Wednesday, September 15, 2004

EERE Network News -- 09/15/04

A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

The EERE Network News is also available on the Web at: www.eere.energy.gov/news/

September 15, 2004


News and Events


Site News

Simply Insulate

Energy Connections

EIA: Oil Prices to Stay Above $40 per Barrel until Mid-2005


News and Events

DOE and Development Agency to Promote Clean Energy Markets

DOE and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a development agency of the
U.S. government, signed an agreement last week acknowledging their partnership to promote investment in cleaner, more efficient energy technologies in emerging markets throughout the world. Under the agreement, both agencies will work to create an Efficient Energy and Renewables Program, focused on innovative financing and creative partnerships that will lead to environmentally sound economic growth in developing countries throughout the world.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed on September 8th advances two U.S. energy initiatives—the U.S. Clean Energy Initiative and the Clean Energy Technology Export Initiative—both of which seek to reduce poverty in developing nations through development and access to modern, clean, efficient, and affordable energy using exported U.S. technologies.

For example, DOE and OPIC are currently engaged in an effort to gather information regarding wind power and energy efficiency opportunities in developing countries to determine the most promising targets for investment.

See the DOE press release.


OPIC's risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency's 32-year history, OPIC has supported $150 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate more than 690,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $66 billion in U.S. exports and created more than 257,000 U.S. jobs.

See the OPIC Web site.


Lexus Hybrid-Electric SUV Draws Strong Pre-Launch Demand

Lexus announced last week that its dealers have received more than 9,000 pre-sold orders for its 2006 RX 400h hybrid-electric sport utility vehicle (SUV). "We've received significantly more pre-launch orders for the 400h than we've had for any vehicle in our entire 15-year history," said Lexus Group Vice President and General Manager, Denny Clements. Lexus plans to start delivering the vehicles to its showrooms early next year and, considering the strong demand, the company is already establishing a new communication system to keep wait-listed customers informed of the status of their order.

See the Lexus press release.


Here's another effect of the growth in demand for hybrid vehicles: Lexus' parent corporation, Toyota, is boosting prices for its popular hybrid-electric Prius by 2.9 percent. The 2005 model will differ little from the 2004 model, and customers that have been waiting since March for a Prius will be eligible for a reimbursement of most of the price increase.

See the Toyota press release.


Toyota also held training recently for 400 firefighters in California's Orange County, to teach them how to respond safely to accidents involving its hybrid vehicles. The company has published emergency response guides for the vehicles, including special procedures for extricating the occupants, overhauling the vehicles, and responding to fires, fluid spills, and submersion of the vehicles. Most of the special procedures relate to realizing when the vehicle is in auto-stop, but still turned on, and dealing with the high voltage systems and the presence of the batteries.

See the Toyota press release and Toyota's emergency response guides for hybrid-electric and alternative fuel vehicles.


U.S. Traffic Jams Waste 5.7 Billion Gallons of Fuel in 2002

Increasing traffic congestion is wasting both time and fuel throughout the United States.
Credit: Warren Gretz, NREL

Traffic congestion doesn't just waste time, it also wastes fuel: 5.7 billion gallons of fuel in 2002, to be exact. The "2004 Urban Mobility Report," published by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), examined 85 urban areas throughout the United States and found growing congestion. Trips that would've required 20 minutes in free flowing traffic extended to 27 minutes on average during peak congestion times in the 85 urban areas, wasting fuel and causing a total of 3.5 billion hours of wasted time. But some approaches are helping: The report credits "operational treatments"—metered on ramps, motorist assistance programs, traffic signal timing, and street designs that encourage smooth traffic flow—for avoiding 335 million hours of traffic delays, while it credited public transportation systems for avoiding 1.12 billion hours of delays. Together, those two approaches saved more than 2 billion gallons of fuel in 2002.

See the TTI press release or go directly to the full report.


BLM Releases Draft Environmental Study for Wind Development

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on wind energy development last week. The report assesses the environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with wind energy development on BLM-administered lands in 11 western states, and evaluates various management approaches for the BLM to mitigate potential impacts while facilitating wind energy development. Examining several options for the BLM to take regarding wind power (including doing nothing), the Draft Programmatic EIS finds the best option would be for the BLM to implement a comprehensive Wind Energy Development Program, which would establish BLM policies and best management practices. In addition, BLM would amend a number of its land use plans to address wind energy development and to identify wind-energy exclusion areas. However, reviews would still be required for each project to address site specific and species-specific concerns, and these reviews could lead to additional mitigation measures. Public comments on the Draft Programmatic EIS will be accepted for 90 days after the announcement.

