The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

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There are 2 messages in this issue.

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1. EERE Network News -- 10/15/03
From: greenscitek@webtv.net
2. Higher Energy Prices Make Wind Energy Competitive
From: AP@alternatepower.com (Alternate Power)


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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 08:40:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: greenscitek@webtv.net
Subject: EERE Network News -- 10/15/03

EERE NETWORK NEWS -- October 15, 2003
A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
http://www.eere.energy.gov
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Featuring:

*News and Events -
Honda Introduces Fuel Cell for Below-Freezing Temperatures:
California and Ohio Support Distributed Generation Projects:
Solar-Powered LED Lamps Help Guide Air Force Jets in Iraq:
Australia's "World Solar Challenge" Car Race Starts Sunday:
Tests of Tidal Energy Turbine Underway in the United Kingdom:
Seattle Bank Offers Mortgage Financing for Energy Efficiency

*Site News
Revamped NREL Web Site Highlights Research Activities

*Energy Connections
EIA Statistics: Newer Homes Tend to Use More Energy

*About this Newsletter

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NEWS AND EVENTS
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Honda Introduces Fuel Cell for Below-Freezing Temperatures

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has tackled one of the largest technical barriers
for fuel cell vehicles, producing a fuel cell with advanced electrolyte
membranes that can operate at temperatures as low as 4 degrees
Fahrenheit below zero (negative 20 degrees Celsius). Honda announced
last week that the new fuel cell uses a simplified structure to cut the
number of components by nearly half, while more than doubling the power
output per pound of fuel cell, compared to Honda's previous-generation
fuel cell. Incorporating the new fuel cell into Honda's fuel cell
vehicle, the FCX, yields a 10-percent increase in fuel efficiency and a
20-mile increase in range, to more than 180 miles. Honda delivered the
first of five FCX vehicles to the City of Los Angeles in December 2002;
last month, Honda also agreed to deliver two FCX vehicles to the City of
San Francisco by year-end.

Honda has also developed an experimental "Home Energy Station" that
converts natural gas into hydrogen, which is then purified, compressed,
and stored. The hydrogen can be used either to fuel a fuel cell vehicle
or to supply a stationary fuel cell -- incorporated in the unit -- to
produce electricity and hot water. In addition, Honda has developed a
new Ruthenium-based catalyst that allows water to be converted into its
components, hydrogen and oxygen, more efficiently. Honda has built a
water electrolysis unit that uses power from an advanced solar cell to
generate hydrogen and has added the unit to its hydrogen production
station in Torrington, California. See the press releases on the Honda
Media Web site at: http://www.hondanews.com/forms/honda/fcx/.

For the record, General Motors Corporation (GM) announced a similar
cold-start fuel cell achievement back in September 1999, although it is
not clear if the company ever incorporated that fuel cell into a
vehicle. See the GM press release at: http://media.gm.com/corpcom/99news/g990929a.htm.

Other car companies continue to make progress on fuel cell vehicles. In
late September, Toyota delivered two more fuel cell vehicles to
University of California campuses -- one to Irvine and one to Davis.
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has also built a fuel-cell vehicle based
on a minivan and using a fuel cell from Ballard Power System Inc. Closer
to home, Ford Motor Company is planning to test its Ford Focus fuel cell
vehicle on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia, next year. See
the press releases from Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Ford at:

http://www.toyota.com/about/news/environment/2003/09/24-1-fchv.html,
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.co.jp/inter/NEWS/0304-09/0352.html, and
http://media.ford.com/newsroom/release_display.cfm?release=15591.

