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Ormat Nevada, Inc., a subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, Inc., broke ground last week on the first geothermal electric generating plant to be built at Steamboat, Nevada since 1991. Known as the Galena Geothermal Project, the 20-megawatt plant will bring the total output from the Steamboat geothermal complex to 44 megawatts. According to Ormat, the Galena Geothermal Project is the first to begin construction since the Nevada Legislature passed laws in 2001 requiring utilities to supply a portion of their power from renewable energy resources. See the Ormat press release. Efforts to develop the first geothermal power plant in Ethanol Plant to Take Advantage of Waste Heat from Coal PlantOne common concern about ethanol production is the amount of energy
required to produce each gallon of ethanol, often referred to as the energy
balance of ethanol production. Last week, two companies announced an
innovative approach to tip that balance further in favor of ethanol:
Headwaters Incorporated has signed an agreement to build an ethanol plant
next to Great River Energy's Coal Creek Station power plant near Underwood,
Another ethanol plant near By the way, even existing ethanol plants produce about 34 percent more energy (embodied in the ethanol fuel) than they use in growing the corn, harvesting it, transporting it, and distilling it into ethanol, according to a July 2002 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). See the USDA report, "The Energy Balance of Corn Ethanol: An Update" (PDF 168 KB).
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Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced on March 8th that $500,000
in funding is now available to establish new E85 facilities at retail
gasoline outlets throughout the state. E85 is a blend of gasoline with 70
to 85 percent ethanol for use in flexible fuel vehicles, which are designed
to burn E85, unleaded gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels.
For anyone wanting to build an E85 refueling facility, DOE's
Here's an unusual fleet of vehicles that will soon switch to ethanol:
the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series. Although
the vehicles run on methanol today, the IndyCar
Series racers will add 10 percent ethanol to their fuel in 2006, then shift to 100 percent ethanol in 2007. That means
locally grown fuels will soon be powering the
Report Predicts Huge Growth in Clean Energy Technologies
Prepare yourself for a boom in clean energy technologies: Markets for solar energy, wind energy, and fuel cells are poised to grow from $16 billion in global revenues in 2004 to more than $100 billion by 2014, according to a report released yesterday by Clean Edge, Inc., an energy research and publishing firm. Clean Edge projects that over the next ten years, markets for solar photovoltaic devices will grow from $7.2 billion to $39.2 billion; wind power installations will expand from $8 billion to $48.1 billion; and fuel cells and distributed hydrogen will grow from $900 million to $15.1 billion. See the Clean Edge report, "Clean-Energy Trends 2005".
Another indicator of the burgeoning clean energy industry is the growth of key conferences. The POWER-GEN Renewable Energy conference, held early this month, experienced a 100-percent growth in exhibitors and a 60-percent growth in attendees, according to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), a major sponsor. See the ACORE press release (PDF 51 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.
The POWER-GEN conference essentially kicks off the 2005 conference
season, as many major renewable energy conferences are coming up soon.
Today is the start of Globalcon 2005, a conference in
Site NewsDOE and White House Launch Hydrogen Energy Web SitesDOE launched a new Hydrogen Program Web site last week. The site links the four DOE offices that participate in the President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative: the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; the Office of Fossil Energy; the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology; and the Office of Science. The new Web site serves as a one-stop location for the latest information on DOE's hydrogen fuel efforts. See the DOE Hydrogen Program Web site. Meanwhile, the Hydrogen R&D Task Force, a part of the President's National Science and Technology Council, has developed Hydrogen.gov, a new Web site meant to serve as the federal government's central source of information on research and development activities related to hydrogen and fuel cells. Visit the Hydrogen.gov Web site. |
Energy ConnectionsRecord Gasoline Prices Slow Sales of Full-Size SUVsA report issued last week by the Power Information Network, an affiliate of J.D. Powers and Associates, finds that consumer interest in full-size sport utility vehicles (SUVs) has dropped significantly in the past year. According to the report, most car and truck owners are now less likely to trade their vehicles for a new full-size SUV than they were a year ago. Compared to sales in 2004, full-size SUV sales fell 31 percent in January and 21 percent in February, while the vehicles sat an average of 84 days on dealer lots before being sold, compared to an industry average of 66 days. The report's authors blame the drop in sales on rising gasoline prices. See the J.D. Powers press release. According to the Daily Fuel Gauge Report from the American Automobile
Association (AAA), both regular unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel prices
are now at historic highs in the |
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