EERE: Emissions Goals, New Campaigns, and an Earth Day Web Site

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/enn.cfm April 23, 2008 News and Events President Bush Sets Goals for Greenhouse Gas Emissions "Operation Change Out" Spurs Efficient Lighting at Military Bases EPA Launches "Save the World, Start with Energy Star" Three New Cellulosic Biorefineries to Receive $86 Million from DOE DOE Offers $7 Million for Biomass Pyrolysis Research DOE to Offer $10 Billion in Renewable, Efficiency Loan Guarantees Site News DOE Presents an Earth Day Vision for Today and the Future Energy Connections EPA: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Dropped 1.1% in 2006

News and Events Editor's Note: With Earth Day falling on the day before our publication date, we're simply unable to fit in all the good news this week. Watch for additional coverage of Earth Day events in next week's edition. President Bush Sets Goals for Greenhouse Gas Emissions President Bush announced a new goal last week to stop the growth in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. To reach that goal, the President also called for electric utilities to slow the growth in their greenhouse gas emissions so that they peak within 10 to 15 years and decline thereafter. As noted by the President, all responsible approaches to achieving such greenhouse gas reductions depend on accelerating the development and deployment of new technologies. Specifically, President Bush called for new policies that spur investment in the new technologies needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. The President also called for long-term incentives to make lower-emission power sources more competitive with higher-emission power sources. The President's new goal is the first absolute goal for stopping greenhouse gas emissions on the federal level. Back in 2002, President Bush set a goal of reducing the nation's greenhouse gas intensity by 18% by 2012, and the United States is on track to meet that goal. However, greenhouse gas intensity is defined as the amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of gross domestic product, so in a growing economy, greenhouse gas emissions can increase even though greenhouse gas intensity is decreasing. In contrast, the new goal sets a specific date for a peak in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. See the President's speech and a White House fact sheet on the new goal. Many of the nation's state governors are also taking climate change seriously, and last week, five governors gathered at Yale University to sign the "Governor's Declaration on Climate Change," which calls for a state and federal partnership to address the issue. The declaration also calls for continued support for state-based climate action plans and programs and for incentives to reward and encourage state actions to address climate change. A total of 18 states have signed the declaration: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington. See the pre-event press advisory from Yale University; the press release from Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell, who attended the signing ceremony; and the full declaration (PDF 100 KB). Download Adobe Reader. "Operation Change Out" Spurs Efficient Lighting at Military Bases "Operation Change Out" challenges U.S. military bases to replace their energy-wasting incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps. In honor of Earth Day, DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense launched a new Energy Star campaign called "Operation Change Out," which will challenge military bases across the country to install Energy Star-qualified compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in their on-base housing. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman announced the new campaign at Camp Lejeune—a Marine Corps base near Jacksonville, North Carolina—as he screwed in the last of the 17,500 CFLs that have been installed in the camp's military houses. Over their lifetime, the new CFLs at Camp Lejeune will prevent more than 7.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, while saving nearly 5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and at least $500,000 on energy bills. Energy Star is a joint program of DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There are more than 200 military facilities located across the United States, and changing one incandescent light bulb to a CFL in every on-base housing unit could prevent the emissions of more than 95 million pounds of carbon dioxide and would cut nearly $7 million in energy costs over the lifetime of the bulbs. CFLs consume 75% less energy and produce 75% less heat than standard incandescent light bulbs, while lasting up to 15 times longer. See the DOE press release and the Operation Change Out Web site. EPA Launches "Save the World, Start with Energy Star" The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) marked Earth Day by launching a new campaign, called "Save the World, Start with Energy Star." The new campaign builds on the success of the Energy Star Change a Light campaign by providing a set of steps people can take to save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to replacing at least one light in the home with an Energy Star-qualified compact fluorescent lamp, the new Energy Star pledge also encourages consumers to make their home heating and cooling systems work more efficiently; make sure their homes are well sealed and insulated; enable the power management features on their home computers and monitors; and choose the Energy Star when replacing or purchasing new appliances. Energy Star is a joint program of DOE and the EPA. See the EPA press release and take the pledge on the Energy Star Web site. The EPA also signed new agreements on Monday with manufacturers and information technology companies to promote energy efficiency. The EPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) to help improve the energy efficiency of manufacturers. Under the agreement, NAM will challenge its member companies to reduce their energy use by 10% or more. NAM signed a similar MOU with DOE last year. The EPA also signed an MOU with The Green Grid, a global consortium of companies dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing systems. Under that MOU, the EPA and The Green Grid will optimize the energy efficiency of an existing EPA data center, and will then find ways to standardize the processes and