California and Ohio Support Distributed Generation Projects
Two recent actions in the states of California and Ohio will help groups
and individuals generate their own power on-site, a concept known as
"self-generation" or "distributed generation." The actions bode
particularly well for solar power installations in the two states.
In California, outgoing Governor Gray Davis signed legislation on Sunday
that will extend the state's Self-Generation Incentive Program through
the end of 2007. The program has been critical to the growth of solar
power in the state, and was set to expire at the end of 2004. The new
legislation, Assembly Bill 1685, also sets emissions standards and
requires a minimum conversion efficiency of 60 percent for any
fossil-fueled distributed generation that seeks to qualify for the
incentive payment. Combined heat and power projects can earn credits
against the emission standards based on how much heat they recover. See
the governor's October 12th press release, titled "Legislative Update --
Part III," by selecting "Press Releases" on the governor's Web site at:
http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_pressroom_main.jsp.
Governor Davis faced a deadline of midnight on Sunday to either sign or
veto 282 bills that awaited his signature; any bills that he didn't sign
or veto would automatically become law. For detailed information about
Assembly Bill 1685, enter "AB 1685" in the search box on the Official
California Legislative Information Web site at:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.

In Ohio, the Department of Development has awarded a total of $924,019
in grants to 26 distributed generation projects throughout the state.
The projects cover a wide range of technologies to be installed in both
homes and business, including solar power systems, solar thermal
systems, wind turbines, a biomass-to-energy system, a gas turbine, and a
reciprocating engine. Many of the projects involve "hybrid" systems that
combine two or more of the technologies, and several make use of waste
heat produced by the electrical generators. But perhaps the most
interesting award is to the City of Cleveland, which plans to install a
530-kilowatt solar power system at one of its water treatment plants. If
built, it will be the largest solar power system in the Midwest. See the
Ohio Department of Development press release at:
http://www.connectohio.com/newsroom/releases/832.asp.
Aside from financing, the trickiest parts of installing distributed
generation usually involve agreements with the local utility, including
agreements on how to connect to the grid -- referred to as
"interconnection" -- and on how the utility will credit the owner for
any power fed into the grid. Advocates of distributed generation prefer
a "net metering" agreement that credits power fed into the grid against
power drawn from the grid, requiring the owner to only pay the net
difference. To help advance distributed generation, the Interstate
Renewable Energy Council (IREC) recently released new model rules to
help guide policymakers considering net metering or interconnection
rules in their states. See the announcement, with a link to the draft
rules, on the IREC Web site at:
http://www.irecusa.org/articles/static/1/1062865888_987096450.html.

Solar-Powered LED Lamps Help Guide Air Force Jets in Iraq
Solar power may still conjure images of hippies and hot tubs among some
people, but its current use by the U.S. Air Force adds a level of
machismo that should help to dispel that image. Solar-powered lights are
now marking runways at the U.S. Air Force base in Kirkuk, Iraq, and will
soon be used to mark obstructions and a helipad perimeter at the base.
Carmanah Technologies Corporation, which had already provided 400
solar-powered lights to the base, announced in early October that it
received an order for 120 more lights. The second order is a vote of
confidence for the solar technology, which uses energy-efficient
light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, as a light source. More than 2,600 of
the solar lights are now being used at military airfields throughout the
world. See the Carmanah press release at:
http://www.carmanah.com/index.asp?a=iv&m=news&s=031001.
Companies continue to make advancements in LED lighting, opening up new
opportunities for their use in everyday applications. Lumileds Lighting,
for instance, has just released the Luxeon III light source, which uses
LEDs to produce up to 80 lumens of white light while consuming about 3.9
watts of power. That's still fewer lumens per watt than most compact
fluorescent lights, but more energy-efficient than an incandescent
light. For instance, a 60-watt incandescent bulb typically produces
about 900 lumens, or about 15 lumens per watt, compared to 20.5 lumens
per watt for the Luxeon III LED light. Lumileds has recently seen its
lights used for concert and dance-floor lighting, headlights in concept
cars, and even headlights and taillights on Amish buggies. See the
Lumileds Luxeon Web page and press release page at:
http://www.lumileds.com/index.html and
http://www.lumileds.com/newsandevents/press.htm.