See the BLM press release or go directly to the Draft Programmatic EIS.


Company Plans Wave Power Installation Near Rhode Island

A model of Energetech's wave energy system.Credit: Energetech Australia Pty Ltd
Energetech America LLC announced last week that it plans to build the first wave energy project in the United States. Located more than a mile off the coast of Rhode Island, the 500-kilowatt pilot project will cost about $3.5 million and will use an existing undersea transmission cable to deliver the power to the New England electrical grid. Called "GreenWave Rhode Island," the project is expected to begin operating in 2006 and to operate for a three-year trial. The Energetech system uses "oscillating water column" technology, in which the up-and-down movement of waves in an enclosed chamber compresses air and forces the air through a turbine to generate power. The structure will measure about 100 feet by 120 feet and will rise 40 feet above the water. Its four legs will rest on the ocean floor, and mooring cables will hold it in place. Energetech plans to begin the permitting process later this year. Energetech's parent company is currently building a similar device for installation at Port Kembla, Australia, later this year.

See the Energetech Web press release (PDF 73 KB) and the Energetech Web site.

Download Acrobat Reader.


Efforts to develop wave and tidal energy in the United Kingdom are also moving ahead, as four UK organizations have formed the U.K. Centre for Marine Renewable Energy in response to the government's recently announced $90 million (50 million pound) marine development fund. The new partnership aims to establish a coherent approach to the creation of a marine energy industry.

See the announcement from the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry.


Meanwhile, North America's only tidal energy plant—a 20-megawatt pilot project in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, by the Bay of Fundy—was shut down for about two weeks after a humpback whale swam past its sluice gates and into the lower stretches of the Annapolis River. The story ended happily for the whale, nicknamed "Sluice": Last week, Nova Scotia Power announced that Sluice appeared to have returned safely to the Bay of Fundy, and the tidal power plant resumed operating.

See the announcements, as well as photos and video of the whale and information about the Annapolis Tidal Generating Station, on the Nova Scotia Power Web site.


DOE's Reorganization of its EERE Office Earns Praise

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which brings you this newsletter, has earned praise from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) for its reorganization. Assistant Secretary David Garman, who heads the office, set the reorganization in motion in July 2002 to achieve better results in EERE's programs and activities. After a unique assessment of the reorganization, a NAPA report released last week concluded "EERE has demonstrated that much can be achieved in a relatively short period of time if top management is committed to doing so." The study credits EERE's creation of a management action plan for much of the success. The study is actually the result of a collaborative 18-month effort, during which a 5-member panel of the Academy continually provided recommendations to EERE.

See the announcement and a link to the full report on the NAPA home page.


Want to know more about EERE?
See the "About the Office of EERE" page on the EERE Web site, or download EERE's new 8-page "corporate brochure," which describes the office programs under the new organizational structure (PDF 737 KB).

Download Acrobat Reader.


Site News

Simply Insulate

This Web site from the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association provides a variety of information about the benefits of insulating homes. Features include installation information and tools that determine the necessary insulation in your state and your projected energy savings.


Energy Connections

EIA: Oil Prices to Stay Above $40 per Barrel until Mid-2005

The monthly average price for oil is expected to stay above $40 per barrel through the middle of 2005, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA's latest "Short-Term Energy Outlook," released last week, notes that oil prices are remaining high even though OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is producing oil at its highest levels since it began tracking oil quotas in 1982. World oil surplus production capacity is near its lowest point of the last 30 years, while petroleum inventories throughout the industrialized world remain below normal. At the same time, the EIA has revised upward the projected world oil demand growth for 2004 to 3.2 percent higher than in 2003, with strong demand from China accounting for much of the upward revision (in the August report, the growth in world demand for oil was projected to be 2.5 percent in 2004). According to the EIA, this combination of factors provides "an extremely limited cushion in the event of unexpected world oil market disruptions."

See the "Short-Term Energy Outlook."


This newsletter is funded by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and is also available on the EERE news page .

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