performance measures developed there so that others can benefit from their experience. See the EPA press releases on the agreements with NAM and The Green Grid. Three New Cellulosic Biorefineries to Receive $86 Million from DOE DOE announced last week that it will invest $86 million over the next 4 years in three new cellulosic ethanol biorefineries, to be built by Ecofin, LLC; Mascoma; and RSE Pulp & Chemical, LLC. The small-scale biorefineries will produce ethanol from non-edible cellulosic biomass sources, such as corncobs, wood chips, and switchgrass. Cellulosic biomass has three main components: strong crystalline strands of cellulose, which are protected by hemicellulose, a complex carbohydrate, and the glue-like lignin. Ecofin, LLC plans to build a biorefinery in Washington County, Kentucky, which will use a novel fermentation process to convert corncobs into more than 1 million gallons of ethanol per year, as well as other products. Mascoma proposes to build a biorefinery in Vonore, Tennessee, that will convert switchgrass and wood chips into 2 million gallons of ethanol per year using a biochemical process that employs ethanol-producing bacteria. The Mascoma facility will burn the lignin from the biomass to provide heat for the process. And RSE Pulp & Chemical, LLC, a subsidiary of Red Shield Environmental, LLC, plans to build a biorefinery at its pulp and paper mill in Old Town, Maine. Hemicellulose extracted from the wood pulp will be used to produce 2.2 million gallons of ethanol per year. Mascoma plans to begin operating its Tennessee facility in 2009, while the other two facilities are expected to start operating in 2010. Such small-scale biorefineries are meant to test novel conversion technologies, providing the information needed to scale up the process to a commercial scale biorefinery, which would typically produce 20-30 million gallons of ethanol per year. The proposed biorefineries in Maine and Kentucky will each receive up to $30 million dollars in DOE funding, while the Tennessee facility will receive up to $26 million. See the DOE press release and the Mascoma Web site. DOE Offers $7 Million for Biomass Pyrolysis Research DOE released a solicitation last week that offers up to $7 million over the next 2 years to support research into improved methods of biomass pyrolysis—a process that uses heat to chemically decompose biomass materials, such as wood chips, into an oily liquid. This "bio-oil" is a complex mixture of oxygenated hydrocarbons that can be upgraded to fuels, such as gasoline and diesel fuel, using conventional oil refinery processes. However, bio-oil can be corrosive to storage tanks, and when stored for a period of time, it typically becomes more viscous or can even turn into a solid. In addition, bio-oil typically contains small particles of charred biomass residue, and minerals in the char can catalyze reactions that degrade the quality of the bio-oil. The new DOE solicitation will support the development of enhanced pyrolysis methods or inexpensive post-pyrolysis processing techniques that will result in a less corrosive bio-oil with greater stability. Such an improved bio-oil would be more practical to store, transport, and upgrade into motor fuels. DOE anticipates that five to seven applicants will be selected, and with a minimum 20% cost share from the applicants, roughly $8.75 million will be invested in these projects. Applications are due on May 29. See the DOE press release and the Funding Opportunity Announcement at Grants.gov. DOE to Offer $10 Billion in Renewable, Efficiency Loan Guarantees DOE announced on April 11 that it will issue a solicitation in June, offering up to $10 billion in loan guarantees for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electric transmission projects. The $10 billion will be part of a larger $38.5 billion loan guarantee package that will support a variety of energy technologies. Selection criteria for the clean energy projects will focus on the avoidance of emissions of greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants; the speed at which technologies can be commercialized; the cost-saving potential for consumers; the prospect of loan repayment; and the potential for long-lasting success of these technologies in the marketplace. To support the launch of the solicitations in June, DOE has also published an implementation plan for its Loan Guarantee program. See the DOE press release, the Loan Guarantee program Web site, and the implementation plan (PDF 54 KB). Download Adobe Reader. . As noted in that press release, DOE has also issued a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit input from stakeholders on which technologies to focus on for the energy efficiency, renewable energy, and electric transmission projects. These technologies could include advanced transmission and distribution systems; hydrogen and fuel cell technologies; energy efficient building technologies and applications; battery development; alternative vehicles; and ocean, solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy technologies. The RFI was also issued on April 11, and responses are due by May 2. See the RFI on the Financial Opportunities section of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Web site. DOE currently has a number of solicitations open for a range of technologies. EERE's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) has called for DOE national laboratories and industrial partners to submit proposals for new energy-efficient manufacturing processes using nanomaterials (materials that employ particles on the nanoscale, which is a billionth of a meter). This research call (PDF 137 KB) will support a new "Nanomanufacturing for Energy Efficiency" program that ITP will launch this year. Proposals are due by May 30. ITP is also offering up to $7 million to develop transformational industrial processes to increase the energy efficiency of the U.S. manufacturing industry, with proposals due by May 7. In addition, DOE is offering up to $18.5 million to support advanced water power projects—technologies that produce power from tides, waves, or free-flowing water—with proposals due by June 16. Finally, DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences seeks proposals for "Energy Frontier Research Centers" that will aim to accelerate the rate of scientific breakthroughs needed to create advanced energy technologies for the 21st century. Proposals are due on October 1. Download Adobe Reader.

