| Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman swore in Alexander "Andy" Karsner as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) on March 23rd. Assistant Secretary Karsner was confirmed by unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on March 16th. He previously served as managing director of Enercorp LLC, which was known for international project development, management, and financing of renewable energy infrastructure. Karsner's global energy experience has encompassed a wide range of technologies, including biomass, wind energy, and distributed generation based upon renewable technologies. His international experience includes living and working in Pakistan and Hong Kong and working throughout Asia. See the DOE press release and Karsner's testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. New geothermal power projects in seven western states plus Alaska and Hawaii could significantly increase the U.S. production of electricity from geothermal resources, according to the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA). The GEA's most recent assessment of geothermal development, released in mid-March, lists geothermal power plants totaling 157 megawatts (MW) in capacity that are now under construction, including three plants in Nevada and one each in California, Idaho, and Utah. Up to 935 MW of geothermal power are in various stages of development at 18 sites in 8 states, while up to 363 MW of geothermal power projects are in their initial development phase. The GEA also counts up to 600 MW at 10 sites where the geothermal resource has been explored, but the GEA lacks confirmation that the developer has secured rights to the resource. Adding up the most optimistic figures yields about 2,055 MW of new geothermal plants, which would be a 73 percent increase over today's U.S. geothermal capacity of 2,828 MW. Counting just those projects that have passed their initial development phase would yield at most 1,092 MW, which would be about a 40 percent increase in capacity. Today's geothermal power plants supply about 0.35 percent of the electricity used in the United States. See the GEA press release (PDF 16 KB) and full report (PDF 78 KB). Download Adobe Reader. Two recent announcements from California utilities give credence to the GEA assessment. Last week, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) signed a contract to buy 20 MW of geothermal power from Esmeralda Truckhaven Geothermal LLC. The Esmeralda facility will be located in southern California's Imperial County and is expected to be producing power by 2010. In early March, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) contracted to buy 120 MW of geothermal power from Military Pass - Newberry Volcano Project, LLC. According to the GEA, that company's project is under development near Mt. Shasta in northern California, where the U.S. Forest Service is currently reviewing 11 pending lease applications for geothermal projects. See the press releases from SDG&E, PG&E, and the U.S. Forest Service.  |  FPL Energy's 278-megawatt King Mountain Wind Ranch is the largest wind power plant in Texas.
Credit: Todd Spink | When it comes to wind power in the United States, California has long been the king. But according to the latest annual wind industry rankings from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Golden State may soon lose its crown to the Lone Star State. Texas gained 702 megawatts (MW) of wind power capacity in 2005, for a total of 1,995 MW of wind power, while California gained only 54 MW, for a total of 2,150 MW. The new 210-MW Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in Taylor County helped Texas gain on its west-coast rival. As another sign of the times, Xcel Energy—with operations in Minnesota, Colorado, and Texas—is the utility that bought the most wholesale wind power in 2005, stealing the lead from Southern California Edison. See the AWEA press release and for comparison, last year's press release on wind industry rankings. Texas will gain another large wind power plant by early 2007. The Edison Mission Group acquired the 161-MW Wilderado Wind Ranch project near Amarillo from Cielo Wind Power, LP, in February, and the company expects construction to begin this spring. Meanwhile, We Energies has submitted an application to build a 203-MW wind project in Wisconsin, and Western Wind Energy is preparing to build a 15-MW wind plant in New Mexico. In terms of buying wind power, FirstEnergy Corporation—a utility serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey—is emerging as a new leader. In March, the company signed agreements to buy all the power from the 150-MW Mount Storm wind project and the 100-MW Liberty Gap wind project, both in West Virginia, as well as the 80-MW Allegheny Ridge Wind Farm in Pennsylvania. See the press releases from Edison, Wisconsin Energy, and Western Wind Energy, and the FirstEnergy press releases on its wind power purchases in West Virginia (PDF 26 KB) and Pennsylvania (PDF 17 KB). Download Adobe Reader. Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) and Metabolix, Inc. announced in mid-March that they plan to build a chemical plant in Clinton, Iowa, to produce plastics from cornstarch. The plant will initially produce 50,000 tons of biobased plastic per year and is expected to be operating by mid-2008. It will be located next to ADM's existing wet corn mill, which will provide the raw material for the plastics plant. According to ADM, the plastics produced at the plant will range in properties from rigid to elastic and could potentially be converted into coatings, films, fibers, adhesives, and a variety of molded and thermoformed products. See the ADM press release. Biobased products replace petroleum-based products with chemicals and materials produced from agricultural resources. The federal government has recognized the importance of using more biobased products, and has placed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in charge of a program to encourage federal agencies to buy biobased products. In early March, the USDA designated six classes of products for which federal agencies must consider buying biobased products, including diesel fuel additives; hydraulic fluids for mobile equipment; penetrating lubricants; roof coatings; water tank coatings; and bedding, bed linens, and towels. See the USDA press release and the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement Program Web site. The latest trend in encouraging clean energy business development is actually a time-honored approach: award a cash prize. Both California and Massachusetts are currently offering significant cash prizes for clean energy business proposals. The California Clean Tech Open, launched last week, invites the state's entrepreneurs to compete for $50,000 cash prizes in five categories, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, and transportation technologies. The winners will also receive professional services, including legal and accounting services, public relations consulting, and one year of office space, while the overall winner will win an additional $50,000. Applications are due by May 19th, and the finals will be held in late September. See the California Clean Tech Open press release and Web site. In Massachusetts, the Ignite Clean Energy Competition—hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum—is offering $125,000 to the best clean energy business proposal. The competition offers a series of networking, team building, training, and mentoring opportunities that culminate in a competition for the best investor presentations. The 29 semi-finalists are proposing to establish businesses involved in solar power, wind power, biofuels, waste energy recovery, and other technologies. The semi-finals are scheduled for April 11th, and the final competition will be held on May 9th. See the Ignite Clean Energy Web site and press release (PDF 138 KB). Download Adobe Reader. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has long supported clean energy businesses through its Industry Growth Forums. At the 18th NREL Industry Growth Forum, held in San Francisco in November 2005, a $15,000 cash prize was awarded to a solar concentrator company. The next forum will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in October. NREL also established the National Alliance of Clean Business Incubators, which is dedicated to providing business and financial services tailored to the needs of the clean energy business community. See NREL's "Working with Entrepreneurs" Web site, the NREL Industry Growth Forum Web site, and the National Alliance of Clean Business Incubators Web site. DOE launched two industrial Energy Saving Assessments over the past week: one at the GORE-TEX fabrics plant, operated by W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. in Elkton, Maryland, and another at a Kraft Foods facility in Campbell, New York. The Kraft facility includes a 72,833-square-foot manufacturing plant that makes a variety of cheeses and other dairy products. DOE's Energy Saving Teams have completed visits to 29 large federal facilities and are in the process of visiting 200 U.S. manufacturing facilities as part of the national "Easy Ways to Save Energy" campaign launched in October 2005. The first 18 industrial Energy Saving Assessments have identified a total of $61 million per year in potential energy cost savings. If implemented, these energy-saving measures could reduce natural gas consumption by more than 7 trillion Btu per year, equivalent to the natural gas consumed by about 100,000 typical U.S. homes. See the DOE press releases on the Maryland and New York site visits. New York industries such as the Kraft Foods facility could also benefit from new funding available from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The authority is offering $4 million for projects involving innovative or underutilized industrial process improvements that increase energy efficiency or reduce peak load. NYSERDA will award up to $250,000 to each demonstration project and up to $75,000 for feasibility studies. Proposals for the first round of funding are due on June 8th. See the NYSERDA announcement. |
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