Universal Display Corporation is taking an alternative approach, forming
LEDs from organic materials. The company announced last week that it
received a $750,000 award from DOE to advance its development of a
6-inch square panel made of thin films of organic LED materials that
emit white light. See the company's press release at:
http://www.universaldisplay.com/newsroom.php?pr=2003-10-09.

Australia's "World Solar Challenge" Car Race Starts Sunday
The seventh annual "World Solar Challenge" kicks off in Darwin,
Australia, on Sunday, October 19th. Race organizers announced on Tuesday
that 23 solar cars from 10 countries have entered the race, which runs
1,870 miles (3,010 kilometers) down the center of the Australian
continent, ending in Adelaide on October 28th. Unlike the American Solar
Challenge, which is divided into four stages, the World Solar Challenge
is run in one stage. That allows the teams to travel as far as they can
each day, although they must stop by 5 p.m. Apart from compulsory stops
at seven checkpoints, the teams are on their own in the Australian
outback. See the World Solar Challenge Web site at:
http://www.wsc.org.au/.

Links to the latest news from the race, as well as information about the
teams, are available on the Web site's "Daily Updates" page at:
http://www.wsc.org.au/latestupdates.htm.

Tests of Tidal Energy Turbine Underway in the United Kingdom
Sea Power International AB announced in September that it was starting
tests of its prototype tidal energy turbine near the shore of Shetland,
in the far northern reaches of the United Kingdom. The turbine will be
attached to a ship that will be anchored at 10 sites in the Bluemull
Sound, located between the islands of Yell and Unst. The test will
determine the best site to locate a full-scale tidal power station.
According to the company, the prototype tidal energy turbine is based on
an existing wind turbine design. See the Sea Power press release at:
http://www.seapower.se/presseng.htm.

Meanwhile, the Wave Dragon wave energy system continues to press ahead
at its test site in the Danish fjord called Nissum Bredning. In
September, Wave Dragon added six turbines to the wave energy system,
bringing the total to seven. So far, there's no word from the company on
the amount of power being produced by the prototype system. See the Wave
Dragon press release at: http://www.wavedragon.net/news/index.htm.

Seattle Bank Offers Mortgage Financing for Energy Efficiency
Energy-efficient products nearly always pay for themselves -- often in a
short period of time -- but when new homeowners are out buying
appliances, the price premium on the high-efficiency models often leads
them to buy the less-expensive model that will cost them more in the
long run. In an attempt to overcome that shortsighted view, HomeStreet
Bank and the Efficiency Services Group (ESG) are now offering homeowners
a way to use their mortgage to finance energy efficiency improvements.
Through the "Mortgage Options for Resource Efficiency" (MORE) program,
homeowners can add $4,000 to their mortgage, which is placed in an
escrow account. An energy specialist from ESG, a division of Portland
General Electric, will then perform an energy analysis to determine
which upgrades make the most sense. The homeowner can then choose from a
menu of energy-efficiency options, including lighting, appliances,
water-saving devices, and weatherization measures. Unused funds are
applied to the pay the principal on the mortgage. See the September 11th
press release on the HomeStreet Bank Web site at:
http://www.homestreet.com/about/press/default.asp.
See also the MORE program Web site at: http://www.moreprogram.com.

Are you wondering what incentives for energy efficiency might exist in
your area? Well, stop wondering and visit the new database created by
the National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project (NEAAP). The
database lists such incentives as energy-efficiency audits, rebates, and
low-interest loans. See the NEAPP Residential Energy Efficiency Database
at: http://neaap.ncat.org/db/.

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SITE NEWS
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Revamped NREL Web Site Highlights Research Activities
http://www.nrel.gov
DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has launched a
redesigned Web site that allows easier navigation while providing a
standard "look and feel" that will be reflected throughout the site.
This new look and feel is already evident in the Web site's revised
sections on Biomass Research, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Research, and
Advanced Vehicles and Fuels Research. The site is specifically designed
to showcase the latest research activities at NREL.
The NREL Web site is also host to information about the eighth World
Renewable Energy Congress (WREC), to be held in Denver from August 28th
through September 3rd, 2004. The biennial event typically attracts about
800 delegates from more than 100 countries. See the WREC Web page at:
http://www.nrel.gov/wrec/.