Site News DOE Presents an Earth Day Vision for Today and the Future DOE is celebrating Earth Day by providing energy tips and facts in a new Flash animation on its home page. DOE is celebrating Earth Day by presenting its vision for today's clean energy home and for the energy technologies that will help stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Visit the DOE home page and you'll see a Flash animation about how you can make a difference at home and on the road, including the use of energy efficient technologies, solar energy, and biofuels. The second page of the animation shows the technologies that DOE is developing for a cleaner, more secure energy future. This page includes information about industrial energy efficiency, efficient buildings, zero energy homes, wind power, solar electric power, geothermal energy, water power, hydrogen, and biofuels. These and other technologies will help the nation meet the President's goal to stop the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. See the DOE home page.

Energy Connections EPA: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Dropped 1.1% in 2006 Mild weather, a drop in fuel consumption, and an increased use of renewable energy and natural gas all conspired to cause U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to decrease by 1.1% in 2006, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA's annual inventory of GHG emissions and sinks forms the official U.S. report to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It also represents a refinement of the inventory produced by DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA) back in November 2007, which found a 1.5% decrease in GHG emissions. Since 1990, U.S. GHG emissions have increased by only 14.7%, while the U.S. gross domestic product has increased by 59%. Carbon dioxide emissions dominate U.S. GHG emissions, providing 84.8% of the total emissions, and most of the carbon dioxide emissions are caused by burning fossil fuels. See the press release and report on the EPA Climate Change Web page, and for comparison, see the November 2007 press release from the EIA. The Vulcan project produced this map, which shows U.S. greenhouse gas emissions progressing from their lowest values, in light blue, to their highest values, in red. Enlarge this image. Credit: Kevin Gurney, Purdue University To get a better handle on U.S. GHG emissions, researchers at Purdue University, Colorado State University, and DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have estimated the geographic distribution of the emissions. The "Vulcan" project draws on federal government information about stationary emitters, such as power plants and industrial facilities, and combines it with estimates of GHG emissions from homes, commercial buildings, and vehicles, yielding a data set that is nearly complete (it currently omits aircraft and non-road vehicle use). The project, which was funded by DOE and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, shows emissions in the Southeast to be much larger than expected. See the Purdue press release and the Vulcan project Web site.

This newsletter is funded by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and is also available on the EERE Web site. You can subscribe to the EERE Network News using our simple online form. If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact the editor, Kevin Eber.