially, and its practical use was very
limited,'said Micheal E. Kroboth, President of PPL
Energy Services Holdings. 'However fuel cells are now
part of a growing range of environmentally friendly
energy solutions that PPL is providing to our
customers. PPL is proud to supply Starwood with an
efficient, reliable on-site fuel cell energy system.'
The DFC300A uses natural gas that will be supplied by
NUI - Elizabethtown Gas of Bedminster, N.J.
The New Jersey Clean Energy Program provided $860,000
in funding to PPL as part of its incentive program to
encourage the use of clean and efficient technology.
PPL has an equity investment in FuelCell Energy and is
a distributor of its DFC products in the United
States. PPL will be installing two other DFC300A power
plants in New Jersey later this year, one at the
Sheraton Parsipanny Hotel and one at Ocean County
College in Toms River. PPL has previously installed
three other DFC300A power plants at end user sites,
including Air Station Cape Cod in Bourne, Mass. and
two at Zoot Enterprises, a credit processing company
in Bozeman, Mont.
Currently, DFC-based fuel cell power plants are
operating at 15 locations throughout the world and
have generated over 12 million kilowatt hours at
customer sites.
About Direct FuelCells
Direct FuelCells efficiently generate clean
electricity at distributed locations near the
customer, including hospitals, schools, universities,
hotels and other commercial and industrial facilities,
as well as in grid support applications for utility
customers. In essence, Direct FuelCells are like
large, continuously operating batteries that generate
electricity as long as fuel, such as natural gas, is
supplied. Since the fuel is not burned, there is no
pollution commonly associated with the combustion of
fossil fuels. Because hydrogen is generated directly
within the fuel cell module from readily available
fuels such as natural gas and wastewater treatment
gas, DFC power plants are ready today and do not
require the creation of a hydrogen infrastructure.
This high-efficiency technology generates more
electric power from less fuel and with less carbon
dioxide emissions than traditional methods using
combustion.
About FuelCellEnergy, Inc.
FuelCell Energy, Inc., based in Danbury, Connecticut,
is a world leader in the development and manufacture
of highly efficient hydrogen fuel cells for clean
electric power generation, currently offering DFC
power plant products ranging in size from 250
kilowatts to 2 megawatts for applications up to 50
megawatts.
The Company has developed commercial distribution
alliances for its carbonate Direct FuelCell technology
with MTU CFC Solutions Gmbh, a company of
DaimlerChrysler AG, in Europe; Marubeni Corporation in
Asia; and Caterpillar, PPL Energy Plus and Chevron
Energy Solutions, in the U.S. FuelCell Energy is
developing Direct FuelCell technology for stationary
power plants with the U.S. Department of Energy
through their Office of Fossil Energy's National
Energy Technology Laboratory. More information is
available at http://www.fuelcellenergy.com.
About PPL Corporation
PPL Corporation, headquartered in Allentown, Pa.,
controls or owns nearly 11,500 megawatts of generating
capacity in the United States, sells energy in key
U.S. markets, and delivers electricity to customers in
Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.
About Starwood Hotels &Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood Hotels &Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT)
is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in
the world, with more than 750 properties in more than
80 countries and 105,000 employees at its owned and
managed properties. With internationally renowned
brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator
and franchisor of hotels and resorts including: St.
Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four
Points by Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood
Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier
developers and operators of high quality vacation
interval ownership resorts.
This press release contains forward-looking
statements, including statements regarding the
Company's plans and expectations regarding the
development and commercialization of its fuel cell
technology. All forward-looking statements are subject
to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those projected.
Factors that could cause such a difference include,
without limitation, the risk that commercial field
trials of the Company's products will not occur when
anticipated, general risks associated with product
development, manufacturing, changes in the utility
regulatory environment, potential volatility of energy
prices, rapid technological change, and competition,
as well as other risks set forth in the Company's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The forward-looking statements contained herein speak
only as of the date of this press release. The Company
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to
release publicly any updates or revisions to any such
statement to reflect any change in the Company's
expectations or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statement is based.
SOURCE: FuelCell Energy, Inc.
FuelCell Energy, Inc. Steven P. Eschbach, CFA,
203-825-6000 seschbach@fce.com
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