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ENERGY CONNECTIONS
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EIA Statistics: Newer Homes Tend to Use More Energy
Despite an ever-expanding menu of energy-efficient building
technologies, including better methods of sealing out air leaks,
improved insulation, high-tech windows, and other advances, DOE
statistics show that newer U.S. homes still tend to use more energy than
older ones. According to a recent tabulation of residential energy use
statistics by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA), homes built
between 1990 and 2001 consume, on average, 92.7 million Btu (British
thermal units) of energy per year, which is higher than the average
energy use in homes built in the previous three decades. Only homes
built before 1960 show a higher average energy use than their 1990s
counterparts. Two factors may help explain the trend: first, newer homes
tend to be larger than older homes, and second, the owners of the newer
homes tend to have higher incomes than owners of older homes, which may
lead them to conserve less or to buy more energy-using devices. See the
EIA's 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey at:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recs2001/detail_tables.html.

How much energy should we expect a new home to use? How about zero? It
may sound far-fetched, but DOE's Zero Energy Homes research initiative
is proving it can be done. See the initiative on the DOE Building
Technologies Program Web site at:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/zeroenergy/.

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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
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You can subscribe to this newsletter using the online form at:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/news/about.cfm. This Web page also allows
you to update your email address or unsubscribe to this newsletter.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) home page is
located at: http://www.eere.energy.gov/.
If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact
the editor, Kevin Eber, at kevin_eber@nrel.gov.
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 01:31:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: AP@alternatepower.com (Alternate Power)
Subject: Higher Energy Prices Make Wind Energy Competitive

http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20031008IE6

It has just become easier to be an environmentally-friendly consumer of electricity in Finland. Fluctuations in the price of electricity now mean that electricity generated by wind power is now cheaper than ordinary electricity.

For instance, the electric utility Kymenlaakson Sähkö is charging households with electric heating 850 euros a year for wind-generated electricity. The energy company Fortum offers standard electricity for EUR 918, and Vattenfall charges EUR 913 for a year's supply. "This is because the market price of
electricity has risen so high that wind energy is becoming competitive. The price of wind energy is determined by investment costs, and we have not raised it, even though other sources of electricity have grown more expensive", says Vesa Pirttilä of Kotkan Energia, which markets wind power to consumers.

Before last winter, when the shortage of hydroelectric power raised the market price of electricity to new heights, wind power was significantly more expensive than ordinary electricity.

Kotkan Energia has two one-megawatt wind generators. According to Vesa Pirttilä there are about 350 households buying their wind power, and the generators have enough capacity to serve twice as many.

The company has had such good experiences with wind power that it is planning to build two or three more generators in the Gulf of Finland off the southeastern city of Kotka.

Wind-generated electricity is also available from electricity market-leaders Vattenfall and Fortum
- at prices that are much higher than that available from Kotka.

Power companies also sell other types of green electricity generated by burning wood, or in old hydroelectric plants.

It is also possible to buy eco-power as part of a home's electricity mix. For instance, Fortum offers wind power packages of different compositions at a fixed monthly rate. In addition to the actual energy, consumers must pay a special transfer fee, which is often just under half of the entire electricity bill.

Consumers may wonder how electricity from windmills can find its way through the power line to the right household. The answer is, of course, that it cannot. The electricity that comes from a socket is a mixture of power in the national grid, and most of it is generated by the nearest power plants. Those buying wind-generated power, or some other type of green electricity, can nevertheless warm their hearts in the knowledge that somewhere an amount of electricity has been generated in an environmentally friendly manner, that corresponds to their electricity bill.

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